Nintendo has finally unveiled the long rumored handheld-only Switch. The Nintendo Switch Lite is a handheld-only adaptation of the Switch hardware, allowing you to play everything that doesn’t require motion controls. The console is launching on September 20 for a price point of $199.99. Check out the announcement trailer.
The key differences are indicative of its “Lite” branding:
- The color options are Yellow, Gray and Turquoise.
- Form factor is smaller: 5.5 inch touch screen down from 6.2 inches. The weight has been reduced to .61 pounds from .88. The overall form factor has reduced from 9.4 by 4 inches to 8.2 by 3.6.
- Joy-Cons are integrated to the device. Because of this, Nintendo notes games like 1-2-Switch will require separate Joy-Cons to be paired to the device to play games that require detached Joy-Cons.
- The left-side directional buttons have been swapped out for a proper D-Pad. The joystick design seems to remain the same.
- Battery life has been quoted at 3 to 7 hours, with improvements over the full Switch in all handheld situations. Nintendo is quoting an extra hour of handheld play in games like Breath of the Wild.
- The IR sensor and HD Rumble has been removed. The IR sensor being removed also means its incompatible with the Poke-Ball Plus.
- The console cannot be docked, only charged. This means there is no video output to a TV and won’t run at any other setting than its handheld mode.
Of course, the appeal here is upgrading Nintendo 3DS owners to the full Switch catalog with a similar feature set at a reduced price. To entice players, a special Pokemon Sword & Shield edition will be sold at a later date. The Zacian and Zamazeta edition features the legendary Pokemon for the upcoming games. It will be the same price and be sold as of November 8.
Those interested in moving their existing library and saves to the Lite will be offered a data transfer service later this year, as promised by Nintendo head Doug Bowser. If you were hoping the Joy-Cons would be getting a D-Pad replacement from Nintendo, Bowser also denied any plans to do so. Are you interested?
