Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Sony’s cloud handheld, the PlayStation Portal, will only stream certain games

Tomas Franzese
By
A PlayStation Portal boots up.
Sony

Sony has unveiled the price for its upcoming cloud gaming handheld, as well as an official name for the device: PlayStation Portal. However, one significant caveat to its functionality might sour people’s interest in the handheld: It only supports PS4 and PS5 native games that the owner purchased.

Recommended Videos

PlayStation VR2 games can’t be streamed to PlayStation Portal, which does make sense. More bafflingly, though, is the fact that the PlayStation Blog post states that “games that are streamed through PlayStation Plus Premium’s cloud streaming are not supported.” That means you shouldn’t pick up PlayStation Portal expecting to stream some PS3 and PS4 games available through PlayStation Plus Premium to the device. That’s certainly an odd omission when it’s currently PlayStation’s most notable cloud gaming effort.

Related

Although Microsoft is more closely associated with cloud gaming, Sony beat it to releasing a dedicated cloud gaming device. PlayStation Portal was first teased as Project Q during May’s PlayStation showcase, but now, a PlayStation Blog post more clearly explains what we can actually expect from the handheld. Most importantly, we learned that PlayStation Portal will cost $200, which puts it underneath the cost of a Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S, and other cloud gaming devices like the Logitech G Cloud Handheld.

As for what you’re getting for that price tag, it’s essentially a decent screen attached to two halves of a DualSense controller. The controllers on each side share all the functionality of the DualSense, including things like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. In-between is an 8-inch LCD screen that streams games over Wi-Fi at up to a 1080p resolution and 60 frames per second. All in all, that’s fairly solid for a cloud gaming handheld that is this cheap.

Sony confirmed that the PlayStation Portal will have a 3.5mm audio jack, but also used the same blog post to unveil two new wireless audio options. There’s the Pulse Elite wireless headset that features a retractable boom mic and a charging hanger and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds that offer similar audio quality in earbud form.

None of these products are available for preorder or have a specific release date just yet, but they are all expected to launch before the end of the year.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Tomas Franzese
Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
How to connect Bluetooth headphones to a PS5
montblanc mb01 headphones review 7

While the PS5 does indeed have Bluetooth built-in, there is little native support for headphones or other audio products; Bluetooth on the PS5 has been included primarily for connecting wireless keyboards and mice, as well as approved Sony products. Don’t fret, though: there is a way to connect your headset to your game console, and it’s relatively easy—assuming you're willing to buy a Bluetooth transmitter.

Once you have the Bluetooth transmitter, you're a few easy steps away from connecting Bluetooth headphones to your PS5 . Read on as we describe the pairing process in detail.

Read more
How to use an external hard drive on PS5
Two versions of the PS5 side by side.

The PlayStation 5 is a remarkable system, but it doesn't come with much storage space. Breaking from the 1TB the Xbox Series X offers, the PS5 only offers 825GB. Worse, after accounting for the storage space the PS5 takes up by default, users are left with just over 650GB of space. Thankfully, you can use external storage to expand your space, and in this guide, we're going to show you how to use an external hard drive on PS5.
How to use an external HDD or SSD on PS5

Before you can use an external hard drive on PS5, you need to make sure it's compatible. It doesn't matter if your external drive is a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD), you can use it on PS5 as long as it uses USB 3.0 or later. USB 2.0 external hard drives won't work. Because they won't work, you'll need to connect your external hard drive to one of the two USB-A ports on the back of the PS5. The USB-A port on the front is only rated for USB 2.0, so it won't work. Also, plug the drive directly into a console (don't use a USB hub or extension cable).

Read more
I made my own special-edition, Mario-themed PlayStation 5
A red and blue PS5 stands on a table with matching controllers.

While we can argue all day about which console is best, there's one PlayStation 5 feature that no other system can claim: customization. On the original PS5, players could easily snap off the system's faceplates and replace them with new ones. Sony would naturally keep that feature for its slimmer PS5 model, creating an entirely new line of console covers, starting with its Deep Earth Collection.

I didn't think much of that initially, considering that it was an expected feature. That is, until I turned my PS5 into my own custom, "special edition" Mario-themed console.

Read more