Designed as a sleeker upgrade to Genki’s Bluetooth adapter from 2018, the Genki Audio Lite is a tiny, plug-and-play Bluetooth module that fits right into your Nintendo Switch Lite, allowing you to connect Bluetooth earphones and speakers to your gaming console.
Giving the Nintendo Switch Lite wireless Bluetooth connectivity doesn’t just upgrade the console, it makes sense. The Switch Lite was designed to provide a lighter, less unencumbered gaming experience than the Switch, so providing an aux input literally feels like being bound by a chain… or a wire, to be specific. The Genki Audio Lite’s tiny size adds a great deal of functionality to the already capable device. You can now use your TWS earphones, AirPods, or even the AirPods Max with it, allowing for a portable, private gaming session. The Genki Audio Lite comes with Bluetooth 5.0 and is equipped with aptX high fidelity low latency codecs that provide lag-free audio while you game. Although it is as much as 70% slimmer than its predecessor, it does give your Switch Lite a tiny little chin, which is why Genki even has a custom dual magnetic flip case called the Force Field that allows you to keep your Switch Lite protected while the Audio Lite is plugged in.
As the world of mainstream consumer electronics has made a casual, 2-year transition into wireless audio after killing the jack, it seems odd that Nintendo’s Switch, one of the most advanced handheld gaming consoles, capable of sheer versatility courtesy their Labo kits, isn’t compatible with wireless audio. The Switch can do quite a lot. It can work as a handheld unit, or with a television; can be used in single and multiplayer modes; and most importantly, can be transformed into pretty much anything, including instruments like the piano… but at the end of the day, the fact that it still relies on wired audio seems primitive and limiting.
The Genki, designed specifically to solve this nagging problem, adds to the already-laden feature list of the Switch, giving it the ability to go wireless in the audio department. Its design beautifully complements the Switch, with an all-black outer casing, a soft rectangular form, and two buttons on either side, colored blue and red to match the Switch. These buttons literally are the only interface you need, and to connect to a wireless headset or earphones, just press the button and you’re all set. Using Bluetooth 5, the Genki pairs with headphones, delivering high-quality audio with zero latency, up to a distance of 60 feet!
Turning the Switch wireless doesn’t just upgrade the console, it makes sense. The Switch was designed to be more than just a handheld device, made to be used with televisions as well as multiplayer gaming, so providing an aux input literally feels being bound by a chain. The Genki’s wireless-audio dongle for the Switch doesn’t just make gaming from afar (as one would with a television setup) easy, its design also lets you route audio to two headsets, making the multiplayer experience easy too. The two colored buttons at the base of the dongle match perfectly with the colors of the two controllers, intuitively allowing you to pair with two Bluetooth headsets and turning the multiplayer audio experience wireless too. Besides, let’s not forget the great things it does for the Labo kits too, allowing you to engage with the Switch without the primitive hassle of wired headsets… or better still, broadcast the audio to a powerful wireless speaker to make your gaming experience larger than life!
Designers: Christopher Yue, Eddie Tsai & Andrew Geng
Together at last, GENKI gives you the freedom and convenience of using your favorite wireless Bluetooth headphones when you’re gaming on the go.
FEATURES AT A GLANCE
USB TYPE-C – PLUG AND PLAY!
GENKI is the first and only Bluetooth audio transmitter built to the USB Type-C standard. Why USB Type-C? There have been some workaround solutions that we’ve tested but none of them were a satisfying solution for the Nintendo Switch. These workarounds introduce extra latency, static noise, lower fidelity and volume and many do not support newer devices such as the Apple AirPods.
This led us to create a better solution – through the USB-C port we’re able to simply remove the redundant audio conversions providing gamers the best latency and audio quality.
MULTIPLAYER – SHARE THE FUN!
One of the things we love is detaching the Joy-Cons for an instant transformation into a two-player portable console. But chances are you’re waiting around in a pretty noisy place so one of the coolest features we have is multiplayer support.
So maybe you’ve noticed that the two buttons on GENKI are labeled 1P and 2P. With this setup we actually stream stereo audio to two separate headphones, neat huh. So you can better enjoy SnipperClips or Hulu with loved ones.
BLUETOOTH 5 – WORKS WITH EVERYTHING!
Supporting the Bluetooth 5.0 standard, GENKI is compatible with all the Bluetooth headphones out there today (and tomorrow).
But what if you wanted to unleash the full potential of your Bluetooth speakers? We know those built-in speakers are pretty weak so we got you covered.
LOW LATENCY – BUILT FOR GAMING!
If you’ve ever experienced audio where voices don’t seem to synchronize with what you’re watching you know it can be quite distracting. This is even more important in games where your reaction to a sound can mean success and game over.
To combat this, they made sure GENKI included the fastest industry leading audio codecs. With aptX Low Latency we can achieve sub 40ms latency. Typically, the human ear can not distinguish below 100ms so rest assured you’ve got the best.
OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES – USE GENKI ANYWHERE!
The dock adapter is a simple USB adapter enabling you to use GENKI with your Nintendo Switch docked. Just plug it into any of the three USB ports in the dock; it can even be safely tucked inside the back panel to be hidden.
Playing late into the night without disturbing others.
HOW TO USE GENKI
First Time Pairing:
– Plug in GENKI to the Nintendo Switch USB Type-C port – Hold the 1P button to pair with your audio device – Activate pairing on your audio device – Enjoy wireless Nintendo Switch audio
Reconnecting Next Time:
– Press the 1P button to reconnect with your audio device – Enjoy wireless audio, again
Multiplayer Mode:
– Hold the 2P button to pair with your second audio device – Enjoy wireless audio, with a friend
Chances are that your smartphone made you upgrade to wireless headphones, but you have to swap them out for a corded pair when you want to play your Nintendo Switch. That’s a pain in the butt. The Switch console doesn’t support Bluetooth audio, but a tiny dongle called the Genki can help.
Now your Switch will play nice with your wireless headphones. Yes, they just solved one of life’s little first world problems for you. The Genki plugs directly into the Switch’s USB-C port, where it has direct access to a digital stream of the game’s audio. This approach should result less lag than a Bluetooth adapter plugged into the headphone jack because that requires digital-to-analog and then analog-to-digital conversions.
And you won’t have to charge the Genki at all because it draws all the power it needs while connected. It allows two sets of wireless headphones to be connected at the same time, so that’s pretty cool. Check out the Kickstarter campaign to snag one for yourself.
If you pledge $39 you’ll get just the Genki dongle, but for $10 more you can get it with a USB adapter so it works while the Switch is docked.
Ring-shaped music controllers aren't anything new. IK Multimedia released the iRing back in 2014, and the Enhancia made its debut at CES this year. Now we've got the Wave, an adjustable MIDI controller ring that can adjust sounds and effects with ges...
high fidelity low latency codecs that provide lag-free audio while you game. Although it is as much as 70% slimmer than its predecessor, it does give your Switch Lite a tiny little chin, which is why Genki even has a custom dual magnetic flip case called the Force Field that allows you to keep your Switch Lite protected while the Audio Lite is plugged in.
Ring-shaped music controllers aren't anything new. IK Multimedia released the iRing back in 2014, and the Enhancia made its debut at CES this year. Now we've got the Wave, an adjustable MIDI controller ring that can adjust sounds and effects with ges...