In short
Let's go deeper
La Playstation Portal represents with flying colors the poverty of ideas and the lack of commitment on the part of Sony in the development of the products of this latest generation.
The disappointment started with a horrible, needlessly giant elementary school PS5 design.
Obviously the Playstation Portal, daughter of the same designers and of the rush to enter the “handled” market inaugurated by Steam Deck, brings with her So many beautiful ideas and a terrible achievement.
BUT BE WELL
La Playstation Portal with a bit of compromises and the right needs it can be considered an excellent device.
Let's go in order, let's talk about design on the fly - so I stop insulting her - and then let's get straight to the point and to why, in my opinion, it's worth buying it.
And if you are engaged/married and your children or your wife monopolize the TV without letting you play, read to the end because I have a couple of goodies for you ❤️.
Design brut (t) list
There's not much to say when it comes to design.
La Playstation Portal It is nothing more than a Dualsense cut in half with a screen in the middle.
At first glance it is really very nice but then, analyzing it in detail, we can notice a significant flaw: the analogs are flush with the screen, ugly, and when used, the thumbs often cover the screen...
And you will say, is everything 'ugly here' and 'ugly there' for a single defect?
IT IS THE DEFECT OF DEFECTS.
Let's talk about user experience and useless limitations so I can finally vent both positively and negatively, there's a lot to say.
User experience
La Playstation Portal was born from Sony's idea to literally carry its PS5 with it without compromise and without ever interrupting the gaming flow.
Can I use the Playstation Portal away from home?
The Portal can be used outside the home and even with a telephone hotspot, you are not obliged to play under the same Wi-Fi as PS5.
HERE IS THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF THE QUESTIONS.
Let's go ahead beddi.
Connecting to the PS5
The beauty of Portal is the speed with which you can access the Playstation remotely.
With the various Playstation Remote apps, both on iPhone and Mac, there are always those minutes of waiting to connect to the PS5.
With the Portal, the connection experience is optimized, fast and fully integrated into the system.
In short, connecting to your PS5 is a breeze, as long as you have an excellent Wi-Fi connection and that you follow a couple of steps that I wrote in this article.
Games and gaming
If your home connection sucks, close the article and forget about this device because you can only play The Sims.
La Playstation Portal It is nothing more than a remote player and, as described by the name, it connects remotely to the PS5 via an internet connection.
Ergo, The quality of the streaming and gaming experience depends on the power of your Wi-Fi.
If you have an excellent upload, a wired PS5 and not too much distance from the router, you might even dare to play a few shooters or in any case something not too demanding like Helldivers 2.
Dream about Fortnite, Call of Duty, and any game that needs precision and low latency.
RPG and adventure games are great, as long as you don't read everything.
Hardware
Speaking a bit about hardware, Portal presents respectable gaming hardware:
- great 1080p screen at 60hz
- Full-bodied and quality audio
- audio jack and ability to connect headphones that support Playstation Link (we'll talk about this later about I'm disgusting)
- controller grip that beats the competition, “almost” 1:1 with the Dualsense with adaptive triggers
Unfortunately it is this' almost 'on the grip that, for me, causes everything to collapse.
Let's talk about it.
Grip and usability
The Portal's strong point is the grip that reproduces the same experience as the Dualsense.
The bad thing about switching, for example, from PS5 to Nintendo Switch is the muscle memory of the hand and the need to get used to using a controller with a different grip.
On paper, this is one of the best selling points of Portal.
BUT THE GRIP IS DIFFERENT FROM THE DUALSENSE.
For design reasons and to better wrap around the screen,The Portal's grip turns out to be much larger and heavier than the Dualsense.
Result? You need to get used to it again.
But the biggest problem comes now.
THE ANALOGS.
The analogs are taller and smaller than those of the Dualsense and you have to get used to aiming again.
Honestly, it's obnoxious and it's a big friction element that drastically reduces Portal's usability.
In addition, to carry normal-sized hands, I find the size of the grip very uncomfortable.
Then oh, if you are not “sensitive” like me to the change of grip or you can easily get used to different controllers, the Portal is great.
Peso
A few words should be spent on the weight of the product.
The Portal is not light.
With a weight of 540 g it will quickly make you tired and prolonged use in the wrong position can cause some discomfort to your hands and wrists.
You will end up either turning it off or playing in bed lying on your stomach.
Staggering Limits
It is within the limits that the Playstation Portal excels the most.
Hardware Limits
Our dear Sony, to sell a few more headphones, decided well IN 2024 not to equip the Portal with Bluetooth but with a proprietary technology called Playstation Link.
Result?
The only two headphones that can be used are the new Pulse Elite and Press Explore, reviewed here and that I had to buy specifically to play with Portal because Press 3D They are not compatible even though they still have that obnoxious USB dongle to connect to the PS5.
Terrible.
Software Limits
Rather than the limitations of the Portal, we are talking about the limitations of Remote Play.
When connecting remotely, it is not possible to change the video settings of the PS5, to reduce resolution, etc. and the Portal, when connecting, does not automatically change the settings to optimize performance.
In short, if you have to use the Portal you are obliged to remember to reduce the resolution and to apply a whole series of measures to optimize the connection, as I wrote in this article.
Needs and use cases
But in the end, who is the Playstation Portal designed for?
Our beloved Sony, to all the criticism received for putting a banal Remote Player on the market and not a real handled console, responded with a nice”was designed for a specific need”.
Let's see which one.
I imagine the CEO of Playstation who, fed up with yet another quarrel with his wife over the TV, shows up at the company board announcing “I'm broken for fucking fighting every night with my mom for the TV, I'll do a quarcosa to connect me to the PS5 without banging out please”.
And here is the Portal.
Seriously (in my opinion it really went like this), the Playstation Portal is designed for a couple of specific use cases:
- Do you often travel for leisure or work or are you often away from home? Pack your Portal and finish the chapter of Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth in Hotel
- Does your wife/girlfriend see Friends on the PS5 TV on Saturday? No problem, start Portal and play while others monopolize your beloved and sweaty 4K HDR OLED TV without appreciating it
- Are you bored during your lunch break at work? An hour is perfect for finishing a mission
- Do you work all day and in the evening all you want to do is jump into bed? The Portal is the perfect companion for playing comfortably while lying down
- Do you spend hours on the toilet? Well, you know, Portal and so on.
Is it worth it?
In my opinion it is worth buying the Playstation Portal only if:
- At a good price, 219€ for the limits it has are wasted money
- Do you have a specific need like those described and it is the only possible solution
{{playstation-portal}}
In all other cases, take a nice walk outside the house and enjoy life that is good even outside the Playstation.
Someone who plays it too much tells you and bought Portal to continue playing on the toilet.
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