Topic: PlayStation Portal -OT-

So I just had a couple of hours on the portal while the missus was having some spa treatments and it’s as good as I’ve heard fair play.

Played Lords of the Fallen so I tested it out with something where any latency would be pronounced but it ran great. There was a moment or two where the image quality dipped for a second and for some reason there was no audio when characters were speaking but all in all I’m pretty impressed. Lovely little peripheral.

@graymamba Really glad that your Portal did not disappoint!
So do you think you’ll utilize it at home as well or will it mainly serve as a travel device?

@Th3solution I will make a lot of use of it but the only thing preventing that right now is a LAN cable between my router and PS5, as they’re quite far apart. I connected them while we were away but it’s not practical while we’re at home as it’ll cause a bit of a hazard on our staircase.

Basically, I need to get a handy-man in to feed the cable under the carpet, down the stairs, drill a hole into our storage cupboard under the stairs, pin the cable around the inside of the cupboard doorframe and into the router. It’s not a difficult job but I hate any kind of DIY unfortunately. I’m also one of those people that tend to put anything that would cause me any kind of inconvenience off again and again… but hopefully I’ll get my arse in gear on this and get it done relatively quickly. 🤞

@graymamba Yeah, I have the same issue, although yours sounds even more complicated.

People suggested to me those outlet devices that convert your home’s electrical wiring into its own internet LAN to hardwire into through the plug outlet. Apparently they work with most house wiring but not all. I’ve not invested in the equipment to try it, and rather have done as you — got a long Ethernet cable that I just hook up when I really want to. But if your other option is pulling up the carpet and drilling holes, you might consider that.
(By the way, I’m with you on the DIY projects. My free time is so limited the last thing I want to do is spend a weekend messing around with tools and measuring tape)

I have used the Portal plenty with the PS5 just connected by WiFi, and although it’s definitely more laggy, it is serviceable, especially for simpler games like card games or turn-based where timing isn’t as critical. It’s definitely more case dependent and seems to be a cleaner stream when nothing else is using the WiFi, but if the TV is streaming a show at the same time then the quality can drop.

And this is where the cloud streaming comes in — interestingly it can be a better streaming experience than doing remote play from the actual PS5 when the console is only connected via WiFi.

So, for me, the quality of Portal streaming seems to be: PS5 hard wired > cloud streaming > PS5 connected by WiFi.

Of course this is all based on my own internet, which is decent but not top-end. It’s fiber but the lowest end fiber, not the really fast stuff. I think I have about 250 MB/s download speed, maybe more. I think it’s purportedly claimed to be up to 500 MB but I rarely get it that high when I test it.

I have tried cloud streaming on my Portal through my cellphone’s hotspot when my home internet has been congested or laggy and found the quality to be actually pretty good. Cellular internet is definitely more finicky so there’s been times when it was too slow and lagged, but times when it was perfectly smooth. All my experience with hotspot usage has been inside my own home, but theoretically you could be camping or at the beach and if you have good cellular internet you could still play PS5 games on the Portal. And this is with Portal cloud streaming only in beta, so I have my fingers crossed that it gets even better as they work through the bugs. But it’s quite good even as is.

@Th3solution yeah I think being a bit more selective in the games that I target for portal-play in the short term ie. turn-based etc. is the way forward, until I get a permanent LAN solution in place.

All in all though, I was pretty blown away by the device. The screen is incredible! I know it’s not OLED but I don’t think I’d be able to tell the difference, it’s just so crisp. I was saying to the missus that it might well be the best birthday present that I remember having for a long old time.

edit. I’ll have to check my own connection speed actually, it’s always something I’ve never bothered with before as it’s never really factored into anything. It’s obviously gonna be a factor with the Portal though, so I’ll need to ensure it’s adequate at the very least.

@graymamba I agree that my Portal has been even better than advertised, which is saying a lot. I was a relatively dedicated Vita disciple back in its day, but with my current life circumstance the Portal is even better. Having an actual controller in the hand is so much better than having to deal with the small uncomfortable controls on these other handhelds. Also, it’s nice to not have to buy dedicated games for the device when my PS5/PS4 library is so voluminous already.

I’m not very tech savvy, so I’m also not good about tracking things like my connection speed. Only with the Portal has it become a focus as the streaming tech for the TV apps like Netflix work flawlessly 99% of the time and so it’s a non-issue.

When I’ve checked my download and upload speeds with the actual PS5, I get different numbers (usually lower) than when I check my internet speed with an app on my phone like Speedtest. I’m not sure if running the signal through the PSN affect the speeds, or how that all works. I know I could upgrade my internet speeds up to 1 GB and beyond with the fiber optic connection I have, but I’ve not felt the need to incur that expense yet.

@Th3solution that’s a great point about the comfort of the portal, which does go a little overlooked. I just couldn’t get on with the Switch, even when I experimented with alternative joy-cons etc. the thing would just make my hands go numb. The portal on the other hand feels like a fresh-out-of-the-box dualsense!

I’m in work atm but if I remember, I’ll check my connection speed later and update you.

Anybody here still playing their Portal?

@PlaystationPortalFan unfortunately I haven’t even began my little DIY project to run a LAN cable from my router under the stairs up into my gaming room, so my Portal hasn’t been used since late March. I really do need to get this done though, as I want to use it.

@graymamba did you try the game streaming via PS Plus Premium, so you can use it without the home console, yet?

I was going to maybe pick one up in the sale, but they decided it isn't included in that, and I still haven't convinced myself I'd actually use it enough 🫤

@Ravix Is it even in stock anywhere? I had a quick look a few weeks a go and the only thing i could find where these weird one in French on Amazon.

@PlaystationPortalFan Been using it a lot now that I started up Trails into Reverie (a JRPG). Tried Far Cry 5 on it a while ago and it was so hard to play well on it, so I stopped.

I was on the fence on getting a Switch 2, but with a PS5 and Portal combo, on top of most Japanese games coming to both PlayStation and Nintendo, I think I'll be good for a long time.

@JohnnyShoulder in stock at argos and smyths but not on any sort of offer

@JohnnyShoulder PS Direct has them, but not part of days of play.

I probably shouldn't get one, as I can't even commit to any games at the moment and this would only complicate it more.

Or would it 🙈

@Ravix I haven’t got Premium tbh. I’ve never really jived with the subscription model for a number of reasons but cloud streaming on Portal is giving me a reason to consider signing up. In all honesty though, I should just get off my lazy-ar$e and fit the LAN really.

@graymamba haha yeah, I suspected the subscription gaming element. But as it was soley for cloud gaming in this instance, I thought, well... maybe it could be time for you 😁 it's about £80 currently.

It includes streaming games you own too, with compatible games, anyway. I can see on my console here there's an option to stream KCD2, BG3, Hogwarts Legacy, TW3, Horizon, Uncharted etc but not AC Shadows. It seems like a good portion do stream, however.

@Ravix the trouble is that it would just cause me to start playing games while they’re on the service due to some innate need to get value for money… and the thought of my gaming schedule being dictated to by PS+’s curation is just something that I want nothing to do with. No doubt its value for money and is something that many gamers get a lot from… but I know how it would impact me and it would be a net negative.

@graymamba
Ha ha that is indeed my problem with Extra/Premium. I subbed to Premium for the VR games which they have now mostly removed, hopefully they will add more but at the moment the incentive for Premium (for me) has gone.
And as you say Extra does give me the mindset that I have to play what it has to offer although I do try and keep the quality level somewhat reasonable. Thankfully though I’m mindful of the fact that most games are on the service for 12 months (Rockstar aside) so i do normally know when to play but it does render my purchases to the back of the queue.

What I like to do is have a period of time in which I’m unsubscribed so that I can catchup with my backlog, normally this is while I wait for the next offer.

Sounds like a nice middle-ground tbh.

@Herculean a solid move.

@Ravix “It includes streaming games you own too, with compatible games, anyway…”.
I think you know as I think this has come up before, but just to clarify and as @xeofate alluded to, the Portal cloud streaming function is limited to the PS+ catalogue games, not the ones you own. (yet?) You can definitely stream those games you own to your PS5, but not directly to the Portal. I’ve not tried connecting to the PS5 and then streaming a game to the PS5 and then streaming it through the Portal remote play, but I suspect the ‘double streaming’ effect would be a bit too much. So when I’m playing BG3, for example, on my Portal, it’s downloaded to my console aid remote playing it directly from the console. If and when they allow for owned games to be streamed directly to Portal it will really make things very nice, indeed.

Still, the PS+ Premium catalogue of games you can stream is quite large and so if one were to travel a lot with the Portal you’d have quite a lot to choose from, even without relying on remote connection back home to the PS5. And I’ve played games on the Portal and then also on my console via a downloaded copy I own, jumping back and forth, and the save to the cloud is seamless and so you can definitely keep progress going as you hop from Portal streaming to console and back again.

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On the subject of staying true to what you really want to play, @graymamba @Herculean @CaptD it does complicate the backlog to have instant access to hundreds of games on top of the library you already own, although I typically try to mix up my games anyway and so I usually have a main game that I own going in parallel with a PS+ game, or at least try to alternate and knock out a game I own in between. Overall for me the upside of exposing myself to smaller games or games I might not have had enough interest to buy has enhanced my gaming, so far. I’ll admit that I use the PS+ catalogue to mostly experience smaller and indie titles, but I did play FF7 Crisis Core through Portal streaming recently and it was perfect for it really. Same with Lost Records which I peck away at currently, which isn’t indie but definitely is a smaller niche game from Don’t Nod.

@PlaystationPortalFan As you can see, yes! I still really enjoy mine.