ShareThis
Earlier this year, I broke a Joy-Con. I was, as you can imagine, devastated. In my near-30-year history as a gamer, it’s the first time I can ever recall breaking a Nintendo product. It happened as I was carrying my Switch in the same case I’ve had since launch day. It slipped from my hands, hitting my porch in what must have been just the right angle, putting stress in the plastic piece that makes the Joy-Con lock into place on the system. I only noticed it as the Joy-Con (along with my left hand) completely slid out-of-place during a portable game of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Since then, I’ve been looking for a bit of a sturdier case for my Switch. In what can only be called fortuitous timing, the fine folks at tomtoc provided us with a handful of Switch cases to test, including the Slim Case Generation 2 and the Switch Travel Case.
Switch owners looking to travel on the lighter side would do well to check out tomtoc’s Slim Case Generation 2. The first thing you’ll notice about the case is just how slim it truly is. A Switch case simply cannot get any smaller than this; it’s about half the size of the officially-licensed case I had been previously using. Despite this fact, the case feels impressively sturdy. The buttons and sticks on each Joy-Con actually fit snugly into grooves on the inside cover of the case, giving them little room to move around. These grooves result in protrusions on the front of the case, giving it a neat aesthetic that differentiates it from other Switch cases on the market. Intended solely for those playing in portable mode, the Slim Case Generation 2 can hold the Switch unit and 10 game cards.
Despite its small size, I found the Slim Case Generation 2 to be a nice way to keep the Switch unit protected in my travels. I took the case to the Fan Expo Comic Convention in Toronto, and it proved to be a nice option while I waited in line to demo Luigi’s Mansion 3. It never felt unsafe in my backpack, and I could easily see it being just as safe in checked on luggage. If there’s one complaint I have with the case, it’s that there isn’t anything actually holding your Switch in the case once you’ve unzipped it. A strap or some mesh would have been really nice, because I had to be careful opening it while standing in line.
tomtoc’s Switch Travel Case is quite a bit beefier than the Slim Case. Designed for those wanting to bring more equipment with them when they travel, the case can hold 24 cartridges, a Classic Controller, and a few other niceties. The Switch Dock won’t fit, but anyone that picked up Bionik’s excellent TV Lynx will have all the room they need. The case also features a nice stand for the Switch unit, so you can keep it in the case while playing or charging.
Like the Slim Case, the exterior of the Travel Case has protruding spots for the buttons and sticks on the Joy-Cons, though this time the effect is 100 percent for visual continuity between tomtoc’s releases, since the console is actually pretty far away from the front of the case when everything is closed up. Still, I can’t help but love the design on both these cases. They both have a nice, smooth texture that pictures don’t do justice. The texture also adds some functionality; according to tomtoc, both cases are water-proof and drop resistant. Admittedly I was a bit hesitant to test this out myself, for obvious reasons!
After replacing that broken Joy-Con, it’s nice to have something a bit sturdier to protect my new investment. The Slim Case Generation 2 works much better for the sort of travel that I do, but the Travel Case is also a nice storage option for around the house, or for those that like to bring their extras on the road. Regardless, you really can’t go wrong picking up either of these great options from tomtoc. For our readers that recently purchased a Switch Lite, tomtoc has also provided us with a case for Nintendo’s new model. We’ll have a review for that particular item in the near future!
Nintendojo was provided this item for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard criteria.
