Should I Just Buy a Switch Lite?

[karzac]

I've been putting off buying a Switch because an upgraded version has been rumoured for two and a half years now. But with no announcement from Nintendo yet, it feels like I'm just missing out on a good console for no reason. Should I just buy a Lite? It's $260 CAD, which is about $100 past impulse buy range for me, but still doable. But I'll feel dumb if I buy one and then Nintendo immediately announces Switch 2: Bait and Switch.

Does anybody here own a Lite? Do you like it?

 

[Ixo]

I've got a yellow Lite! I thought I was going to have to send it in for a battery replacement, but it turns out I hadn't had it fully charged in a long while, so it took a few rechargings to get back up to full capacity. No complaints, with the caveat that I'm a handheld kinda guy anyway.

I guess it depends on what you want to play. Ring Fit I know isn't compatible.

 

[Gaer]

Don’t get a lite. I’d just get a regular switch tbh.

Even if they announce a pro tomorrow the switch library is so fucking great that it isn’t a huge issue imo.

 

[Patrick]

It’s nice to be able to play multiplayer games on the TV. I’m 100% portable otherwise.

 

[WisteriaHysteria]

If you just really need a switch right now, and also are pinching pennies hard, then sure. Get a Lite. It's better than nothing, and it'll get you into the ecosystem. But getting a Lite is a bad proposition IMO. Consider:

- The performance of most games are tweaked for playing in docked mode, and there's more than a few games that play like booty cheeks in handheld mode.
- Joystick drift is a real thing, and mailing in your entire Switch to get repaired instead of just an affected joycon is a lot more painful proposition to have to endure.
- Even if you think you'll only ever use it in handheld mode, it's nice to have the option to have TV outputs if you do end up wanting/needing it.

 

[Phantoon]

Yeah, if you're getting a Switch don't bother with a Lite.

 

[Ghost from Spelunker]

I've heard complaints that some games have super hard-to-read text when played on a Lite.

 

[ArugulaZ]

If you buy a Switch Lite now, you'll buy a big Switch later. I had to learn this lesson myself, intending to save $100 but ultimately paying more than $500 for both systems.

See, the Lite is technically compatible with nearly 100% of the Switch library, but some games just aren't practical. Case in point? Rock of Ages 2: Bigger and Boulder. The text is so small on that screen that it's nearly useless, and in a strategy game, you need that information to play effectively. It's not a great way to play Breath of the Wild, either.

 

[karzac]

Thanks everyone. I'll probably just keep putting it off them - I don't have a great TV, so I'm going to mostly be playing the console in handheld mode anyway. But if the Lite is not good and lots of games aren't good in handheld mode anyway, then I'll just wait until I upgrade my TV.

 

[Violentvixen]

Late to this, but agree to hold off. A friend of mine just got the Lite two weeks ago and is already debating returning it to get a real one.

For the RingFit question, couldn't you pair some Joycons to the Lite then play that way? I'd never thought about it before but theoretically that would work? Curious if it doesn't for some reason though.

 

[Phantoon]

Thanks everyone. I'll probably just keep putting it off them - I don't have a great TV, so I'm going to mostly be playing the console in handheld mode anyway. But if the Lite is not good and lots of games aren't good in handheld mode anyway, then I'll just wait until I upgrade my TV.

It's not so much that the Switch Lite isn't good, it's that it isn't as good.

 

[Gaer]

It's not so much that the Switch Lite isn't good, it's that it isn't as good.

This. I play my (regular) Switch in bed all the time, and no game has been unplayable in handheld mode. It has in fact been my most played system because of this.

The Lite just doesn’t offer anything on the regular version — and the fact that the Lite has the same failure prone sticks means that when they need to be repaired you have to send your entire unit in.

 

[Violentvixen]

It's not so much that the Switch Lite isn't good, it's that it isn't as good.

Yeah, until this thread I hadn't looked at the prices and was surprised that it's more than half the price of a normal Switch. Definitely not worth losing out on that many features for the price difference. I mean, I get it, a Switch Lite isn't going to match a 2DS in price but I feel like it needs to be lower in price to justify what you're losing out on. If you buy a pair of joycons for it you've mostly eaten up the savings and you still can't connect to a TV!