Many gaming accessories serve a specific purpose, serving the needs of a user base by performing a single task exceptionally well. Things like racing wheels, battle sticks, and flight simulator gear all have a clear reason for existing. The $199.99 PlayStation Portal launched by Sony is a typical specific device. It's a handheld controller with a screen that lets users play PlayStation 5 games remotely, but it's not a standalone gaming handheld, nor is it a successor to the PlayStation Portable or PlayStation Vita. The PlayStation 5's remote gaming feature works as expected, and the Dualsense-based control experience is great. However, given its relatively high price, its value may be limited, especially if there are more economical options that achieve the same results. Therefore, purchasing PlayStation Portal requires users to weigh the balance between its features and price.

What does the PlayStation Portal do?

PlayStation Portal is a device that requires PlayStation 5. You must own a PlayStation 5 to get the most out of the device. The portal allows you to access your PS5 remotely through the screen and control it from within range of any Wi-Fi network, just like you were playing games directly on the console. Even if your PS5 is turned off, it can turn the Portal on as long as it's set up correctly.

The idea of ??playing PS5 games while someone else is using the TV is an appealing one, and that's Sony's envisioned use case for Portal. However, you can already do this using almost any smartphone and compatible controller. The Backbone One ($99.99) is half the price of the Portal and much smaller. Likewise, a high-end phone's screen might be sharper and more vivid than the Portal's mediocre display.

The Portal is reminiscent of the Nintendo Wii U gamepad in that it has to be connected to the system and it's not designed to be taken out of the house. The difference is that the Wii U came out 11 years ago, when the gamepad was part of the console rather than available as an optional accessory.

Design: DualSense with touchscreen in the middle
To create Portal, Sony essentially cut the Dualsense gamepad in half and placed an 8-inch touchscreen between the two halves. The handle and general layout are unmistakably the same as the PS5 controller. It has the same white-on-black look, with transparent front buttons and D-pad, and black analog sticks. The Options and Share buttons are where you'd expect them, although the PlayStation and microphone mute buttons have been transplanted from the center of the controller to the inner edges of the left and right halves, respectively.

Many of the features of the DualSense gamepad are here, including motion controls, immersive haptic feedback, and adaptive resistance triggers. There's no clickable touchpad, but the touchscreen serves the same purpose. At least, that's how it should be in theory (more on that later). Predictably, the controls feel great, as Portal essentially repurposes the hardware of an already great controller.

The top of the Portal has two speaker holes, as well as thin, flat buttons for power, sync, and volume up/down. There's a microphone hole on the bottom edge of the screen, a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB-C port for charging on the back.

Screen: LCD in an OLED world

The Portal’s screen is an 8-inch, 1080p LCD with a 60Hz refresh rate. On paper, this isn't impressive. It's more impressive than the OLED Switch ($349.99), Razer Edge ($399.99), and many current phones.

The screen works as expected, but the 1080p resolution looks blurry than on most modern mobile devices. The effect is exacerbated by the fact that you use portals to navigate the PS5's menu system, which is designed for higher resolutions and larger TV screens. In fact, the OLED Switch looks better at 720p, as its interface and biggest games are designed for both TV and handheld use.

# Resolution is not a big issue since the portal uses a very basic LCD screen. There's a reason many phones (as well as the Razer Edge and high-end Switch) use OLED screens, as they generally have better contrast and a wider color range. LCDs are capable of producing colors that rival OLED screens, but this requires specific engineering (the Portal's LCD seems almost stock).

The OLED Switch, my three-year-old iPhone 12, and my Hisense U8H TV (an LCD TV with a quantum dot layer designed to expand its color gamut) display much more vivid images than the Portal. This is especially noticeable in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, where the red color of the costume really pops on my TV but looks dull on the Portal's touchscreen.

Features: PS5 remote play, nothing more

The most confusing aspect of the portal is its fundamental limitations. Following its announcement, Portal was rumored to be an Android-based device, fueling speculation that in addition to running the PS5 Remote Play app, it could run other software (or at least cloud-based gaming clients like PlayStation Plus Premium )). No one expected Portal to become a full-fledged gaming handheld like the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita, but many expected it to be used for more than just streaming games from the PS5.

If the portal used Android, it would be hidden behind a single-purpose interface. The device's simple menu system guides you through connecting it to your home network, logging into your PlayStation account, and then pairing it with your PS5. Once completed, you will see an activity on the portal: Stream from PS5. It lacks applications. There is no PSN client for game streaming. The only thing Portal can do is open your PS5 remotely.

This is something any relatively new Android phone or iPhone can do, and it does it well with a clip-on controller like the Backbone One (the PlayStation-licensed white version of the DualSense). The Remote Play app is also available on Windows and Mac, and PSN cloud gaming is also available for PC.

Besides remote playback, the settings menu is the only accessible area. This is obviously necessary if you need to adjust network settings or update the portal's firmware. There is one confusing aspect of the menu, however: airplane mode. It's unclear why this option exists, considering the portal only acts as a terminal for another networked device and can't run any software on its own. Seriously, I turned on airplane mode as a test and it actually made the portal inoperable.

Performance: It only does one thing well

I had no issues pairing the Portal with a PlayStation 5 over my home Wi-Fi 6 network. In Marvel's Spider-Man 2, I could parry flawlessly and dodge with ease, and noticed almost no noticeable input lag. Video and audio also stay in sync with the action, even if images are blurry at times due to prioritizing minimizing latency over graphical fidelity.

The only weird issue I found was the touchpad functionality, which maps to two Dualsense touchpad-sized rectangles that appear when you tap the touchscreen while playing a game. Swiping the screen activates photo mode, while a double tap reveals the map and upgrade menu. The latter's functionality isn't as consistent as the DualSense's off-screen touchpad.

I also connected the Portal to a 5GHz Wi-Fi network two blocks from my apartment to confirm that it could access my PS5 over the internet. It had no issues connecting and the controls were nearly as responsive, but I could definitely feel more lag, which made playing Spider-Man 2 and timing parries awkward.

It's worth noting that Sony isn't marketing Portal as a device that can be played outdoors with the PS5, even though it can run over the internet, and its bulky form factor and lack of a carrying case make it difficult to Difficult to fit into a portable device. Bag. Additionally, any mobile device with the PS5 Remote Gaming app will also work over the internet, so that's not necessarily an advantage of the portal.

Who needs the PlayStation Portal?

PlayStation Portal is an oddly limited device that would have made more sense a decade ago when the Wii U launched and was conceptually comparable. Of course, Sony had the PlayStation Vita at the time, a full-featured handheld gaming system that also allowed for remote play from a PlayStation 4. And now, you can play PS5 games remotely using almost any phone for half the cost of a controller (or any Bluetooth gamepad, which costs even less). I don't see a legitimate use case for a portal that wouldn't come with a lot of other devices that offer a cheaper, better screen. Ultimately, the Portal is just a screen sandwiched between controllers, and at $200 it should cost more than that.

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