Nintendo Switch Lite Review – IGN



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The original Nintendo Switch no longer looks like a good portable device, now that I've used the Switch Lite. This new lightweight version reminds me of the general look of the Game Boy Advance, providing a cheaper and more attractive way to play Switch's incredible library on the move. Of course, this is to the detriment of its ability to anchor and play on a TV, which makes it lose a lot of flexibility. But although the Lite can not really "switch", it is perfectly suited to the mode in which it is stuck to satisfy anyone looking to replace their old Nintendo 3DS. In fact, if I still play a game in handheld mode, I prefer to do it on a Switch Lite than a Switch in its own right.

I was impressed from the first moment when I pulled out of its packaging this charming yellow Switch Lite (it is also currently available in gray and turquoise), and I became more and more in love with his little ones changes and improvements because I have been using it more and more the last week. The matte and surprisingly light finish (9.7 ounces below the original) is nice in my hands, so much so that the thorniest patchwork body of my usual Switch and its attached Joy-Con is suddenly much more obvious than it was a few weeks ago.

Watch our unboxing of the Nintendo Switch Lite

in the video below:

Although the Lite's screen is certainly smaller (5.5 inches instead of the 6.2-inch screen of the original), it does not really have that feeling during playback. I am immediately accustomed to it and barely noticed; Instead, when I returned to my usual switch, its screen suddenly seemed noticeably large. This is a small distinction, but it does mean that the size of the Lite seems fast natural and not reduced. And even if the games that already have a problem with the text difficult to read as Fire Emblem: Three Houses or Dragon Quest Builders 2 certainly still have this problem, the Lite version does not make the situation worse as I feared.

The LCD screen is charming too. From what I can say, the games seem to play pretty much the same way here as on the original performance, the graphics seeming even slightly improved sometimes because of the slightly higher pixel density that results from the identical 720p resolution crammed into a smaller space. I appreciated that the bezel around the screen of the Lite is also a little thinner, thanks in part to the lack of Joy-Con tracks on each side.

The Lite's screen is certainly smaller, but it does not feel as long as you do not look at the original.


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However, a disadvantage of this slim body that I have already come across is from its speakers. They have a sound quite similar to the original ones, but adjusting the volume to higher levels may vibrate certain music tracks or certain sounds of the game like a phone that rings, which is a bit ironic because the Lite does not have a built-in rumble controller. It's not a huge problem, and obviously it disappears completely if you use headphones, but it can be really annoying to vibrate my fingers all the time when I play a small subset of games.

Regarding headphones, the fact that the Lite – a portable device marketed in 2019 – does not support Bluetooth headphones without adapter is not a cause for concern. It was a strange omission when the Switch came out two years ago, but it's even more confusing with this mobile-centric iteration. You can certainly buy a third USB-C dongle at a price between 30 and 50 USD that allows you to pair with any headphones (I tried the one designed for the original switch and it worked really well here) but the fact that you are always forced to appear as a bad choice.

Will Lite be your first Switch? Here are our favorite games for this:

Top 25 IGN Nintendo Switch Games

In the plus column, the buttons built into the Lite are a tangible improvement over the traditional Joy-Con. The joysticks and shoulder buttons are almost identical, but the buttons on the face have sharper edges and depress a little further, making them more tactile to use. The all-new D-pad that replaces the Joy-Con's left directional buttons is also a fantastic addition: it does not have the clarity of other D-pads like the Xbox One controller or the Switch Pro controller, but it is far better than any other third-party switch option I've tried and let my thumb roll easily between directions in a precision platformer game like Celeste. The Lite may not be an upgrade from the original in terms of power, but it is under construction.

The only controls that do not hold up well are the motion controls. They still work well for small movements such as pointing a bow in Breath of the Wild, but having no Joy-Con to detach means activities such as shaking them to ride faster in Super Mario Odyssey or the already boring puzzles of sanctuary with motion control from Zelda. If you shake the whole system or turn it physically, you can not even see the screen making some parts of those games unreadable.

The new D-pad is great, but games that require motion controls suffer a lot.


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You can of course synchronize separately purchased wireless controllers (be it Joy-Con, Pro controllers, or other third-party options) for a much more usable setup, but without a built-in kickstand, you'll still need to Lite screen in another way while you hold this controller in your hands. Likewise, the Lite's inability to anchor on a TV makes cooperative games on a single system a difficult fight. Theoretically, you can still play them on a single Lite, but I'm not sure I want to play games like Overcooked, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with four people huddling around an even smaller screen.

Obviously, this system was not designed for this derived system. Without the hybrid nature of the original, the Lite is a good handheld and must be treated as such. Just because some games can running on this new model does not necessarily mean that you should to be playing them here. This is even more evident in Joy-Con-centric games, such as Super Mario Party and Snipperclips, which both require you to play with a solitary Joy-Con. (By context, buying a pair of $ 80 Joy-Con over the $ 200 Lite would be almost the same as the $ 300 Standard Switch.) Meanwhile, the Labo Cardboard accessories are totally incompatible with the Lite. .

Here's a preliminary video describing five games that could be problematic on the Lite:

Nevertheless, the idea that a $ 200 device is small enough to fit in my pocket (my heartfelt condolences to those of you cursed with the tiny pockets of women's pants) allows you to play gigantic games such as Breath of the Wild, Skyrim, Doom and soon even The Witcher 3 is amazing. It may be a dedicated handheld, but it offers access to an incredible library of games that far exceeds what we previously thought possible with a device of this type. Of course, their performance or gameplay may vary from more powerful consoles, but it can be done.

There are other features missing here and there, things like snoring and automatic brightness adjustment, but these are usually just minor annoyances. The battery life is slightly longer than that of a launch switch, but it is unfortunately shorter than the recently revised version that has recently replaced it, from three to seven hours, decent but commonplace, according to the games. But these small disadvantages do not outweigh all the improvements that have been made and, finally, if I play in portable mode, I would prefer to do it on a Lite version. All you have to do is sacrifice the TV mode completely for these benefits. .

However, it should be noted that the Lite does not solve (but does not do worse) some lingering inconvenience of the base model. Given the low cost of memory nowadays, I would have liked a version with more than 32GB of built-in storage – although you can easily use an SD card to expand it, as well as to install a new one. ; usual. It is also quite hot (but not disturbing) at times like the original, and it still lacks basic console features such as an Internet browser, a Netflix application or a way to use it. manually arrange the games on your home screen. huge on a wearable device, but remains a strange oversight nowadays.

Added to this is the imminent threat of the now famous drift of the joystick. Even though I have not experienced this with our Lite, a small number of people have already reported that some people have seen their Lite controllers start to drift slightly in the same way as the joystick controllers. con. This is really a concern, a Nintendo has happily resolved to repair for free since it became a widely known problem, but shipping your entire system for repair is far less convenient than doing it for a single Joy-Con, free or no. Frankly, the idea that Nintendo did not consider the Lite as an opportunity to find a permanent solution to this problem is disconcerting.

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