Nintendo Switch Lite first impressions
Nintendo Switch Lite first impressions
8:34

Nintendo Switch Lite first impressions

Consoles
I just played the Nintendo Switch Lite, which is Nintendo's new game system that's coming out in the fall. I have mixed feelings about it. This is not it. This is the original Nintendo Switch, because I wasn't able to take photos or videos of the Switch Lite. [MUSIC] And the Switch Lite is $200, so it's $200 less than the Switch. And that's important. It's kind of more of the price of the Nintendo 3DS are the 2DS and all those systems that are out there, but the switch light doesn't have a lot of the features that make the switch will switch. It doesn't connect to a TV for instance, it doesn't work with the switches dock at all. It doesn't have detachable controllers. So while the switch has these icons that pop out The Switch Light, those controllers or the controls are stuck to the body, kinda like a Playstation Vita or the Nintendo 3DS. The Switch Light also doesn't have a rumble and I kinda miss that because I like having the rumble feedback when I play games. Some of the games actually really take advantage of that. And the Switch Light doesn't have a kickstand. Do you use the kick stand? I mean I do sometimes, if I'm playing games with the controller, you can't do that. I feel like the switch light feels a little bit more durable than the slightly, flexy feel I get at times with the switch. And it also has D-pad here. Instead of these buttons, there's a real full D-pad, which is great if you're playing NES games or other retro games. One of the biggest advantagies to the swich light could be battery life. And Nintendo says that it should be about 20 to 30% more battery life than the switch. Now Switch has about three hours or a little less depending on what game you play. So I can't tell where that lands in the 20 minutes of game play that I have. I certainly wasn't able to test that. But any bit helps. I'd like to try to get to five hours. Certainly when the 3DS XL did that, that was a big help for plane flights, so we'll see. There's still a heat vent on the Switch Light, but it's not as large as the one on the Nintendo Switch. I'm not wild about the vent. And it does sometimes pump bad heat. Sometimes it gets a little noisy when playing certain games. I haven't been able to see what the switch lights vent feels like, but it definitely looks less prominent. However, that also leads to the part about the processor Nintendo says there's a more efficient but also probably a little less powerful processor on the switch light. Which means that while it works fine on the switch light, that's why can't output those games in 1080p on a TV, which is a shame, and apparently you will not be able to do it at all like don't even try with an adapter. The USBC port on the switch light will not output video. Now while the Nintendo Switch light won't do video output via USBC, Nintendo does suggest that if you find the right third party dongle, you might be able to use it to connect, To USB-A peripherals, like some sort of game cube controller. That's cool, but that's not really the same thing for me. One interesting thing about the Switch Lite, though, is you can connect other controllers to it. I didn't get a chance to test this. But you could take Joy-Cons or the Switch Pro and connect it to the Switch Lite. But without a kickstand, what are you gonna do? You're gonna have to get some case and prop it up somehow And then play games on its 5.5 inch screen. Now, let's get to the size of the Switch Lite. How big is this? I'll tell you to the best of my abilities. I actually held this Switch up to it and it feels like removing one of the [UNKNOWN], it pretty much comes to this length. So it's thinner and it's lighter, but terms of hand field, you got to switch from one of the icons and hold it in your hand. That's kind of what you're dealing with. And it's nice because it feels a little less long, but it's not as small as the PlayStation either, which it starts to really resemble because once you've got those controllers, and you've got that screen, You're in [UNKNOWN] country but it feels like something you could probably slip into a jacket pocket. I don't think it would fit into your pocket of your pants unless you have really big pant pockets. And that 5.5 inch screen looks like it has a little bit less hassle, which is good. One little note on the screen. It doesn't have auto display. Brightness adjustment, which is on the switch. But I find on mine that kinda gets a little bit over-extreme in some instances and I turn that off. On a 5.5 inch screen, can you make out everything on the games that you would on a normal Switch, which has a 6.2 inch screen? Well, the four games that I got to play were Super Mario Odyssey, Zelda Breath of the Wild, Smash Brothers ultimate, Mario Kart eight Deluxe for about like 20 minutes total. They all looked great on the screen, but the pixels are a little more dense because it's a smaller display. I'm curious about text in particular, whether there'll be any games That's suddenly becoming really too small to read. I already find there are a couple of Switch games out there that are not as great to play on the handheld and you wanna plug them into a TV, which you can't do on the Switch Lite. There are games on the Switch that are not made for handheld mode, games like One Two Switch, remember that one? Or Just dance. Those games are meant to be docked into a TV. You could use them on the Switch Lite. Again, if you found a way to prop up the Switch Lite and you paired Joy-Con controllers with it, you could play those games, but it wouldn't be ideal. The one set of games that you can't play on the Switch Lite, Nintendo Labo. Nintendo Lambo, I liked Nintendo lab I think it's really cool. Not everybody loves it, but that transforming cardboard stuff. Those are really specifically tailored obviously to the screen size of the original switch and also to the joy cons and how they pair None of that will translate. So if you're thinking about getting those, get an original switch. Another thing that was dropped from the switch light that is in the joy cons of the original switch is the IR camera. The only games I can think of, that use that IR camera or the lab O series of games, And 1-2 Switch. So maybe it's not such a bad thing to ditch that, but it was a kind of an interesting feature. FYI both the Switch and the Switch Lite have headphone jacks, but they do not support Bluetooth headphones, which is annoying. But just so you know Who is the switch light for? It's a good question. I think if you're a hardcore gamer, somebody who really loves docking the switch, obviously the switch light is not for you. It does seem like a great second switch, like if you are looking for a switch for your kids, or if you don't care about connecting to a TV, you just want something that's kind of like the next generation 3DS. Well then you wanna switch to a Switch Lite. But what do you do if you have two Switches in your house? Would you be able to keep one in front of your TV and then take the Switch Lite on the road with you? That was a question that I asked to Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America's president. He did say that there is some sort of a solution that is in the works to take experiences with you. More to come, I am really curious what that is. I do not know if that might mean that finally Nintendo makes it easier to work across multiple devices. I hope so. Because otherwise I don't think I would make the switch to the switch light. I wouldn't give up the connection to the TV, I wouldn't give up the modularity and move my library over to a more limited handheld. That's the problem for anyone who already owns a switch. But again I don't think the Switch light is for current owners of the switch. I think it's for other people that weren't considering the switch. That might now think of it just for the game library. So hopefully that's helpful. When we tend to make a sequel to the fuller feature and switch the one that's modular. That would be really cool. Nintendo has said nothing about that. I asked about that. And so far, it's all systems go with the older version of the switch plus the swish light. You got to think that some point that's going to happen if you're interested in that some sort of Really much more advanced switch. A next step forward. Stay put, get the original switch, get one that's on sale. Stick with the one you've got if you've got one, because the switch light is not that. It seems like one of those things like a lower priced phone, or kind of like Nintendo did with the 3ds to the 2ds to try to create a more budget model. I don't think it's necessarily a bad move, I actually like the way the hardware feels better. I just wish that it was also modular. Or at least the thing I really miss is having that ability to do video out, because that would open up so many possibilities to it. But there's not that. So those are my thoughts on my Nintendo Switch Lite, after playing it for all of 20 minutes. and getting a chance to talk about it with Nintendo, we will eventually have one to review somewhere around September 20th. Thanks for watching. [MUSIC]

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