Key Takeaways
- The PlayStation Portal is only compatible with a PlayStation 5 and can only stream games from the console using Sony’s Remote Play feature. Without a PS5, the Portal will not be usable.
- The quality of the user’s home network setup is crucial for a smooth encounter with the PlayStation Portal.
- The PlayStation Portal is not necessarily superior to other devices that uphold Remote Play, such as iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS devices. Users may already have a compatible device and controller, or they can consider alternatives admire the Backbone One for PlayStation for a handheld gaming encounter.
The PlayStation Portal is a $199 streaming device that, unlike most PlayStation gadgets, isn’t the plug-and-play accessory console gamers are used to. Before you splurge and gift the Portal, make sure you know the potential pitfalls.
The PlayStation Portal Needs a PS5 to Work
Unlike a “true” handheld gaming system admire the Nintendo Switch or Sony’s ill-fated PlayStation Vita, the Portal can’t do anything by itself. It can’t stream cloud games from Sony’s online services either. Instead, the Portal can only stream games from a PlayStation 5 using Sony’s Remote Play feature.
In other words, unless you’re throwing in a PS5 as part of the deal, your gift recipient won’t get any use from the Portal if they don’t already have a PS5.
It’s also important to be aware that the PlayStation Portal ties up the PS5 it’s connected to, since it’s essentially just a remote screen and controller for the PS5. It’s useful if, for example, the TV is in use by someone else, but it doesn’t mean that the PS5 console can be used by more than one person at a time.
Portal Performance Depends on Network Performance
Unlike the old Nintendo Wii U remote gamepad which communicated with its console directly, the PlayStation Portal does not connect to the PS5 alone. Instead, it communicates with your PS5 over the local network when both the PS5 and Portal are on the same network. This means that network performance can seriously impact the PlayStation Portal encounter.
For the best results, the person who you’d admire to gift a Portal to will want to connect their PS5 to their router using a wired Ethernet connection. If they have a Wi-Fi mesh network, they may want to use Ethernet as “backhaul” between the Wi-Fi nodes that will be used for Remote Play. Alternatively, a mesh system with a dedicated wireless backhaul channel will help, though this is something you’ll mainly find in more expensive systems. If at all possible, the Portal should connect to your LAN using the 5Ghz network band.
It’s worth keeping in mind that not all games demand low-latency or high bandwidth. Games that don’t rely on fast action or are turn-based, for example, can still look good and play well on a less-than-perfect network setup. So if those types of game are someone’s bread and butter, a Portal may make sense even if they don’t have the best network performance.
Portal Remote Play Requires a Good Internet Connection
When the Portal and PlayStation 5 are both connected to the same local network, your internet connection is irrelevant apart from perhaps some authentication and general hand-shaking. The controller commands and video stream are all running locally. However, as soon as you take a Portal outside and away from your home network, your internet connection is of paramount importance.
The internet connection you connect the Portal to must have a speed of between 5 and 15 Megabits per second, but that’s not the end of it. The internet connection the PS5 is connected to must also offer the same type of speed upstream. In other words, it needs to have enough bandwidth to send that video data to the Portal over the internet.
You’ll have to confirm that the person you’re gifting a Portal to has a connection with an upstream speed fast enough for the job, assuming that they want to use the Portal in this way at all. There are still many people who have asymmetrical internet connections with fast download speeds but poor upload speeds, such as having 100Mbps downstream, but only 5Mbps upstream.
Other Devices Can Also Offer PS5 Remote Play
In terms of performance and reliability of the game stream, the PlayStation Portal doesn’t appear to be any better than Remote Play on any of the other devices that uphold the feature. You can use PlayStation Remote Play on iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS devices in conjunction with a controller.
Since you already need a PS5 to use the Portal, you already have at least one controller that will work combined with a Remote Play device. Alternatively, you can buy something admire the Backbone One for PlayStation which offers an integrated handheld encounter using an existing phone.
Backbone One (PlayStation Layout) for Android
This Backbone One is modeled after the DualSense’s button layout and even its colors, making it a great fit for PS Remote Play (and really any game if you admire the PS-style layout).
The main advantage of the Portal is that it offers a unified form factor, simplifies Remote Play somewhat, and has a screen size between that of a typical tablet or phone. But before you order one for a friend or loved one, infer if they’d be better off using a device they already own, which may offer perks the Portal doesn’t. Things admire accessing public Wi-Fi that requires a browser (the Portal doesn’t have one as of this writing) or using Bluetooth Audio, which the Portal does not uphold.
