But this isn't a Nintendo Switch.

This is a Nintendo Switch Lite, which as the name suggests is a Switch, but smaller.

This is our first chance to really try up the Switch Lite for ourselves.

And it's a portable version of the Switch.

It's sort of like a Game Boy to the Switch's console almost.

You see the Joy-Cons don't attach.

There is a proper directional pad instead of the separate buttons which is fantastic to play on.

Another weird quirk of the Switch Lite is there's no auto-brightness censor.

You notice that it's just, there's no censor on the front.

So you can manually adjust brightness.

But you can't have it automatically do that just based on ambient light in the room.

Over here on top, you have the power and volume, Headphone jack, game card slot.

Over here on the bottom, we have USB-C for charging, speakers.

And over here, there's a micro SD card slot.

Because there's no kickstand either.

Because again, the kickstand is for table top mode when you're playing with Joy-Con attached.

And this can't do that.

And one thing I want to also point out is just how nice the plastic is on here.

Nintendo's done a really great job with just physical materials.

It's really great to hold.

It's this nice matte, tactile plastic.

It feels actually very similar to the plastic on the Joy-Con controllers.

It's even lighter than the Switch is, and the Switch was already pretty light.

And it's just really enjoyable to play on.

Battery life on the Switch Lite is important.

Because unlike the full-size Switch, you're only gonna be using this portable which means it needs to last a while.

Fortunately, Nintendo says the battery life should be good.

They're promising that it'll be better than the old full-size Switch, although the updated version of the big Switch is still gonna have the best battery life.

As for the rest, it still charges by a USB-C.

It still works with all your favorite games.

It has a gyroscope so any of the motion sensing stuff will still work like aiming in Zelda or Splatoon.

If you own a full-size Switch and you wanna switch to a Switch Lite, you can actually transfer all your stuff over.

And you're actually able to hook up additional wireless controllers like Joy-Con or Pro Controller if you wanna play games with more people locally on the Switch.

But, again, you can't hook it up to a TV.

The other two big changes on the Switch Lite are the screen and the D-Pad.

The screen is obviously slightly smaller than the old Switch, although, it still looks great.

It actually has this sort of compressed effect, kind of like what Nintendo did back with the Game Boy Micro.

It's still running at the same resolution but because it's a smaller display is actually looks slightly crisper than the old Switch.

The other change is the D-Pad.

Again, because the Joy-Cons aren't attachable, and you don't need to be able to use them as a sideways controller.

There is a regular directional pad on here which I greatly prefer.

And deeply wish I had when I was playing Celeste last year.

The Switch Lite really isn't meant to replace the full-size Switch.

If you're someone who really likes the switching nature of the Switch where you can use it on your TV or take it on the go, well, that's great.

It's still here and it still exists.

But if you're someone who just wants a really good portable console...

And Nintendo's betting that there are people like that.

The Switch Lite is great for that.

And as someone who's owned a full-size Switch for the last couple years, I honestly do use mine in portable mode most of the time anyway.

So I kinda get the appeal.

The Switch Lite will be out on September 20th for $199, which is $100 less than the full-size Switch.

And it'll be out in three colors, this blue, there's a yellow and a dark gray.

Thanks so much for watching.

For more great videos like this make sure to check out The Verge.

Like and subscribe, and now I'm gonna go back to playing Zelda.