Nintendo DS Lite — the DS with the Game Boy Advance slot, tested
Personally tested · Shipped from the Netherlands with PostNL tracking · 3-8 working days
DS Lite consoles in stock
3 conditions Nintendo DS Lite
€94.95Personally tested
2 conditions Nintendo DS Lite Green (Lime)
€79.95Personally tested Playable condition
3 conditions Nintendo DS Lite Black
€89.95Personally tested
Nintendo DS Lite Black (boxed)
€116.95Personally tested Playable condition
Nintendo DS Lite Black (poor condition)
€74.95Personally tested Fair condition
Nintendo DS Lite Red (boxed)
€125.95Personally tested Playable condition
3 conditions Nintendo DS Lite Silver
€89.95Personally tested
Nintendo DS Lite Silver (poor condition)
€74.95Personally tested Fair condition
Nintendo DS Lite (poor condition)
€70.95Personally tested Fair condition
Nintendo DS Lite Green (Lime) (poor condition)
€70.95Personally tested Fair condition
About the Nintendo DS Lite
The Nintendo DS Lite (2006) is the slim version of the original DS: a brighter screen with four brightness levels, lighter, and with a longer battery life. For collectors one thing sets it apart — the Game Boy Advance slot on the bottom, which only the original DS and the DS Lite have. So it plays the complete DS library and loose GBA cartridges, something the later DSi, DSi XL and 3DS cannot do. Every console here is tested on both screens, the hinge (the known weak point of this model), all buttons, the touch screen, the GBA slot and charging; the listing says which charger comes with it. Sent from the Netherlands, tracked, with no customs charges anywhere in the EU.
- Released in Europe
- June 2006
- Screens
- Two 3-inch screens, four brightness levels
- Plays
- Nintendo DS cartridges in the top slot, Game Boy Advance cartridges in the bottom slot
- Region
- DS and GBA cartridges are region-free
- Battery
- Rechargeable; 15 to 19 hours at the lowest brightness when new
- Charger
- Its own DS Lite plug (USG-002) — the DSi and 3DS charger does not fit
- Weight
- About 218 g, roughly a fifth lighter than the original DS
Two slots, two libraries
The top slot takes the more than two thousand Nintendo DS games, from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl to Mario Kart DS and Professor Layton. The bottom slot takes any Game Boy Advance cartridge, which then plays on the top screen — single-player only, because the DS Lite has no link-cable port. Original Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges do not fit.
A few DS games use the bottom slot as well: Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver can transfer Pokémon from a GBA cartridge sitting underneath, and Guitar Hero: On Tour plugs its fret grip into the same slot.
What the DS Lite changed from the original DS
The Lite is the same console inside, redesigned around the things the 2004 original got wrong.
- Much brighter screens with four brightness levels; the original had one.
- Smaller and lighter: about 218 g against almost 300 g for the original.
- Longer battery life, with the lowest brightness good for well over a day of play.
- A larger stylus and its own, smaller charger.
Colours and editions
The DS Lite launched in Europe in Polar White and Onyx Black, soon joined by silver, pink, red, lime green and a number of two-tone editions. Because the shell is glossy it shows scratches and wear sooner than the matte DSi, so we photograph every console from all sides and say what you see.
What to check on a used DS Lite
The hinge is the known weak point: on many consoles the right-hand corner of the top shell cracks at the hinge. Beyond that we look at the touch screen (scratches and calibration), the shoulder buttons (dust makes them unresponsive), the GBA slot (tested with a real cartridge) and the battery. Everything we find is in the listing, so you know what you are buying before you order.
Which games to start with
The DS library is the largest of any handheld, and the DS Lite plays every cartridge in it. Pokémon alone covers two generations and a stack of spin-offs on this system, and the GBA slot adds the three generations before that. The Keep browsing row below links the DS, Pokémon DS and Pokémon GBA lists.
DS Lite, DSi or DSi XL?
They play the same DS games. The GBA slot is what divides them.
Nintendo DS Lite · 2006
Brightest screens · has the GBA slot
The model most people mean by "a DS": slimmer than the original, four brightness levels, and the last one with a Game Boy Advance slot. If you own GBA cartridges, this is the console to buy.
Nintendo DSi · 2009
Two cameras · SD slot · no GBA slot
Thinner, with cameras and an SD card slot, but Nintendo removed the GBA slot to get there. It has its own page.
Nintendo DSi XL · 2010
Largest screens · no GBA slot
The DSi with much bigger screens for long sessions. Also without the GBA slot — its own page too.
- Hinge and both screens tested
- A cracked hinge and a drifting touch layer are the two classic DS Lite faults. Both are checked before a console is listed.
- The last DS with a GBA slot
- DS cartridges in the top slot, Game Boy Advance cartridges in the bottom one — two libraries on one console.
- Tracked EU shipping, 30-day returns
- Sent from the Netherlands — no customs charges anywhere in the EU.
Does the Nintendo DS Lite play Game Boy Advance games?
Yes. The DS Lite has a Game Boy Advance slot on the bottom, so it plays GBA cartridges as well as the complete DS library. The later DSi, DSi XL and 3DS do not have that slot.
Does the DS Lite play 3DS games?
No, and the cartridge will not physically fit — a 3DS card has a tab that a DS slot rejects. It works the other way round: every 3DS and 2DS plays DS games.
Are DS Lite games region-locked?
Regular DS cartridges are region-free and play on any DS Lite worldwide; GBA cartridges are region-free too. We sell European consoles and European games, so they work together.
Does the battery still last?
These batteries are close to twenty years old, so capacity is down from new — that is expected, not a fault. We test that every console charges and runs on its own battery and note in the listing how it performed. Replacements are cheap and simple to fit.
What does shipping to my country cost?
We ship tracked to all 27 EU countries. A console travels as a parcel: €21,95 to Germany, France, Italy and Spain, €23,95 to Denmark and Austria, €28,95 to Sweden. The exact rate for your country appears at checkout before you pay — and there are no customs charges anywhere inside the EU.
Shipped from the Netherlands
- Your order leaves our own stock in Enter, the Netherlands, and travels to you with PostNL — always tracked, so you know exactly where your parcel is.
- There are no customs borders inside the EU: no customs, no import duties, no extra VAT. The amount you see at checkout is the final amount.
We ship exclusively from the Netherlands. Your parcel therefore crosses a border: it takes longer than a domestic delivery, and shipping costs more than it would at a seller in your own country.
I hope Gameshop Enter gives you back a piece of how it used to be.