The PlayStation Portal just became a little better value for money this week as Sony dropped a list of new features, including Cloud Streaming, which allows you to play PS5 games taken directly from your game library, rather than just through PS Plus Premium.
The upgrade also introduces a whole list of new features, including a new redesigned UI, 3D audio support, in-game store purchases, and more, and if that's got you finally considering buying your own, I have some advice for you - do not buy a PS Portal unless you already have a PS5.
The PlayStation Portal is a neat bit of tech, don't get me wrong, but unlike a handheld like the Steam Deck or even the ROG Xbox Ally X, it's not a replacement for a fully fledged console. Instead, it best works in tandem with a PS5, and even better if you happen to have a PS5 and an active PlayStation Plus Premium subscription along with it.
If you don't own a PS5 and want a Portal, you'd still need to have an active PS Plus Premium subscription for it to be anything but a useless DualSense-shaped brick.
That's because the ability to cloud stream games (even ones you've purchased through the store) is unlocked through owning a fully-fledged PlayStation Plus subscription. The highest PS Plus Premium tier costs $17.99 / £13.49 a month, and that's a lot to pay for the ability to play games, a feature that's available straight out of the box for so many other portable gaming devices.
I own a PS5, a PlayStation Portal, and have PS Premium, and believe they work best as a team. In the past, when I was playing games like Master Detective Archives Rain Code Plus, I could remote play the game from bed when it was getting late, and still allow my partner to have full reign over our smart TV so he could keep watching Pokemon TCG card openings until the sun came up. With both devices at my disposal, I had the best of both worlds. Whether I wanted to experience the game in my living room on the big screen or while in the comfort of bed, the option was open for me. With just a PS Portal, you're a lot more limited.
There is no DisplayPort on the PS Portal, and so no option to hook it up to a screen for a bigger picture. Unlike the Steam Deck, there are no low-cost PS Portal docks you can buy to hook it up to your TV or gaming monitor, either. That's not a big deal if you're just after a portable gaming experience, but having the console-to-handheld option open to me is one of the reasons I'm a big fan of this current Sony generation, and why I recommend it to friends and PS5 players in the first place.
Of course, not everyone is really fussed about playing games on a smart TV or larger gaming monitor. If you purely want a handheld PlayStation experience, then you can have just that thanks to this Cloud Streaming upgrade. Before it, you were limited to remote streaming the PS5 to the device or cloud streaming some PS Plus titles through the beta streaming service. Now, you can buy and stream games straight to the device, no PS5 required. If you fancy playing Astro Bot or Ghost of Yotei, those PS5 games are now open to you, which must be alluring to those outside the current Sony console zeitgeist.
Just recently, Sony dropped Tekken 3 onto PS Plus, one of the key fighting games from my childhood, and this update means I can now play it on my Portal without the need for my PS5 at all. If I wanted to give True Ogre a good ass-whipping on the go, I can do just that while on the plane, at a friend's house, or on a coffee date, and as far away from a PS5 as possible. Yet, it's the knowledge that when I return home, I can continue to do so on the same save file on my PS5 and on the big telly, that made the initial £199.99 I forked out for my own Portal seem worthwhile.
Whether you want to add a PS Portal to your Sony gaming setup, or just want one purely for Sony exclusives like Astro Bot and Ghost of Yotei, right now at Best Buy you can grab an open box (pre-owned) PS Portal for $60 off, taking its $199.99 MSRP down to just $139.99 instead.
US - $139.99 at Best Buy (Open box)
Even with the new Cloud Streaming features, I don't feel like I could ever recommend just the PS Portal and the PS Portal alone. For one, the $199.99 / £199.99 device still requires a PS Plus Premium membership for you to actually use it. Not only does that all add up, but if you're going to have PS Plus, you might as well be able to use it on an actual PS5 to get the full value of the service.
PS Plus Premium comes with access to free monthly games, online access, exclusive discounts, the Tips feature, access to the PlayStation Catalog and PlayStation Classics catalog, Ubisoft+ Classics access, game trials, and cloud streaming, all features that run best on an actual PS5 console, as that's what they were initially designed for. Not to mention, if you grab one of the free monthly games, the option to play it offline is always open to you on the PS5. On a PS Portal, you need to have access to Wi-Fi at all times, and not everyone has the strongest connections in their homes.
I love my PS Portal, but the value out of the remote player comes from it being a PS5 accessory, and not the only handheld and console I have at my disposal. I'm glad Sony hasn't forgotten about it, and the more features and value I can get from it better. But unless it took a serious price drop, and didn't require the use of PS Plus Premium for cloud streaming, I could never recommend adding a PS Portal to your setup without a PS5 in sight.
- PlayStation Plus Midnight Black $19.99 at PS Direct US
- View all PS Plus Premium deals at Loaded
Check out our guides for the best PS5 headset, the best PS5 controller, and the best SSDs for PS5 if you want to upgrade your Sony gaming setup.
