Sony has officially revealed its next handheld device – PlayStation Portal. PlayStation Portal was previously announced under the codename Project Q.
Project Q isn’t a handheld gaming console like the PlayStation Portable or the PlayStation Vita though. It won’t have its own storefront or its own games, rather it is simply a remote-play device for PS5 games. The PlayStation Portalremote player is essentially a DualSense controller cut in half with an 8-inch LCD screen slapped in the middle.
The 8-inch screen is capable of 1080p at 60 frames per second. As the PlayStation Portal is basically a DualSense with a screen it has the same immersive features as the DualSesnse, like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.
PlayStation Portal’s target audience seems to be primarily people in households where they share the main gaming TV with other members of their family. And it would seem this would be the largest audience for the handheld. But you could also use it if you just wanted to play some PS5 games while lying in bed or while sitting on the crapper.
The PlayStation Portal connects to your PS5 over Wi-Fi and one of the downsides to that is that is it looks like it can only be used within your house, i.e. the same place where your PS5 resides. So you won’t be able to take it on holidays or business trips or things like that. And judging by the size of the thing, it’s probably good that you can’t use it outside of your home as it doesn’t exactly look like it will fit neatly into your pocket.
Another downside is that it can only play games that are installed on your PS5. So streaming PS3 games using your PlayStation Plus Premium subscription just won’t work with it.
No Bluetooth but it has PlayStation Link
PlayStation fans have noticed another feature that is also missing from PlayStation Portal is its lack of Bluetooth connectivity. This means that you won’t be able to connect your existing Bluetooth headset or earbuds. However, it will use PlayStation’s all-new wireless audio technology called PlayStation Link.
PlayStation Link will allow the new Pulse Elite headset and the new Pulse Explore wireless earbuds to connect to the PlayStation Portal.
If you don’t fancy forking out another couple of hundred bucks for Sony’s new audio accessories then the PlayStation Portal will have a 3.5mm audio jack to connect a set of headphones that way.
PlayStation Portal Price & Release Date
No release date has officially been set by Sony but the PlayStation Blog does say that PlayStation Portal will release “later this year.” The price of PlayStation’s first dedicated remote-play device will be £199.99/$199.99/€219.99.
The price, in my opinion, seems a bit high for what it is, essentially a DualSense with an 8-inch tablet in the middle. And given the fact that it can only remote play games installed on your PS5 and it is constrained to your home where your PS5 is, it seems like a lot of money for something you can already do on your phone.
Fans on Reddit do seem to think there is a market for the PlayStation Portal. And I don’t think Sony would launch something like this if there wasn’t. How big that market is though remains to be seen.
