The gaming world is currently seeing a deluge of success with handheld systems selling and developing like wildfire. Nintendo has seemed to always dominate the handheld market since the GameBoy days, with only a whimper of competition from SEGA Game Gear, PS Vita, and PSP. But now as I write this, the Nintendo Switch has sold 132 million units, and even with those numbers, they might even be feeling a little competition down their neck with the Steam Deck making its rounds. With all of the new handheld consoles doing so well, Sony has decided to release a remote player for the PlayStation 5 called the PlayStation Portal.

Being someone who loves playing my Nintendo Switch in handheld mode even when the TV is off, I jumped at the opportunity and pre-ordered the Portal straight from the Sony website right when it was announced.

What Exactly is the PlayStation Portal?

The PlayStation Portal isn’t a standalone console, it’s a remote player that streams your PlayStation 5 games over Wi-Fi from anywhere you can have Wi-Fi access. Although the requirements for the Portal is only 15MPS, the Portal is only as good as the Wi-Fi you’re connected to, so the better the Wi-Fi, the better the performance.

You can’t download games on the Portal itself, so any games you play with have to be actively installed on your PlayStation 5. Keep in mind, that the Portal is a remote player, so you cannot use your Portal at the same time someone is using the PlayStation 5. What is nice, though, is that the TV can be turned off or be watched by someone while you’re using the Portal. So, my wife has watched TV while I’ve played it on the couch.

When I first unpacked the Portal, I loved the look of it, and loved how light it was. Even though its 8″ screen is bigger than the Nintendo Switch OLEDs 7″ screen, it’s significantly lighter. I suppose that’s the beauty of it not being a full console. There’s a DuelSense controller essentially split in half connected to each side of the screen, so the controller is going to feel 100% familiar, albeit further apart than what you’re used to with a PlayStation controller. It even has the DuelSense features such as resistant triggers and vibration.

Here’s a few specs for the hardware:

• Display: 1920 x 1080, touch-enabled, 8 inches, 60Hz LCD
• Connectivity: USB-C (charging only), 3.5mm headphone jack, PS Link, Wi-Fi 5
• Weight: 2.6 pounds (1,088 grams)
• Dimensions: 14.0 x 3.88 x 6.0 inches
• Battery: Built-in lithium-ion
• Warranty: 1-year, limited

Let’s Look at How the Portal Performs!

Setting up the Portal is quite easy and doesn’t take too long. One thing to keep in mind is that your PlayStation 5 needs to be in rest mode, and not fully turned off, for your Portal to work. The Portal will walk you through setting up remote play on your PlayStation Console and then will set up the Portal on it’s own.

Once the Portal was all set up I was ready to play! The first few minutes I played it had quite a bite of lag, but once I got past the first few minutes, the Portal was running flawlessly. I started by playing Final Fantasy VII Remake. The graphics remained sharp, and the colors absolutely popped. I even turned up the brightness to 100% and enjoyed every moment of what I saw on the screen. Some of the text from NPCs was a little difficult to read because of the screen being smaller, but the rest of the text in the game was fine.

I made sure to wander around the house to see if it would work properly everywhere and it did. I walked outside with it as well and got to about 35′ from my back door when it stopped running smoothly, and about 45′ when it lost Wi-Fi.

Now that I’ve played a single-player offline game for about two hours, I wanted to try an online game. I played FC24 (Formerly FIFA) online and had a lot of lag. I ended up sitting closer to the router in my living room and it started working flawlessly. Once I got going it was fun to play, however the ball was incredibly small, so at times it was tough to see who had the ball during a standing tackle. I decided FC24 wasn’t the game for the Portal. I then played Madden 24′ and Final Fantasy XIV which both ran incredibly well and everything looked crisp. The only times I had resolution drops in any game is when a lot of action is on screen, but the drop happened so quickly that it was minimal.

Next up was testing out the streaming services. I have Hulu and Netflix on my PlayStation 5. Sure enough, the streaming services ran smoothly.

How Does the Portal Sound?

While both playing the games and streaming TV shows, I tested both the Portal speakers and the wired headset. The wired headset worked fine, but it wasn’t anything special. The built-in speakers we’re mediocre at best. The sound is very underpowered, so its range of sound isn’t great, but when you turn it up to the full potential, it sounds like you blew out your speakers in your 2008 Nissan Altima.

What’s even more frustrating is the lack of bluetooth on the Portal. Sony offers $200 ear buds for the Portal that release on December 6th. Yes, they’re the same price as the Portal, and released 21 days after the Portal’s release. If the entire Portal is based off of streaming a PlayStation 5 and its sound is through Wi-Fi, wouldn’t you imagine that it has to have some sort of bluetooth chip in there?

Can You Only Play the Portal at Home?

The answer is no! You can play the Portal anywhere you have Wi-Fi access as long as your PlayStation 5 is in rest mode.

I wanted to test out how it would work on a different Wi-Fi network, so I went to my local Starbucks and tried it out there. Unfortunately, like most public Wi-Fi connections, I had to acknowledge the terms and conditions – but the Portal doesn’t have a browser to do this. I ended up going to a mom and pop coffee shop who doesn’t require a terms and conditions login for Wi-Fi in the next town over, and I was floored with how well the Portal ran. I ended up hanging out for two hours getting lost playing Final Fantasy XIV.

Verdict

All in all, I really enjoy the PlayStation Portal. I appreciate it for what it is, instead of docking it for what it’s not. It’s a highly proficient remote player that allows me to play PlayStation 5 anywhere in the house while my family watches TV or is playing their own games. It does come with a few drawbacks though. The lack of bluetooth in my opinion is its biggest flaw. Wired headsets don’t quite give you the sound that you want from the games, and no one sitting near you (usually) wants to hear the games that you’re playing on.

In my opinion, this niche product fits me. I’m someone who loves playing games in handheld mode anywhere in the house, I’m someone who travels for work and likes to wind down at night with a game, I have good Wi-Fi, and I don’t need a product to play on a bus or outside. Although, the lack of a browser hinders the travel aspect.

With the proper research, and knowing what to expect, this product does exactly what it’s advertised to do, and does it well.

Have you bought the PlayStation Portal? Let us know what you think of it in the comments section!

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