2019, Video game console
WISE Score
Nintendo's $229.99 handheld: the Switch game library for one kid at a time, with no TV mode.
The Switch Lite plays most of the Switch library, which is the best collection of games for 5- to 10-year-olds on any device, at the lowest price Nintendo sells. It is a strong pick for one kid, for car trips, or as a second console next to a family Switch.
It is a weaker pick as the only console in a house with siblings. It cannot go on the TV, and the movement games families play together need extra controllers.
Fits from about 5, when small hands can manage the buttons and Nintendo's games are made for them, through about 12. It suits one kid playing on their own. Two siblings who want to play together on one console are better served by a regular Switch.
It plays the Switch library, the deepest shelf of games made for kids: Mario, Kirby, Animal Crossing, Pokemon.
The same creative and exploration games as any Switch, from Animal Crossing to Super Mario Bros. Wonder.
Nintendo's Parental Controls app sets daily limits, rating filters and purchase rules, and a handheld is easy to keep in shared rooms.
Strong puzzle, building and reading-heavy games are available; it loses the active, play-together games that need detached Joy-Con.
Nintendo released the Switch Lite on September 20, 2019, as a smaller, cheaper, handheld-only version of the Nintendo Switch. The controls are part of the body, the touch screen is 5.5 inches, and it weighs less than a regular Switch with its Joy-Con attached. It costs $229.99 in the US, up from $199.99 after Nintendo's August 2025 price increase.
The controls are built in, so there is nothing to detach or lose.
Every Switch game that supports handheld mode, which covers most of the library: Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe all work. For 5- to 10-year-olds, no other device has as many good games made for them.
A single kid who plays mostly on their own, a family that travels, or a household that already has a TV-connected Switch and wants a second screen so siblings stop fighting over one. Two kids each with a Lite can play many games together over local wireless. As the only console in a house with siblings who want to play side by side, the regular Switch is worth the extra money.
The free Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app works on the Lite the same as on any Switch: a daily play-time limit that can suspend the game or only remind, game restrictions by rating, purchase limits in the eShop, and a daily report of what was played. Online play in games like Mario Kart needs a Nintendo Switch Online membership.
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