Nintendo 3DS XL

Before purchasing a 3DS XL I owned a original 3DS. The original console does the job nicely although wasn't comfortable in the hands for me so I looked towards an XL. When I bought the XL I was honestly surprised at how much better it is. The build quality is really nice, no more glossy material around the console that absorbs fingerprints all the time. Now we have a nice Matte-like finish and it feels really nice. The size of the XL is great for me as it feels more comfortable to hold, while I don't have the biggest hands in the world I still think this is more comfortable by far. The hinge of the top screen locks at two positions which are useful depending on what position you are sitting. My only issue is when locked in position the top screen still moves a little but it isn't very noticeable. The screen size is obviously the biggest change. I expected games to look a little worse since the resolution is the same so it would be stretched to fit the new screen but it actually looks really nice, it is a lot easier on the eyes too as everything is visible. The 3D also has a better viewing angle because of the big screen. Battery life is fantastic, I was able to reliably play on the 3DS for a long train journey and it still had some juice left in it. Overall it is a really good device and if you are thinking about upgrading from a 3DS (or even DS) I would definitely recommend doing so if you can afford it! One thing I would like to mention is that the 3DS does not come with a charger for whatever reason, other regions in the world do except us! So buy a charger along with or if you have a 3DS or a DS the charger for those will work.

This review is meant for people who do not have a 3DS at all and are wondering which model to buy. EDIT: Before reading this review, please be aware than in February 2015 a NEW model 3DS will be released, the "New 3DS" and "New 3DSXL" have many improvements, including faster processing speed, a minor graphics upgrade, extra controls (meaning you no longer need the circle pad pro attachment for games that required it) and a big improvement to the quality of the 3D (including motion tracking that means you don't have to hold it completely still to enjoy the 3D effect). If you want the best version of the 3DS I recommend waiting until mid February and buying the new one, but if you want a decent 3DS at a lower price I also recommend waiting, since the release of the new 3DS models will likely drive down the price of the old models significantly. Anyway, back to the review: I bought this as an upgrade to my old DS lite so that I'd be able to play 3DS games and play my old DS games on a larger screen. Overall this is a very good system and I'm glad I bought this, I'm enjoying the games I bought for it and it's a fun and easy to use system, I REALLY LIKE THIS CONSOLE, but there are a few things that could be better and I recognise that other people considering buying may want different things from their console, so for people still not sure I have put together a pro vs. con review to help them decide. For comparisons between the standard 3DS and the XL I've been looking at my nephew's 3DS. Let's get the cons out of the way first: For the XL specifically: - as many people have mentioned, the XL does not come with a charger, you will have to buy it separately, but it's only about £5 from Amazon so it's not that big a price difference, you can pay more than that just for having a different colour, this is just something to be aware of when buying: unless you have a compatible charger already, order one with your purchase. - the larger size and weight of this console makes me feel a bit paranoid that I might drop it when playing, whereas the smaller DS I have is very easy to keep a good grip on and I feel comfortable letting my nephews use it without fear of them dropping it but I wouldn't let them use my 3DSXL, so for people with small hands or buying for their kids the standard 3DS might be better. Also, the back plate of the XL clicks a little when pressed in the middle, as it's a removable plate and made from slightly flexible plastic, whereas on previous smaller versions the back has a small plate in it that could be removed for replacing a damaged battery, etc so the standard 3DS has a more solid back. - the larger size also makes the device less portable than its smaller counterpart, which is pretty much pocket-sized, so if you want to carry the console around with you a lot you might prefer the smaller 3DS, there are some neat carry-cases for the XL though. - the SD card on the XL is a lot harder to remove (if you want to replace it or put music or videos on it) than on the standard 3DS, I found it quite fiddly and tricky to get to. (New 3DS will be even more fiddly because you have to remove the back plate to get to the SD card). - Yes, the 3DSXL is expensive, and for some people not worth it. Currently the standard red and blue versions are the cheapest on Amazon, so if you don't want to pay out too much get those, but if price is your biggest concern then there's the ordinary 3DS (which is marginally cheaper and comes with an adapter) and the 2DS (which is much cheaper but with no 3D and is solid rather than hinged) to consider too, I do think the console is worth the price though for what you get. For the 3DS family in general: - the 3D effect can be hard to maintain on some games, as it goes blurry every time you move away from the "sweet spot" and can make the models appear more pixelated. (note, "New 3DS" models have a face tracking addition that apparently makes the 3D more stable, something to consider if buying now) - the games on the nintendo e-shop seem rather expensive compared to retail price, and that goes for the virtual console games too, you could buy physical copies second hand for about the same price as the downloads. I also think the full 3DS games would quickly fill up the provided SD card so I'd recommend buying the retail versions. - the headphone jack is on the front, which means it can be a bit uncomfortable if resting the 3DSXL against your chest while playing, (all the DS and 3DS range have their headphone jack at the front, including the "New 3DS" models I'd expected the larger console to have it at the back as there's enough space for it but it is at the front too) - the built in browser is kind of... bad, it doesn't play flash videos, (although there is now a youtube ap. available for free from the nintendo e-shop, so you can at least watch youtube videos, though not in great quality) and for most websites it uses the mobile phone version of the site -- but let's face it, you don't buy a games console to browse the internet, you'd have a smartphone for that or just use your computer. Edit: the browser has been updated and is better than the old one, but still fairly slow. It's been said that the speed of the browser and other online functions will be greatly improved with the New 3DS models though. However, there are a lot of good reasons to buy this system: For the XL specifically: - the 3D effect does look surprisingly good, as I said it can be a little tricky to keep in the sweet-spot but when you do the effect does add a lot of depth, especially on the larger screen. - the larger screens really do look good, when comparing my old DS lite to the 3DS XL the difference in the size and clarity of the screens is very clear, the 3DS XL provides a much better gaming experience just in how much better the games look when played on it. I'd recommend screen-protectors though, as the screens will scratch, especially the bottom one when you use the stylus, and also the default brightness setting is quite glaring, so turn that down to three or four. - the 3DSXL comes with a decent sized 4GB SD card, twice the size of the standard 3DS, on which you can save game data, audio, pictures and video etc. and transfer them to your computer by removing the card and putting it into an SD card slot or getting a USB adapter that will do the same, you can also transfer mp3 music onto the SD card to play them on the 3DS and there are programs you can find online to convert video into a format and size that you can play on the 3DS too. As I said the only trouble is that it can be a bit fiddly getting the card in and out. - the hinge clicks into place nicely, the build is sturdy (and feels much more substantial than the old DS lite I have) and there are a lot of small features that are improved over the standard 3DS like the position of the stylus and the finger-print-resistant surface. - the rounded edges make this much more comfortable to hold than the smaller 3DS, which my nephews have, and if you have larger hands you will find it easier to use the controls on the XL than the smaller version, also the analogue pad is actually pretty good, though I still prefer to use the D-pad for most games. (note: the "New 3DS" will have the same rounded edges and matt finish in both the small and XL models, so this is only an advantage over the old 3DS) For the 3DS family in general: - the home page and the various aps you get with the console and can purchase for it are very nicely laid out and easy to use, and the 3DS comes with a number of built in applications that are rather neat such as the letter box (update: which *used to* let you send notes to friends but alas due to a few irresponsible users sending inappropriate messages and pictures the sending of notes has now been disabled) and a few built in games like the mii plaza games (although some of these require streetpasses) and "face raiders" that are quite fun, so you can use this console straight away even if you haven't bought any games for it yet. - both the 3DS and 3DSXL have three built-in cameras, one on the inside to take pictures of your face for some games and applications, and two on the outside which allow you to take 2D and 3D photos and also videos, which can be played back on the 3DS or transferred to a computer using the SD card. - parental security controls, if you want to buy one for your kids then on all the 3DS platforms there are parental controls you can use to disable internet access and some other features if you don't want your kids using them, you can read more about it on the nintendo webiste. - the streetpass and friends list features are very handy and let you link up with friends online for multiplayer easily, and both the 3DS and 3DSXL support WEP and WPA security for wifi, whereas the DS only supported WEP. There's also some neat things you can do with the mii plaza games by collecting street passes, as I mentioned above. - although I mentioned that the retail games on the e-shop are a tad expensive, there are a great variety of games available on it, and some reasonably priced download-exclusives, plus although I think the virtual console games are a little over-priced this does let you play some great old titles on this portable platform, which is a neat feature. - as for retail games, well there is a great variety, and they generally use both the touch screen and the 3D effect well, but I go into more detail about that below. Games The most important thing to consider when buying the console is whether it will cater to your gaming tastes. For me the main reason for buying this console is the games, there is a good variety of genres that cater for a range of ages, including games for children, games for teens and adults (including some you might not expect like Metal Gear Solid and Tekken), and games that everyone will enjoy, but most of all the games I bought this console for were the exclusive titles like Mario, Pokémon, Professor Layton, etc. It's also great that as well as 3DS games you can play old DS and DSi games on this system, which means you'll have a lot of games available to you between those platforms, so if you don't have a DS at all but want to play the games then this is the handheld for you since it will play them all. You can't play Gameboy Advance games on the 3DS like on the old DS, but the gameboy advance is pretty cheap second hand these days if you really wanted one, or if you're upgrading from the old DS with a GBA slot, just keep the old one, as you won't get all that much in trade value, then you can still play your old GBA games and also do self-trading in games like pokémon. I hope my review has been helpful, I've tried to cover every consideration so sorry if I seem to waffle on a bit. Summary: Overall this is the best handheld console Nintendo have produced to this day*, so really it boils down to exactly what you want from a gaming device. Take a good look at the games available, if they don't spark your interest then you're better off with a smartphone, but if nostalgia grabs you when you see Mario 3D Land, Luigi's Mansion, Star Fox 3D or Pokémon X and Y then go for it. As for other DS models, well if you're buying for young kids and want something sturdy and less expensive there's the 2DS, if you want something more portable or you want a console for smaller hands that will still have 3D then get the standard 3DS, but for the best visuals and ease of use I'd say the 3DS XL is the best in the range, just don't forget to buy the power adapter with it. *Again, until the "New 3DS" range come out.

So, i was about on Amazon, eagerly looking forward to the release of pokemon X / Y Back in December. As i was pre-ordering i saw the XL there at the £165 price tag and wondered how much better then the normal 3DS is it. I looked around the internet and found that alot of people were happy with the decision to upgrade so i made that plunge and went and got it. Delivery was Very Quick which was great as i wasn't sitting here wondering about why I had spent that amount of money on essentially a Bigger screen. Very happy with Delivery. So I have had it for 3 Months and i will definitely say, Its worth it. Without second question i would Recommend the XL over the others. You dont get hunched up in an awkward shape when your playing trying to focus on the screen, Theres so much more that i can casually play it by sitting it down on a table (With the 3D off. you know your asking a bit much if you want 3D from a silly distance). No more Piddly Contrall scheme Either. I read from a Previous Review, that it is likened to having Clicky Buttons. This is absolutely true and its much better for it as oppose to the Normal 3DS fragile Feel of the Buttons. A few Bad points i have found that are just Peeves iv found. The sound is not as loud as the Normal 3DS. Unless your in a dead silent room, Your gonna want a decent pair of headphones on you at all times as this thing with max volume doesn't really help Immerse you in anything. With Headphones though , this doesn't become that problem. The 3D , As always its hit and miss. Sometimes it will work with you, sometimes you find it annoying. But what I would say i noticed when playing Pokemon X/Y with the 3D on is don't even think about switching it on. Battle Phases become a horrible Laggy Frame rate Mess so I spend The majority of my time with it Off. The Other Problem i found is if you have a good few people living with you using the internet, You better get used to Resetting your router. There are no internet problems setting up, that's the easy part. Its when you want to use the Internet features when theres 3 other people on the internet, It just wont find the signal. I did do this test with the Original DS as well though and it was the same Result so this is just a general Problem with the DS family. Absolutely no worries though if theres not many people Chugging Your Bandwidth. Overall though, the Fact that You have a bigger screen is the Deal maker in this one for me though. I cant tell you how much happier i am with it. theres just so much more free room you can have with it its well worth £165 just to be Comfortable. If you Haven't got a DS yet. Spend the Extra amount. You will Not Regret it. And as a final parting note. I will Credit what everyone else says about the XL, 'Once you Upgrade, Theres no going back.@

Marks on screen, super laggy gameplay, games getting stuck in game slot, some games not even loading in at all.

I have had a 3DS since Christmas 2011, and after a slightly unsure couple of months working out what I made of it, I grew to love it! The downloadable games are great value for money, and there are some fantastic cartridge titles available now, and loads of amazing games released over the next couple of months to get excited about as well! It was mainly the beautiful Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate demo that made me decide to upgrade, as I thought the much larger screens would really make a difference in the enjoyment. But also in preparation for Animal Crossing: New Leaf! And when it arrived, I couldn't believe the size of those screens. They are huge! And although the pixels are more noticeable, they don't spoil gameplay. The 3D works great on them- not greatly different from the original, but it works at least just as well (admittedly I only had Paper Mario: Sticker Star to test the 3D out with, so perhaps other games have a more noticeably improved 3D). The top screen seems to be held more securely than the original 3DS, and the volume slider and 3D slider also seem more sturdy. As well as this, the audio sounds much better than the original 3DS, and although others have commented on the lower maximum volume, I think the volume is fine, and haven't noticed any great difference between the XL and the original. DS games play fine on the 3DS XL as well. I gave Chrono Trigger a go, and really enjoyed having the larger screens to play on. Overall, well worth the upgrade, and I'm looking forward to taking advantage of those huge screens for the games released in the near future.

My mum loves the 3DS XL. It was bought as a Christmas present for her along with Animal Crossing and she hasn't stopped playing on it since. There is only one bad things about it which is why I didn't give it a full 5 stars. When buying it I noticed Amazon recommended buying it with a 3DS XL adaptor. We wondered why 'cos normally electronic devices come with the adaptors and thought oh it's just one of those Amazon promotion things that got it wrong (like sometimes Amazon does suggest other things that are irrelevant that other people might have looked at afterwards). We didn't notice that right at the bottom of the Amazon listing it does state that the adaptor is not included. This isn't made clear at the top of the amazon listing, and is only mentioned right at the bottom of the page after all the specs, and everything have been listed (something which if you just click buy now your likely to stop scrolling before you get to), it is also mentioned in the image of the product in the bright yellow box, but you can only make out what it says if you mouse over the image and see the bigger image (Amazon should really make this warning big enough to read in the small preview image), but if your buying a 3DS XL most of the time you won't bother mousing over the image to see the larger image because you know what a 3DS XL looks like! So you can imagine the disappointment on Christmas day when my mum opened the box, got the 3DS-XL out was about to play it and we were all like where's the AC adaptor? and being Christmas day we couldn't get her one till Boxing Day (we also found out that her old DS adaptor doesn't work with the 3DS-XL). Luckily though my sister had a 3DS and was able to lend her the adaptor on Christmas Day - the 3DS adaptors work with the 3DS-XL, but the original DS adaptors don't. I understand they've possibly done it for environmental reasons to reduce the number of adaptors lying around doing nothing and make it more eco friendly - but you'd think that on the box they'd put some clear hint to this that is visible from a preview, like maybe calling it "The Eco edition" or showing a green symbol, which tells you it's environmentally friendly edition which might not include adaptors. Other than that it's a very good console, but sorry Nintendo for being cheapskates and omitting the AC adaptor, and amazon for not making it clear enough in the images you only get 4 stars.

I am writing this review on behalf of my father. He bought this for my nephew as he has been ill and isn't able to get out of the house much, he's 8 years old. The Nintendo DS came today, my father had requested 2 day delivery, it came in 1 day, which is good, the Nintendo DS seemed fine, brand new condition, 3D works well, but this came with only 10 mins use and no charger, which my nephew has to wait until monday for. I Think for the price, a charger should definitely be included and for Amazon and Nintendo to be charging £7 extra for the charger is greedy and unfair. Please be warned, buy the charger with the Nintendo DS and Make sure you don't give the DS to children without charger as it is disapointing and cruel. I am very disapointed in Amazon and Nintendo.

I'd been looking at getting a Nintento DS or some kind for a while. I had the original for a time before it was sadly stolen, but had never gotten around to replacing it until now. First of all, be aware that this device does not come with a charger included. I didn't fall for this trap having read some other reviews, but honestly, its not something you'd expect - most hand held devices and general gaming consoles come with a charger included, I have no idea why these don't. Moving onto the good stuff - this had a lot more to it than I had expected. First of all its very easy to use and to setup, so whether your a kid or an adult you shouldn't have any problems at all with that. Following on from that, its general design is rather nice, its a bit heavier than I expected but not uncomfortable so and the additional screen size really is better for the gaming experience. Next, the 3d - not something I've had experience of before with games, so it came as a bit of an 'ooh look at that' moment. After the initial adapting of the eyes its rather cool, and you can change how intense you want the 3d to be, so if you're like me and want the screen close to your face you can turn it down a bit so its not quite as straining. In reverse, if you're playing with it at arms length you can up the 3d to full force to get the full effect. Overall I'm really happy with it, I've played a few games on there now and find the general control and usability to be brilliant. I also feel its rather durable (so long as you don't drop it screen first or something). My 4 year old niece has been playing with it regularly (without the 3d on of course, yay for parental controls) and she loves it and hasn't managed to break it or even scratch it as yet. Really good purchase.

La console est en parfait état tout fonctionne. J'ai eue même le chargeur et petit défaut j'ai pas eue le style mais pas grave car j'ai pris l'ancien mais je le recommande parfaitement

Il Nintendo 3DS XL che avevo comprato è arrivato molto usurati e sporco con ancora le ditate e mal funzionante, nonostante fosse stato spacciato per in ottime condizioni. Pagato 215 euro. Immediatamente chiesto il reso. Ho cercato un po’ su internet e ho trovato un negozio di Lugo di Romagna che mi ha venduto il new 3DS XL a 150 Euro letteralmente nuovo e senza imperfezioni. Non è una critica a questo venditore Amazon in particolare perché ho visto che tutti più o meno hanno questi prezzi online. Acquistate questo tipo di cose fisicamente non ve ne pentirete.

Je trouve cette console parfaite. J'ai acheté l'import anglais mais aucune différence avec la version française puisque le choix de la langue se fait lors de la première connexion. Attention, la prise secteur n'est pas livrée avec la console, il faut se la procurer.

haut parleur gauche ne fonctionne pas et tactile défectueux.

Musique à part une légère faiblesse de l'écran tactile, la console est en très bon état et tout a fait fonctionnelle. On sent la qualité travail fournie par les collaborateurs de cette petite entreprise, merci.