Watch our unboxing of the Nintendo Switch Lite in the video below: The clean matte finish and surprisingly light weight (9.7oz down from the original 14oz) feels great in my hands, to the point where the clunkier patchwork body of my regular Switch and its attached Joy-Con is suddenly much more obvious than it was just a couple of weeks ago.
I was impressed from the first moment I took this lovely yellow Switch Lite out of its box (it’s also currently available in gray and turquoise), and have grown even more in love with its little tweaks and improvements as I’ve used it more over the last week. In fact, if I’m playing a game in handheld mode anyway, I’d rather do so on a Switch Lite than on a full-fledged Switch. But while the Lite can’t actually “switch,” it certainly does the mode it’s stuck in well enough to satisfy anybody looking to replace their aging Nintendo 3DS. Of course, it comes at the cost of its signature ability to dock and play on a TV, sacrificing a whole lot of flexibility in how you play. This new slimmed-down version reminds me of the Game Boy Advance in look and feel, offering a cheaper and more attractive way to play the Switch’s incredible library on the go. The original Nintendo Switch no longer feels like a proper portable device now that I’ve used the Switch Lite.
