When comparing Nvidia Shield Portable vs Nintendo 2DS, the Slant community recommends Nintendo 2DS for most people. In the question“What are the best portable game consoles?” Nintendo 2DS is ranked 13th while Nvidia Shield Portable is ranked 16th. The most important reason people chose Nintendo 2DS is:
The Nintendo 2DS retails for $99.00, but can be purchased for slightly less in various retailers. As for features, the only real difference between the 2DS and the 3DS XL is the screen size and 3D display. Almost all other features are identical, with the 2DS even able to play older DS games.
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Pros
Pro Can be turned into a stationary console with 1080p
Console mode allows the user to use a USB cable in order to output 1080p video to a TV or monitor, making for an easy way to play ones games on a larger screen just as they would with a console.
Pro Has a 5-hour battery life
With the size of the device a large capacity battery is able to be used internally which will give up to 5 hours of playtime with even the most demanding of games.
Pro Very good speakers for a portable device
Louder than a 3DS or Vita handheld the speakers in the Nvidia Shield makes for a pleasant listening experience that does not require any strain the hear what is going on.
Pro Can wirelessly stream to a Chromecast
Since the OS 5.1 update the device can stream to any Chromecast compliant device making for an easy way to stream ones games or other content to a bigger screen.
Pro Huge selection of games to choose from
Since this is an Android device the selection of games is quite large.
Pro Half the price/Comparable features
The Nintendo 2DS retails for $99.00, but can be purchased for slightly less in various retailers. As for features, the only real difference between the 2DS and the 3DS XL is the screen size and 3D display. Almost all other features are identical, with the 2DS even able to play older DS games.
Cons
Con A relatively small subset of Android games available are optimized for controller use
Out of the majority of games available for Android most only have touch controls. There are a few that utilize HID controls and even fewer that utilize the nVidia controller. This makes for a very limited selection of native games to play on the device.
Con Navigating is cumbersome
Users can use the dual analog sticks to maneuver around the OS but sadly t is time consuming and not as accurate as touch controls. Users can of course use touch controls but now holding the device is difficult due to how it was designed to be held, with two hands.
Con Somewhat large and heavy for a portable device
At 1.5 pounds the device is quite heavy, which cuts down on the portability. What is worse is the size though as it is quite bulky and will not be fitting inside of anyone's pockets. Taking both of these into consideration reveals that this is not that portable of a device.
Con Missing some features
The top screen of the device is not able to display any of the 3DS games in 3D (hence the 2DS name) which may make some games that heavily rely on 3D such as Super Mario 3D Land difficult to play. There is also only a mono speaker built into the device (though the headphone jack is stereo) as well as no way to fold the device as the shell is all a solid frame.