I’ve spent almost two weeks with the new PlayStation Portal. Now it’s finally time to share my impressions. But the magic of this piece of hardware from Sony is that you probably already have an idea of whether or not it might work for you. And I certainly won’t convince you otherwise. It is a big advantage that Portal presents what it comes with relatively transparently. It is certainly not a necessity that every PlayStation 5 owner must have at home. But it will find its customers without any problem, as evidenced by the feedback and sales so far. So I can at least describe to you why it is so, and how I myself am doing.
PlayStation Portal has faced a lot of skepticism since its introduction. But on the other hand, there were also enough people who saw potential in him. Not because they couldn’t solve the problem it solves differently, but because it does it rather elegantly. Portal is not a classic handheld in the true sense of the word. It’s more of a controller with a screen that is of no use to you by itself. It works only in pair and absolute symbiosis with PS5. Yours. Because all content is streamed, whether in the same place or halfway around the world, from the switched-on console to the Portal. The performance of the Portal itself is not important, because it does not play any role, you do not install anything in it, you do not run anything in it, and apart from simple settings, it only runs a similar Remote Play application.
The portal simply targets customers who don’t mind spending more than 5 thousand crowns for a specialized piece of hardware that can offer a comfortable all-in-one solution.
At this point, you could rightly argue that PlayStation Portal doesn’t really do anything else. That you can solve its analogy and the same functionality with the help of a laptop, tablet or phone and a connected controller. And I certainly won’t excuse it to you, because it’s mostly true. The portal simply targets customers who don’t mind spending more than 5 thousand crowns for a specialized piece of hardware that can offer a comfortable all-in-one solution. For example, for players for whom the phone screen is not enough. With the use of the Portal, it is similar to its alternatives. If you live alone or have multiple televisions, you may not even think about sharing the screen with someone. Many gamers, including myself, take their PS5 to bed this way, for example, or have discovered that while they no longer have the energy to play in front of the TV in the evening, they can spend a little more time with their library thanks to Portal.
A big topic then is traveling with Portal. Nothing prevents you from playing remotely in addition to playing at home. You connect via the internet to your console and basically everything works the same. However, you are dependent on a good internet connection on both sides. At home from the console and where you are right now and where the Portal is connected. At home on the same network, the connection is naturally the most stable and fastest, one would almost forget that the image is just being streamed to the device, how sharp and fast it is. I tried to connect remotely from different places via Wi-Fi and mobile internet. And I was actually more successful than I hoped, but of course the quality of the connection can fluctuate depending on the conditions, the image becomes fragmented on a worse connection, and one often encounters tearing or lag in the image. I’d rather play the fastest titles at home anyway.
But when you look at the Portal and think about it, it’s not hard to realize that it’s not primarily a travel device. For example, there is no case in the package, its proportions do not resemble a classic handheld, and then of course there is the question of the connection to the home console itself. To connect to your PS5, it must be on or in sleep mode. You yourself have to answer the question whether you will not mind going abroad for a day, weekend, week or even a month and not turning off the console completely. Maybe also because of consumption. Or, for these cases, arrange for someone to turn on the console for you at home. This problem would be perfectly solved by the incomprehensible absence of streaming from the cloud, which otherwise Sony also offers. It would be more practical for Portal to offer this alternative as well, rather than relying solely on content installed directly on your system. While there are hints that we will eventually see cloud support, I think it was a mistake not to offer this option right away.
Regardless of this fact, it is possible to like Portal very much. It is a simple and intuitive device that welcomes you with its Czech localization and a surprisingly high-quality eight-inch FullHD LCD with 60 Hz support. The first launch is accompanied by a longer update process, but then a quick setup follows. Despite its decent dimensions, Portal is not heavy, so you can comfortably play it for several hours at a time. A flashlight goes hand in hand with it. It lasts for about 4 to 5 hours at full load, that is, with maximum brightness and all functions of the DualSense controller. When you discount the top tier, you get about double the value. When the controller was mentioned, it is appropriate to continue by stating that it is basically a full-fledged DualSense including adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. The difference is that instead of a touchpad, you have a touch screen. I don’t like to touch my screen, so I might appreciate some sort of pad alternative placed underneath the Portal. The second difference is the size of the analog sticks. They are smaller than on the DualSens, matching the size of the Sense controllers for the PS VR2.
Most PlayStation 5 owners do not need Portal. But for the rest, it can be a rather tempting way to get a little more out of your console.
That being said, when everything works as it should, Portal is a joy to use. But you have to take into account the connection requirements, respect certain restrictions and accept that sometimes this method can have some quirks. From time to time it may take a little longer to connect to the console. It is not practical to play and download another game at the same time. Unfortunately, you cannot even launch multimedia applications and other services installed on the PS5. And similarly to the absence of streaming from the cloud, many players were surprised by the inability to connect Bluetooth headphones. Portal relies on either classic wired or the new PlayStation Link technology, which is only supported by selected new Sony headphones. I think it’s a shame that in both cases the manufacturer could have been more accommodating to customers and didn’t do it.
The Portal issue is similar to the DualSense Edge controller. It is a more expensive device that does not aim to appeal to everyone, but everyone logically wants to express themselves in some way. Apparently, the novelty can appear as something that the vast majority of players reject. However, it would be better to say that most PlayStation 5 owners don’t need it. But for the rest, it can be a pretty tempting way to get a little more out of your console, even if it comes at a cost. I think it’s a shame that Sony didn’t offer a little more. That it missed the chance to send an ideal streaming device to the market that would have nothing missing and would offer an even more obvious added value than a combination of a tablet app and a gamepad. We’ll see if an upgrade like cloud support will come in the form of a software update over time. In principle, nothing prevents it. But even in this form, Portal is a device that very well solves a problem that most players may not feel.
2024-01-23 14:04:18
#Testing #PlayStation #Portal #Vortex
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