PlayStation Portal Feels Better Than It Looks
There’s no getting around it. The PlayStation Portal, Sony’s new wireless PS5 handheld, is very weird-looking. Essentially a DualSense controller split in half with a touchscreen in the middle, it’s the handheld equivalent of a Hummer turned into a stretch limousine. When I saw the first images of this thing online, my initial thought was someone had drawn it on a bar napkin, or outgoing PlayStation boss Jim Ryan had lost a bet.
Once I opened the box, which is a little bit smaller than the one you’d get with a pair of Vans, that perception was unchanged. It still looks like someone made a boomerang out of a Kindle. It has the same coarse texture on the back of each controller arm. It’s pleasing to the touch, but also a grime-magnet.
Read more
Formula 1 Didn't Realize Las Vegas Would Be Cold In November
If You Bought A Tesla One Year Ago It Has Lost As Much As $40,000 In Value
Arkansas Sheriff Allegedly Tried To Sell 'Deleted And Tuned' Diesel Truck On Facebook: Report
The Expanse's James S.A. Corey Announces a New Sci-Fi Trilogy
The handles are roughly an inch shorter than those of the standard DualSense, which I expect might take a little bit of getting used to. My hands naturally sit a little further forward of the control sticks on the Portal than the DualSense, and I can imagine needing to adjust my grip occasionally while I get used to driving this beast.
The Portal is far more robustly constructed than I expected, and there’s no give or torsion if you tug at the handles. The bottom corners of the screen could be vulnerable to cracking after a drop—there isn’t much in the way of a protective bezel around the lower third of the screen. That said, the screen is solidly mounted to the frame in a way that belies the rather spindly look of the Portal.
Annoyingly, Sony’s handheld doesn’t come with a dedicated power brick—just a USB cable for you to use with another adapter or to plug into the front of your PS5. The power cable goes in the center-back of the screen, right under the white armature. It’s a little fiddly to get to, but not quite as annoying as the cable housings on the Switch dock.
We’ll have a full rundown of Sony’s new handheld next week. PlayStation Portal launches November 15 (see at Best Buy).
More from Kotaku
On The Right Tires A Toyota Prius Is Almost As Fun To Drive As A Volkswagen GTI
The Marvels Post-Credit Scenes Deliver Major Game Changers for the MCU
F1's Sky-High Vegas Ticket Prices Cratering As Race Approaches
Sign up for Kotaku's Newsletter. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
