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The Nintendo Switch 2 in front of the Nacon Hard Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2, with a pink background behind it.
Product Reviews

Nacon Hard Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2 review: a robust case that doesn’t cost loads of cash

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Nacon Hard Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2: review

The Nacon Hard Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2 is a reasonably priced case for the handheld console. It offers storage not only for the console itself but also most of its accessories, as well as a handful of Switch games cartridges. So how does it feel in use?

Generally, I’ve found it holds up well. The bright Mario red feels suitably attention-grabbing without being gaudy – I wouldn’t be embarrassed pulling it out on my commute, and it doesn’t remotely feel at odds with the premium console inside. I’ve seen similar materials getting scuffed or dirty after months of being thrust into a backpack, but in all the time I’ve spent carting it round so far it’s maintained that vibrant hue without picking up any marks.

Given the name of the product, I’d kind of assumed it had been designed with the Nintendo Switch 2 in mind. But if you actually try to place the console in the molded inner tray Nacon has supplied, you quickly realize that it’s far too small, because it’s shaped to fit the original Switch. You can remove this and the Switch 2 will sit snugly in the base of the case, but it’s not quite as well fitted around the console’s Joy-Con 2, which is something I would expect from one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories.

Despite this, the Nacon Hard Carrying Case seems sturdy and well constructed. Even squeezed in a bag with my work laptop and climbing gear, it seems to be able to protect the Switch 2 well and keep its shape, even while it’s under pressure. I never really felt I had to worry about the safety of my Switch 2 when it was in the Nacon and that’s the kind of peace of mind you’re looking for when picking up a case.

When it comes to additional storage, the Hard Carrying Case has a decent amount of space. The main compartment is capacious enough that I was able to squeeze in the Joy-Con 2 Grip, the Switch 2’s charger and an HDMI cable. Pretty much the only thing I was unable to fit was the console’s dock but if you’re desperate to take this on the go with you, something like the Nacon XL Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2 should offer sufficient space for this.

(Image credit: Future)

I did occasionally find myself wishing that some of this storage could be better laid out however. I was never that clear what the central pocket was intended for, given it was too small for most accessories but felt an odd fit for loose cabling. Equally, the Nacon’s storage for Switch 2 cartridges is pretty limited – you can fit a maximum of four cards in its little bandolier, which feels like it will fill up fast.

All told though, the Nacon Hard Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2 feels like a reliable way to keep your Switch 2 safe and offers a pretty attractive package while it does so. Particularly when you consider its price: at $14.90 / £12.90 (around AU$25), this case very much sits at the more affordable end of the market. So if you’re looking for a cheap way to keep your Switch 2 safe and you’re not too fussy about odd details, this is a decent choice.

(Image credit: Future)

Nacon Hard Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2 review: specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Price

$14.90 / £12.90

Dimensions

12 x 5.9 x 1.9 inches (305 x 150 x 50mm)

Weight

14.5oz (412g)

Number of game card slots

4

Compartments

2

Handle

Yes

Color

Red, black or blue

(Image credit: Future)

Should I buy the Nacon Hard Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2?

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Design

Decent understated looks, hardy construction; while it comfortably fits the Switch 2, the removable molded tray is only compatible with the original Switch.

4 / 5

Storage

Very few game cartridge slots, no space for Switch 2 Dock, not clear what every pocket is for.

3.5 / 5

Value

Only a few cases come cheaper than this and given what you’re paying for it, it does pretty much everything you could ask of it.

5 / 5

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

(Image credit: Future)

Nacon Hard Carrying Case for Nintendo Switch 2: Price Comparison



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Decrypt logo
NFT Gaming

Why Luca Netz Will Be ‘Disappointed’ If Pudgy Penguins Doesn’t IPO Within 2 Years

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In brief

  • Pudgy Penguins is a popular crypto-native IP that started from NFTs and has expanded into toys, games, and more.
  • CEO Luca Netz told Decrypt that he hopes to take the company public within two years.
  • In addition to NFTs on Ethereum, the brand has launched a meme coin, PENGU, on Solana.

Pudgy Penguins is on track to clock a record $50 million in revenue this year, according to its CEO Luca Netz—the culmination of a years-long play to plaster the popular IP across corners of the world typically unchartered by Web3 projects, including arcades, storybooks, and even major retailers like Walmart. 

But Netz is already looking ahead to Pudgies’ march to an even larger and far more lucrative arena over the next two years: Wall Street.  

In an interview with Decrypt, Netz said he would like to see shares of Pudgy Penguins trade on a public exchange by 2027. 

“I would love to [go public] in the next two years,” he said, adding that a timeline for the would-be public listing is contingent upon Pudgy’s revenue growth. “I think if we don’t IPO in the next two years, I’d be disappointed in myself.”

And if it doesn’t pan out by that deadline, “hold me accountable,” Netz said.

Pudgy’s aim to go public comes as the firm experiments with various business verticals amid an IPO revival in the U.S. that has pumped massive amounts of capital into tech companies, in particular. 

More than 220 firms have listed their shares on public exchanges year-to-date, up nearly 90% from the 117 companies that debuted on the U.S. stock market in the first eight months of 2024, according to markets research website StockAnalysis.com.

Amid that IPO resurgence, several digital assets firms have jumped into the fray, filing to go public as U.S. President Donald Trump ratchets back federal regulations for the industry. 



Stablecoin issuer Circle unveiled its blockbuster IPO in early June, notching more than $1 billion in profits. Just two months later, crypto exchange Bullish debuted on the New York Stock Exchange, while competitors Gemini and Kraken are gearing up to follow suit.  

Pudgy is attempting to capitalize on growing public interest in digital assets-linked firms by working with finance experts to make Pudgy Penguins and its associated decentralized-finance token PENGU more accessible to retail and institutional investors.

Earlier this year, the company shepherded asset manager Canary Capital’s proposal to debut an exchange-traded fund tracking the prices of the PENGU meme coin and Pudgy Penguins NFTs. More recently, the Pudgy team was in talks with public companies to hold PENGU on their balance sheets—the results of which could play out over the next three months.

“The understanding of traditional finance just gets me super excited,” Netz said.  “There’s so much more capital inflows and accessibility.”  

To that end, the Pudgy team, which maintains its headquarters in Miami, is considering spending more time in New York, the heart of the public markets. 

“Every time me and a couple other guys from the company go there, we just get done in two days what would take us five days here,” Netz said. “Every day, every hour, every minute counts, and New York just moves at an incredible pace that I think is super necessary if you want to win.”

No public listing? No problem 

Although it’s unclear whether Pudgy will be able to court investors for an IPO by the end of 2027, there already exists a lower-fuss—albeit riskier—alternative that could enable traders to invest in Pudgy Penguins without all the regulatory requirements: tokenizing the stock. 

Asked if Pudgy Penguins might soon tokenize shares of its stock to trade on an on-chain equities platform such as xStocks, Netz said: “I can’t speak on this, but you’re going down a very smart rabbit hole. 

One thing he can share, however, is that the NFT project will continue to be selective about who it works with as it looks for ways to fuel its growth. 

“There’s a lot of cheap, grimy, dirty capital out there,” Netz said. But, he added: “I have every interest in doing this stuff with the biggest and the best… with the guys [for whom] if it’s not a billion dollars, it doesn’t move the needle for them.”

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Creator of Stardew Valley doesn't charge for collabs with other games, does it to please players
Game Reviews

Creator of Stardew Valley doesn’t charge for collabs with other games, does it to please players

by admin


The creator of Stardew Valley – Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone – has revealed he’s never made any money directly from in-game crossovers. Instead, Barone agreed to implement these updates because he’s a fan of the games, or thought players would like them.

Barone shared a statement on X (formerly Twitter) soon after the announcement of a crossover event with Infinity Nikki, in which a Junimo can be seen landing in Infinity Nikki. This makes sense, Junimo’s being adorable little spirits that fit quite well within the cute aesthetic of Infinity Nikki, but the collaboration was met with surprise and criticism from some Stardew players.

Stardew Valley crossovers are quite rare! Back in 2022 there was a Terraria crossover, and relatively recently Stardew Valley made an appearance in Balatro. But aside from that, the farming simulator has been happy staying in its own lane.

Check out the crossover trailer for Infinity Nikki x Stardew Valley here!Watch on YouTube

In response to Concerned Ape’s post on the matter, the official Infinity Nikki account shared the team’s view of working on this collaboration. It reads: “We really appreciate you sharing your feelings on this. Any unintended stress was the last thing we wanted. It was our way of saying thanks – a free love letter to Stardew Valley from our team and for the community. Working on it felt like we were all tending a little farm together. The care and detail you pour into your world is exactly why we want to make cosy games too. We’re still learning from you every day.”

Should Barone be making some money off these crossovers? Probably, yeah. Though it is his choice ultimately whether he wants to financially benefit off such endeavors. It’s not as though Stardew Valley has been hurting for sales after all. As of December 2024 it has sold over 41m copies. I should hope Barone isn’t too concerned about the money.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.



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Groov-e's Wave Glow with illuminated ELD lights on it's end, lying on its side in a garden
Product Reviews

Groov-e Wave Glow review: a portable, budget Bluetooth speaker that sadly doesn’t sound good enough to make the grade

by admin



Why you can trust TechRadar


We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

Groov-e Wave Glow: two-minute review

The Groov-e Wave Glow is a very affordable portable speaker and one with sound quality to match that price tag. Yes, this is one that will infuriate the ears of audiophiles sounding somewhat tinny at times and slightly lacking any oomph across the course of my listening.

On the other hand, it has some funky looking lights which I found rather endearing, a comfy to grip strap, and some surprising ways to connect it to your music. Besides Bluetooth, you can also plug in a USB flash drive, slot in a TF card (both admittedly with a tight 64GB limit), and there’s an aux port. It’s not often you see these features in a tiny speaker any more. Granted, not everyone will need these but if you do, well, your options are limited making this more tempting.

Of course, don’t count on it rivalling the best Bluetooth speakers. This is a decidedly cheap speaker. It feels a little cheap to the touch and there’s that dodgy sound quality. I say dodgy; it’s reminiscent of buying a cheap radio or speaker years ago, before good speakers were affordable for the masses. It’s not hideous, exactly, but it’s also fairly ‘blah’.

Away from that disappointing audio quality, the Groov-e Wave Glow has some chunky, tactile buttons for play/pause, volume, and adjusting the lights, and the ports are all hidden behind a pull-out protective shell. Then there’s the lights up top and down bottom, and the elastic strap.

The Groov-e Wave Glow is priced at £23.99 and at the moment is only seemingly available in the UK, but that would make it under $35, or around AU$50. For that price, it’d be silly to expect too much, but if you can stretch further, you will find better options – more on those later. If money is that tight, however, or you’re looking for a cheap gift, the Groov-e Wave Glow still has some appeal.

(Image credit: Future)

Groov-e Wave Glow review: price and release date

  • Released May 2025
  • £23.99 at launch
  • Limited availability

The Groov-e Wave Glow was launched in May 2025 and is currently available to buy in the UK. It’s already seen some modest discounts but is generally available for £23.99.

That makes it one of the cheaper speakers around. The recently released Tribit Stormbox Mini Plus is close but is still usually priced at £39.99. If you’re able to increase your budget to that, there are a few other options like the JBL Go 4, but few as cheap as this one.

Groov-e Wave Glow review: specs

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Weight

645g

Dimensions

13.7 x 8 x 7.5 cm

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.3, aux-in, USB-C (charging)

Battery life

8 hours (quoted)

Speaker drivers

10W

Waterproofing

n/a

Groov-e Wave Glow review: features

  • AUX port, microSD slot, and USB flash drive support
  • LED lights
  • 8-hour battery life

The Groov-e Wave Glow is a fairly typical looking little Bluetooth speaker but with some surprising features. The highlight is its plethora of connections. Sure, you’ll be mostly using its Bluetooth connection, but it has other options. You can use its aux port to connect to other devices (and the speaker actually comes with a 3.5mm jack), while next to it is a TF (read: microSD) card slot, and the USB connection allows you to plug in a USB flash drive. Admittedly, both microSD and USB have a limitation of 64GB so you might have to search around for a compatible option, but it could be that specific situation that fits you perfectly.

There are no mics for speakerphone duties (although few speakers seem to offer that, these days) and battery life is a very unremarkable 8 hours. I’d have liked to have seen more here, especially as it takes 2 hours for a full recharge. Its Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity works fine and I had no issues using it with my iPhone 14 Pro but there were occasional dropouts on my PC – usually when I moved the speaker around.

Elsewhere, the LED lights are my favorite thing about the Groov-e Wave Glow. They visually bounce away while playing music and look suitably vibrant and exciting. They’re potentially more exciting than the audio quality, but I’ll get to that. It’s a neat touch either way and makes up for the lack of app support and thus in-app customization.

(Image credit: Future)

Groov-e Wave Glow review: sound quality

I didn’t expect much of the Groov-e Wave Glow but I have to be honest, it actually sounded a little worse than anticipated. It’s functional, of course, but pretty tinny at times. There’s no bass to speak of, but my word, do the lights try to atone for that. You’re encouraged to feel like it’s doing its best, happily bouncing along. However, it’s pretty tame stuff.

Listening to spoken word – a podcast or YouTube video, say – is fine, but when you switch over to your favorite music, the limitations are much more noticeable. The volume can go pretty high, but that weakens the experience even more. I went for my cheesy favorite, Robbie William’s Let Me Entertain You to start, knowing exactly how it’s meant to sound and there was no urgency or strength in the mids.

I went bold then and loaded up some Muse and sighed as it sounded somewhat pitiful. The soundstage is weak but more importantly, the bass and general ambience is underwhelming.

(Image credit: Future)

Groov-e Wave Glow review: design

  • Comfy elasticated strap
  • Tactile buttons
  • Well hidden ports

The Groov-e Wave Glow is certainly exactly how you expect a speaker to look, but there are a few highlights. I’m a big fan of its buttons being attractive but tactile too, so anyone with visual impairments can find what they’re wanting to press. There are buttons for play/pause, volume, and for toggling the lights on or off.

There’s a chunky section for the ports too which blends in well and feels suitably snug. On another side is the strap which is elasticated but held in quite tightly. The idea is that you can easily hold it through the strap but also attach it to something like a hook. It feels nice in your hands which is the main thing here.

As with other similar speakers, the Groov-e Wave Glow is pretty lightweight to carry around. Up top and down the bottom is the lighting so you can place the Groov-e Wave Glow sideways as well as upright.

What lets it down in this section – and why not go higher than four stars? Well, any discussion on the design has to include the audio architecture under the hood, and as you’ll know if you’ve read this far, this area is where the Wave Glow struggles. Also, unusually for a speaker in 2025, there’s no mention of an IP rating for water or dust ingress – so it won’t be joining the ranks of our best waterproof speakers buying guide any time soon.

(Image credit: Future)

Groov-e Wave Glow review: value

  • Very cheap
  • Sturdy design
  • Useful for a specific situation

The Groov-e Wave Glow is certainly cheap but its sound quality demonstrates exactly why it’s so cheap. Having said that, the aux port, USB flash drive support, and TF card slot could make it exactly what you’ve been looking for. For those people, there’s not much else to rival the Groov-e Wave Glow at this price.

However, if you’re looking for good audio, it’s a smart move to spend a little more on the JBL Go range or something from Anker Soundcore. The Groov-e Wave Glow definitely isn’t the best choice for music lovers, but it is super cheap and for many, that’s the priority.

(Image credit: Future)

Should I buy the Groov-e Wave Glow?

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

No app, but there are a few notable extras not on other models

4/5

Sound quality

The weakest element by far when considering the Wave Glow: tinny and lacking in low end

2/5

Design

Useful straps, fun lights and tactile buttons

4/5

Value

It’s cheap, but given the sound quality, spending less doesn’t always mean value

3/5

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Groov-e Wave Glow review: also consider

Swipe to scroll horizontallyRow 0 – Cell 0

Groov-e Wave Glow

Tribit Stormbox Mini Plus

JBL Clip 5

Price

£23.99; limited availability in other markets

$39.99 / £32 / AU$65 (approx.)

$79.95 / £59.99 / AU$89.95

Weight

645g

545g

285g

Dimensions

13.7 x 8 x 7.5 cm

90.9 x 90.9 x 118.9 mm

86 x 134.5 x 46 mm

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.3, aux-in, USB-C (charging)

Bluetooth 5.4 (SBC, AAC codecs), AUX-in, USB-C (charging)

Bluetooth 5.3, USB-C (charging)

Battery life

8 hours (quoted)

12 hours (quoted)

Up to 12 hours

Speaker drivers

10W (dimensions not stated)

48mm

Integrated class D digital amplifiers x 1

Waterproofing

n/a

IPX7

IP67

Groov-e Wave Glow review: how I tested

  • Tested over 14 days
  • Used with Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Twitch
  • 15 years of audio equipment reviewing experience

I used the Groov-e Wave Glow across 14 days in a wide range of ways. I connected it to my PC initially and listened to Spotify, Apple Music and Twitch using that as a source device, then moved to my iPhone 14 Pro.

That meant a solid mixture of spoken audio and also music. My music taste is fairly varied so it went from Robbie Williams to Muse to Chet Baker to various pieces of classical music. I also checked how good battery life appeared to be and monitored how long it took to recharge.

I have 15 years of experience testing audio equipment, specialising in portable, affordable products just like the Groov-e Wave Glow.

Groov-e Wave Glow: Price Comparison



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