It had a 16-bit graphics processor, which arguably was a lot more important for its software than whether the CPU was 16-bit. See also the TurboGrafx-16 consol

It had a 16-bit graphics processor, which arguably was a lot more important for its software than whether the CPU was 16-bit. See also the TurboGrafx-16 console, which had a similar arrangement: an 8-bit 6502-descendent and a 16-bit graphics chip. It got a lot of flak for being “fake 16-bit”. I think the Lynx was better able to get away with it because it was on such a different level than other handhelds of the time (besides maybe the expensive portable version of the TG-16!), whereas the TG-16 had to go up against the 68000-based Sega Genesis.