This is the biggest issue of the Clutch: its identity crisis. As a handheld case, it’s just too heavy for me. From looking at Switch and Clutch specs, attaching the Clutch to a Nintendo Switch almost exactly doubles its weight: roughly 14 oz up to a bit over 28 oz. For a console I’m used to being so light, that’s a big change that I don’t think I’d ever willingly get used to. As a portable stand and battery combo, it does fine, but is there really a very large demographic of people looking for this? And if that’s who it’s for, I would have been very nice to see the joy-con holder have a way of plugging in for charging when in controller mode.
At $59.99, Switch users should be confident that the Clutch is something that fits into their playstyle. If you’re someone who anticipates a lot of day trips or doesn’t have a TV (or prefers to use the Switch as a tabletop screen), the Clutch is well built and might be exactly what you need. Alternatively, if you’re looking for an external battery built into a Switch case and you don’t think the extra weight or lack of travel case would bother you, the Clutch may be just the ticket for you. For anyone else, I’m not sure if there’s something for you here, and it’s certainly not compatible with the new Switch Lite. HyperX is definitely a company that experiments and iterates, so I am very optimistic that they’ll continue to improve upon their Switch peripherals and we’ll see a more all-purpose and all-user Switch accessory not too far down the line.
