The sun is setting. I’m surrounded by beautiful trees, rustic architecture, and there’s a faint glimmer of a turquoise slab in the distance. I see the title screen of Links Awakening inviting me on the display of the latest Nintendo Switch Lite. This is when I immediately knew there the night wouldn't last long enough. While the setting felt like something out of a murder mystery novel, it wasn’t hard to ignore my surroundings and focus in on what the latest Nintendo console had to offer.

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The Nintendo Switch Lite makes its presence known from the very second you hold the device in your hands. The joy-cons are permanently attached to the console, giving the Lite a sleek unibody finish that allows Nintendo to make the various colours pop even more. I tested the turquoise Switch Lite and it looked fantastic. The contrast between the turquoise shell and white buttons give it a distinguished look that will definitely differentiate it from the normal Switch. Your other colour options come in the form a dark grey and yellow, with the Pokemon Sword and Shield version boasting the game’s colours. You’ll have to wait for the special edition console, as it is scheduled to launch at the same time as the game.



In terms of build quality, I had enough confidence to hold the Lite, without worrying what would happen if I dropped it. The console felt sturdy but equally light in the hand. Heavy enough for you to know you’re holding onto something, but light enough that extended hours of gaming wouldn’t create massive fatigue in your arms. One noticeable difference comes from the joy-con buttons. The directional pad makes an appearance on the Switch Lite - which makes me wish the traditional Switch shipped with this - alongside very, very soft buttons. There is a more tactile click on the triggers, but the other buttons feel like you’re pushing down on a cushion. I, for one, appreciate more tactile button presses, but with the Switch Lite, you get the sense that you won’t get tired sitting on this console for hours. The button’s feedback will probably something that you feel differently about, but I feel like that solely depends on the person. Personally, I was not a fan of the buttons feeling so soft. That being said, the now fixed joy-cons feel like a major upgrade over the traditional Switch.

Considering that the Switch Lite has been designed with long gaming sessions in mind, it would only make sense that the battery life sees an improvement. Well, in my testing, I noticed that Links Awakening sipped on the battery, dropping a mere 4 percent in 30 minutes. This will definitely vary from game to game, but you won’t be left disappointed in the battery department. We will have to put the Lite through its paces during our full review.



That is probably aided by the fact that the Switch Lite has a smaller screen (5.5-inches). The screen may be smaller than the traditional Switch, but the console itself was much than I expected. Putting the consoles side-by-side, you can see the difference but it feels like you’re holding something closer to a phablet in your hand, rather than a portable console. The console doesn’t feel too small, as to hinder your gaming experience, but it’s small enough to fit into your pocket comfortably (something my colleagues did on multiple occasions throughout the night). Everything else felt pretty much the same as the Switch. That being said, I noticed the lack of vibration motors felt odd and that the buttons do take getting used to. It is going to be interesting to see how the joy-con controllers being integrated into the Lite affect their lifespan over longer periods of time. The normal Switch had the benefit of being able to just change the controllers whenever you experienced any issues, so the Switch Lite’s controllers need to handle a lot more pressure before giving out.

Other features are pretty much the same as the normal Switch, but we never got to test out which accessories aren’t compatible with it yet. That being said, Mario Odyssey still had full gyro controls, which you could access by shaking your Switch Lite, instead of just the joy-con.



For R3,999, you are getting a lot of life improvement features that even the traditional Switch goes without. That being said, you lose the very ability to go from desktop to handheld mode. I love to have the flexibility of both handheld and desktop modes, so this console will not appeal to me. However, there are people who will only ever want to use their Switch in handheld mode, and the Switch Lite caters perfectly to that audience.

The Nintendo Switch Lite did enough in its initial impressions to justify why it exists, but living with the product in my daily life will determine if it can truly keep up. The Switch Lite is definitely not going to replace its larger sibling, but does it do enough to justify you not spending the extra money for a traditional Switch? We will have to give it the review treatment to determine the answer to that. Stay tuned to Nexus for more.