"The PlayStation Portal is the rare product that launched as a truly baffling device, but has evolved into something genuinely useful. At first, it could only stream games from your PlayStation 5, it lacked core features for a handheld like Bluetooth audio and it felt a bit overpriced at $200 for such a limited product. Add on the fact that home streaming can be notoriously unreliable, since it depends entirely on your ISP and home networking setup, and the Portal simply didn't make much sense."
"It also helps that the Portal is still $200 (or less at Gamestop and other retailers), while the cheapest Digital Edition PlayStation 5 has jumped to $500 (up from $400 at launch). Sure, it's still far from a perfect device, but at least it's more functional and significantly less than the PS5 today. Just be aware you'll need to subscribe to the $18 a month (or $160 a year) PlayStation Plus Premium plan to access the cloud streaming features."
The PlayStation Portal launched with limited utility, only streaming from a PlayStation 5 and lacking Bluetooth audio, which made its $200 price hard to justify. Home streaming reliability varied with users' ISPs and home networks. In 2024 Sony added limited cloud streaming for PS Plus titles, then expanded cloud streaming to allow games owned to be played directly from the cloud. The Portal remains priced around $200, while the cheapest PS5 Digital Edition now costs about $500. Cloud streaming performance on the Portal is fast and smooth for many games, with quick load times and selectable 30 fps or 60 fps modes. Access to cloud streaming requires PlayStation Plus Premium at $18 monthly or $160 yearly.
Read at Engadget
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