Earlier this week, FamilyGamerTV did a head-to-head comparison of all the 3DS models and their battery life. At the time they didn't have the New 3DS XL, but now that they've acquired one they have re-run their test. This time they also turned off the 3D effect on all models, so as to even the playing field with the 2DS.
Turning off the 3D makes a big difference, with all the models clocking at least 4 hours of life, and with the New 3DS XL coming out on top with a reasonable 5 hours and 45 minutes. Of course, they also had the wifi on and the brightness cranked to the max. Unless you're playing in Death Valley at high noon, you'll probably see even better performance.
In fact the auto-brightness adjust on both New 3DS models, which detects the ambient light level and scales screen brightness accordingly, will probably save you even more power. It still doesn't match the awesome longevity of the old DS Lite, but it's not as bad as it used to be.
FamilyGamerTV also measured how long it would take each model to charge from completely dead, with all of them taking around 3 hours to reach a full charge. The full analysis is well worth a look, so check out the video below.
