When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works

Home / News / Hands on with the Nintendo DSi XL

Hands on with the Nintendo DSi XL

Rumours about a mega-screen toting DS began trickling through the mill towards the end of last year. And as we all know by now Nintendo went and super

Rumours about a mega-screen toting DS began trickling through the mill towards the end of last year. And as we all know by now Nintendo went and super-sized its little handheld creating the fourth iteration of the Nintendo DS family – the DSi XL.

While its smaller siblings are made for individual use, the DSi XL has been designed with sharing in mind, complete with wider viewing angles making it easier to “share the fun”. To remind you of its features it’s packing two 4.2-inch screens, sizing up at 93% bigger than those on the DS Lite, as well as the camera and music player functionality seen on the DSi and keeping firmly within the realm of blowing things up a much (much) bigger stylus for better control.

It also comes preloaded with Nintendo DSiWare software: Dr Kawashima’s: Little Bit of Brain Training: Arts Edition and Dictionary 6 in 1 with Camera Function, as well as the Nintendo DSi Browser, for hopping onto the internet via a Wi-Fi connection.

It’s due to launch in the UK on 5 March but being self-confessed eager beavers here at Stuff Towers we’ve managed to get some hands on action in a video, despite only being able to get our hands on Japanese version (the LL). It may be the biggest, tallest and heaviest DS model but that doesn’t mean it’s the worst. So if you want to take a peek at its extra screenage be sure to check out our hands on video – and don’t forget to tell us what you think below.

We’ll be getting a European version soon too, so keep those eyes peeled for a full review as soon as we get our mitts on a model that doesn’t just speak Japanese.

Profile image of Dan Grabham Dan Grabham Editor-in-Chief

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website.  Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.

Areas of expertise

Computing, mobile, audio, smart home