PlayStation Portal review – the PS handheld for everyone and no one

All I hear about the PlayStation Portal is that it’s for a very specific group of people. Initially I nodded along like a sheep, agreeing with this bizarre, shared wisdom. Of course, a device that must connect to your own PS5 to play games on your PS5 and offers no other functionality must be for a real fringe user group. I felt I was part of this group: a person who simply wants to be able to play my PS5 without needing a TV, but on a device that has a nice screen and a good controller. This is what PS Portal delivers. Am I really such an edge case that this product has limited appeal? I don’t think so. The bigger issue is how the PS Portal plays your PS5 games. To be clear about what the PS Portal does, a quick explanation. You must have your own PS5. That PS5 must have games on it. You connect the Portal to your PS5 wirelessly via your home network. The Portal then uses Remote Play to stream games at 1080p/60FPS from the PS5, and as the Portal is essentially a screen with a DualSense split in half and attached to either side, you get that console controller feel with all the bells and whistles. Despite Sony now offering a fairly decent online game streaming option on PS5, you can’t access that (at least not yet) from the Portal – it is a device that is entirely dependent on the PS5 console you have sat next to your TV or on your desk. I tested the Portal all over my house using a variety of connection setups. The best experience came with the PS5 wired into my router, the Portal connected to it in the same room. I also had my PS5 hardwired into my powerline adapter at the top of the house, my Portal connected to my router on the lower floor, and this also worked pretty well. I’d avoid having your PS5 connected wirelessly to your network if you can, as this did produce more image break-up and more stuttering. Read more