Remote portal to your PS5 console.
The latest addition to the PlayStation 5 family of accessories is a bit of a quirky concept – at first glance, it looks like another of the many versatile portable devices that have spawned a range over the past year or two. But in reality, it’s “just” a kind of “remote terminal” or “remote control,” if you will. With it, you can stream games from your PlayStation 5 console without the need for a TV or monitor, both at home and remotely from anywhere with a wireless internet connection.
However, this relatively limited functionality of the device is one of the reasons why it is somewhat more affordable than traditional standalone handhelds. It is a suitable solution for those who live in a shared house (where several people can claim access to the same TV), like to play games in bed before going to sleep, or travel to places where wireless Internet access (Wi-Fi) is available.
- Connection: USB-C (charging only), 3.5mm headphone jack, PS Link, Wi-Fi 5
- Battery: Built-in lithium-ion, about 4 hours of work
- Display: 1920 x 1080, touch, LCD, 60Hz
- Dimensions: 35 x 10 x 15 cm
- Weight: 1088 grams
- Price: 5,390 CZK (Sony)
Construction and operation
When you unpack the device, you might be surprised by how big and spacious it feels. The DualShock is a relatively large controller (which is why it fits so well), and here it’s practically attached to the eight-inch (20 cm) LCD screen – everything feels solid and uniform, which also makes it feel very comfortable in your hands, at least for an older player. You’ll find all the buttons that the DualSense controller has here, in almost the same design and in one place. Additionally, there are additional buttons on the top of the device for power, volume, and PS Link. On the bottom of the device, there’s a USB-C port for charging and a 3.5 mm jack for connecting headphones via a cable.
Once you’ve turned on the device for the first time, there’s some basic settings to configure, like language or time (make sure you enter the correct year, otherwise you might accidentally get stuck on this screen and it won’t let you go any further) and of course, connecting to your Wi-Fi network. You can use the touchscreen as a controller or directly to select and confirm individual options here. You’ll need a bit of patience for the first connection, as several firmware update files will automatically download and install before you finally get to the beautiful screen with the glowing circular portal that acts as a gateway/animation to start the stream from your PlayStation 5 console.
Suitable for cohabitation and play in bed.
Once connected to the PlayStation 5 console, it would be an exaggeration to say that you play as if you were sitting in front of the TV with a classic controller. Since it’s not actually a separate gaming device but “just” a screen for streaming from your console, the entire interface and functionality looks and behaves as you know from “normal” use of your console. However, it’s quite a pleasant shock when the gorgeous graphics of the most complex PlayStation 5 games are suddenly running “in your hands” on a portable device that (given the size of the display) has enough resolution and refresh rate to make those graphics really stand out. Playing graphics-intensive games like Horizon: Forbidden West in this way is a truly powerful experience, and unlike the iPhone, you don’t have to worry about the device overheating in your hands (as happens with current native games on those platforms). Some may argue that an OLED display would be better (mainly for playing in the dark, so that the blacks on the display are truly black), but I can assure you that even this LCD display works very well, and the viewing angles are also quite rich (you don’t have to hold the device completely perpendicular to your eyes for better contrast).
Purpose and Limitations
As we’ve already discussed, PlayStation Portal is really “only” designed for remote gaming from your PlayStation 5 console. As such, it’s entirely dependent on the quality of your wireless signal, image transmission, audio, and button responsiveness. As long as you have a fast enough internet connection and your Wi-Fi isn’t currently busy with something else (like watching Netflix on TV or downloading an app in the background on your console or PC), gaming on Portal runs almost flawlessly with no chance of encountering any lag or dips in image quality or smoothness. For best results, it’s also a good idea to temporarily disconnect other devices from your Wi-Fi, as many of them tend to connect or even update without your control.
Of course, this “secondary connection” won’t significantly affect a slower game – turn-based RPGs, for example, are practically untouchable in this case. But if you’re playing a pure action game where reflexes and milliseconds matter, even a small glitch can have unpleasant consequences. I also found that a drop of a millisecond or several frames could occur if something very fast and significant happened in the game (for example, during a big explosion, I lost both image and sound for a split second). So your preferences in terms of game genres can have a significant impact on how satisfied you are with the PlayStation Portal. A very nice feature: when connecting from another location, streaming works almost exactly the same as if you were sitting on your home network – depending, of course, on the Wi-Fi load in both places.
The device does not have an Internet browser, which can be a problem if you want to connect, for example, abroad at the airport – some networks require you to agree to terms and conditions in the browser, which cannot be implemented on the device due to the lack of a browser. In short, you need Wi-Fi, which can be selected in the network menu and, if necessary, enter a password to connect to it. The second technical limitation is the lack of Bluetooth, so when it comes to wirelessly connecting headphones, you are dependent on the PlayStation headphones with PS Link (only newer models have it, but if you play at home, you can connect older Pulse headphones separately to the console directly). Alternatively, you can connect any headphones to the 3.5 mm jack using a cable. Battery life is quite pleasing, it lasts about four hours with maximum screen brightness. When it comes to long-term use, the durability of the analog sticks is still questionable, especially when it comes to the potential problem of their “drift”, which is a fairly common problem for this generation of joysticks. gaming equipment.
Source :Indian TV
