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Top 10 · Tech & PhonesRanked by total units sold, from the Nintendo DS to Nokia's N-Gage. Hybrid consoles like the Switch are counted separately.
The Nintendo DS is the best-selling handheld game console of all time, with 154.02 million units sold. The Game Boy and Game Boy Color are second at 118.69 million and the Game Boy Advance third at 81.51 million.
How it's ranked: Units sold for handheld-only consoles, as listed on Wikipedia's List of best-selling game consoles. Hybrids (Nintendo Switch, Switch 2) are left out.
Nintendo · Handheld · released 2004
The best-selling handheld ever.
The Nintendo DS sold 154.02 million units, the most of any handheld. Released worldwide in 2004 and 2005, it paired two screens - the lower one a touchscreen - in a clamshell case, and was among the first portables with wireless local multiplayer.
Source: en.wikipedia.org › Nintendo_DS
Nintendo · Handheld · released 1989, 1998
The handheld that made portable gaming mainstream.
The Game Boy and Game Boy Color are counted together at 118.69 million units. The original launched in Japan on April 21, 1989 and was Nintendo's first handheld with interchangeable cartridges, built for battery life and durability over color graphics.
Source: en.wikipedia.org › Game_Boy
Nintendo · Handheld · released 2001
The Game Boy's powerful successor.
The Game Boy Advance sold 81.51 million units. Nintendo released it in Japan on March 21, 2001, with a much more powerful ARM7 processor than the Game Boy Color while still playing older Game Boy games.
Sony · Handheld · released 2004
Sony's best-selling handheld.
The PlayStation Portable sold 80 million units, the most of any non-Nintendo handheld. Released in Japan on December 12, 2004, it was the first handheld PlayStation and competed with the Nintendo DS.
Nintendo · Handheld · released 2011
The DS successor with 3D built in.
The Nintendo 3DS sold 75.94 million units. Released from early 2011 as the successor to the DS, it kept the clamshell design and DS compatibility and added autostereoscopic 3D that works without glasses.
Source: en.wikipedia.org › Nintendo_3DS
Sony · Handheld · released 2011
Sony's last dedicated handheld.
The PlayStation Vita sold 16 million units. It was released in Japan on December 17, 2011 as the successor to the PSP and produced until March 1, 2019.
Sega · Handheld · released 1990
Sega's color challenger to the Game Boy.
The Sega Game Gear sold 14 million units. It was released in Japan on October 6, 1990 as Sega's first handheld and competed with the Game Boy, Atari Lynx and NEC TurboExpress.
Source: en.wikipedia.org › Game_Gear
LeapFrog · Educational handheld · released 2003
The best-selling learning handheld.
The LeapFrog Leapster sold 7 million units. It is an educational handheld for children ages 4 to 10, with games that teach the alphabet, phonics and basic math.
Source: en.wikipedia.org › Leapster
Bandai · Handheld · released 1999, 2000
Gunpei Yokoi's final handheld.
Bandai's WonderSwan and WonderSwan Color sold 3.5 million units. Launched in Japan in March 1999, it was developed with Gunpei Yokoi's Koto Laboratory and was the last hardware Yokoi worked on.
Source: en.wikipedia.org › WonderSwan
Nokia · Phone and handheld · released 2003
The phone that tried to be a Game Boy.
Nokia's N-Gage sold 3 million units. Released on 7 October 2003, it combined a GSM phone with a handheld game system in an attempt to lure players away from the Game Boy Advance.
Source: en.wikipedia.org › N-Gage
The Nintendo DS, with 154.02 million units sold.
It is a hybrid that works as a handheld or home console, so it is not counted here; it has sold 157.2 million units.
The PlayStation Portable, with 80 million units sold.
Four: the DS, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance and 3DS.
A Nokia phone and handheld game system released on 7 October 2003; it sold 3 million units.
Units sold for handheld-only consoles, as listed on Wikipedia's List of best-selling game consoles. Hybrids (Nintendo Switch, Switch 2) are left out. Every number on this page comes from the source linked under each pick, and every photo shows the actual product. Brands can't pay to be on this list.
List source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles · Updated 2026-11-11