People keep asking: "What games can the Portal play?" The honest answer: games on your PS5, and only while the PS5 is on at home.
It does one thing
There's no chip inside the Portal that can run PS5 games. It receives video from the PS5 over Wi-Fi and shows it on the 8-inch screen, and your button presses are sent back. Sony calls this Remote Play.
It does that well. A 1080p LCD at 60 frames is bigger and clearer than playing Remote Play on a phone.
How the latency felt to you in one action game over your home Wi-Fi, and how far the router was.
Two real halves of a DualSense
This is why many people pick the Portal over the phone app. Both sides are full DualSense controllers: haptic feedback and the adaptive L2/R2 triggers are still there. In Sony games with careful haptics, the feel carries over intact.
The network decides everything
- Strong 5GHz Wi-Fi, PS5 on a LAN cable: a very solid experience.
- Weak Wi-Fi, several walls away: broken image, stutter, sometimes dropped connections.
- Using café Wi-Fi outside: a matter of luck.
Sony has added cloud play for some games with the PS Plus Premium plan, but it still needs a good connection.
Should you buy it?
Yes, if you already have a PS5 and often give up the TV. No, if you're hoping for a standalone handheld.
