PlayStation Portal Remote Player 5

The PlayStation Portal Remote Player is an intriguing addition to the PlayStation 5 ecosystem, designed to enhance the gaming experience by offering remote play capabilities. Here’s a detailed review of this innovative device: ### Design and Build The PlayStation Portal features a sleek and modern design that mirrors the aesthetics of the PlayStation 5. It’s lightweight and ergonomically designed, making it comfortable to hold during extended gaming sessions. The build quality feels premium, with a sturdy construction that promises durability. ### Display and Performance The device boasts a vibrant 8-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1080p, ensuring crisp and clear visuals. While it’s not OLED, the display still provides good color reproduction and brightness levels, making games look sharp and engaging. The performance is smooth, with minimal latency during gameplay, provided you have a stable and fast internet connection. ### Connectivity The PlayStation Portal relies on Wi-Fi for remote play, streaming games directly from your PS5. The setup process is straightforward, and once connected, it offers a seamless gaming experience. However, the quality of gameplay heavily depends on the strength and stability of your Wi-Fi network. In areas with poor connectivity, you might experience lag or lower video quality. ### Controls The device incorporates the same haptic feedback and adaptive triggers found in the DualSense controller, providing a tactile and immersive gaming experience. The controls are responsive and intuitive, ensuring that the transition from a standard controller to the remote player is smooth and natural. ### Battery Life The battery life of the PlayStation Portal is decent, offering around 4-5 hours of continuous play on a single charge. While this might not be enough for marathon gaming sessions, it’s sufficient for casual or on-the-go gaming. The device charges via USB-C, which is convenient and ensures relatively quick recharging times. ### Use Cases The PlayStation Portal is perfect for situations where you want to play your PS5 games away from your main console setup, such as in another room or even on the go. It’s also useful for households with shared TV usage, allowing you to continue your gaming sessions without hogging the main screen. ### Price and Value Priced at a premium, the PlayStation Portal is a niche device catering to dedicated PlayStation enthusiasts. While it adds convenience and flexibility to the gaming experience, the cost might be a deterrent for some, especially when compared to simply using existing devices like smartphones or tablets with a DualSense controller for remote play. ### Conclusion The PlayStation Portal Remote Player for the PlayStation 5 is a well-designed and functional device that enhances the versatility of the PS5 gaming experience. With its comfortable design, responsive controls, and decent display quality, it offers a solid remote play solution. However, its reliance on a strong Wi-Fi connection and relatively high price point might limit its appeal to only the most dedicated PlayStation fans. If you frequently find yourself wanting to play your PS5 games away from your main setup, the PlayStation Portal is a worthy investment.

I don’t play it, but hubby loves it. Clear imaging, good quality. Doesn’t lag & connects well. Playability is good and haven’t heard any complaints yet.

I 100% bought this because I'm an Elden Ring fan (PS5). I didn't want to be tied down to the loft all the time either. For reference, my Internet has 4 waypoints throughout the house (2 upstairs and 2 down), and a router on the outside of the house (Breaker box - Yeah, my first experience with that, too). Here's my legitimate experience: This thing is awesome. Gameplay is absolutely seamless. It acts as a controller if you're sitting right in front of the TV. I tested it with PvP (Person vs Person) online play, and also seamless. The only complaint I have is when I'm in my bedroom and the door is closed, every now and then I'll get an "Internet is Weak" symbol. But if you play online, it's very mild and semi resembles lag for a second. Then it's back to being good. Other than that, all rooms (Including the garage) work well. As an online player, I have to steas that's a minor inconvenience, I have not been kicked from an online game. I have not tried playing remotely from another WiFi source, so I can't give a review on that portion. BUT, this has 100% met my needs. Screen quality is the same as my TV (Sony, 2023 Smart TV), linking it to my PS5 was surprisingly easy, and all games were available. 100% wish I had known about this before. If you're an avid player, definitely a freedom piece to roam your house/apartment.

I wasn’t sure if this was going to be as cool as I wanted it to be. But it’s a hundred times better. It could be a bit easier/smoother to switch between profiles, and to get the most out of it you really do need a premium plus account. Those are the downsides. But that premium account gives you access to a really quite good library of old and new games to stream, and you can stream certain games you already own. Streaming is the only way to play if someone else is using the PlayStation, otherwise you can play any game on the portal via the PlayStation. A decent WiFi connection is a must for streaming, and you are kicked off the server if youre inactive for too long. It’s really comfortable to use, the controllers are the same as normal just a little smaller. The screen is absolutely perfect - crystal clear and the exact right size. The screen is comparable in size to the size of the tv across the room, IYKWIM (see pic). I’ve found it to be a more pleasurable way of gaming. I can take it in with me while I make dinner, bring it to bed or to the bathroom (always looking for ways not to scroll on the toilet 😉), and I can curl up with it on the sofa with it. I’ve even tried it on the stationary bike with great success. The battery lasts a good long while, and you get warnings when it’s getting low and when it’s getting desperate. It’ll happily keep going if you plug it in though. I got an off brand charging stand for it, which I’d recommend because it’s fairly sizeable and I could see it being easily knocked off a surface or sat on. Excellent, I choose it over the main console almost every time.

I absolutely love the portal. It gives real feel of your PlayStation remotely. The screen quality is very high and the touch screen aspect helps make navigation super simple. Some of the aspect ratio is off and sometimes small text is difficult to read. You also must have very high internet speed and connectivity to use remotely. I recently tried to use in a large hotel on their wifi and it was unplayable. However at a friends house with great wifi, it was perfect. The battery life is quite long, I have yet to run it down on multiple hour sessions.

Edit 11/9/2025: Upping this to 5 stars. PlayStation released cloud streaming recently and it is AMAZING. All the connectivity issues with Remote Play back to my PS5 are nonexistent with Cloud Streaming, and there are nearly 3,000 games available. The Portal finally feels like a standalone handheld console, rather than being tethered to a (sometimes) finicky Remote Play connection I really wanted to use this device more. I loved the idea of having the ability to play my PlayStation 5 from the couch with something else on TV. However, there are some limitations: 1) Your PS5 must be plugged in via ethernet for this to work well. For whatever reason, the WiFi on this device isn't as strong as something like an iPhone when my PlayStation 5 was connected via WiFi. 2) Not a great device for traveling. Due to the device size, it's hard (especially adding a case) to fit this in a smaller bag or easily pull out on a plane. Obviously, this is limited too by the fact that it needs to connect back to your PS5, and I had pretty consistent issues trying to use hotel WiFi or hotspots to connect. If you don't mind the above flaws, this device feels great, the feedback is great, and as a controller it's the closest thing to a DualSense controller. My only gripe with the controller itself is the sticks are smaller than they are on normal controller, and I would've liked the bigger size.

I love the PS Portal. I didn't get it. I still don't. But I love it. Pros: - Can game anywhere in your home wifi network pretty well. Graphics look almost as good as the PS5. It has had a few drop outs while in the bathroom for some reason and it stutters. But generally only has happened a few times. - Works decently on phone hotspot. It's playable, granted it hiccups more than I'd like it too. And the graphics don't look as sharp as home network. - Feels like playing PS5 on the go, in bed, or lying on the couch. Almost the same graphical power and look- it doesn't look quite as good as tv but it's very close- especially coming from the antique switch. Cons: - No browser, so you have to use hotspot/wifi over connecting it directly while on restaurant/hotel wifi - No blu tooth audio, that's a big issue, but maybe due to latency? Wired headphones work great though. - No downloadable playable media. If it had this, this game system would be the king. - Hard to get (check out the app Hotstock. I found one in less than two days casually looking on the app). - Screen is quite reflective, so hard to play outside in the sun. - It sometimes drops wifi connection and it's laggy or slow during those moments, not great for multiplayer games where speed and accuracy is an asset. - It takes around 20-30 seconds to boot up. So if you're a grab and play for a few minute kind of person, huge disadvantage vs a switch, where I could pick it up and play immediately for 5-10 minutes. This is a bit more of a time commitment. - YOU HAVE TO keep your PS5 on rest mode or this won't function at all. If you have a home power outage while on a trip, you're carrying around a portal for nothing. Not only does it need to be on, but you need to be logged into your account on your machine. - My hands aren't quite as large so the controller is a little big in my hands compared to the smaller switch, so it's a little less comfortable, but doesn't bother me that much. - get a case, this thing is big and more delicate. The case makes it feel really solid. I got a clear case with a screen protector, it's nice. Reasons I got a Portal: I love handheld gaming - I've played my switch 90/10 to my ps5. My biggest drawback to using a switch or a steam deck, I like being able to play on the TV and on handheld- but the switch has huge graphical drawbacks, so I never hooked it up to the TV. It's really cool to have your games all be on one cohesive network of games and saves. The screen is really nice and looks about as nice as playing on my TV. Anyone that approaches this with an open-mind will love it. I'll probably keep my switch for trips and keep the portal at home for playing in bed or lying on the couch. I've enjoyed it- once they get a PS5 connected handheld that can download games and create a cloud saving- I'm completely in.

I'll preface with a disclaimer that I should've done more research into how much of the catalog is ACTUALLY playable, but I did not. Giving it a free "my bad" star as an accommodation for that. I'll also cut to the chase and say that, regardless, I feel like this product is sort of an underwhelming attempt for Sony to mimic some of Nintendo's success with the Switch via a handheld console. The amount of titles playable on the device is very limited, in my opinion. For example, Castlevania Symphony of the Night is one of my favorite games - with the Requeim collection only available right now on PS. You'd think that would be a lock to be playable on the Portal, but it's not on the list. Went through a few other of my "greatest hits" and was more disappointed than not in what I could actually stream from my library on the device without having to mirror from my PS5. The device in itself is fine. The PS5 controller design makes playing it feel natural and familiar, the screen is pretty solid quality for an LCD, and the sound is pretty good as well. The mechanics of the devices are fine, as far as I'm concerned. The biggest flaw or disappointment is really the fact that it's a $200 "controller-with-a-screen" meant to create a handheld format for PS games...and that experience is extremely limited by the amount of games you're ACTUALLY able to play on it - or it requires what I've experienced as extremely wonky connectivity and stability when streaming from a PS5 console. I feel like the $200 price point reflects the awareness by Sony that it's an inferior option to other handheld solutions on the market. The Steam Deck is definitely the most expensive while also arguably providing the most bang for your buck - Steam sales make games cheaper so it technically pays the difference in the long run, has an exponentially larger catalog that covers PS and Xbox games more often than not these days, you can easily dock to act as a Steam "console" or play handheld, and the device is pretty easy to understand, use, and even customize. The Nintendo Switch is more mid-range in price, limited in catalog to Nintendo IPs and licenses (duh), it popularized the dock/handheld concept, and it's extremely simple to use. In hindsight, I probably would've skipped the PS Portal entirely. It's cool to look at, has a smart design for a Playstation handheld, but the limited capabilities and disappointing performance make even the $200 price tag give me buyer's remorse.