Sony seems obsessed with ways to extend the PlayStation 5 experience beyond your TV. An alternative that is more reasonably priced and less extreme is the $200 (£200, AU$330) Playstation PS5 portal. Move your PS5—which is a portal streaming device—into a different room in your house. However, this device is significantly more specialized and limited than you might think based on its appearance, which is similar to a mobile gaming system.
Sony, a video game firm that formerly produced its own handheld systems like the Vita, has something that appears to be a standalone handheld device but isn’t. The Playstation PS5 portal does not do gaming on its own. Instead, your PS5 is used to broadcast them. Imagine it as a PS5 controller with a screen growing out of the center.
Design – Clean But Missing That ‘X’ Factor
When I initially took it out of the package, I thought it was funny-looking. clean but strange. Between two parts of a complete game controller sits a flat tablet-like display with some retro-style Sony contour lines swooping down. Almost hidden, the USB-C charging port is nestled underneath. It doesn’t appear to be very portal. It’s not provided with a case and has an odd form. It has projecting grips that resemble a Sony Batarang. But then, it’s not designed to be taken outside.
The Portal feels enjoyable because of the controls. The sticks, grips, and buttons all have the same tactile sensation as a real DualSense for a PS5. There are haptics, and the triggers have the same force feedback. That significantly alters my gaming style, which is why I dislike using gadgets like Backbone One to play my games. The majority of mobile devices don’t feel exactly like a traditional controller. However, the Portal does.
Regarding haptics, nevertheless, be aware that they do feel rather different from a typical DualSense. In several of the games I’ve played, the rumble motors become louder and less subtle. However, I’ve never seen haptics on a portal device that runs on streaming, thus this device’s quality is significantly improved.
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A Little Compromise With Stream Quality
The largest drawback of the Portal is the way PS5 games are streamed. It’s not quite the same as playing on the real PS5, which is silky smooth. There is a lot of variation in the gameplay, smoothness, and streaming frame rates. It’s functional, yes, and the software might still get better, but the streaming quality hasn’t been constant thus far. It’s just ok most of the time, and great at others. Without a doubt, your experience will differ.
Audio Options Are Limited on Playstation PS5 portal Review
The Portal has good speakers, but if you want wireless headphones, you’ll either need to use Sony’s over-ear headphones or Pulse earbuds, which are exclusive, or plug in something tethered using the 3.5mm port. The lack of compatibility with standard Bluetooth audio is inconvenient.
Well, The Setup Is Super Easy
The Playstation PS5 portal is easy to set up and pairs without requiring the PS5 to be plugged in. I used a QR code to access the PlayStation mobile app, located the nearby PS5, and established a connection. The Portal has a few menu options to adjust brightness and connection, but overall it’s a rather basic package.
Trouble arises from that basic characteristic, though. I attempted to bring the Portal into the office to demonstrate its operation to others, but it was unable to connect to our workplace WiFi. Part of the cause is that pop-up WiFi logins are incompatible with the Portal. This eliminates a ton of locations where you could attempt playing. Additionally, the Portal cannot offer you guidance if it is unable to establish a connection with the PS5 for any reason, such as because you turned it off rather than putting it in sleep mode. It merely shrugs and states that the console is not located.
Verdict: Should You Buy Playstation PS5 portal Review or Not?
Considering that a PS5 controller costs approximately $60 and a Backbone One costs approximately $100, $200 for a screen-enabled Playstation PS5 portal doesn’t seem like a crazy upsell. However, it’s also highly specialized and totally useless. It’s quite specialized because it’s actually simply a remote streaming screen bound with its own controls. Although the streaming features feel more constrained than on a dedicated gaming handheld like a Steam Deck or even a Switch, the controls are promising.
After playing the PlayStation Portal for weeks, I can’t get rid of the notion that this is a prototype for where Sony could actually take mobile gaming. It functions, but primarily by utilizing pre-existing PS Remote streaming technology. I’m thrilled that Sony is making a comeback to handheld gaming, but what if the Portal, like the Wii U, had flawlessly optimized video that connected straight to the PS5? What if the DualSense-style Portal had a real touchpad? What if the Portal could stream games from the cloud or play games offline without requiring a PS5 at all?
I would love to see Sony resume producing handheld game consoles in a year when they have become increasingly popular. Perhaps the Portal is a step toward that goal. Sony, keep going; simply do it even better the next time.