Testing the Switch Lite: Nintendo transforms its hybrid console into an ideal handheld

As soon as it was released in March 2017, the Switch seduced us with a proposition made up of seductive promises, choices that were as divisive as they were exciting, and a touch of very Nintendo-esque genius.

Resolutely abandoning the race for power, it turned the strengths of its competitors against them and was at once a home console, a portable console and a console for sharing with friends, on the spur of the moment, à la bonne franquette, you might say. It’s true that, with its uninviting plastic dock, its toy-like finish, its few flaws and its colorful removable controllers, the Switch doesn’t have that slightly engrossing, self-important feel of this generation’s big consoles.

A little over two years later, Nintendo is back at it again, with a Lite version that expands the Switch family, or should we say completes it? At least, that’s the impression it gives us after a few days in its company.

A growing family

After all, it doesn’t take long to realize that it can’t and won’t replace the “classic” Switch, which remains the flagship of the range. The Switch Lite does away with removable Joy-Cons, tabletop gaming mode and, by the same token, certain games and experiences. We’re thinking here of Nintendo Labo, which will run on the new console, but won’t be playable when it comes to sliding the screen into a cardboard assembly. Of course, it will be just as difficult, not to say impossible, to enjoy multiple local multiplayer games on the same console, whether it’s Broforce,Overcooked or even Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. The Switch Lite is designed for solitary pleasure, with two hands if you like.

Mobile, but not a light

The Switch Lite’s screen does not benefit from an automatic brightness management function, as is the case on the Switch. So you have to hold down the Home button for a few seconds to manually dim the backlight to match the lighting where you’re playing. This is a shame for a handheld console that’s meant to be used everywhere, all the time.

Queen of guilty and selfish pleasure

With its three colors – bright blue and yellow, and soft, wise gray – the Lite sets itself just one task, which it intends to accomplish: satisfy your mobile gaming desires, or your egotistical gamer impulses when nothing is more important than having fun alone, without the remorse of excluding any nearby players. No remorse, because there’s no way of getting them to join in the dance.

You could argue that it’s possible to connect external controllers (Joy-Con, Pro Controller, etc.), but the mood and the means aren’t there.

For example, the Lite’s screen is smaller at 5.5 inches, compared with the Switch’s 6.2. It’s difficult to play split-screen in these conditions, and without a stand to prop it upright.

Incompatible with the Dock and unable to output its display to HDMI, the Switch Lite doesn’t put much effort into multiplayer gaming. Alone, however, the pleasure is immediate – and while the display size is reduced, the same 1280×720 pixel definition is retained, which almost gives the impression that the titles are prettier on the Switch Lite.

You may find the lines of text a little small, but those who have survived CRT screens or smartphone games should be able to cope.

All the more so as the Switch Lite takes care of the essentials. The sticks are as pleasant and supple as ever, if not quite as precise as we’d like. But above all, it offers a real D-pad! At last! It could well be your best asset for playing fighting games or escaping the hordes of monsters in Dead Cells or Blasphemous… Reactive, firm, it should do the job, even if it does have a tendency to move very slightly in its cross-shaped slot. The D-Pad alone makes up for the absence of an infra-red transmitter and “HD vibrations”.

The fact that we’ve chosen to serve only one purpose means that the Joy-Cons don’t fall victim to the compromises imposed by their dual status: being both side-mounted joysticks on the Switch and independent controllers. As we’ve said over and over again, the Lite is designed to be a portable console – even if you play it in bed – and ergonomically, it’s a win-win situation!

Compact, sturdy and lightweight!

It also meets the needs of mobile gamers in a number of other ways. First of all, thanks to thinner edges around the screen, it’s more compact, so much so that you could imagine slipping it into a large coat pocket. It’s also much lighter than its predecessor (274g vs. 398g), and you can feel it when you’re playing for long periods.

Above all, it feels more solid. When you handle it, you don’t have to worry about it breaking for no reason, a feeling you sometimes get with Switch in hand. In fact, the Switch Lite lacks the dubious flexibility attributable to detachable Joy-Cons. In fact, the Switch Lite has none of the dubious flexibility of the detachable Joy-Cons. You feel more secure. The Switch Lite isn’t made of sugar…

Narrower, it is also easy to handle, whether for a few minutes or many hours.

A little soft, the triggers are judiciously placed. The space between them and the edge buttons is comfortable, unless you want to use two fingers… The L and R buttons produce a pleasant, precise plastic click. All of them, from joysticks to simple buttons, are the right size and shape, provided you don’t have giant hands. Ergonomically speaking, this is undoubtedly the best handheld console Nintendo has ever produced.

Lite but not lightweight

As we’ve already said, the Switch Lite has been stripped of certain functions. On the other hand, it retains the same storage capacity (32 GB) and, above all, the same power. The custom Tegra chip from Nvidia is virtually identical.

To check that neither console has the advantage over the other, we carried out a few comparisons of loading times for a title from a game cartridge, from storage on both consoles, and so on. Each time, the two consoles were within a handkerchief of each other. The Switch Lite sometimes clawed back one or two seconds, but we couldn’t really tell whether this was a systematic advantage or the result of serendipity.

While Switch Lite owners will have to ensure that the game they buy is compatible with their console, it won’t be a question of power. And on the question of compatible games, we’ve happily dipped into our Switch game library without ever encountering a problem – always bearing in mind the limits mentioned above.