About a year since the PlayStation first hit us with their handheld gaming device, there’s some buzzworthy news: an update to the PS Portal is out.
The company shared the announcement on Wednesday via a blog post, detailing the fresh system software update for its remote player that made its debut back in November 2023.
Good news for PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers—this update brings a beta version of cloud streaming support to the Portal. That’s right, you can now dive into PS5 games available in the catalog straight from your Portal device. There’s no need to haul your PS5 around or even own one, to begin with. However, it’s important to note that this feature doesn’t extend to PS4 and PS3 games.
On the PS Portal, games stream in sharp quality, running up to 1080p at 60 frames per second. They also take advantage of haptic feedback through the DualSense wireless controllers nestling each side of the device’s LCD screen. Added to this, the cloud beta now allows game saves through PlayStation Plus Cloud storage, offering up to 100GB, and if you also have a PS5, it syncs up seamlessly.
Last year, Mashable took the PS Portal for a test drive, and reporter Alex Perry shared some insights: “A challenge with these streaming devices is the inevitable latency—you press a button and there’s this minor, nearly unnoticeable delay before the on-screen action happens. Thankfully, in many games, this doesn’t throw a wrench into things.”
Perry went on to say, “Though latency isn’t a glaring issue on the Portal, I did see more frequent visual quirks. Games that usually run at 60 frames per second on a PS5 should perform similarly on the Portal, but not consistently. I frequently experienced some slight dips, seeming more related to my WiFi connection than the games themselves. While this doesn’t really affect many games, it does impact fast-paced shooters or racing titles.”
In the blog post, Hiromi Wakai, VP of product management at Sony Interactive Entertainment, explained that they’re still “in the early stages of public testing for cloud streaming on PS Portal.” It’s also clarified that some features, like Game Trials, streaming games bought from PS Store, certain system functionalities like Party voice chat, and game invites for select games, the Create button, 3D audio, and in-game commerce, won’t be available at this time.
The update also brings about audio enhancements which include a new speaker output adjustment feature. This lets users lower the volume below the previous minimum setting and tweak settings for PlayStation Link USB devices via the Portal.
In case you’re wondering, this is unfolding in the ever-evolving world of gaming and PlayStation.
