It’s never too early to grab the Nintendo Switch Lite. Although due to be released on September 20, you can already get the system you want on launch day by ordering in advance. Best Buy is currently accepting pre-orders on all Switch Lite variants — gray, turquoise, yellow, as well as the Zacian and Zamazenta Pokemon edition. Color and visual differences aside, the four consoles are all priced at $200. Reserve yours today.
The Nintendo Switch Lite launches a few months before Black Friday, but we don’t see it getting discounted during the holiday shopping event. Nintendo is known to be stingy when it comes to console sales, so there’s really no need to wait that long before you order.
At first glance, there’s no denying that the Switch Lite is adorable. Nintendo ditched the original Switch’s modular build to give way to a smaller, lighter, and more ergonomic all-in-one design. With its length reduced, it feels sturdier, more compact, and more suitable for young kids. Whether you’re carrying it around or playing a game, it’s a superior and comfortable handheld.
Apart from changes in its design, there are significant improvements under the hood as well. The low power consumption capability of the original Switch was even made lower with this Lite model, thanks to the revised Nvidia Tegra chip. It also contributes to its enhanced battery life of 4.5 to 6 hours. In terms of performance, our review team noticed a few lags while playing in 720p, but it’s not that big of an issue that will ruin your gaming experience.
The Switch Lite carries the same operating systems as the regular model, which means the same features and issues. It did not inherit full Switch library support due to the lack of Joy-Cons, HDMI output, and dock, but it will not greatly affect your gaming options especially if you’re only using it in handheld mode.
That being said, we believe that the Nintendo Switch Lite is the company’s best handheld console yet. From appearance and battery to performance and energy efficiency, it’s built to completely transform the handheld experience. Pre-order the gray, turquoise, yellow, or the Zacian and Zamazenta Pokémon edition today on Best Buy for $200.
Looking for more? Head over or curated deals page for the latest and most exciting discounts on consoles, console games, and other gaming-related products.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.