The PlayStation Portal has really come into its own with the late-2024 update to fully enable cloud streaming (for PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers), but it’s had a very dedicated fanbase ever since it was revealed.
Even as a fresh remote play-focused handheld in late 2023, I was fully in on the device, and I couldn’t wait to test, review, and fully adopt the Portal and make it part of my setup.
However, in the more than two years I’ve had it, I’ve never stopped thinking about how it could be improved and refined even more to offer an even better remote-play and cloud-streaming experience. Plus, after I recently wrote about the super-slow charging of the PlayStation Portal over an extended holiday, I really got thinking about what I’d want to see in a new version of the accessory.
So, I present you with my wishlist for a PlayStation Portal 2, for lack of a better term. This wishlist keeps the remote-play and growing cloud-streaming abilities at the core of a next-gen Portal – we’re not jumping into native-playing handheld games-console territory – and highlights a few things that I think could really enhance it.
Up the power with a new battery and fast charging
After dealing with the limitations of the Portal’s current charging times and battery capacity over the holidays at the end of last year, this had to be the first thing on my list.
I think you could probably get away with a similar-capacity battery in a new model, but it simply has to have faster charging to enable folks like me to know that their Portal is going to be all juiced up and ready to go in super-quick time, rather than having to plan extended charging sessions.
However, having said that, it’s probably safe to assume – and hope – that with one comes the other, so a bigger battery would certainly be welcome too. While I always seem to have enough for my play sessions, raising the ceiling further would only be a good thing. Plus, there are some other things on this list that will increase the demand on the battery, so it’ll be sensible in that regard, too.
A new screen to make games shine
An enhanced screen is something the Portal community always shouts about when talk of a new model comes around.
I’ll refrain from just flat-out demanding an OLED screen here – the demand on the battery could be massive, even if the battery got a boost too – but even something akin to the Switch 2’s Vivid LCD would be welcome.
Nintendo’s upgraded handheld screen has shown that 1080p handhelds in modern times don’t have to jump straight to OLED panels to see an upgrade. And that upgrade is tangible in more than one way: games look nicer for sure, with better picture quality, richer colors, and nicer contrasts, but it also has a higher refresh rate, allowing for higher frame rates.
Bring in Bluetooth audio
Another of the community’s most-requested features in any future updates to this model or a new Portal is the inclusion of Bluetooth pairing for headphones or earbuds.
Part of me can kind of see why Sony wanted to limit the wireless connections to its own proprietary PlayStation Link, but the other part of me still feels that decision is a bit mean, and basically unnecessary – let the people use their own audio solutions, which would likely include many Sony and PlayStation products too.
With folks already shelling out for the Portal itself – and maybe even the top-tier of PS Plus on top of that – it feels a bit stingy to close off the audio possibilities. Fans have sort of found ways around this anyway with third-party Bluetooth adapters – though I much prefer to use my Pulse Explore earbuds with the Portal – but official support for Bluetooth would be a huge plus for a future Portal 2 in my view.
Whip up more Wi-Fi
With so much of the Portal’s functionality at the mercy of external internet and connection factors, it seems sensible for a new model to put the very best option possible onboard. This would ensure that any Portal 2 is best equipped within itself to offer the strongest and most stable internet connection, no matter how close to Sony’s minimum your internet connection might be externally.
Thus, boosting the current Portal’s onboard Wi-Fi 5 hardware to at least Wi-Fi 6, but preferably Wi-Fi 7, on any newer model would make for a welcome upgrade.
Insert some more intuitive controls
The biggest improvement I’d like to see on the button and input front is a better replacement for the DualSense touchpad. To be frank, I’ve never had a huge problem with double-tapping the Portal’s touchscreen, but it still doesn’t feel elegant or work 100% of the time.
A neatly placed dedicated button, which may even have some touch-sensitive tech like the Apple iPhone camera button, and which can be used for things like swiping up on the touchpad, would be excellent. To my eye, there’s space on the Portal as it stands for something like that – but then again, I don’t design these things…
Elsewhere, I’d enjoy seeing a rethink of the power, volume, and PS Link buttons on the top of the current Portal. They function fine, but it would be great if they were easier to reach and nicer to interact with.
In fact, while I’m wishing for things, adding microswitch buttons to every appropriate face button and shoulder button, and upgrading the thumbsticks with Hall Effect or the newer Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR) tech, as we see on some premium PS5 controllers, would be some serious icing on this cake. Though I wouldn’t hold my breath on this, given we don’t see this on any of Sony’s own DualSense controllers.
A bit more to do with software than hardware here, and while the update at the end of 2024 did give the menus and interface a welcome overhaul, there’s something not quite right about the current integration of certain PS5 features and notifications on the Portal right now, especially when cloud-streaming games.
Trophies are a good example of this, as when I earn one while cloud streaming, all I see is a ‘Silver trophy earned!’ notification, rather than the usual graphic and description combo we all know and love. This feels like it needs refining.
It would also be great if we got a rejig of functions like party settings and other such core controls, so that they were ‘closer to hand’ in both modes, making it easier to change settings when streaming, without having to go back into the PS5’s open settings when remote playing.
Give me some official accessories
Another one that’s less hardware or onboard software-related, but there’s definitely an opportunity with a new Portal for Sony to embrace the opportunity to fully adorn it with official accessories and goodies.
The obvious candidates are official screen protectors and carry cases, made to precise measurements and exacting standards to ensure protection for your Portal when you’re taking it out and about – but also with enough storage room for the companion earbuds, of course.
I’d also extend this to official grips and thumbstick covers, too – which I’m a huge fan of using elsewhere – given that the Portal, while based on a DualSense, doesn’t have exactly the same measurements and details to make accessories interchangeable. As someone who benefits from these greatly, official items like them are something I’d be all over.
Bring cloud streaming to more PS Plus tiers
Again, this isn’t something that’s strictly tied to the device itself, but opening up the cloud streaming ability to a vast number of players would be a heck of a way to launch a new Portal, wouldn’t it?
I’d love to see the numbers of members on each level of subscription, but I’m guessing that Premium may have the smallest membership, and despite folks paying more for the top tier for the pleasure of cloud streaming, if Sony opened this feature up to even the Extra tier, there would be huge numbers of folks adopting the Portal, I’d wager.
As an extension of this, if the ability to stream my own games could be extended at the same time to include literally all of my own games, that would be fantastic too.
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rob.dwiar@futurenet.com (Rob Dwiar)
