We Need To Discuss Who The PlayStation Portal is For!

In the first half of 2023, Sony announced Project Q. Designed to be a handheld tablet to play PlayStation 5 games on, we were definitely left with more questions than answers. Towards the end of August 2023, we got several answers including the official name and pricing information. Let's take a closer look at whether the PlayStation Portal is a Killer Accessory for the PS5 or whether it'll be dead on arrival. We Need To Discuss Who The PlayStation Portal is For because I honestly do not understand this thing.

Name:
The official name of the device is the PlayStation Portal, and I have to admit when I saw this trending I thought there was a remake of the Portal games coming to the PlayStation. I think it's very strange that yet again Sony will have something that can be called the PSP, PlayStation Portable versus PlayStation Portal. I don't love the name but I don't entirely hate it either.

Display:
This was information already provided but the PlayStation portal uses an 8-in LCD display with a 1080p 60 Hz refresh rate. Quite honestly, the display is slightly better than what Nintendo used for the Switch OLED as that was only 720P, but at this size the resolution difference is minimal.

Usage:
The PlayStation portal is designed to be used while connected to your PlayStation 5 via Wi-Fi remote play. It can play any disc game remotely along with any digital games that you have purchased. What it cannot do is play cloud-based games through PlayStation Plus, which is a definite minus. I'm sure it has to do with the throughput of the connection, streaming games down on top of streaming them to a handheld device. We do know you can be tethered to a cell phone or other Wi-Fi hotspot to be able to play remotely.

Bluetooth audio:
Sony continues its infuriating trend of equipping their devices with Bluetooth yet not making them Bluetooth compatible. You cannot use just any old set of Bluetooth headphones with the PlayStation portal, you have to use their PlayStation headphones. This is infuriating and when people talk about anti-consumer moves this is one of the most egregious offenses. Even Nintendo allows you to use any Bluetooth earphone with the switch.

Pricing:
There are a lot of people speculating about what the price could be, some are thinking it could be north of $300, something it would be around $150. Much like the name, the pricing is okay but not great at $199 USD.

What we don't know:
There are still a lot of questions that we have about the PlayStation Portal. Are the analog sticks Hall effect sensors or are they standard potentiometers? Are they user-replaceable? What's the battery size and what is its expected play time? And finally, what's the exact release date? We still don't know when it is coming out.

At $200 I'm somewhat intrigued by the PlayStation portal, but I'm not motivated to buy one. It's an interesting idea but has far too many limitations for me to really have much interest in it. Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments.

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