If you thought you were only sacrificing Joy-Cons and TV connectivity with the Nintendo Switch Lite, the lack of removable controllers also means the compact console doesn’t have any vibration feedback. If you really want to feel that rumble when catching a butterfly in Animal Crossing, this set of snap-on grips from Nyko will upgrade the Switch Lite with vibrations.
The Nintendo Joy-Cons, and other wireless controllers that connect to the Switch (and the Switch Lite) over Bluetooth, trigger their rumbling feedback based on signals generated and transmitted by the game that directly correlate to what the player is experiencing. So firing a gun, or driving down a bumpy road, result in the controller rattling around in your hand.
But Nyko’s new Shock ‘N’ Rock comfort grip doesn’t connect to the Switch Lite over Bluetooth. It snaps onto the back of the console and uses its own built-in rechargeable battery to power spinning motors that create the rumbling sensation. To sync those vibrations to what’s happening in a game, the Shock ‘N’ Rock connects to the Switch Lite’s headphone jack and uses the sounds being generated as a guide for when to turn the motors on. As a result, it’s probably not as authentic or accurate as the vibrations you’d feel when using Joy-Cons, but as long as the game you’re playing doesn’t have a blaring soundtrack, the rumbling feedback should more or less correlate to the action.
A pass-through audio jack allows headphones to be plugged in so players can continue to hear what’s going in a game, but with the Shock ‘N’ Rock connected and running, the Switch Lite’s speakers aren’t an option. For $25, it’s cheap enough to be worth giving a try if you find you miss vibration feedback on the Switch Lite you had to settle with while the larger Nintendo Switch is still impossible to find in stores. The accessory also appears to make the console ever so slightly more comfortable to hold, so if the rumbling doesn’t live up to your expectations, it’s at least got that going for it.