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[Update] Black Friday gaming hardware deals - Best smartphone, handheld, and VR offers

The best of Black Friday 2016

[Update] Black Friday gaming hardware deals - Best smartphone, handheld, and VR offers
By Jon Mundy
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iOS + Android + 3DS ...
Updated on November 21st 2017: Hello there. You're obviously interested in the latest Black Friday deals, but you seem to be in the wrong year.

We've been updating the Big Pocket Gamer Accessory Guide with some fresh Black Friday 2017 deals, so please do check those out. Unless you're really digging that 2016 vibe, in which case by all means carry on.

What's all this Black Friday nonsense about, then? It's the name given to the day after Thanksgiving in the US, where retailers collectively lose their nerve and cut the prices of loads of stuff.

Cue riots and stock shortages and checkout bust-ups and viral YouTube videos thereof.

We've even gotten into the spirit of things in the UK of late, which is why this UK-based portable gaming website has taken to informing you of the latest deals.

We've already told you about some of the great Black Friday game deals that are out there right now. Now it's the turn of the stuff you play those games on. Let's hear it for the hardware!

We'll be updating this list on Black Friday itself, so if anything exciting comes up you'll be sure to know.

Smartphone deals

As we discussed recently, you really don't need to spend upwards of £600 on an iPhone 7 to experience iOS gaming at its best. The iPhone 6S is still very much up to the task, so you might want to check out the top deal on this list.

More of an Android fan? Then you'll be pleased to know you can get a massive wodge of money off the two best Android phones on the market, the Google Pixel and the Google Pixel XL.

If all these fragile £500 phones give you the jitters, there's a great deal on one of the best cheap phones around, as well as a deal on a phone that will survive a trip down a flight of stairs unscathed - both from Motorola.


Tablet deals

The biggest Black Friday retailer by far is Amazon, and you can get some great deals on gaming stuff, as we've mentioned. But we feel we should sound a warning if you're shopping for a gaming tablet. Amazon always uses Black Friday to push its own Fire HD tablets, and they look like great deals.

However, they're not particularly great devices - especially if you're an avid gamer. From the difficulties in accessing a decent library of games to the performance of their underwhelming processors and less-than-sharp displays, you should probably give them a miss.

Especially when you can get a very capable Samsung tablet that will run everything on the Google Play Store for a knock-down price. Elsewhere, there's money of a high-capacity iPad Air 2, which is still a highly capable gaming machine despite its age.


Handheld deals

2016 is not the year of the amazing Black Friday handheld console bundle. Which is weird, as both the Vita and the 3DS are pretty much on the way out by now - the Vita more than the 3DS, but Nintendo's console has the Switch breathing down its neck. This could change over the Black Friday weekend and into Cyber Monday, and we'll update this piece if and when some new deals appear.

For now, we've got a couple of 2DS bundles, a deal on the New 3DS XL, and a link to a basic PS Vita Slim package. The latter's not a deal, as such, but we've included it to give you something to play all those super-cheap PS Store games on.


  • Nintendo 2DS Yo-Kai Watch Console Bundle for £89.97 - buy from Game
  • Nintendo 2DS with Mario Kart & Mario Hat for £79.99 - buy from Nintendo
  • Nintendo 2DS with Tomodachi Life, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and NFC Reader/Writer Pack for £114.99 (16% off) - buy form Nintendo
  • New Nintendo 3DS XL with free charger and case for £169.99 (£10 off with SAVE10 code at checkout) - buy from Nintendo
  • PS Vita Slim for £149.99 - buy from Amazon
VR deals

If you're looking for the best, most sophisticated VR gaming system around, the HTC Vive is right up there. The trouble is, it's pretty darned expensive.

That's why this Black Friday deal is so attractive, as it knocks a great chunk off the price.


Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
LinkedIn
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.