Sony’s latest handheld console is very different to its previous attempts, but it can still be a great accessory for some types of gamers
Sony has once again dipped its toes into the portable market, but it’s not with a sequel to the sadly overlooked PlayStation Vita.
Instead, PlayStation Portal is completely dependent on a PlayStation 5 in the home. Portal is nothing more than a streaming machine for the existing Remote Play feature. But is that necessarily a bad thing?Unexpectedly large and unexpectedly comfortable
The first thing that strikes me about the Playstation Portal is how big it is. At 30cm, it’s about 6cm wider than a Nintendo Switch, but it’s also significantly deeper because the screen is stuck between a sort of extended version of the PS5’s usual DualSense controller.
All the niceties of the controller are intact, such as the resistor in the shoulder buttons, microphone, gyro, USB-C port for charging and 3.5 mm headphone jack. The trackpad functions are available as touch on the screen. The only real difference, apart from the elongated shape, is that the joysticks are slightly smaller.
The other thing that strikes me about the PlayStation Portal is how comfortable it is. Thanks to the controller shape, it sits perfectly in my hands, and all the buttons are as easy to reach as they are comfortable to use.
At 529 grams, the Portal weighs almost twice as much as a regular Dualsense, yet it doesn’t feel heavier. Maybe even the opposite. A Nintendo Switch actually feels heavier in the hand, even though it weighs 200 grams less. Sony has really nailed the weight distribution.Limited connectivity
In terms of design, Sony has done most things right with PlayStation Portal.
However, how well the actual gaming works is a big “it depends”. PlayStation Portal has no significant performance itself – the only thing it can do in terms of gaming is to stream the gameplay from a PlayStation 5 via your router.
