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Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Switch Lite: What should you buy?

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Switch Lite: What should you buy?

Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Switch, Switch Lite and Switch Pro controller
(Paradigm credit: Tom'southward Guide)

The Nintendo Switch OLED is finally here, and it's a tempting prospect — especially if you lot don't already ain a Switch.

Notwithstanding, if you're looking to buy Nintendo'south handheld hybrid for the first time, y'all shouldn't merely grab the OLED version and call information technology a 24-hour interval. There are iii Switch variations from which to choose — the premium Switch OLED, the inexpensive Switch Low-cal and the middle-of-the-road base Switch —  and each one offers certain advantages and drawbacks.

The adept news is that there aren't a tremendous number of differences among the three models. No matter which Switch you get, yous'll exist able to play the aforementioned games, navigate the same interface and savour the same handheld feel. What sets the Switch models apart, for the most function, are their screen sizes and their TV connectivity, and those features are all easy to explain.

The Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Light contest doesn't have to be a complicated issue if you lot know what you're looking for and how much you lot want to spend. Hither are the similarities and differences among the three devices.

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Lite: Specs

Nintendo Switch OLED Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch Lite
Price $350 $300 $200
Screen vii-inch OLED, 720p, 60 Hz 6-inch LCD, 720p, 60 Hz 5.5-inch LCD, 720p, 60 Hz
Dimensions 9.4 x four.0 x 0.vi inches ix.4 x iv.0 10 0.six inches 8.2 10 3.six x 0.6 inches
Weight fourteen.9 ounces xiv.1 ounces 9.8 ounces
Battery Life 4.v to 9 hours 4.5 to 9 hours* iii to vii hours
Storage 64 GB 32 GB 32 GB
Television receiver Docking Yes Yes No
Detachable Joy-Cons Yes Aye No
Color Options Blackness and White / Reddish and Blueish Gray / Red and Bluish Gray / Turquoise / Yellow/ Pink / Regal

* 2019 and later. Models from 2018 and earlier offer 2.5–half-dozen.v hours

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Lite: Similarities

Get-go things first: No thing which Switch you buy, you'll be able to play exactly the aforementioned games. That's extremely important to know. Nintendo has not limited any of its games' compatibilities based on the version of the Switch you own, and it's unlikely to do then in the future. Every Switch console tin can play every Switch game, via either a physical cartridge or a digital download.

Nintendo Switch Bluetooth audio settings

(Paradigm credit: Henry T. Casey)

Similarly, the guts of each Nintendo Switch model are functionally identical. Each one runs off of a custom Nvidia Tegra X1 chipset, with 4 GB RAM and a microSD menu slot to aggrandize storage.

There are two slight differences here: the Switch Low-cal runs a Tegra X1+ chip, which improves battery life for the smaller device. The Switch OLED offers 64 GB internal storage, as opposed to the base of operations Switch and Switch Lite, which each offer 32 GB. The Tegra X1+ does not announced to enhance the Switch Low-cal's gaming operation, all the same. Likewise, the storage differences aren't super-important, since information technology'south both easy and cheap to aggrandize storage via microSD.

Nintendo Switch microSD

(Epitome credit: SanDisk)

Every Switch model functions in a handheld mode; every Switch model uses the same straightforward Os to navigate through games and apps; every Switch model supports Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth audio and a handful of USB-C accessories.

If you take the Switch Lite out of the motion-picture show for a moment, the similarities are even more striking. The base Switch and Switch OLED are exactly the aforementioned size and almost the same weight. They offering nearly the aforementioned battery life. They can both connect to TVs and detach their Joy-Cons for impromptu multiplayer sessions.

Nintendo switch oled controllers and TV display

(Image credit: Tom'due south Guide)

In other words: while the 3 Switch models aren't exactly interchangeable, yous can't go too incorrect with any of them.

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Light: Blueprint

The Switch and Switch OLED are, for the nearly office, interchangeable in terms of concrete design. While the base Switch is a lilliputian lighter (less than an ounce), they both share the same profile: a central touchscreen tablet with a detachable Joy-Con controller on either side.

Nintendo Switch OLED joycons connected to base

(Image credit: Nintendo)

In that location are two main differences between the base Switch and the Switch OLED, apart from their screens. The showtime is that the OLED has larger, more robust speakers. The second is that the OLED has a study kickstand that runs the length of the whole device, while the base Switch has a flimsy kickstand that takes upwards only a few inches of space.

Image 1 of 2

Nintendo Switch OLED top view of headphone jack and game card slot

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Image 2 of ii

Nintendo Switch

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The Switch Lite, on the other hand, is a different fauna altogether. It's a much smaller console (viii inches across instead of 9-and-a-half), and doesn't have any options to dock it with a Television set. As such, you can play it just in handheld way.

nintendo switch lite

(Image credit: Tom'south Guide)

The controls are also hardwired into the console, and so at that place are no Joy-Cons to remove. The Switch Light does have ane large benefit over its bigger brethren, though: an bodily D-Pad rather than four uncomfortable directional buttons.

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Lite: Screen

The virtually noticeable — and maybe most substantial — differences among the three consoles are their screens. All three of them are dissimilar sizes, and one of them is made from a different material.

In this case, the base Switch and Switch Lite have the nearly in common. Both are traditional LCD screens. The merely difference is that the base Switch'due south screen is vi inches diagonally, whereas the Switch Light'southward screen is v-and-a-half inches diagonally.

Nintendo Switch

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

The Switch OLED, on the other hand, is a different beast. Not just is the screen bigger (vii inches diagonally), but it'southward as well not a traditional liquid crystal display. Instead, it's based on organic light-emitting diode engineering science. Without going on a long tangent near what OLED is, OLED screens by and large produce more than vibrant colors and deeper blacks.

Nintendo switch oledn handheld display

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

In terms of output, however, all three screens are identical: 720p resolution at up to 60 frames per second.

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Lite: Dock and Boob tube compatibility

The chief disadvantage of the Switch Low-cal is that you can't connect it to a Boob tube. It'south a pretty sizable drawback. Obviously,  Nintendo considers the ability to switch betwixt handheld and docked modes of import enough to name the whole console after the characteristic.

Nintendo Switch Lite new blue colorway

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Nevertheless, there are some folks out there who actually have no interest in playing the Switch on a Tv screen. The Switch Lite is also arguably a good match for younger kids, specially if at that place's a famine of shareable TVs in the house.

nintendo switch oled

(Epitome credit: Nintendo)

The base of operations Switch and Switch OLED can both connect to a Goggle box without issue, every bit each one comes with a dock. The docks, however, are e'er-so-slightly different. The Switch OLED dock comes with a built-in Ethernet port, whereas the base Switch dock doesn't. If you want to apply a LAN connection in docked mode, then getting a Switch OLED is a no-brainer for that reason lonely.

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Low-cal: Controllers

The Nintendo Switch OLED and base Switch accept exactly the same controller options. By default, they come with two detachable Joy-Cons. The Joy-Cons are versatile controllers. You can combine both of them in a controller mount; you can play with one in each mitt; you tin even use each Joy-Con as a tiny standalone controller, in case yous want to go a spontaneous multiplayer match going.

Nintendo Switch joycons

(Paradigm credit: Tom's Guide)

The Switch Calorie-free, by contrast, doesn't have detachable controllers. What you meet is what y'all get.

Nintendo Switch Lite and paired joycons

(Image credit: Tom'due south Guide)

Granted, you could pair Joy-Cons (or the superior Switch Pro Controller) with whatsoever of the Switch models, including the Lite. Just since the Switch Lite doesn't stand freely, using external controllers with it is a bit of a challenge. Yous'd have to buy a third-political party case or stand.

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Lite: Battery life

Due to its smaller chassis, the Switch Lite also has a smaller battery. Depending on the game, the Switch Calorie-free tin can get between three and seven hours of battery life. (More enervating games, like Zelda and Metroid, tend to drain the battery faster than retro or indie fare.) In our own testing, the Switch Low-cal lasted for three hours and 18 minutes on a single charge.

Nintendo Switch Lite

(Image credit: Time to come)

The Switch OLED and base Switch theoretically have the same battery life: between iv-and-a-half and nine hours, according to Nintendo. The OLED screen is bigger, but likewise more than ability-efficient.

Nintendo switch oled handheld display

(Prototype credit: Tom's Guide)

This calculus changes, however, depending on whether you have a launch-model Switch (from 2017 or 2018) or a refreshed Switch (from tardily 2019 to the nowadays). Back in November 2019, Nintendo slapped a more efficient battery into the base model, which means that newer Switches but have more bombardment life than older models do. The good news is that if you buy a new Switch today, you're guaranteed to get the 2019 refresh.

In our ain testing, the Switch OLED got 5 hours of bombardment life on the dot, while the launch-model base of operations Switch got 3 hours and 27 minutes. The 2019 refresh of the base Switch did meliorate, though, at iv hours and 40 minutes. That ways the Switch OLED probably has the best battery life among the three systems. But your exact playtime can modify dramatically, depending on the game, the screen brightness, the volume and so forth.

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Light: Toll

Some other major difference among the 3 Switch models is how Nintendo has priced them. The Switch OLED is the most expensive of the agglomeration at $350; the Switch Light is the cheapest at $200; the base of operations Switch is in-between at $300.

The price differences are easy enough to explain. The Switch OLED is the most feature-rich of the three devices, so information technology costs the most. Besides, the Switch Lite cuts out a lot of ballast to go to $200.

The only sticking signal is the base Switch. At $300, information technology'due south arguably still pretty expensive, given that the OLED is a much improve system for just $50 more. (To put things in perspective: an Ethernet adapter lone costs $thirty).

Still, the base Switch recently got a price cut in Europe; mayhap North America will follow adapt.

Nintendo Switch OLED vs. Nintendo Switch vs. Nintendo Switch Lite: Recommendations

The Switch model you should become depends on your budget and your preferences. If money is no object and you want the full-featured Switch, get the Switch OLED. If money is tight, or you lot can't imagine ever hooking the device up to a Telly, go for the Switch Lite. I will say that the Switch Lite is a pretty easy recommendation for young children, but tweens and teens will appreciate the base of operations or OLED Switch's versatility.

At present, I can't think of a peachy use-case for the base Switch. For an additional $50, the OLED is a considerably better production, specially its screen and kickstand, and the two models' functionality is identical otherwise.

All the same, if the base Switch does become a toll cut — to $250, for case — then I think it could detect its ain niche. One time you hook up the Switch OLED to a Television set, its screen, speakers, and kickstand are meaningless. Therefore, if you intend to play your Switch largely in docked way, a cheaper base of operations Switch could make a whole lot of sense.

Until that happens, though, stick with the Switch OLED — or the Switch Calorie-free, if you desire to save some money.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a scientific discipline writing groundwork, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. Afterward hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/nintendo-switch-oled-nintendo-switch

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