Letting you enjoy your console video games without taking up the TV, Sony’s new PlayStation 5 Remote Player opens up the possibility of continuing your Spider-Man or God of War adventures during a family movie, in bed, in the garden, or even further afield.
Remote play is not a new concept. In fact, Sony has supported it in some form for more than a decade, and right now you could stream a game from your PS5 to your phone entirely for free, or with a $180 Backbone One controller attached. But this new $330 device, dubbed the PlayStation Portal, is Sony’s first device solely designed for this feature, and so has some advantages.
The PlayStation Portal only does one thing, but it does it pretty well.
At its best, the Portal is an absolutely seamless and turnkey solution that lets you play your PS5 games in your hands instead of on the big screen.
Initial setup requires changing some settings on your console, and then it’s simply a matter of picking it up and turning it on, and in a few seconds you’ll see your home screen, or, if the PS5 was already in use, whatever game you’re in the middle of.
It’s just as comfortable to hold as a regular DualSense controller, it has the same immersive and tactile features like adaptive triggers, and since all the hard work is still being done by the console it lasts for ages on a charge and never gets warm. Plus the LCD touchscreen is stunning, and at 8 inches is a great size for handheld play at home.
This is all a big advantage over Remote Play with a phone.
The PlayStation Portal (centre), with a standard DualSense controller and an iPhone in a Backbone One mount.Credit: Tim Biggs
But the inherent limitations of Remote Play still apply. The console is sending a full frame of HD video over your local network to the Portal 60 times every second, plus streaming audio, and the Portal is sending back your button presses.
That’s a lot of data, and a small amount of latency (that is, a delay between your button presses and seeing the result on-screen) is unavoidable.