Android's best 3DS emulator levels up with dual-screen support, playtime tracking, and more
TL;DR Azahar 2123 is now out of beta, marking the first full release of the highly rated 3DS emulator.
The update adds dual-screen support, playtime tracking, and performance improvements.
New ROM formats shrink file sizes, though standard .3ds files still need to be converted on desktop.
Azahar has quickly become the go-to Nintendo 3DS emulator for Android after Citra's shutdown last year, and it's now hitting a major milestone. Version 2123 has officially got its full release, bringing some pretty big upgrades for mobile players.
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As detailed in the GitHub changelog, one eye-catching addition is proper dual-screen support. On Android, that means you can send the second screen to an external display like a TV via Chromecast or Miracast, or even use your phone as a gyro controller and secondary display. The timing couldn't be better since Retroid just released its own dual-screen accessory, so playing classic 3DS games should start to feel a lot closer to the real thing.
Another upgrade is playtime tracking, which lets you see exactly how many hours you've sunk into your favorite games — and work out how many IRL skills you could have learned in that time instead. Performance has also been polished, with Vulkan rendering stuttering less and the on-screen controls handling multitouch more reliably.
Azahar also added support for a handful of new ROM formats that significantly reduce file sizes. The emulator still doesn't support standard .3ds files, but on desktop, there's now a tool that can compress and convert many of them into supported formats. You can find more discussion of it on this Reddit thread.
The emulator's first full release after some time in beta has been eagerly anticipated. On this evidence, it won't disappoint.
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