Hori Piranha Plant Nintendo Switch 2 Camera Review

I was truthful precise delighted, and a small spot confused, erstwhile I saw the Hori Piranha Plant camera announced for the Nintendo Switch 2. Delighted because, well, conscionable look astatine the happening – it’s adorable! And confused because… shouldn’t Nintendo person made this thing? Unfortunately, the camera has 1 large flaw: a 480p sensor. Even though I knew that going in, I’m inactive profoundly disappointed, due to the fact that this is an different superb small camera.

Before we get to wherefore I’m truthful bummed retired astir this camera, determination is really a batch to like. First off, forgetting the webcam part, the Hori Piranha Plant Camera is simply a good bauble, modeled aft the piranha plants that person popped retired of pipes to wound oregon spit occurrence astatine Mario for decades now, and would acceptable successful seamlessly connected a support of video crippled ephemera. The polka-dotted caput holds the camera sensor, and you tin adjacent its rima to screen the lens, which is conscionable instantly and evidently a large idea. You tin tilt the caput connected its stalk, which is bendy to fto you purpose the camera, and astatine the bottommost is simply a USB-C plug you tin either plug consecutive into a Switch oregon into its greenish tube base. The full kit and caboodle comes with a USB-C cablegram that’s long-ish, but nary much than the 1 that comes with the first-party Nintendo Switch 2 Camera.

Hori did immoderate clever things with the base. I emotion that it’s a abstracted piece, letting you usage the camera without it, sticking retired of the Switch 2 similar a Game Boy Advance Worm Light. You person different options, though. When the camera is plugged into the base, it tin basal upright connected a array similar Nintendo’s camera, though the included cablegram is truthful stiff and the Piranha Plant Camera truthful lightweight that I had to beryllium truly cautious portion placing it oregon the cablegram would move, dragging the camera and turning it oregon threatening to marque it autumn over. The different enactment is mounting it – the bottommost of the basal folds distant from a articulator connected the beforehand you tin hook connected the beforehand of your TV, successful overmuch the aforesaid mode you’d connect a webcam to a machine monitor.

Unfortunately, this is wherever things get rocky for the Hori’s cute Switch 2 camera. If you thought it was excessively bully to beryllium existent erstwhile you saw Hori lone charging $39.99, well, that was a bully instinct. All of this is perfectly ruined by its 480p sensor and cramped 85-degree field-of-view (FOV). It’s retired of interaction and retired of time, a camera that would person looked dated and inexpensive 20 years ago. If you’re sitting connected a sofa respective feet distant from your Switch 2 and this camera, it’ll look to your friends similar you’ve FaceTimed them connected a Nintendo DSi.

It’s a nighttime and time quality erstwhile you comparison it to Nintendo’s first-party camera. In each instance, the Piranha Plant camera produces muddy, dim pictures with truthful small item that from my accustomed comfy gaming couch, my look is the smeary visage of a spooky ghost. The piled up blankets and pillows connected my basement sofa are unrecognizable achromatic blobs, and the creation implicit my enarthrosis is hardly recognizable arsenic Galactus. And acknowledgment to its super-narrow FOV, it lone captures a fragment of the country that the first-party camera grabs. (Excuse the messiness successful that changeable – my basement amusement country doubles arsenic my child’s play room.)

This isn’t conscionable an aesthetic contented – the Switch 2 has a truly hard clip cutting maine retired decently erstwhile I usage the inheritance filtering features. Sitting connected my couch, the Switch 2 couldn’t abstracted maine from the inheritance astatine all, leaving a question people wherever my look should be. If I leaned mode forward, it mightiness amusement a chopped retired of that near-featureless fearfulness amusement mentation of my face. To get it to consistently amusement maine successful the filtering modes, I had to beryllium successful a seat astir 3 feet successful beforehand of my TV and the camera, but that’s not applicable for me.

Ultimately, it is handheld mode – with the Piranha Plant camera plugged straight into the USB-C larboard connected apical of the Switch 2 – that saves Hori’s camera from being simply a novelty, and not conscionable due to the fact that it’s delightful to person a toothy works monster sprouting from the apical of the Switch 2. It’s compact capable to acceptable into a slim Switch 2 carrying case, and 480p is wholly good erstwhile the camera is inches from your face, allowing the idiosyncratic connected the different extremity of a GameChat league to archer they’re looking astatine a standard-issue quality look and not that of, I don’t know, the Toxic Avenger. It truly feels similar Hori conceived of this arsenic a handheld-only camera astatine archetypal – a niche I deliberation ought to beryllium filled, truthful bully connected them! – and creating the tube basal arsenic a might-as-well summation to the package.

Still, adjacent if you lone privation this for handheld mode, it’s got issues. The bendy stalk isn’t bendy enough, and with specified a constrictive tract of view, it’s hard to get it pointed astatine your look conscionable right. Also, I privation it had a mode to brace against the assemblage of the Switch 2 erstwhile it’s plugged in, due to the fact that erstwhile I’m making those bending adjustments, I extremity up feeling similar I request to beryllium cautious to enactment the basal of the stalk truthful I’m not adding strain to the USB-C port. Perhaps that’s maine being overly cautious, but I’ve breached USB-C ports earlier by dropping a instrumentality that had thing plugged into one, and that’s overmuch harder to fix.

Even with these problems, the Hori Piranha Plant Camera mightiness beryllium the champion and lone viable enactment if you’re the benignant of idiosyncratic who loves kitsch and has a beardown tendency for an on-the-go GameChat camera. Or if you, similar me, person a kid who’s getting a Switch 2 for Christmas and you’re trying to prevention wealth and delight them astatine the aforesaid time. There’s the $59.99 Hori alternative, which is inactive 480p, pricier than adjacent Nintendo’s $55 first-party camera, and isn’t cute. Or you tin bargain 1 of respective cheaper Amazon options that each look astir identical to 1 different and diagnostic nonsense marque names similar “TPGSING” and “Sioenl” and could look adjacent worse than the Piranha Plant Camera.

Most radical who don’t autumn into these 2 camps shouldn’t bargain any of those options, including the Hori Piranha Plant camera, for their Switch 2. The full novelty Nintendo quality facet conscionable isn’t capable to marque up for its ancient-looking camera. That’s a shame, due to the fact that astatine $39.99, this camera lone needs to wide the debased barroom of looking astir arsenic bully arsenic Nintendo’s first-party Switch 2 camera to beryllium worthy buying. Oh well.

Wes is simply a freelance writer (Freelance Wes, they telephone him) who has covered technology, gaming, and amusement steadily since 2020 astatine Gizmodo, Tom's Hardware, Hardcore Gamer, and astir recently, The Verge. Inside of him determination are 2 wolves: 1 that thinks it wouldn't beryllium truthful atrocious to commencement collecting crippled consoles again, and the different who besides thinks this, but much strongly.