H OTS T U F F

If you’ve ever been tempted to glue your
Switch’s Joy-Cons to the sides of Ninty’s
hybrid handheld, put down the console
and step away from the Pritt Stick. Such
drastic measures are no longer necessary
if you pick up a Switch Lite instead.
Dedicated to playing in handheld mode
only, the Lite can’t be hooked up to your
TV like a normal Switch can, so the controls
are now built in. It’s had to lose a few
features to make room, so the screen
is 5.5in rather than 6.2in, there’s no
kickstand, and the IR motion camera and
HD Rumble have been removed, although
Nintendo has managed to squeeze about
30 minutes of extra life out of the battery
to suit its more nomadic existence.
Performance is identical, though, and you
still get Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC on board,
and you can play local or online multiplayer
games against owners of both types of
Switch – so if it’s a boredom killer you’re
after for your commute, the Switch Lite
could be the answer. Did we mention
it comes out on the same day as the
rebooted version of Link’s Awakening?
The queue starts over there...
As hot as... Bowser’s used toothpicks
£199 / nintendo.co.uk

If you thought carefully curating a

collection of vintage vinyl was enough

to ingratiate yourself with the regulars

down at the local avocado bar, we’ve got

bad news: vinyl is dead. It’s all about

cassette tapes now. Did you know the

iconic ’80s format shifted 35,000 units in

the first half of 2019? That’s twice as many

as in the same period last year and the

most since 2004. But just as modern

turntables can be wirelessly connected

to speakers and USB ports for making

digital files from your old records, 2019’s

tape players are also keeping up with

the times. Nimm’s oddly named It’s OK

portable has Bluetooth 5.0 built in, so you

can hook it up to a wireless speaker or

headphones. It hasn’t totally lost touch

with its roots, though: there’s still a 3.5mm

headphone port (one less than the Sony

Walkman on p106) and it comes with a

60-minute blank tape that you can record

directly onto using the onboard

microphone. Throw in the transparent

cover that allows you to see the tape

player at work and it’ll have anyone born

after the year 2000 utterly baffled.

As hot as... your latest mixtape

from $63 / http://www.ninmlab.com

THE LITE

OF YOUR LIFE

Nintendo Switch Lite

ARE YOU TAPING

THE MICKEY?

Nimm It’s OK

HOT

FOUR

HOT

FOUR