Nintendo Switch Lite review
Our Verdict
The $199 Switch Lite is an splendid defended handheld with a fantastic game library, though information technology may be a bit too small for bigger easily.
For
- Gorgeous, comfy design
- More portable than standard Switch
- Good battery life
- Stellar game library
Against
- Not ideal for bigger hands
- Small d-pad
- No Idiot box mode support
Tom's Guide Verdict
The $199 Switch Lite is an splendid defended handheld with a fantastic game library, though it may be a bit besides small for bigger hands.
Pros
- +
Gorgeous, comfortable pattern
- +
More portable than standard Switch
- +
Adept battery life
- +
Stellar game library
- +
Cons
- -
Not ideal for bigger hands
- -
Pocket-sized d-pad
- -
No Tv manner back up
- -
It may offering less, but in some ways the Nintendo Switch Low-cal makes a better panel than the original Nintendo Switch. It concentrates on the portability that users loved well-nigh the first version, but makes it fifty-fifty easier to take on the road.
The reduced size makes it perfect for traveling with, and the battery life is long enough to occupy you for fifty-fifty long trips. Plus it has access to what's already 1 of the best game libraries of all time, consummate with essentials like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, The Fable of Zelda: Jiff of the Wild and Super Nail Bros. Ultimate likewise as tons of tertiary-political party ports, indie games and retro titles.
If y'all desire admission to the best Nintendo Switch games and don't listen beingness express to handheld mode, the Switch Lite is a no-brainer. But some of the magic of the standard $299 Switch gets sacrificed in favor of the Lite'due south smaller size, and a few physical drawbacks hateful that folks with bigger easily should try earlier they buy.
Nintendo Switch Low-cal toll and availability
The Nintendo Switch Lite is fairly affordable at $199 US (£199.99 UK /$329.95 AU) for the console solitary. And you take a pick of four colors to option from: grey, coral, yellow, and a rather fetching turquoise.
However, both the Switch and Switch Lite have go a bit harder to track down these days due to more people picking up Nintendo'southward console to stay decorated while stuck at home, even more and so at present we're entering the vacation gift-buying catamenia. Be sure to read our guide on where to purchase Nintendo Switch for the latest availability.
Nintendo Switch Calorie-free design
I fell in honey with the Switch Lite the moment I picked it upwards — it's just that adorable. Nintendo'southward miniature Switch is one of the almost comfortable and attractive handheld consoles I've ever touched, with a compact 8.2 x 3.vi-inch blueprint that feels more than travel-friendly than the standard 9.iv 10 4-inch Switch.
The Lite's white buttons pop nicely in contrast to the system's gorgeous color options — I'thou especially addicted of our turquoise model, merely the system also looks great in yellow, gray and coral. The panel's matte finish adds some overnice extra grip, and seems to be far less prone to fingerprints than the sleeky, smudge-prone tablet on the standard model.
Despite being the smaller, cheaper Switch, the Switch Low-cal feels more well made than its bigger blood brother. The OG Switch has a lot of moving parts with its detachable Joy-Cons and big tablet display, and you tin can feel everything jerk a bit when y'all're holding the system in handheld mode. But the Switch Low-cal is a unmarried, sturdy chunk of plastic, making it feel like a true handheld rather than a display with ii controllers strapped to the sides of it.
The benefits of the Switch Lite's smaller blueprint really became apparent when I started using it on my daily commute. I felt far less conspicuous than usual when I whipped out the smaller Switch to play some SNES games on the subway, and plant myself continuing to play information technology as I stood on the platform in between train transfers. That's something I'd never do on my old Switch, which already feels massive subsequently a few days with the Light. The Switch Lite even fits into virtually of my shorts pockets, though I probably wouldn't throw information technology in at that place without a protective case.
While the Switch Lite is explicitly designed to be a dedicated handheld, it's difficult not to miss the ability to, well, Switch. You won't be connecting this system to a TV, and while you tin technically connect wireless controllers to the Switch Lite for some tabletop multiplayer activeness, the system's lack of a kickstand means you'll take to buy a defended stand up to brand that feasible (take a look at our best Nintendo Switch Calorie-free accessories list to detect one). Yet, I discover the Light to be a nearly perfect personal device in terms of size and comfort, whether I'm cozying up on the burrow with it while watching TV or taking it out on my way to the bar.
Nintendo Switch Lite controls
The Switch Lite's buttons feel a bit different than those of its bigger brother, and more often than not in a good way. The A, B, X and Y confront buttons are less snappy just offer a softer, satisfyingly longer travel, while the ZL and ZR triggers experience similar they have but a bit more give to them. The Calorie-free has the aforementioned gyroscope as its bigger brother, which allowed me to movement the organisation effectually to steer in Mario Kart viii Deluxe and aim in Splatoon two with precision.
Of class, the biggest change to the Switch Calorie-free'due south inputs is the +Control Pad directional pad, which trades in the separate directional buttons on the left Joy-Con for the kind of proper d-pad you'd expect on a portable console. Information technology's both i of my favorite things most the Switch Light, and one of the things I find most frustrating.
The Lite's d-pad was a worthy companion for navigating basic platformers such equally Super Mario World and Mega Man 11, and held upwards well every bit I frantically dropped blocks in Tetris 99. Only I constitute it way also small for more intense titles that demand pinpoint precision, as I learned the difficult way while struggling to do even the well-nigh basic special moves in the Street Fighter Anniversary Drove.
The d-pad is both i of my favorite things well-nigh the Switch Lite, and one of the things I notice most frustrating.
I fared better performing my usual combos in Mortal Kombat 11 thanks to the game's more straightforward inputs, but I still struggled to motion Sub-Zero around as precisely as I wanted. Maybe I just have huge thumbs, only equally a fighting game fanatic spoiled by the excellent Hori D-Pad on my regular Switch, I find the tiny Control Pad to exist disappointing.
The system's more than compact push layout felt especially crowded as I carefully attempted to articulate the decease-trap-laden courses of Celeste and Super Mario Maker 2 — there were even several times when my thumb knocked confronting the right analog stick when trying to button the face buttons. The Switch'due south smaller d-pad and condensed layout is fine for more deliberate titles such as Fire Emblem: Three Houses and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Enkindling, simply players with large hands might find themselves cramping up during games that need a lot of dexterity.
At that place'due south besides some potential long-term business concern in regards to the Light'due south analog sticks. Many Switch Joy-Cons have been plagued past Joy-Con migrate, in which the Switch will register slight movements even when you're not touching the sticks. Joy-Cons that migrate can simply be replaced by a new pair, merely if the Switch Light'southward analog sticks finish up interim upwards similarly (and a contempo teardown suggests they may), so you may have to end upwardly replacing your entire system.
Nintendo Switch Lite brandish
The Switch Light doesn't make as well big of a compromise with its 720p bear on display, which has been shrunken downward to 5.5 inches compared to the standard Switch'due south vi.two inches (it likewise happens to be nearly the same exact size of the screen on my iPhone eight Plus, if yous need a adept frame of reference).
Whether I was slicing up demons in the regal-hued underworlds of Bayonetta 2 or exploring the sunny Great Plateau in The Legend of Zelda: Jiff of the Wild, everything on the Switch Low-cal'southward display looked comparably bright and vibrant to the standard Switch. In fact, I find that games await a bit more than immersive on the Switch Lite, due to the thinner bezels and compatible chassis that doesn't distract from what's on screen. And bear upon controls piece of work just every bit well every bit they exercise on the original model, as I discovered while doodling some level ideas with my finger in Super Mario Maker ii.
Nintendo Switch Lite bombardment life
The Switch Calorie-free is rated for 3 to 7 hours of battery life — a little better than the OG Switch, but not quite equally good as the upwards to nine hours that the 2019 Nintendo Switch refresh promises.
Despite being the smaller, cheaper Switch, the Switch Lite feels more well fabricated than its bigger brother.
We ran the Lite through our Super Nail Bros. Ultimate battery test (which consists of continuous 8-player CPU Boom with all items turned to the max), and information technology lasted a solid three hours and 50 minutes. That's over an 60 minutes longer than what we got from the 2017 Switch (two:45), but an hour under than the four:50 that the 2019 Switch turned in. In day-to-twenty-four hour period utilize, I rarely had to plug the arrangement in throughout a few days of on-and-off play.
Folks upgrading from the launch Switch will enjoy longer battery life, but we still recommend getting ane of our best portable charger picks for longer trips.
Nintendo Switch Low-cal games
One of the best things near the Nintendo Switch Calorie-free is that information technology plays nearly all of the best Nintendo Switch games. That means yous'll have access to hot first-party games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Pokemon Sword and Shield, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey, as well as smaller titles similar Cuphead, Stardew Valley and Celeste. The Switch has one of the best game libraries of any modern console, and almost all of its titles play great on the Lite.
There is ane caveat, however: the Switch Calorie-free is but designed to play Switch games that support handheld mode. So if you want to play titles such equally ane-2 Switch, Super Mario Party and Ring Fit Adventure on your Switch Calorie-free, you'll need to pair a few Joy-Con controllers (sold separately) and find a way to prop your Switch Lite upwards. Fortunately, pairing Joy-Cons to Nintendo Switch Lite is pretty easy.
Nintendo Switch Calorie-free verdict
As a Switch owner, I accept no need for Nintendo's $199, handheld-simply version of its wildly popular console. Just the system's meaty, adorable design is near impossible to resist. It's the perfect companion for subway trips, plane rides and merely hanging on the couch, and if y'all're looking for the cheapest entry bespeak into the Switch's bang-up game library, the Low-cal is the one to get.
Still, there is a sure magic to docking a regular Switch and instantly resuming your handheld game session on a TV, or to sliding off your Switch's Joy-Cons and passing one to a friend for instant tabletop Smash sessions. If that part of the Switch experience is important to y'all, you're better off with the standard $299 Nintendo Switch. It'southward besides worth keeping in mind that rumors are heating upwards effectually a Nintendo Switch 2, which could bring fifty-fifty more powerful functioning to Nintendo's hybrid panel in the near futurity. And in our Nintendo Switch OLED hands-on we chew over the changes made to upgrade the original Switch to a slightly more premium mode.
Overall, if all y'all're looking for is a dedicated handheld that plays great games on the go, the Switch Calorie-free is one of the all-time handheld gaming consoles out in that location.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/nintendo-switch-lite
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