Where to Buy PlayStation Portal

Finally I can earn trophies while sitting on the toilet!

Thanks, I've my phone and dualsense for remote play.......

@Maddie47
You don't even need a Backbone controller if somebody in your household has a e.g. tablet.

A few months ago I checked the remote gameplay with my tablet and ps controller.

I’d be very tempted if the remote play app worked, and it was no more than £100. But as neither of those is the case, I’m not really interested.

Will break mine in with Sea of Stars, can't wait.

@Maddie47 I have a backbone and it’s very good for certain games but is missing the touchpad function which basically renders it pointless for certain games and also the fact that you have to pay a £40 a year subscription to use it isn’t particularly paletable. It does beat the portal for use with Xbox and other mobile games though.

The perfect Jim Ryan product: snazzy hardware made useless by a lack of games. I long for the parallel universe where I buy one for farming duct tape and scissors in TLOU2 Online.

What I'd like to know is if you can play something on this (in the house obviously) and someone else can play another game on the TV.

I'm guessing probably not but I've not seen or read anything that confirms either way.

Reason I ask is my wife has recently discovered playing Uno on my PS5 and she's hogging it. Every time I fancy a game of something she's already on it.

This would potentially be a great device if it allows us both to play our games at the same time in different rooms (albeit an expensive solution)

@Maddie47 I have the Backbone and an iPhone 13 Max Pro. The screen isn’t big enough for a lot of games I want to play. The text is SO tiny. Games that don’t really have a lot of HUD like the Star Wars Jedi games are easy enough to play, but games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Borderlands 3 are nearly impossible. The PlayStation Portal has an 8” screen. That’s bigger than the Nintendo Switch. And before you go and say I could use a tablet and a controller, there’s a difference between that and having a built-in controller like the Portal. The comfort level is miles apart.

@Maddie47 how do I bypass? Just plug backbone in and open remote play app? Gotta admit I’ve not tried I just caved and paid

@GeeEssEff I completely forgot that a subscription is necessary. What exactly is being paid for?

@Member_the_game
You can't play on PS portal while your wife plays on console. I just watched a video about this product in more details.

@Quintumply @silverspeed

Yeah I kind of assumed that would be the case but as I mentioned I've seen nothing that officially confirms either way.

I guess I'll just buy Uno for the Switch and she can play it on that instead

That'll be a much cheaper solution to a very 1st world problem 😂

If it worked without a wi-fi network as well I'd be slightly interested. But as far as It is I have no use for it.

To be fair I understand why people divided about Ps portal. But it is not as easy to call it expensive or cheap, because the price relative in situation.

If I look at it as just for remote play fun, it is expensive. There are cheaper options if you already own a good phone/tablet/pc.

If I would hesitate between a tablet or this for playing, I would use Portal. It supposed to have better visuals on screen than a cheap tablet.

If I want a handheld for gaming, most likely I would buy Stream Desk etc instead of this because I need to buy a Ps5 as well to play on Portal.

If I would be hard-core gamer with million free time ( meaning being teenager again), I would have it with my ps5, sure. Another thing, would I really need it?!

If any household has one tv, this Portal could work just fine. I wouldn't buy second, third tv anyway in my situation.

I am curious however, people who already ordered one of these:
Why did you decide to have one? Any special circumstances?

I won't pre-order anything outside of limited editions of things, but I do plan on picking this up later this year or early next year. It's cheaper than buying a second PS5.

If this thing supported streaming services I would buy one. Until it does it just feels very limited

@thetraditional I imagine that would be much more expensive and the battery would last even less.

The new iPad OS update now allowing hdmi connections means I don’t need to buy Portal to play games.

The fact that it's still available to pre order on PS direct shows how "well" this will sell..

It's so close to hitting the mark, yet so goofy that it doesn't. The lack of Bluetooth for headphones is a majorly befuddling decision. And being able to use an external controller for tabletop mode would be nice, but not essential.

But then there are two non-hardware limitations that can probably be fixed through updates, but they might just not do it? The official remote play app has to go fully through WiFi rather than just bouncing through the home router entirely (which is entirely possible) - that would be way smoother and faster. Then, no PS Plus Premium remote play? There's no reason this should launch without being able to connect to that directly.

They're killing at least half of their market for this thing by not focusing on features that would involve a few bucks more in hardware costs and some basic infrastructure updates to their systems.

I find it hard to believe that anyone is actually lining up to buy this thing.

@rmswriter well spoken 👍🏻👍🏻

@silverspeed I have a backbone but unfortunately it doesn’t have the dual sense features so some games, like returnal for example, are not playable.

I don’t think remote play supports adaptive triggers even with a dual sense controller, but I might be wrong.

I think this will be a much better experience than remote play though an iPad/tablet 👍

@GeeEssEff great feedback and never taken to this device. I’m buzzing to play the Portal

@silverspeed to play when my wife’s watching TV and doesn’t eyeball me when she hears the beep 😀

@NinjaNicky just treat yourself as life’s too short not to enjoy for a £50 saving.

@JayJ Luckily, we don't have to line up since not a whole lot people are interested in it.

There's people already trying to sell these on eBay for £350 😂

@JimRyansReplacement Been doing that for years. We have a ps5 and 65" TV in the west wing downstairs toilet.

@Saucymonk amazing hahaha. My apartment doesn’t have “wings” yet alone enough space for a tv in the toilet 😂

@NinjaNicky I’ve two kids and know the feeling. I’ve also got Mario Wonder on pre order as looks amazing

@silverspeed I play a LOT more Switch these days bc I can play in the evening while my lady watches TV, and we can still socialize and hang out together. I’d love to be able to do this more easily with my PS5. Also I think the device checks all the boxes—having an 8” screen solidly built onto a true Dualsense controller with Link to get me a solid connection via remote play is just what I wanted. And I can live with plugging in headphones, absolutely not a dealbreaker (also—lag free sound!). I’m super pumped for it!

@JimRyansReplacement It definitely supports adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. Just confirmed this on the PlayStation site:

“Experience the incredible immersion of DualSense® wireless controller features like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers in supported games”

@JimRyansReplacement
Last time I checked on an Android tablet, I didn't have adaptive triggers.

However, I read on forums that you have it on Windows/Mac.
I can check that next day on my computer.
So, yes, I understand your interest in Portal.

One way or other... have a good gaming 😀

@JimRyansReplacement Except you've been able to do that for a long time, even back to the PS4. Seems like a very niche device. I'll let everyone beta test and give personal reviews to see if it's for me.

@JayJ My guess 90% of it is scalpers... Hope it turns out to be a dud, just for karma to people who literally scalp anything and everything.

@ear_wig
Got it. For that purpose I am pretty sure it's going to be great. I was considering Portal for that reason myself too.

Respectfully, no mean any harm, but I have a question:
If you already have a Switch handheld... why do you want another one? Switch is good enough for those times when tv is on..?
Or will you selling your Switch? I am intrested 😉

@tselliot sure but with ps5 you can’t play certain games without adaptive triggers so this is an essential piece of kit for me personally

@silverspeed thanks for the info brother 👍

@ear_wig oh yes I know the portal supports it that’s why I want one!

@silverspeed lol definitely not selling my Switch—I love it WAY too much! But yeah, I can’t play Lies of P or Armored Core VI on my Switch… Or better yet, Returnal!!

The fact i can't pull this out on a plane or on the train and play natively means i don't see myself getting much use of of this sadly. Gutting as id be all over a Vita follow up

Pre-ordered one… just still wondering if we can remote play with the PS4 too.

I currently have a Backbone but the small screen (I like my phones small) and the lack of haptics makes me feel like I’m losing out playing on it.

I always wondered why Sony didn’t released this exact product, so it was no question I’d buy it when it was announced!

Amazon Japan has it listed at ¥37,980 which is exactly the price of an OLED switch. Can’t see it doing very well here

I would love to understand the decision that led them to making this.

I want to know when it will be available for other countries in Europe and the World ?
Don't care what other are saying I will buy one !

Did Sony forget cellphones now days can perfectly handle remote play without an issue?

But I guess plenty of people would gladly burn money on this unnecessarily product.

@nicugoalkeper : People are free to burn their own money no matter on how unnecessary the product might be.

@Kyushutrail but apparently pre-orders have sold out at all online retailers in Japan so I guess I’m wrong. I’d like one, but no way at that price

@ear_wig I’m like you, buying Portal for Returnal 👍🏻

@MasterPlayerOne Every gaming system on earth is “unnecessary”….it’s a hobby that falls in the luxury category. Some fanboys like to turn it into their whole way of life though and make it their entire personality…do you know anyone like that? Anyone so obsessed with a company they need to praise everything that company does and piss on everyone else’s chips because it makes them feel good?

Since handhelds devices are quite popular now, eg Steam Deck, Asus Rog Ally, it would be smarter if Sony announced a handheld that you can play without connecting to the internet. We can be sure that Sony's handheld device, on which you could play without connecting to the Internet, would be quite popular, such as Steam Deck.

@RichterBelmont out of curiosity, do we know how popular steam deck is? Are there are any numbers there of units sold? I was considering getting one, but then I saw that the version with 256 GB (the 64 GB wouldn't even play many games, so that's out of the question) is 550 euro(s) which is quite a lot for a handheld.

@naruball

Steam Deck probably sold more than 3 million copies this year. This clearly proves that handheld devices are becoming more and more popular. Handheld devices could easily replace both Xbox and PlayStation.

https://www.vgchartz.com/article/456845/report-steam-deck-to-surpass-an-estimated-3-million-units-sold-lifetime-in-2023/

@RichterBelmont thanks a lot! That's quite promising. Here's hoping Sony's paying attention, because I don't see portal doing particularly well.

@naruball

Today, more and more manufacturers besides Nintendo are producing handheld devices, for example Valve, Asus, Lenovo... That's why I hope that Sony and Microsoft will start producing handheld devices because it's quite popular today. Sony could become popular again with handheld devices, for example in Japan, since the Japanese love handheld devices and mobile games the most. My opinion is that handheld devices will replace classic consoles in the future.

@RichterBelmont I forgot about those. I guess that's part of the reason that Sony decided to make the portal.

@RichterBelmont this is somewhat like a beta….think what the WiiU was to the Switch, only they won’t have to suffer as a company like Nintendo did.

I think you hit a key point tho….a lot of so-called experts say that the console will disappear or maybe they morph into a dongle ….but a dedicated would be pretty cool. I am not sure what it is, but I just don’t like gaming on tablets and phones. Maybe I am just a Nintendo fanboy at heart, but I believe in their philosophy that the software build is tied to the hardware….Sony has obviously dabbled in this, but perhaps they see the writing on the wall.

I am not sure I will buy the next gen Xbox or PlayStation if for no other reason that I think we have hit diminishing returns with gaming. I really don’t care about 8k and 120 fps or whatever the specs will be. But sign me up for an advanced handheld system that can keep up with with current gen specs.

@Shepherd_Tallon Me too mate. I can never be bothered with simple remote play, its too much faff... Especially if you just want a quick 10 minutes. I also want my phone to be a phone and seperate from my games.
To be able to pick up and immediately boot into your ps5 and quickstart, whilst retaining all the dualsense functionality, its exactly what I want. I appreciate it wont be for everyone, but I suspect for people like ourselves, it will be real boon!
As we have two ps5s in the room, it also means I can be playing ps5 on the main tv, while my wife uses the portal to play the second ps5 on the sofa next to me, or vice versa. Sometimes its nicer to not have a second tv on and sit apart.
I'm very much looking forward to its release.

My opinion is that Sony should have made it possible to stream games on the PlayStation Portal without connecting to the PS5, ie. that they made it possible for those who don't have a PS5 to be able to play PS5 games on the PlayStation Portal without owning a console.

@GeeEssEff :
Everything in gaming is "unnecessary"....not true at all, it has been proven that all sorts of entertainment from from Music, TV and even Gaming is crucial for the human mind to unwind....with that said the PlayStation Portal is by far one of the most unnecessary pieces of hardware in gaming overall.

We can say steam Deck is unnecessar, just buy a laptop or a PC and no need for everything else. But is not like this in real world...
Many people just think about their situatio, others don't matter...
Real life proved that what some don't need other do...
So we will wait and see, but I think it will sell well in many markets...

@Constable_What sry to say it but you just want to prove your point. Still the reality is a lot different at the moment. In Japan all pre-orders are sold out, and the sales charts in other countries like the USA, UK, and Germany have also shown some phenomenal spikes in traffic around this product. Also you can't tell me that you can get a good 8 inch tablet with a controler for only 200 Dolars. Also not al PS games work well on remote play. But the most important thing is the ergonomics of the PS Portal.

@Constable_What I find this post incredibly ironic. First you say that a steam deck and a laptop are not the same (true) and then you provide examples of things that are actually not the same as the portal.

How incredibly funny. But the best part? You end your post by essentially saying, "you can either agree with me or lie". Comedy gold right here.

Example: "Amazon sells their Fire tablets for 75 bucks. 8 inches. Does more than a Portal." No it doesn't. It simply doesn't. It doesn't consist of a dualsense controller that offers haptic feedback. A tablet doesn't feel as comfortable to hold for long sessions. It's not the same nor does it do more in this regard (it does other things, but not everything someone may want a portal for). As @nicugoalkeper said, the portal does things other devices don't. Now whether it will find an audience remains to be seen. Personally, I think it's rather expensive for what it offers.

What I don't like is people that are saying that something is not ok before it being out and before testing it. If someone says I believe that this is a bad product because i tested it an this is like this and this is not, the yes is ok. But reading here many just say is not ok but none of them tested it.
@Constable_What if a Backbone controller or other alternatives are so great whatwas the need for Sony to make a pricey PS Portal.
I know people are angry (some) for the fact that Sony didn't make a new PS Vita! But that is another product, so don't bash PS Portal untill you tested it.
Also another interesting thing is that if this works with little to no lag when you are on outside WiFI. Then I don't see why Sony can't add a function for it to be paired to his streaming service, without the need of a PS 5 (this is only speculation on my part).

@Constable_What Whats your problem pal? You seem hell bent on attacking a product you have never used whilst trying to pretend other pieces of equipment do the same thing.

There is no other product you will turn on and log into your ps5 within seconds.
There is no other product which perfectly replicate the ps5 controller so you can play games with the same contolls and feedback as developers intended.

Trying to imagine that your cobbled together solution for achieving something sililar is going to be a great solution for everybody, is quite frankly bizzare unless you believe your needs are the only ones that matter, and therefore anyone with different needs or wishes is stupid. Are you really suggesting only you have the intelligence to determine everyone elses best options?

Im delighted you found a way that works for you. How about you let other people determine what they want or need themselves, without insisting that many thousands of us are obviously stupid for not making the choices you have?

This is a 'one use' device. For many of us, thats a large part of the appeal.

@Constable_What
Ive read your other posts. They are agressive, attack other users and make a ton of false equivilencies.
Ive already made another post explaining exactly why myself and my wife want to have this option, despite having two ps5s and two 4k tellies in our front room.
Ive also already pre ordered the portal. Its cheaper than the Edge controller which I will pick up, and much cheaper than the Nacom fighting stick I picked up last month.
Have a lovely day.

Edit "ridiculous things" " its stupid". You just cant help yourself, can you?

I'm selling my Xbox Series X, because subscription services just aren't for me and I'll use that money to potentially buy the Portal. I preordered this with hesitance. I can always cancel. But I am curious to see reviews before I commit. I'm always weary of streaming games. I have fast internet at home and my experience with cloud gaming on my iPad is hit or miss even though I have gigabit internet. If it works extremely well, then I am interested. Mostly because I can't play my PS5 in the living room when it's super sunny as my blinds are not dark enough. So my PS5 hardly gets used in the summer months.

I only ever played my Switch in handheld mode, and at home, so this'll be great for me. I find some games player better on a handheld. Something like FF16 (amazing game) is fantastic on the big OLED. But something like the new Harvest Moon game, playing rugged up in bed on a cold night playing on hand held is perfect. The Switch is so underpowered, and the screen so small, there's very few games that play well (IMHO). A handheld with PS5 graphics is gonna be pretty cool. Just a shame it's not releasing in Australia!!

@Constable_What I have my PS5 wired into my router and upgraded it to a WiFi6 router, I tested Remote play on my MacBook Pro a few days ago and it worked great. Every other time I've tried in the past, there's be a noticeable lag. But this time I didn't notice it (it'll be there, but must be in the very low ms range). Not sure where "it really does suck" comes from?

@Titntin lol. The dudes angry because his tablet can watch Netflix and display an ebook and he's comparing it to a handheld gaming device. Don't tell him about smart phones or kindles, he'll lose his mind.

@MasterPlayerOne I have a iPhone 13 mini (love it) but the screen is too small for games, so a Backbone won't suit me (and others) and they're $180AUD anyway. I actually found the OLED switch screen too small for some games. Plus, I want to be able to still use my phone while gaming (apps, streaming podcasts while I play, txt, socials, looking at game guides, calls etc) so using my phone, even if it was lager, wouldn't suit. As a working adult, $199USD isn't anything to get upset about, for me. Less than half the price of the cheapest iPad here in Aus.

Price is something. I wonder what the reviews will say, is it fair for parents playing at night, people playing off the tv, using a phone/tablet in comparison.

Using it outside/inside (open space, many walls in building) and comparing the WiFi benefits/proprietary link option.

Is Xbox Remote Play better? Vita remote play better? Steam Link better?

Should they have just sold the dualsense grips separately so people can put them onto a tablet? Is the remote play good or will phones outpace it in a few years?

@silverspeed I have an interest because it's a tool that helps fit gaming into a busy life. And to be clear, no offense is meant to people by me saying "busy life" - it's essentially having kids. I love my PS5 but it gathers dust whilst the Switch gets picked up and played frequently. That's not just because of a TV or Tablet being occupied... my kids aren't at the age of hogging screens yet, but it is still an absolute pain in the backside to get the PS5 onto the TV for any useful amount of time without one of a dozen disturbances.

So yea, short of buying a bigger house with more rooms and space to essentially hide away and get to play... this device is a good solution.

HOWEVER...

I've bought mine through Amazon because if this device is still just as bad at maintaining a connection as using my phone/tablet etc then it will go straight back. I'm hopeful that it will have a better connection.

Oh and in terms of why this device versus using a phone... size, battery, just needing phone for god knows what and simple ease. You pick it up and off you go. No messing about.

as primarily a Switch / Steam Deck user - I can't wait to actually play my PS5

@naruball just slap in an SD card and no bother

@Archius9 Oh, I didn't realize that was an option. I'm curious then. What are the other, far more expensive, options for?

@naruball the only difference between the 3, other than SD size, is the 512 has a matte screen. you can make it as large as you want by putting in SD cards and even having several that you can swap out - i have a 2nd SD card with 2 big assassins creed games downloaded on... for some reason.
I have the 256 Steam Deck, but I also have a 256 SD card in it. I'll eventually get a 1tb SD to go in it so I can have more games downloaded.
As most of my library is Indies, I have 30 games downloaded on my 256 memory card (and about 200 roms on my 256 core memory).

I love my Steamdeck so much. the remappable buttons is so helpful, it also has mappable gyro so on any game where left trigger is for aiming, I make that the gyro enable button.

@Archius9 this is incredibly helpful. I seriously can't thank you enough!

@naruball oh you’re welcome! Feel free to check it out on YouTube to see just how customisable it is.
It’s literally a computer too. You can slap it on a usb dock, add a monitor, mouse, and keyboard and use it as any regular, albeit Linux, PC

@thefourfoldroot1 Remote play works very well. Ive been using it for 10 years.

@VaultGuy415 Lack of games? Are you ok? PS5 has the best library of games anywhere, so therefor so does this.

@Vacuumator A paid subscription is not needed. You must have an active PSN account, but you dont need PSplus.

@feral1975 I dont think you need an internet connection to play at home, just a basic wifi router.
Remote play used to allow direct connection to the PS4 without a wifi router, but I dont think thats the case anymore.

@B-Real Playstation hasnt supported Bluetooth audio since PS3, so its not that befuddling. Bluetooth is awful for latency issues, and since sony have to do etherything possible to get latency down, it makes perfect sense.
I have a suspicion the old pulse headset will work via a USB adaptor, but Sony wont advertise such a messy solution as a feature.

@RichterBelmont Im certain that you will soon be able to stream games from PSplus servers.
Sony have just announced that PS5 games are now streamable, but the disclaimer says only available on PS5 at launch. They wouldnt say that if it wasnt coming to other platforms (PS5 games on PS4 or Portal) later.