Nintendo submitted a mysterious new wireless device to the FCC this weekend, but it’s not the Switch 2 console we were expecting to be released before next April. The CLO-001 model number does not reveal its specific significance. actually Yes, but considering the “001” code used on devices like the original Switch (HAC-001) and DS (NTR-001) consoles, it appears to be an entirely new product line.
It’s only labeled as a “wireless device,” not a “wireless game console” or any kind of controller (like the Joy-Con). A basic diagram in the document shows an outline of an object with a square footprint and rounded corners where the FCC label would appear “in a recessed area on the bottom.”
The documents also reveal that there were no wearable accessories involved in the test, and that it had no battery and could only run when plugged into a power source — it was connected to the same USB-C charger that Nintendo included with the Switch console in the test. , but this only shows that it can be powered via USB-C.
The CLO-001’s wireless technology is surprisingly light—there’s no 5GHz or 6GHz Wi-Fi radio, and it doesn’t have Bluetooth, but it does come with a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi radio and a 24GHz millimeter-wave sensor.
The 24GHz mmWave sensor is the most interesting detail we have. It could be a radar sensor to track movement, like closely following gestures or detecting when someone is nearby the device, causing it to turn on automatically like we’ve seen in the 60GHz sensors found in devices like the Pixel 4 and Aqara’s smart home presence sensor.
The Wi-Fi hardware in the first-generation Switch was created by Cypress Semiconductor, which was acquired by Infineon a few years ago, and Infineon is currently promoting the capabilities of its 24GHz radar sensor. Infineon said that the 24GHz radar has a detection range of up to 100m and can penetrate obstacles, but at the expense of larger size and lower resolution. We can’t tell what hardware is inside the device, but the Infineon website includes a comparison with a 60GHz sensor.
Given the limited information available, it’s really anyone’s guess at this point. But it’s rumor season for the upcoming Switch 2, so if you have any better ideas, let us know!
