“the most luxurious way to play remotely”

We have read the first PlayStation Portal tests for you to summarize the opinion of the Anglo-Saxon press.

Will console manufacturers embrace the revival of portable consoles? While the PC market is innovating on this point (Steam Deck, ROG Ally, Legion Go, etc.) and Nintendo revolutionized hybrid gaming in 2017, Sony and Microsoft are lagging behind, banking on different strategies.

To try to catch up, Sony launched PlayStation Portal, which is not really a PlayStation Portable. The tests have just been released and they are blowing hot and cold.

No, it’s not a PSVita 2

Let’s start by recalling what this console is: it is not a console, but a ” remote reader “. It is not a successor to the PSP or the PSVita, it is only an accessory to the PS5 like the “ mablette » from the Wii U.

This is a screen sandwiched by two parts of DualSense using the function Remote Playto connect to a PS5 remotely. The PlayStation Portal therefore cannot launch games on its own or access other applications or cloud gaming services. Not even Sony’s.

Impeccable finishes, a screen that divides

Everything is done by this design to recall the PlayStation 5. It is therefore normal that the finishes of the device are impeccable and the sensation familiar. TechRadarindicates that the PS Portal “ will feel at home in the hands of a PS5 user “. Everything is reminiscent of the DualSense, but slightly smaller, especially in terms of the joysticks which are more reminiscent of those of the PS VR2 controllers.

Beyond that, the specialized site also mentions manufacturing that seems robust, which is rather reassuring for a device that is intended to be handled for a long time and moved from room to room.

A struggling screen?

The opinions of the press diverge a little more on the screen. This 8-inch 1080p60 LCD panel seemed “ clean and bright » to the journalist from Kotaku , but much less satisfactory to others. At the house of PCMagit’s a snub: “ the Switch looks better at 720p“. This is particularly due to the fact that the interface of PS5 games is not designed for a small screen. Kotakualso admits that it is almost impossible to read elements on the screen in Final Fantasy XVI.

In addition to the interface, the colors are also duller than on an Oled or QLED screen: Peter Parker’s costume in Spider-Man 2seems ” dull” in comparison. Moreover, Kotaku points out that fingerprints are quickly visible, which can be annoying.

At the house of TechRadar the screen is therefore a weak point of the console, while at DigitalTrends , this is a strong point. It will therefore certainly depend on your sensitivity and the screens you are used to being around.

To replace the TouchPad of the DualSense, the PlayStation Portal screen is touchscreen. A rather good idea which deserves to be better explained given the incomprehension of the mechanism among certain journalists who had difficulty opening the map of the latest Marvel game. Only a small area corresponds to the controller’s TouchPad, the rest of the screen opening a dedicated menu.

“ The PS Portal’s touchpad is clunky and poorly explained, but it’s not completely prohibitive “, advance Kotaku.

A quality that depends on the connection

The PlayStation Portal is designed to transfer the PS5 display to another room, on the same local network. However, it is still entirely possible to access your console from an external network. However, this will bring an additional step that can radically reduce the gaming experience.

With this accessory, the connection will therefore become a particularly important element. Just as for the cloud gaming, it’s not so much the flow that matters, but the stability. Thus, testers report completely different experiences.

For TechRadarthe experience has nothing to do with Remote Play has nothing to do with the same use on PC: “ While my PC occasionally exhibited visual lags and audio crackles, the connection with the PS Portal is seamless and smooth“. The journalist indicates that he does not see any difference input lag with his PS5.

For others, the concerns are more or less marked.Digital Trendsexplains, for example, having “experienced occasional audio issues and definition drops, but nothing out of the ordinary“. Same forPCMag: “even if the image sometimes becomes blurry by prioritizing the minimization of latency over graphic fidelity“. A technique that we regularly encounter when playing video streams remotely.

ForPolygonon the other hand, using a mesh network, the result is completely different. “I had a rough, low-resolution image with noticeable input lag, which made almost every game I tried unplayable“. Once the PS5 was plugged into the router and the PlayStation Portal moved closer together, the experience was much better, making it easy to playLies of P. On the other hand, games requiring precision remained impossible to access. The journalist explains that, onFortnite“the slight shift hindered [sa] ability to line up shots“. The controller excuse? Perhaps, still, he also specifies thatGhostrunner 2based on timing, was unplayable.

The autonomy of a DualSense

Despite these few small flaws, the PlayStation Portal manages to do what is asked of it, for a satisfactory period since different testers announce that they played around six hours before draining the battery. Unfortunately, given the very principle of this remote player, activating airplane mode (yes, there is one) will not be of much help in saving battery, especially since it does not have a Bluetooth.

Note also that the battery display is done with a simple three-bar icon and not with numbers. Nothing an update can’t fix though.

A niche product

ForTechRadarthe PlayStation Portal «excels in its niche“. Everyone seems to be unanimous: it is a very quality accessory for Remote Play. Still, it doesn’t do anything more than a smartphone with a controller like the Backbone One for example, which costs half the price of the PS Portal.

And this is the biggest drawback of this remote reader: the price. At 220 euros, we would have liked an OLED screen and more possibilities. So that makes it according toPolyon“the most luxurious way to play Remote Play games“.