the best handled console ever i gatted as a gift AND IT WAS AWESOME I RECCOMENDET TO EVERYONE SUPER COOL

The 3DS XL is a portable gaming professional with much to recommend about it, a whopping great screen and a decent raft of games being high among them. While smartphones reign the masses, the 3DS has proven there is still a market for dedicated gaming handhelds for at least the near future.

Bigger screen looks great; 3D sweet spot much larger; Comfortable curved design

Build feels a bit cheap; Heft makes it cumbersome; Bland styling

No prizes for guessing which route Nintendo has taken with the 3DS XL. This is the extra-large version of the 3DS, bumping up the dimensions from 134mm by 74mm by 21mm to 156 x 93 x 22mm.

A more immersive big-screen experience; Makes 3D more effective and more practical; More comfortable than the original 3DS; Great games; and easy and fun to use

Big screen spoilt by low resolution; Battery life still not great

For Nintendo's harshest critics, the 3DS XL is likely to come across as a missed opportunity. Why no second d-pad, when the existence of the Circle Pad Pro suggests that Nintendo should have included it in the original version of the console?

The name tells you all you really need to know about Nintendo's latest handheld, not to mention its biggest selling point. The 3DS XL is to the 3DS what the DSi XL was to the DSi. It's a bigger version, with bigger dual screens.

A bigger screen with better 3D; A more comfortable size and shape; Excellent games

No second analogue stick; Disappointing battery life; Low-resolution screens

This jumbo 3DS console is just that -- a super-sized edition of the existing Nintendo handheld. The bigger screen is the main attraction, but as it's considerably heavier and doesn't offer a sharper picture, there's not much here to persuade 3DS owners to upgrade.

Big bright screen; Rounded design is comfortable; Well-placed buttons

Heavy; Bigger screen shows up graphical flaws; No charger in the box

A non-essential, yet evolutionary upgrade that offers the best on-the-go 3D gaming experience in classic Nintendo style

The Nintendo 3DS XL is a larger version of the Nintendo 3DS portable gaming handheld, 90 per cent larger than the original 3DS. It features two cameras, one on the inside, the other on the outside for taking photos and playing augmented reality-style games.

The much larger display makes games easier on the eye, bringing games to life to broaden the appeal of Nintendo's 3DS range; Should you wish to have the 3D effect switched on, the effects are much more noticeable and obvious than before, Games such as Super Mario 3D Land and The Legend of Zelda:...

The larger screen makes games look even better, but even the 3DS cannot compete with the HD screen quality of the PlayStation Vita; The build quality could also be better, especially when, again, compared to the superbly-made PlayStation Vita, The 3DS XL also sacrifices portability for size, so...

Nintendo's update to their 3DS console isn't a revolution of form, but is more comfortable to use, sturdier and classier than its older brother, writes Tom Hoggins.