PlayStation Portal: Great for Casual Gamers, but Latency May Inhibit Pro Players
Sony’s PlayStation Portal has emerged as a hot topic in recent discussions, and while it may seem to many as a handheld console, Sony officially defines it as a mere accessory for the PS5, not an independent gaming device. Of course, for those ardent Sony fans who relish playing their PS5 while lounging at home, this $200 accessory adeptly fulfills its intended purpose.
Image: Digital Foundry
The PlayStation Portal is equipped with an 8-inch 1080p 60Hz LCD screen and houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chip, supporting 1080/60fps HEVC hardware decoding. Thus, as a streaming device, its hardware configuration is impressively robust. Coupled with the complete DualSense controller experience, the actual gameplay connection to the PS5 has garnered favorable reviews. However, in terms of connection latency, tests by Digital Foundry revealed that compared to a direct PS5 connection to an LG CX TV (in game mode), streaming on the PlayStation Portal incurs an additional delay of 60-80ms. This noticeable latency might be an issue for highly responsive, skilled players, but may not significantly impact those whose TVs lack a game mode.
Given the robust hardware performance of the PS5, many blockbuster games come with a performance mode, i.e., running at 1080p/60fps. Digital Foundry suggests that when streaming to the PlayStation Portal, it is advisable to connect the PS5 to the router via a wired connection and activate the game’s performance mode. This can reduce some latency at the console end, thereby marginally decreasing the overall streaming delay. Furthermore, as the PlayStation Portal only supports 1080p resolution, there’s no advantage in using the game’s quality mode, making the PlayStation Portal plus the game’s performance mode an optimal gaming setup.
Currently, the PlayStation Portal can only stream PS5 games and is not capable of streaming movies. Veteran gamers might notice that the PS5 and PlayStation Portal combination somewhat resembles Nintendo’s WiiU in concept, which also pairs a console with a screen-equipped controller. However, the WiiU offers a higher degree of integration, with its screen controller capable of interacting with the console, while the PlayStation Portal is solely a streaming device, akin to streaming via smartphones or tablets. It remains unclear whether Sony will further develop the PlayStation Portal’s secondary screen functionalities, such as displaying additional content like game maps in the future.
