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Playstation Portal reviews

PaintTinJr

Member
Got mine in, works flawlessly. As others say, occasional resolution drop but rarely. It feels and looks top tier. Man, Sony really knows how to design high end electronics.

Plan on using it mostly in evening on the couch while kids are watching TV, on vacations so I don’t have to lug my vita or switch around and keep up with game cards, and the occasional trophy boosting with friends.

Yeah, I’m a trophy whore.
My experience hasn't been so good, but I have been playing eFootball 2024 on it, and the constant inputs combined with switching of full screen image very frequently in the game absolutely destroys the experience compared to local play, or compared to WiiU controller because of dropping frames and catchup desynching.

I'm loving the hardware though, and the packaging was equisite IMO, like buying an expensive bottle of spirits experience. The lack of any technical network feedback either from the PS5 or Portal in regards of networking, when it is dropping frames is a real bug bear in these early days for me, and makes it feel like ropey PSpGo/Vita remoteplay with PS3/PS4 just with a really great pad setup.

My youngest was playing Sack boy on it, and enjoying it, but noticed the glitching more than using the same game using remoteplay on a modern laptop. Hopefully they improve the software side, even if just to provide highly technical metrics to make it easy to track the cause of issues and to potentially help the user fix them in their home network environment.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
Mine arrived from PlayStation Direct with a non-functional screen and I have to get a refund because they are currently out of stock. I think it was damaged in shipping. Meanwhile there are a bajillion being scalped for $300+ on eBay. Guess I'll wait.
 

Crayon

Member
See I tried to tell you about the epidemic of people kicked off their own tv. $200 doesn't sound like a lot when it might afford you hours of extra game time. I would have suggested a neo geo pocket and $400 worth of games...
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
My experience hasn't been so good, but I have been playing eFootball 2024 on it, and the constant inputs combined with switching of full screen image very frequently in the game absolutely destroys the experience compared to local play, or compared to WiiU controller because of dropping frames and catchup desynching.

I'm loving the hardware though, and the packaging was equisite IMO, like buying an expensive bottle of spirits experience. The lack of any technical network feedback either from the PS5 or Portal in regards of networking, when it is dropping frames is a real bug bear in these early days for me, and makes it feel like ropey PSpGo/Vita remoteplay with PS3/PS4 just with a really great pad setup.

My youngest was playing Sack boy on it, and enjoying it, but noticed the glitching more than using the same game using remoteplay on a modern laptop. Hopefully they improve the software side, even if just to provide highly technical metrics to make it easy to track the cause of issues and to potentially help the user fix them in their home network environment.

Is this a problem with your set up?

Seems others are not having this issue
 

Heimdall_Xtreme

Jim Ryan Fanclub's #1 Member
Me: do you have ps portal
Gamestop: no and you probably won’t find any at gamestop. Corporate sent out an email saying all stores here only got TWO FOR PREORDERS. Your best bet is to go directly to ps store.
Sony: There is no longer stock of Playstation portal... Its a success.

Of course it has been sold out, and it has been sold, if that garbage they only put 1 in each store 😂😂😂.
 

aclar00

Member
Bluetooth Question:

Dont ever think i knew the answer....but why doesnt the PS4, PS5 and now PSP not fully support bluetooth headsets?

Is it a protocol thing?

How does the dualsense work so well, including having a built-in speaker, but somehow normal headsets wouldnt work?

How tf does streaming audio via bluetooth to the dualsense and then 3.5 improve latency when there is an extra layer (the 3.5m port) to get the audio to a headset?

Someone make it make sense to me! Cause my math ain't mathin'.
 

demigod

Member
Sony: There is no longer stock of Playstation portal... Its a success.

Of course it has been sold out, and it has been sold, if that garbage they only put 1 in each store 😂😂😂.
It’s a niche product. The fact that its sold out i’m sure its a success in their eyes. You don’t need to sell tens of millions to be successful. Look at the Steam Deck. It selling so well seems to trigger you guys.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
Regarding the 120Hz thing :
Read the post on Reddit and...OF COURSE the dude had problems, it's not the 120Hz of the TV for crying out loud but the fact that the 120Hz mode on spiderman 2 runs at...an unlocked framerate ffs which a VRR TV can smooth out (but the portal's screen cannot since it doesn't support VRR), of course gameplay and video is gonna feel like shit when you also put streaming into the equation...

So, false alarm, just use either the 30 or 60fps modes in your games, everything else is just Placebo, 120Hz TV owner here, have 0 problems in games via RP, then again, my network is good and everything is set-up properly so your mileage may vary.

Cheers
I do advice turning off 120hz-mode ingame in COD though.
It did improve performance.

(Fortnite as well, but that has more to do with the UE-features?
 

aclar00

Member
Tried to see if i could remote play on my Amazon tablet....its not supported, even via Play store. Would probably have to jump through a ton of hoops to get it to work.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Is this a problem with your set up?

Seems others are not having this issue

I was wondering the same, if those having the greatest success either have their PS5 hardwired, or have a better router overall.
I mean if anyone is using this with a provider supplied router, or some crappy old 7 year old router, I can see an automatic fail.
 

Gamerguy84

Member
This thing is premium. I tried DOOM, GoW Ragnorak and SM2. With each I quit thinking about th3 fact I wasn't playing locally because it feels like you are.

I had no problems controlling any character I tried. Not just moving in directione but slow movements and turns. It works so well I have complete control and that's how you know remote play is working like it should. When you don't over or under steer what your trying to do. Hope it acts the same when I go out in public and use my phone as a hotspot.

My PS5 is hardwired to fiber with an average 4 to 7 ms pingtime.

Very impressed with this. It feels premium and weighty. Looks a lot bigger in person. Like it's not a screen but an actual TV between the dualsense.

I will say it needs to do more though in the future. PSNOW play and media functions. Being able to watch a movie would be nice. Inhave a strong feeling it will get more functionality. That this is the bare bones product that Sony always starts with before adding things.

It feels like I got a new system with hundreds of games already.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
I was wondering the same, if those having the greatest success either have their PS5 hardwired, or have a better router overall.
I mean if anyone is using this with a provider supplied router, or some crappy old 7 year old router, I can see an automatic fail.
I have my PS5 hardwired, but use a provider supplied router, yet I have practically no issues.

Having said that, it might be depending on the games.

Most games work almost flawlessly (apart from some resolution-drops), while a game like MW3 is good enough, but definitely not optimal.

However, I tried a Pinball-game and it's just horrible because it seems that the balls roll too fast for the connection to keep up. Same goes for the inputs as you mentioned.
Maybe the same issue happens with football games? I can imagine it being so.
 
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sendit

Member
Experience on this device is largely affected by how your home network is setup. Don’t use a mesh or any extended access points if you’re going full wireless. This increases latency and hops.

+ I can play in bed

- missed opportunity on hardware by not including VRR or HDR on the screen.
- can’t switch local profiles on the PS5, access is given to what account is attached to the Portal.

Kind of disappointed tbh.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I haven't been following Portal closely, but it seems like it has been a surprisingly big hit so far -- both in terms of sales (it being out of stock) and positive critical and user reviews. Right?

The reviews are more positive than I expected, but for the sales, it's a new piece of hardware. It's gonna sell out the launch batches no matter what.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
Experience on this device is largely affected by how your home network is setup. Don’t use a mesh or any extended access points if you’re going full wireless. This increases latency and hops.

+ I can play in bed

- missed opportunity on hardware by not including VRR or HDR on the screen.
- can’t switch local profiles on the PS5, access is given to what account is attached to the Portal.

Kind of disappointed tbh.
Yeah, no HDR is a shame.

Which bring up another point, it sucks that you can't access PS5s screen settings while using Remote Play.
Yesterday I realized colors were a bit off due to lack of HDR, so probably have to manually turn off HDR on PS5 for colors to display correctly. Which actually is a bit of an annoyance if this is the case.
Probably my first real con.

Hopefully that fixes things.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
The reviews are more positive than I expected, but for the sales, it's a new piece of hardware. It's gonna sell out the launch batches no matter what.
Yeah, also depends on how much Sony stocked.

But I thought this is the type of accessory that would sell more during the Holiday season. Portal being out of Stock mere hours after launch shows a very (surprisingly) high demand.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
No but thankfully your 800 other devices you already own can 🤣
Lol yeah, this is another con as well.
I was planning on using Portal to watch Crunchyroll while my gf watches her soaps.

Pretty dumb decision by Sony. No idea why they would limit that.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Llnysu8.png


Am I doomed or could my internet stream games to the portal with little issue?

I may pick one up in a few month.
 

Gamerguy84

Member
I have my PS5 hardwired, but use a provider supplied router, yet I have practically no issues.

Having said that, it might be depending on the games.

Most games work almost flawlessly (apart from some resolution-drops), while a game like MW3 is good enough, but definitely not optimal.

However, I tried a Pinball-game and it's just horrible because it seems that the balls roll too fast for the connection to keep up. Same goes for the inputs as you mentioned.
Maybe the same issue happens with football games? I can imagine it being so.

I've been playing a couple hours and haven't experienced a res drop. i think you can mess around in router settings and get it more stable.

Which pinball game is it on psplus.

So far my couple of hours have felt like it's local on the device. But I also had remote play working between PS5s working that good by tweaking a few settings.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Llnysu8.png


Am I doomed or could my internet stream games to the portal with little issue?

I may pick one up in a few month.

If you are playing at home, it doesn't actually connect to the internet, it only uses your local network. So it's dependent on the quality of your network at home. Your router, if the PS5 is hardwired, etc.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I have my PS5 hardwired, but use a provider supplied router, yet I have practically no issues.

Having said that, it might be depending on the games.

Most games work almost flawlessly (apart from some resolution-drops), while a game like MW3 is good enough, but definitely not optimal.

However, I tried a Pinball-game and it's just horrible because it seems that the balls roll too fast for the connection to keep up. Same goes for the inputs as you mentioned.
Maybe the same issue happens with football games? I can imagine it being so.

I'm no "router expert" but I'm under the impression that higher end routers are better in general at handing out network traffic, optimizing connection for where you are in the house, etc. So a better router may improve your experience, it's hard to say for sure though without trying it.
Technically it should improve all of your internet in the house, so there's that too.
 

Go_Ly_Dow

Member
If you are playing at home, it doesn't actually connect to the internet, it only uses your local network. So it's dependent on the quality of your network at home. Your router, if the PS5 is hardwired, etc.

Thanks. It's difficult to hardwire my PS5 as it's upstairs so I think I'll wait and see before jumping in and buying a device that may underperform for me.
 
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Killjoy-NL

Member
I'm no "router expert" but I'm under the impression that higher end routers are better in general at handing out network traffic, optimizing connection for where you are in the house, etc. So a better router may improve your experience, it's hard to say for sure though without trying it.
Technically it should improve all of your internet in the house, so there's that too.
You're probably right. Makes sense.
Don't have any complaints so far though, but any improvement is always welcomed.

I've been playing a couple hours and haven't experienced a res drop. i think you can mess around in router settings and get it more stable.
Yeah, I might do that, but I'm in no rush. As far as RP goes, imo it works great.

And res drops are rare, so it's a non-issue as far as I'm concerned.
Which pinball game is it on psplus.
Pinball FX. Ocassionally play it together with my gf.

My gf tried it yesterday and said she did notice the issues I was talking about, but she still managed to play it well enough.
So far my couple of hours have felt like it's local on the device. But I also had remote play working between PS5s working that good by tweaking a few settings.
Same, overall I don't have problems with Portals performance.
 

Gamerguy84

Member
So I just connected to the mobile hotspot on my phone. 5G with an average speed between 200 and 300 mbps.

Playing No Mans Sky it got choppy and wasn't a great experience but I'm in a valley right now with spotty coverage. Playable but nowhere near how good it is on my home network.

I
 
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midnightAI

Member
Lol yeah, this is another con as well.
I was planning on using Portal to watch Crunchyroll while my gf watches her soaps.

Pretty dumb decision by Sony. No idea why they would limit that.
It will very likely be licensing/legal reasons. Think about it, your PS5 not only streams in the media, but it will have to stream out the media to Portal, that is likely a legal minefield so best to just not allow it.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
It will very likely be licensing/legal reasons. Think about it, your PS5 not only streams in the media, but it will have to stream out the media to Portal, that is likely a legal minefield so best to just not allow it.
Probably.

It's stupid though, because technically you're streaming it at home on your PS5. Lol

Hopefully it'll be possible in the near-future.
 

midnightAI

Member
Probably.

It's stupid though, because technically you're streaming it at home on your PS5. Lol

Hopefully it'll be possible in the near-future.
You are, but licensing of media (especially Netflix) can be very strict, and outbound streaming is likely a no-no.
 

midnightAI

Member
Experience on this device is largely affected by how your home network is setup. Don’t use a mesh or any extended access points if you’re going full wireless. This increases latency and hops.

+ I can play in bed

- missed opportunity on hardware by not including VRR or HDR on the screen.
- can’t switch local profiles on the PS5, access is given to what account is attached to the Portal.

Kind of disappointed tbh.
I haven't had any issues with my mesh set up (BT hub with BT disc extenders/boosters), no resolution decreases, no dropped frames(as far as I can tell), no audio issues and input latency as expected (without numbers seems quite low). Playing Spider Man 2 is as good as playing directly on PS5. It is likely though that BT do use a good hub/extenders.
 

midnightAI

Member
My experience hasn't been so good, but I have been playing eFootball 2024 on it, and the constant inputs combined with switching of full screen image very frequently in the game absolutely destroys the experience compared to local play, or compared to WiiU controller because of dropping frames and catchup desynching.

I'm loving the hardware though, and the packaging was equisite IMO, like buying an expensive bottle of spirits experience. The lack of any technical network feedback either from the PS5 or Portal in regards of networking, when it is dropping frames is a real bug bear in these early days for me, and makes it feel like ropey PSpGo/Vita remoteplay with PS3/PS4 just with a really great pad setup.

My youngest was playing Sack boy on it, and enjoying it, but noticed the glitching more than using the same game using remoteplay on a modern laptop. Hopefully they improve the software side, even if just to provide highly technical metrics to make it easy to track the cause of issues and to potentially help the user fix them in their home network environment.
If you play Remote Play on other devices and it's better than Portal then that's likely a setup/routing issue, make sure you're connected to 5ghz on your Portal, I was on 2.4ghz the first time I tried it and had quality/latency issues, switched to 5ghz and it's perfect now. Portal should be no worse than any other Remote Play capable devices, it's the same method of delivery.
 
Somewhat intersted in one of these for my son. Has anybody tried using it outside of the house yet? Maybe at a friends or even public wifi? It would be great to be able to take this if we go away for the weekend if my son could still connect and use it.
 

vivftp

Member
Fuck, the Portal is brilliant. Flawless experience so far in GT7, Destiny 2, Spider-Man 2, R&C Rift Apart and Sniper 5. I'm 2 floors up from my router and PS5, and it just works

Screen is great, speakers are plenty loud and the mic for party chat works remarkably well. Ergonomics are top notch as well

Got the Pulse Explores on pre order, and this thing is gonna get a TON of use from me.

I do see them eventually adding some automated features like turning off HDR on the system level of the PS5 since the Portal doesn't support it. I also think remote play might get a boost similar to what they're offering with their newly revamped cloud service and probably use the video compression tech of the company they just acquired to enhance the experience. I'm also certain that cloud support will come to the Portal in time.

One of my friends is using his Portal while his PS5 is on WiFi and it also works very well. Mine is wired.

Damn fine device, is my conclusion so far.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Fuck, the Portal is brilliant. Flawless experience so far in GT7, Destiny 2, Spider-Man 2, R&C Rift Apart and Sniper 5. I'm 2 floors up from my router and PS5, and it just works

Screen is great, speakers are plenty loud and the mic for party chat works remarkably well. Ergonomics are top notch as well

Got the Pulse Explores on pre order, and this thing is gonna get a TON of use from me.

I do see them eventually adding some automated features like turning off HDR on the system level of the PS5 since the Portal doesn't support it. I also think remote play might get a boost similar to what they're offering with their newly revamped cloud service and probably use the video compression tech of the company they just acquired to enhance the experience. I'm also certain that cloud support will come to the Portal in time.

One of my friends is using his Portal while his PS5 is on WiFi and it also works very well. Mine is wired.

Damn fine device, is my conclusion so far.

Sounds good, hope mine arrives soon!
Hoping it works as well for others and it sells well, eventually perhaps long term to an oled model way down the road.
 

Gamerguy84

Member
Fuck, the Portal is brilliant. Flawless experience so far in GT7, Destiny 2, Spider-Man 2, R&C Rift Apart and Sniper 5. I'm 2 floors up from my router and PS5, and it just works

Screen is great, speakers are plenty loud and the mic for party chat works remarkably well. Ergonomics are top notch as well

Got the Pulse Explores on pre order, and this thing is gonna get a TON of use from me.

I do see them eventually adding some automated features like turning off HDR on the system level of the PS5 since the Portal doesn't support it. I also think remote play might get a boost similar to what they're offering with their newly revamped cloud service and probably use the video compression tech of the company they just acquired to enhance the experience. I'm also certain that cloud support will come to the Portal in time.

One of my friends is using his Portal while his PS5 is on WiFi and it also works very well. Mine is wired.

Damn fine device, is my conclusion so far.

This right here. This is the correct experience.
 

midnightAI

Member
I just read the Inverse review, and I now feel dumber having done so.

Couple of quotes:

I also like that the PS Portal has a touch screen, though I found that I rarely get to use it in games, or even in typing. It just doesn’t seem applicable to most gameplay, although maybe that will change in the future as PlayStation and third-party developers adapt

When you first set up the Portal, you’ll find yourself watching the same game simultaneously on both your TV and the handheld screen. Most people probably won’t use the device like that, but if you do, you probably won’t get much out of the experience. I have a Samsung 8K 55-inch TV and it’s hard to look away when both the Portal and my TV are running.
 

midnightAI

Member
Most of you will use this for a month tops and then stop using it like the PSVR 2.
Ok Halo2redvsblue

Are my family going to leave me so I can use the TV when I want? Is my wife going to leave me? Wait a minute, is it you who has been sleeping with my wife? Ha, caught you you bastard, knew you'd slip up some time.

Actually, no, can't be you, there is no way she'd sleep with someone who disses the PSVR2, she loves that thing. Hmm, that PSVR2 is in trouble.
 
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