Transcribed from the video:
The Portal is actually good. Ok, but hear me out. I ragged on this thing a bit before it came out and I scoffed at the price tag but you know what? There was something about it I couldn’t quite put my finger on…
And then I saw it. This weird thing was sitting under the glass at the local game store. No box, no cables, just a gently used Portal staring out at me like a forgotten puppy at the pound.
Everyone needs love. And everyone has something to offer, like my old Turbo Grafx Express from like 1992 or something. It still works! Or my PlayStation TV that could play Vita games on your TV. For some reason. I have an open heart for electronic oddities, especially ones in the world of video games. So when I looked deep into the thumbtacks on this hunk of plastic, I actually saw myself staring back at me—because the screen wasn’t on and it’s kinda shiny.
My point is how could I feel good about making fun of this thing if I hadn’t actually tried it myself, right? And finding it used? That was the rationalizing icing on the cake, and suddenly I could buy this thing without feeling guilty. Or even financially irresponsible. This thing came home with me and then I put it to the test.
Now, I don’t know who this thing was made for, exactly, but I assume it’s for gamers that have a non-gaming spouse and a 4-year old at home, and that kid likes to hog the TV watching other kids playing with toys on YouTube. As it happens, I’m familiar with this target market because much to my surprise, I am this target market. It’s me.
Oh, it’s also for people who own a PS5, since the device only streams games from your console. It doesn’t actually run any games from the device itself, and it doesn’t run any apps. Now, if I told you it’s a handheld that doesn’t play Netflix and doesn’t really have any processing power of its own, you might say “hey I already have a Switch” but ahhh, here’s the kicker: it’s puts your PlayStation games in your hands. Helldivers 2, Ragnarok, Spidey, you name it… if you have it installed on your PS5 you have it in your hands.
But there are some limitations, and can streaming your game live up to the hefty price tag?
First Impressions
I haven’t really done a hardware review before, but I’m pretty sure this is where should show you an unboxing. Like I said, I got this used and it didn’t come with anything, not even a charging cable. But in case you’re curious, a new one would come in a box (Artistic re-enactment ensues) and to actually use the device you must first take it out of the box, like this.
Now, I’m going to leave this on screen for a moment because you probably need a moment to stop laughing at this product design. I like to think somewhere somebody took a hacksaw to a DualSense PS5 controller and tried to glue it to the sides of a Nintendo Switch to replace the Joycons like an idiot, and now they’re consulting with lawyers about idea theft because that’s exactly what Sony seems to have copied with this thing.
Seriously though, if you’re still laughing just pause it or whatever because I gotta keep going. But here’s the thing: it feels good. It feels almost exactly like a PS5 remote with haptics and everything. It’s heavier than a Switch or a Steam Deck, weighing in at 2.6 lbs or about a kg, but the only time I noticed that was when lying on my back. You would not want to doze off with this thing hovering over your nose.
The sticks feel a little looser than a regular PS5 controller, but I have no idea how this thing was treated with the original owner. All I know is that I actually prefer how this thing feels compared to a regular controller, and that’s saying a lot because I think the DualSense is the only controller that challenges the 360 as the greatest controller ever. What’s your favorite controller? Let me know in the comments—unless you’re gonna say the GameCube.
Let me back up a second: it’s tempting to compare this thing to a Switch or a Steam Deck, but that’s apples and oranges. This thing is not a handheld console, it’s simply a streaming device with a kick-ass controller. A better comparison would be the Backbone, a controller that fits around your phone so you can use Playstation’s Remote Play app, among other things. The Backbone is a great product that’s half the price, and has some of the same limitations as the Portal, so that’s the real comparison. So let’s dig into the Portal and see just what it brings to the table.
Testing Time
Setting it up was easy. I already had my PS5 set up for remote play because I use that on my phone from time to time. But it was connected and working within seconds. So of course the first thing I want to test is one thing it’s probably least suited for: a first person shooter like Call of Duty. Now, I only fired up a bot match because I’m not about to sully my name with this thing online. You can see the actual amount of lag right here, and it’s barely noticeable but it is there. But what I really noticed is that the aiming felt floaty, a little overaiming my target and then immediately overcorrecting.
You can see here that even with the bots on Regular difficulty, I just couldn’t really get kill streaks going. By comparison when I turned on my normal control and started playing the match on the TV, it looked more like this. So is it playable? Yeah… but I would stick to campaign mode or bot matches. Or if you wanted to trick the engagement based matchmaking in Multiplayer.
If you’re not familiar with Engagement Based Matchmaking, be sure to check out my video on it, it’s probably my best video to date. And while I’m schilling myself, let me just say if you’re enjoying this video so far then hit those like and subscribe buttons before I do something to ruin it. I do game reviews and commentary, and I might just be doing some more hardware reviews like this from time to time.
Ok, so honestly Call of Duty was not as bad as I was expecting but still not a shining endorsement. But also, this is not what the Portal is meant for. So next I wanted to try it with Final Fantasy Remake from 2020. This is a 3rd-person action RPG and I think it’s a good test because you do dodge and timing is important, but it’s not like playing a souls like. As you can see, Tifa looks great on the 8” LCD screen. Now, I tested the graphics on at least 4 other scenes with Tina and hey, it looked great every time. I generally suck at dodging and blocking, so it was hard to tell a difference even with a little lag. If I’m being totally honest, I didn’t notice a difference at all, mainly because it didn’t require precise aiming. So I would say this gets a green light from me.
I tried some other games, like The Ascent, which is an isometric action RPG in some of the most beautiful cyberpunk environments you’ll ever see. I actually played the last half of this game on the portal, including the final boss. So that’s another green light.
Spider-Man 2 and Ratchet & Clank also played great—I had no issues in limited play. So this is where I need to share my network specs for reference, because your wifi connection is crucial here. You can see on this speed test from my phone I was getting 36Mbps download speeds on the wifi from the couch in the same room, around 24Mbps from a different room in the house. My PS5 is hard wired to my router and it actually gets close to 400Mbps down and around 50Mbps up. So it works great in my home on the same wifi, but about when I’m away from home?
So I ran a test just connecting it to the hotspot on my phone. I’m in the passenger seat of my car here in a mall parking lot, and you can see there’s a little bit of frame stuttering. I’m sure there’s some lag going on, but the game seemed very playable and it was nice to see that you can play this thing away from home provided you have a solid Internet connection.
Vs. the Portal
So I went back and played a lot of the same games on the Backbone. I got this thing for Christmas and I actually planned on doing a review of it before I caved and bought the Portal. So here’s a quick rundown of pros and cons between the two:
But here’s the kicker, while you’re using the Portal you still have a phone. Playing the Playstation Remote Play app on my phone reminds me of the old days when getting a phone call would kick you off the internet. If I get a call, a text, or anything that requires me to switch to that app, then when I go back to Remote Play I have to go through the whole process of reconnecting to the console and all that.
At this point, the Portal’s been passing the tests really well and I’m really starting to get a mouthful of words to eat. But it’s not all fun and games: there were some issues.
What Sucked
Ok we’ve already talked about the lag, and if I slow my video down and look at it frame by frame, you can see that in my living room there’s a 1-frame lag, or about 1/24th of a second. I think that’s an acceptable level for most games and most gamers, but elite players or games with super-precise mechanics are gonna notice that, there’s just no way around it. I don’t think you’d want to play Apex Legends or compete online in Gran Turismo.
You also can’t play anything from the cloud, since I guess that would double up the lag from the remote servers plus the lag from connecting to the console. I don’t know if there’s a hardware limitation that prevents the Portal from playing cloud games directly without going through a PS5, or if that’s something that can be added with a firmware update later. For all I know, there’s a licensing issue that prevents handheld access. Who knows what crazy rules the lawyers think of, but I hope they’re able to fix this. Because the entire use case for this device would expand dramatically if I could play games from the cloud anywhere I have an internet connection, as opposed to only being able to play games on my PS5.
Value Judgement
So I really gave this thing a hard time when it was first announced because it was such a bare bones, single use product. As it turns out, that one thing it does is actually something I really like. I use this chonky boy just about every day, and it doesn’t even seem as ugly or goofy as it did when they revealed. I love the fact that it’s basically PS5 controller with a screen in the middle.
So is it worth the price? It’s $200 here in the US, and… I dunno, I still have hard time saying it’s worth every penny. Times are tough, and you could probably get three games for the price of this thing if you’re buying it new. So if you can afford it without cancelling Netflix or something, then yeah it might be worth the money. But if you’re on a budget, I would look for a used one or wait for a price drop or at least when they’ve added a few more features to it.
Oh who are we kidding, this is Sony. All they did with the Vita was take features away, so I’m not holding my breath.
But this is the closest thing to a handheld PS5, and if you share your TV with kids or significant others and you have a good wifi router, then this is a great product. I give it a very surprised thumbs up.
I always appreciate those likes and subscribes, and if you’ve played a Portal, or even if you haven’t, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for watching!
