New Nintendo Switch Lite Color Lands Just In Time For Summer

Nintendo first released the Switch Lite in September 2019, and while the handheld console seemed primed to receive a bunch of models in different colors, Nintendo has been fairly slow to roll out new ones. Aside from the three colors the Switch Lite launched in – gray, turquoise, and yellow – the only other standard color that's been added to the lineup was coral way back in March 2020. This drought of new Switch Lite colors is finally coming to an end, as Nintendo will introduce a new one next month.

As announced today, Nintendo is launching the Switch Lite in a blue color scheme in May. Those of us here in the US can expect to see the blue Switch Lite drop on May 21st, so it'll be arriving just in time for summer here in the States. As with all of the other standard Switch Lite color options, the blue model will run $199.99 when it launches.

That, of course, is $100 less than the standard Switch, so Switch Lite buyers save a fair amount of money in exchange for some lost functionality. Unlike the standard Switch, the Switch Lite is purely a handheld system – it can't be used with a dock and can't even output to a TV. The Switch Lite comes with integrated controls instead of removable Joy-Cons like its fully-featured big brother, though it does allow for Joy-Cons and other controllers to be connected wirelessly.

Here in the US, the blue Switch Lite's May 21st release date coincides with the release of Miitopia, a Switch remaster of the original 3DS game. We're not sure if Nintendo plans to offer any Miitopia and blue Switch Lite bundles, but if it is, it made no indication of that today.

Perhaps now that vaccines are rolling out on a global scale and we may be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic, we'll see Nintendo release more colors for the Switch Lite on a faster schedule? Time will tell, but look for this blue Switch Lite to drop on May 21st.