Hands On With Nintendo’s Switch Lite

What is the definitive Nintendo handheld? Ask around and you'll get a different answer each time. For me, the Nintendo DS Lite remains king, in all its stylish, small, sturdy-as-hell glory. It was the perfect pocket-sized revision to the chunky DS that allowed me to sneak Sonic Rush into my elementary-school math classes and zip around, collecting emeralds instead of learning my multiplication tables.

With the Nintendo Switch Lite, Nintendo is hoping to snag a new generation of kids with a slightly more backpack-ready version of its popular Switch console.

Sure, the smaller size sets the Switch Lite apart from its larger Switch cousin, but the aside from that, the key differentiating feature is your television. The standard Switch is a hybrid game console that can work as a handheld machine, or can be slid into a dock so you can play games on your TV screen. The Lite is mobile-only and does not connect to a big screen. It doesn’t have removable controllers on its side, either. (Read our guide for more on the differences.) Despite its inability to broadcast to a TV, the Lite can still play most Switch games that support portable mode.

I had the opportunity to try out Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at Nintendo’s ritzy Switch Lite hands-on event in New York City. (And I do mean ritzy; they served hummus in glass jars.) Both games ran well and I walked away quite impressed. Frame rates were steady and the Lite’s 720p screen was as vibrant and crisp as the regular Switch. It played like a Switch in portable mode.

Not having detachable Joy-Cons felt strange, though. Since the controllers for the Lite are baked into the hardware, you can't pop them off the sides of the screen. It made the Lite feel a lot like Nintendo’s old Wii U gamepad—the cumbersome, bulky progenitor of the Switch family. The Lite is definitely a lot slimmer than that gamepad, but holding it feels similar.