PlayStation 5 Portal Remote Player review – it puts your PS5 console in the palm of your hands

PlayStation 5 owners love their consoles and want to play whenever they can – even if they are not in front of the console at home. This is now possible with the PlayStation Portal Remote Player for PS5.

The device looks like the PlayStation DualSense controller has been cut in half and connected to each side of an 8-inch tablet.

The LCD screen has 1080p resolution and frame rate of 60fps so it looks great and games plays super smoothly.

The great thing about the design is that all the controls you know and are familiar with are still right there at your fingertips.

It has the same responsive vibrations and haptic feedback that you would experience with the dedicated controller.

And you don’t need to be sitting in front of the PS5 – you just need to be on the same network anywhere in your home to continue the action.

There might be someone else watching TV where your PS5 is located, or you want to get to that next level during breakfast or in between other tasks.

With the PlayStation Portal it’s like you’re holding the console in your hands.

The device connects to your PlayStation 5 on your home network and streams the signal so you’re seeing your PlayStation screen in the palm of your hands.

This is a purpose-built device that delivers the same PS5 experience remotely in your home.

This is not a portable PlayStation 5 device – it is a portal to link to your PS5 from inside your home network.

It does not work on its own – you need to have a PS5 to use it.

There is no cellular version – it is only wi-fi – so unfortunately you won’t be playing this on the train or in the park – only in your own home.

There is also no way of streaming games from the cloud – it is simply mirroring your PS5.

That also means if you’re off using the device in another part of the house – no one else can play the PS5 because you’re connected to it.

For our review we were connecting wirelessly to the PlayStation 5 which was also wirelessly connected to our network.

In this setup we found there was a noticeable lag when we were trying to play a game or navigate the system.

After a bit of research online, we discovered the best option is to have the PlayStation 5 connected to the network with an Ethernet cable.

We connected it to the modem and the problem was solved – the PlayStation Portal was an absolute mirror of the PlayStation 5 console nestled inside the equipment rack in our home theatre.

For us, if we ever wanted to play a quick Call of Duty multiplayer game we’d have to go into our home theatre, fire up the projector and the receiver and grab the controller off the charger.

We’ve got a 150 inch screen in there so it’s always worth the time.

But now with the PlayStation Portal, we’re able to fire up the device and link directly to the PS5 from anywhere in our home to start playing straight away.

That’s what we really liked about it, you can dive in and be playing within minutes.

When you link the PlayStation Portal for the first time you have to go into the settings on the PS5 console and allow for remote play and for the console to stay on and stay connected to the internet.

Once that’s done you’re good to go.

Game play is reasonably responsive if you have a decent network.

Sony says you need speeds of at least 5Mbps to use the device but naturally a higher connection of at least 15Mbps is recommended.

So in the end it really comes down to the speed of your network.

Interestingly, the PlayStation Portal has Wi-Fi 5 on board while the PS5 has Wi-Fi 6 which seems an odd choice by Sony given its reliability on network speed.

Playing games that don’t require your reflexes for victory are ideal for the PlayStation 5 Portal.

But that’s not to say it can’t handle fast paced games.

We were impressed with the responsiveness playing multiplayer Team Deathmatch games on Call of Duty.

We were still able to hold our own so you’re not getting too much of a delay from the console itself.

Of course, there would be far less latency playing on the console itself, but the PlayStation 5 portal experience was still fast enough to enjoy it.

On the audio side, the sound is impressive through the built-in speakers but if you want to use headphones and not bother other people in your household it gets a little tricky.

Unfortunately the device does not have Bluetooth so you’re unable to just pair earphones or headphones to the device.

It does have, however, PlayStation Link wireless technology so you are able to connect Sony’s Pulse Explore wireless earbuds or the Pulse Elite wireless headset.

But it does have a 3.5mm headphone jack if you still have a pair of wired earphones or if she can locate your headphones cable to get connected.

One strength of the PlayStation portal is its battery life. We were getting more than six hours of gameplay on a single charge.

The PlayStation 5 portal is available now and is priced at $329.95.

VERDICT

The PlayStation Portal Remote Player for PS5 is a great way to access your console from anywhere in your home. It feels like you have a PlayStation 5 in every room that you can fire up and play in seconds.