UPDATE: It looks like in the next day or so, the PlayStation Portal will receive an update to allow for public WiFi sign in. Do you think the portal is worth buying?

I just became a dad and I want a portal so my family can watch tv instead of me sitting in front of it

Fellow dad gamer here, thinking of installing the Ps5 into our van and use the portal to play it whilst on the road. Got a WiFi router installed already so seems a great fit. Thanks for the updated review

I use mine practically every day. Play in my bed before I go to sleep, play at my girlfriend's place when I'm over there. Play at work if I'm really desperate (hospital wifi is god awful)

The new portal update lets you sign into any WiFi away from home

i LOVE it because when i’m sad i can put sport/movies on my main tv and use it to play my games. 10/10 distraction right there, priceless

My only issue with portal is that controllers aren’t de-attachable. If you have any issue with it, you just have to throw the whole thing away.

Thank you for mentioning the instability of using the stream deck for remote play, no one ever talks about how out of nowhere pc based products just stop working how they used to

I really appreciate this review. I’ve been on the fence because I paid $100 for the PlayStation Backbone. At the time I didn’t realize the nice game features advertised you only get with a subscription to their app. Ridiculous. Anyway, I hate how it feels because it’s just too small for my hands to get a comfortable grip. I’ve had to be very mobile this summer and playing remotely has been a great option, but frustrating. I also hate that when I have to use my phone for gaming, if I exit the app at all, I have to go through the tedious reconnecting process. So answering texts or phone calls is really frustrating. This review makes me realize I’ll probably enjoy gaming much more with the portal.

is there a way where u can plug it into an outlet and use it at the same time but NOT charge up the battery so in a way the battery wont heat up as it gets power directly from the power outlet?

The portal is beautiful and I wanted it, but where I’m at it’s $300 and the backbone one is $100, main reason for wanting this type of platform was to play anywhere anytime on the go so I went with the backbone. As long as I have service to phone I can play.

I too was wrong about it. I only play PS5 on my Portal now. Great for when I'm out of the house too, even with my hotspot.

Nice vid! It sounds like it has a few short-comings that the switch also had on release (like lacking bluetooth to headphones). I'm curious to see how both Nintendo and Sony improve the product even further with possible next generation versions

I bought my ps portal a couple months ago after the newest update it has less lag & less disconnects from my wifi I absolutely love it even more I was gaming with it I was on assassin’s creed odyssey.🥂😎

When hot spotting, make sure you're sharing the Wi-Fi connection as well from your phone when you're at the hotel. You don't have to just use your cellular connection when hot spotting.

2:23 😂😂😂 had me laughing out loud at the hospital 😅

Thanks for your thorough review and opnions. Strongly considering one. I love having the PlayStation downstairs on the main TV but would like this to be able to play on nights where we decide to retreat to the upstairs earlier than normal.

When it first launched I didn't think it was for me. However at my new place, I don't have room for a multi monitor setup. Thus my PS5 and PC are connected to the same monitor. It's annoying that when I'm on my PS5, I can't use my PC for anything. There are lots of times I need my pc access AND ps5 at the same time. The portal would absolutely solve that for me. I can keep the portal next to me and let it be my primary PS5 device while I'm not gaming a game that has VR like GT7. But I would absolutely play it more if I had it.

this is exactly my use case. gaming in the living room while my wife and i are watching tv. i'm sold on this thing

I did not know the portal was a thing till now! Awesome vid!

Chiaki4Deck works for me, but even with that experience, the button disconnect still throws me, and I've been playing the PlayStation and/or XBox consoles for decades. Also both the Deck and Switch were vastly improved for me with the Satisfye Grips.

I barley play my ps5 anymore since I got the portal I always bring it to my friends house and when I connect to his wifi I could play my portal no problem I love it also with the new update making it even better with the new better performance

You click on your message and then it will bring you to the Google website or whatever website you wanna tape it you can do that and then click on your message and it will take you to that website and then you can search whatever you want including KZfaq

I’ve had the portal since first week launch. I normally just play casual games on it when I’m in bed or on the couch with KZfaq playing in the background. I’ve tried cod on it and it’s not my preferred way to play multiplayer type games. I do like it but my biggest gripe is the smaller thumb sticks. It’s not a crazy difference but it’s noticeable when you’re gaming

It’s not perfect but I love the viability of it. With the updates, especially, I can go onto any WiFi network at a hotel or whatever and I can connect to my console. I’m surprised that with a good connection, I can play my ps5 anywhere! But it’s also nice to be able to play it on my bed haha.

I got my Portal on day one release, and I'm still using it and love it.

I struggle with the lag sometimes. Australian internet sucks. 260mps download and 20mps upload and still struggling 😢

The Portal is the absolute best purchase I’ve made in the last few years. I tried the backbone at first, mostly because I wasn’t sure how well game streaming would work with my internet. During that time, I improved my internet set up in the house, developed an appreciation for playing over a streaming device, and also noted a few things about the backbone that I wasn’t a fan of… Big draw backs to the backbone for me: first, set up is tedious - it’s easy enough to pop it in to the controller, but going through the app and hooking it up to your system each time takes a good while. Portal is much faster in this regard, I’d say it connects in about half the time on average. Second, it’s a huge pain having my phone be the device I’m playing on, because any time I get a call or need to look something up for a game I’m playing, I’ve gotta disconnect and go do xyz and then come back and reconnect. Much better to have a dedicated device. Third, using your phone absolutely kills your battery - there’s a way you can have it plugged in while you play with a power bank or something, but then I saw where it can cause long term damage to your phone battery. If there’s even a chance of that being true, I’d rather not mess with it. Anyway, got my portal and holy cow, it’s been amazing. As a dad, it’s been fantastic - went from my PS5 basically being a TV and Movie streaming device, to actually - finally - being able to play games on it. And at least for me personally, a lot of the biggest gripes about the system don’t bother me. I prefer wired headphones anyway, my internet is good enough - it’s just got everything I’m looking for. Oh and recently I was able to test out something I’ve been wanting to test for a while now. We were on a family trip several states away. I brought my Portal and hooked up to the internet at my relatives house and was able to play my PS5 sitting in my house near perfectly. Picture was perhaps a teeny bit on the blurry side, but seriously, that’s it. I’m not really a snob about visuals so it was a huge win for me.

I just got mine today and im in love. I tested a bunch of games on it today. NFS Unbound, 2K24, Stellar Blade and Ghost of Tsushima. I used my phone previously. I have a Z fold5. It is nice to free up my phone and this is so much more convenient to just pick up and play. Also the picture and size is nice. Which surpised me because my phone is a OLED. Didnt miss that aspect that much. The sound is great too. And that portal animation 👌🏽 Highly reccomend this. Especially if you are a dad like me.

For me the Portal is amazing and above all a lag free experience up till now. I travel for work a lot trough Europe and went to 12 different countries and 18 different hotels since December and could game like i was home. I do have to say those where nice hotels with good wifi.

Question: I buy all my games physically, does the portal require the disc to be in the PS5? Would I have to change the disc every time I play a different game?

It's the best option if you have to share the tv and don't already have a steamdeck or android handheld. I still think it's a high cost for a single use case and would recommend going for the deck if you can afford it though.

Why are you guys using a dedicated hot spot instead of the hot spot feature on your phone?

My 2 biggest issues with the portal is it's portability and that it's locked to just my PlayStation. It's size means it's impossible to fit into my purse even when its the only thing in there and I really don't want to carry around a giant purse just to play my PlayStation on my lunch breaks. The backbone and even the gamesir g8 fit in my purse so much better and still leave space for the rest of my stuff. The backbone and gamesir also let me play my PC games through moonlight or steamlink and xbox eother through the gamepass app or remote play on the xbox. My husband and I share the consoles and while we've talked about the portal and how amazing it looks, it just wouldn't serve us any good over it's cheaper options.

What happens when u get stick drift… throw it out?

You can get around the whole wireless thing at home if you have a gaming headset via dongle

I can’t believe he hasn’t known that since day one I’ve been using Internet on my portal forever

@digitalcynics you nailed it. For dad gamers, or someone who is willing to share the TV. The portal is totally worth it. Great video

the main challenge is on the price tag side IMHO, the use cases they offer to cover and the $$$ they ask. i would believe lots people like it and would enjoy it, just disagree on the money part

What happens when it gets stick drift?

If I ever have 200 bucks to blow (won’t be happening anytime soon) I might actually pick this up! I thought it was a stupid idea until I found out that remote play works even when you’re not home as well, your ps5 just has to be on.

They fixed the public wifi thing. You can sign in now.

Just got a portal and have had a similar change in opinion. Another thing i used to hate remote playing on my phone was menu text sizes etc. unreadable. Portal solves that.

Got the portal but not able to get portal to connect to ps5 using mobile hotspot iPhone on EE network in the UK. WiFi is ok but the reason I’ve got it is so I can play in work. Hopefully my issue gets resolved

Backbone is there if you want to save money, but portal provides much better experience. Bigger screen, no need to assemble, won't interrupt game if I need to answer a call or use phone to check a game guide.

It would be perfect companion if it was OLED. On Steam Deck Chiaki part, I got the same weirdness and disconnections as you, but I fixed them

I think it would be cool if it could stream ps+ games on it.

Should have waited a few more days to do this revisit review with the new update. Not 100% what we wanted but Id say 90%. BTW Rogers in Canada 5G tether is almost flawless. I play every day tethered while at work. Not to say there are bad experiences but I would say its almost all positive.

I had a Backbone for maybe a week and I did not enjoy it -- loading up the app was almost impossible and the latency was nowhere near tolerable for me

This may be a dumb question but, Does the Nintendo switch bluetooth adapter work on the portal? 🤔 Or are there any other options? 🤗

What happens when it gets drift? Both my ps5 remote have drift. Just had to buy a 3rd remote 60 quid thanks ps

Without support for their back catalogue I cannot support this device. They have so many systems that should be supported on this thing and they just don’t open it up. It makes no sense. I built a high end gaming pc. That linked with my steam deck and I can play EVERYTHING. These companies are leaving money on the table.

This is a really specific question. But does anyone know: If you unlock a trophy while using the portal, does the clip still save on your console, or does it just register the trophy on your account? Thanks friends :)

It’s not necessary the device causing your hand to go numb my fingers go numb due to cubital tunnel. Might be worth looking into a brace for your arm.

The fact that it is temperamental with wifi connectivity strength and you can't stream PS plus cloud games is...disappointing. Especially at $200.

Hey Man can we get a room/setup tour

Lmao I thought the ads I saw for this were fake or a drop shipping scam. Great video!!

My main reason for getting a handheld gaming device is to play away from home with spotty or no wi-fi. The Portal cannot give me that so for me, it’s an entirely useless product. I also cannot stand any amount of streaming latency. This technology just isn’t ready imo.

I think you wer right. Remote play is too laggy. I have brilliant internet and its still too laggy. And only gets worse if someones on the internet or playing and online game.

If I could use this as a backup PS5 controller, I might be able to justify it... but as just a streaming device, I'll stick with the Deck and Chiaki4Deck, and just stop/start the stream when it starts acting up

Can you connect a backbone to an iPad?

Vital to know that you should avoid having any active downloads while playing. For some, seems obvious. But for me, who often streamed my PC to my phone via Moonlight or Steam Link, it was not as obvious. Sony just unfortunately has inferior streaming capabilities, but i do think the Portal will be good enough for many.

Thanks for the video, and all the best in your new job! 🎉😊

I am thinking of getting this because honestly the psp ruined me. I dont know if it just me or i am just that lazy. I prefer a portable console vs sitting on a couch and playing. I guess its a habit because of the psp but i dont know. Before getting the psp I was a pc gamer and a pc gamer after a little while after the end of my psp era. Very confusing

This is probably a big no but.... If my husband is playing on the ps5 can i play games from my profile on the portal?... Probably need a second ps5 right? 😢

i think the portal is pretty good... but there are better and cheaper options

If its not working good outsider my home i dont see reason to buy IT at all when the remote app is for free

I love my portal. But these speakers are super loud. Even on setting 1. So I found out you can use an RF adapter. That’s what I use and use some Bose earbuds.

I use my portal on a daily basis with a 5g hotspot when I’m at work on the bus. Works perfectly fine as long as I’ve got a good 5g signal.

Just got mine today and glad I finally got one

Personally, I love the backbone!! If my phone screen size was bigger, I wouldn't have bought the PlayStation portal. However, with that being said I don't regret buying the portal.

My man the update is out

And a wonderful two hundred dollar headbuds from playstation are awesome.... Being able to play music in the background with With the game sound..... Pure Gold

you really make the subjects you cover come alive!

Are any Sony Bluetooth headphones good with this? Or just the pulse ear buds? I’ve heard a few different answers.

Great review Thank you.

I still want the ability to stream PS Plus to the Portal directly. Even without a console. I'd buy it it a heartbeat if we coukd.

So .. way not use a tablet and the ps joystick instead ?

The PS5 controller feel is already a deal maker for me. Tried the backbone and wasn't a fan.

The Portal is a CONTROLLER!!!! Name a controller with BLUE TOOTH capability.... The Portal is not meant for gaming on the go and is for exactly the situations you mentioned in this video. I wouldn't recommend using the Steamdeck outside of the home because of it's battery life and the fact that it too is fragile. AR glasses and a controller of one's choice is the way to play on the go. Cool vid though! Keep up the good work. 👍

I love it. I play so much more now. I’ve had it for two months now. I haven’t touched a ps5 remote since

I’m Enjoying so far. Sometimes I want to play my ps5 at my girlfriend’s house or want to watch tennis lwhile playing some turn based rpg and it just works good :) and here in Brazil the backbone it’s not that cheaper, so it made sense.

Hey quick question pls answer. Let say i am playing warzone on my ps5, can my girlfriend play on the portal hogwarts legacy, but all from the same PS5 and same Account for trophy hunting? Thx for the answer. (Simoltaneously)

I use it every day. I can play at work, at my gf house (another city) with a 3rd world internet connection 75mb/75mb 😂 I wish I could watch KZfaq or streamings apps on it (Disney+)

I am thinking about getting a portal. If I'm away from home for like 3-4 days, and I can't take the PS5. So I do i leave the PS5 on or on rest mode for the whole time that I'm away?

DAD GAMERS RULE!!!!!

If I could play it without being near my ps5 I would definitely get it.

Not true verizon hotspot for ten dollars on the phone is gold. I don't know who's your provider. But it's wonderful over here with verizon. At least in washington state😊😊😊😊😊😊

Question: Can my gf play WWZ on our ps5 while i play SF6 on the Portal?

I can not believe it people compare that thing to Playstation portal, 😅😅😅

Backbone or using an iPad is better. The controller feedback isn’t enough. I can just use my 13 in iPad if I don’t wanna use my phone and use a ps5 controller. I normally use a Xbox series x controller but no big deal. A portal just to remote play PlayStation is my point exactly why they are a scam. Nintendo didn’t make another handheld to copy so Sony got stuck and confused. If the competition doesn’t move first Sony has nothing to copy and spit back out as what they call new.

I bought my PS Portal because I don’t like to play games on my phone plus is going to kill my battery…. Love my portal ❤

I don't think it is I legit returned one yesterday

I have a steam deck oled where a lot of my ps games are on there! Hard to justify to get ps portal when it requires internet!

Use iPad as portal much better than both the devices.

Never touch my ps5 ever since got the portal...thts how much i love

Dudes will complain about anything

The donkey in this video 😂 Great information overall

The GCloud is simply a better device it has the ability to run the official PlayStation remote play app what’s gonna remote play PlayStation 4 and 5 Xbox cloud gaming, and steam link. Also, it has the ability to do all media consumption. It has built-in controls and emulation up to some PlayStation 2 and all PSP 🤷🏾‍♂️ comfortably.

Sorry good mobile and old ps4 controller and mount or stand are perfect and I just chuck the controller in a bag and play in my lunch hour at work ,cost nothing bar a £7 stand or ps4 controller mount , great on galaxy A32 5g playing helldivers no issues.