Sony extended several deals beyond Black Friday and Cyber Monday, covering products like the PS5 Pro, controllers, PS VR2, and the PlayStation Portal. The PS Portal is currently sitting at a record low of $178 instead of the usual $199 on Amazon which makes it a lot more accessible for people who want to play their PS5 games away from the TV.
This device solves the problem of shared screen time in households where multiple people want to use the same television and lets you stream your PS5 library to the handheld anywhere in your home with decent Wi-Fi. The 8-inch LCD screen and DualSense controller integration mean you’re getting the full PS5 experience in a portable form factor.
How Remote Play Works in Real Life
The PlayStation Portal streams games directly from your PS5 console over your home Wi-Fi network. To work well, it needs at least 5Mbps of bandwidth, but Sony says 15Mbps is better. To send video to the Portal’s screen, your PS5 needs to be either fully on or in Rest Mode with network features turned on. The console does all the processing and with this method, you can play the real PS5 versions of games with the best graphics and performance, as long as your streaming connection is good enough. The system works with any game that is compatible with your console including both PS5 and PS4 games that you already own.
Cloud streaming is available to PlayStation Plus Premium members which means you can play hundreds of games from the catalog directly on the Portal without having to download them. This makes it possible to play games when you’re not at home or when someone else is using the console, but you need a stable internet connection no matter where you are. With a Premium subscription, you can also stream some digital PS5 games from the cloud which means you can play them right away without having to wait for installations or updates to finish.
The 8-inch LCD screen can show 1080p resolution at up to 60 frames per second which is the highest frame rate that most PS5 games can handle. This means that action games and competitive shooters will run smoothly. The display brightness works well in well-lit rooms without washing out, and the full HD clarity makes game details clear enough that you won’t feel like you’re losing visual quality compared to playing on your TV. The screen is in the middle of two halves of what is basically a DualSense controller that has been split in half. You get the same haptic feedback and adaptive triggers that you would get when playing normally on the console.
You can use Tempest 3D AudioTech with any audio device that works with PlayStation Link wireless technology or a standard 3.5mm headphone jack: This spatial audio processing makes the same immersive soundscapes that you’d hear on your main setup. This helps you find enemies in competitive games or enjoy the details of the environment in single-player adventures.
The PlayStation Portal has all the DualSense features that make PS5 games feel different from games on other platforms. For example, it has haptic feedback that changes based on what you do in the game and adaptive triggers that give you different levels of resistance. The controller vibrations let you feel the tension of drawing a bow, the recoil of different weapons, or the texture of the ground and it keeps you connected to the game even though you’re playing on a smaller screen. The button layout, thumbstick placement, and overall ergonomics are the same as those of a standard DualSense controller, so you won’t have to learn new controls or get used to a cramped handheld layout.
This $21 discount makes the PlayStation Portal cheaper than standalone gaming handhelds that can’t access your existing PS5 library which makes it a good choice. You’re getting a device that lets you keep your game saves going smoothly between the TV and the handheld without having to deal with multiple versions or problems with cloud save synchronization.
