Sony has revealed the full details of its dedicated PlayStation 5 remote play platform, including its name, price, and availability.
Previously known as “Project Q”, the device will be called PlayStation Portal and be available to pre-order later this year ahead of an as-yet unspecified launch date towards the end of 2023, priced at $199.99 (€219.99/£199.99).
Portal is purely a Remote Play device, rather than its own platform like earlier PlayStation Portable (PSP) and Vita devices. It’s also not a cloud gaming device, streaming games only from a PlayStation 5 attached to the the internet, through a wireless access point.
That means the Portal can be used to play your PlayStation 5 titles anywhere you can connect to WiFi (with a 5Mbps minimum bandwidth; 15Mbps or greater recommended). This eliminates the need to tie up a screen — although the console itself cannot be used for other things while being accessed in Remote Play — or just allowing you to play in bed or away from home.
Portal will play any title installed on your PS5, including external and extended internal storage, but not games streamed over PlayStation Plus Premium. It also won’t support games that require the PlayStation VR2 headset.
As previously shown, the Portal device features an eight-inch LCD screen mounted between two control handles that very much resemble a DualSense controller split in two. However the PlayStation button has been relocated to the left side and while it’s not immediately clear where the touchpad is that functionality is part of the touchscreen itself.
Otherwise the device includes DualSense features like adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, while the display supports resolutions up to 1080p and 60fps. Like the DualSense there’s also a 3.5mm audio jack to support wired audio.
For wireless audio, Portal supports a new technology called PlayStation Link — and Sony has revealed two additional wireless sound devices with Link support.
They consist of in-ear buds, called Pulse Explore, and a new headset called Pulse Elite. These can connect to a PlayStation 5, or any PC or Mac, through a new Link USB adapter — included with the devices and also sold separately — or to the Portal itself natively. It’s not specifically mentioned, but we’d assume the existing Pulse 3D headsets don’t support PlayStation Link.
Both headsets can also simultaneously connect to Bluetooth devices, allowing players to take and place mobile phone calls through the Elite and Explore, while also playing on PlayStation 5. Each also features AI noise reduction tech, with a special case for the Explore buds and a hangar for the Elite headset included.
Sony notes that the Elite and Explore are its first PlayStation audio devices to use planar magnetic technology. This is something usually found in high-end headphones and very rarely in earbuds at all, particularly aimed at the consumer market.
The Pulse Elite headset is priced at $149.99 (€149.99/£129.99), with the Pulse Explore earbuds at $199.99 (€219.99/£199.99 GBP). A release date is yet to be announced.
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