First time portal user impressions
I’ll admit, I was bummed I couldn’t snag the 30th Anniversary PS5 Pro, but scoring the PlayStation Portal made up for it. Honestly, I’ve been hyped for this device ever since it was announced. I always felt it had the potential —especially after struggling with iPads and iPhones as makeshift “portals” for remote play. What I didn’t expect, though, was Sony dropping the cloud gaming bombshell with their recent update.
I have always been on the fence with cloud gaming until now. This is the first time I’ve experienced something that could be a “Netflix” style gaming device. There’s a heap of titles available stream on day one. The ability to jump into a game so seamlessly from anywhere? Hell yes. Sony made a a cloud streaming landing page for all the games that they support, you do have to enable this feature in the settings first. You cannot access streaming through your PlayStation, this took me a second to figure out, this experience is still in beta but it’s refined enough to get you going.
The Hardware: The Portal feels fantastic in hand. The built-in DualSense controller makes it a joy to use, and the display—while not OLED—still manages to impress. It’s sharp, smooth, and delivers rich contrast. The nostalgic color variant is sleek. Sony’s marketing team nailed it with this one. You got me you bastards.
The Gripe: Like many others have pointed out, my biggest complaint is the proprietary wireless audio situation. I did spring for Sony’s headphones (still debating if they’re worth it), but requiring them to go wireless is a bit of a letdown. I wonder if there are workarounds, like plugging in a Bluetooth adapter and using AirPods, but that probably sacrifices the 3D Pulse audio.
Who Is It For? For me, the Portal is ideal. I’m a dad, I travel a lot for work, and my gaming time is limited. This device lets me sneak in quick sessions without needing to park myself in front of the big screen. That said, it does handle AAA titles surprisingly well, though I still prefer those cinematic, graphics-intensive experiences on my main setup. The Portal feels perfect for casual gaming, and the recent updates have really allowed it to hit its stride.
Overall: Five stars out of five, even with the audio gripes. I’m not here to sell anything, just give him my first impressions
I’ll admit, I was bummed I couldn’t snag the 30th Anniversary PS5 Pro, but scoring the PlayStation Portal made up for it. Honestly, I’ve been hyped for this device ever since it was announced. I always felt it had the potential —especially after struggling with iPads and iPhones as makeshift “portals” for remote play. What I didn’t expect, though, was Sony dropping the cloud gaming bombshell with their recent update.
I have always been on the fence with cloud gaming until now. This is the first time I’ve experienced something that could be a “Netflix” style gaming device. There’s a heap of titles available stream on day one. The ability to jump into a game so seamlessly from anywhere? Hell yes. Sony made a a cloud streaming landing page for all the games that they support, you do have to enable this feature in the settings first. You cannot access streaming through your PlayStation, this took me a second to figure out, this experience is still in beta but it’s refined enough to get you going.
The Hardware: The Portal feels fantastic in hand. The built-in DualSense controller makes it a joy to use, and the display—while not OLED—still manages to impress. It’s sharp, smooth, and delivers rich contrast. The nostalgic color variant is sleek. Sony’s marketing team nailed it with this one. You got me you bastards.
The Gripe: Like many others have pointed out, my biggest complaint is the proprietary wireless audio situation. I did spring for Sony’s headphones (still debating if they’re worth it), but requiring them to go wireless is a bit of a letdown. I wonder if there are workarounds, like plugging in a Bluetooth adapter and using AirPods, but that probably sacrifices the 3D Pulse audio.
Who Is It For? For me, the Portal is ideal. I’m a dad, I travel a lot for work, and my gaming time is limited. This device lets me sneak in quick sessions without needing to park myself in front of the big screen. That said, it does handle AAA titles surprisingly well, though I still prefer those cinematic, graphics-intensive experiences on my main setup. The Portal feels perfect for casual gaming, and the recent updates have really allowed it to hit its stride.
Overall: Five stars out of five, even with the audio gripes. I’m not here to sell anything, just give him my first impressions