As a reminder, the PlayStation Portal, or Project Q, is (according to leaks) based on Android. It doesn’t run the games itself, it merely streams them from your PS5 and your handheld then serves as a controller with its own display.
I’m wondering why anyone would prefer that over simply using a regular Android phone with a good controller and the PS Remote Play app?
I have a steam deck and I’ve used controllers with phone mounts. Even though the overall weight of the SD if much more, it it way more comfortable to play for a long time because the weight is between your hands and not top heavy. Also, your phone is smaller than an 8" screen.
As to who it’s for? Every kid/teen who’d like to play ps5 from their room sometimes, even though the ps5 is set up in the family room. Every time it’s the little brother/sisters turn to have the TV and they want to watch frozen for the 47th time. When your spouse wants to binge watch more of their show on Netflix and you still want to hang out in the same room. When mom or dad want to play GTA 5 without the 7 year old see you beat a hooker with a baseball bat. When you’re sick in bed and still want to game. When you have an addiction and don’t even want to stop playing when you go to take a shit (ew).
No, this isn’t a product for everyone. This is a product for families and couples. And really, it’s not a whole lot of money by today’s standards. It’s $200 and there’s a $70 controller strapped to it. So an extra $130 gets you a screen bigger than your phones in a more comfortable spot for a screen and a battery pack.
Seems like everyone’s batching about it not doing things a switch or steam deck would do, when it’s not trying to be a switch or steamdeck. It just wants to let you play games anywhere in your house without causing problems with anyone else that lives with you.
If I had a PS5 and no steam deck, I’d want one. Half the time I use my steam deck is at home because I want to play some games from a different area of my house.
Can’t you get a happy medium with a split, side mounted controller for your phone then? Would be cheaper than the steam deck, but better for ergonomics than a phone clip to a regular controller.
Ergonomics wise, but can you have those where it can charge it at the same time, do you want to wear out your $1000 cell phone battery, and I doubt any of those controllers work as nicely as a ps5 controller. Plus the screen is smaller and you won’t have a lag free audio jack.
Plus the good ones that you attach to phones are already $100. At that point I’d rather spend an extra $100 to have something better, bigger, and dedicated?
Yeah there’s a lot of give and take I suppose. There’s also an advantage to the split controller attachment model in that it’s more portable than a giant honking Steam deck tho I suppose.