The biggest issue I had with the portal, the microstutter mismatch, of 59.75hz remote play output not fitting the 60hz portal screen output, is now fixed. Any hitches now are purely Wi-Fi related, and for me thats rare, and fair enough. Portal now feels like a decent experience.
Yes this was such a massive difference for me with user experience. I couldn’t play it before and nearly traded it in.. then tried after cloud update and it’s pretty much flawless. I’m surprised Rich didn’t think the stuttering was much different. To me it’s massive obviously better
@@dinkomalinko8585I was surprised too. The truth here is I actually sold my portal about two months ago after not using it much, due to the stutter largely. I ordered a new one after the update and the claim the stutter was fixed. When I heard Rich say it wasn’t I was thinking ‘Ah, well I guess I’ll making use of that 30 day returns policy then.’ However, when it arrived and I tried it, the difference really was inarguable, and huge.
Yes, the update has clearly improved the stuttering, and the fact that Digital Foundry doesn't even notice the improvement shows the low level of their analysis, which is very disappointing!
I have one and hadn’t really been using it. I’m using it now. No longer limited to what I have downloaded to the PS5. Of course I have some sunk cost bias. But I had considered selling it, and now I’m keeping it cuz it seems a bit more future proof. Just my subjective experience.
I've had a Portal since launch. Initially i had huge issues with disconnecting and very low bitrate issues even with 1gbps fiber and WiFi 6 mesh. But then I discovered one of the CAT cables was to blame and since i replaced it, Portal has been perfect. I finished all of Elden Ring DLC and Astro Bot (inc all challenge levels) on it and that was before this update. For me, its been an excellent addition to my gaming lifestyle. I think sometimes we just need to be grateful for the insane technology we have available. Nothing is ever perfect but Portal for me is most of the way there
I play Fallout 76. Locally, there is essentially no latency or stutter. The clarity isn't as good since its only 1080p. But the fact that I can play it on the toilet is a win for me.
The Portal has been the absolute biggest surprise of 2024 for me. I'm a PC-heavy gamer who (as of 2 months ago) owned a launch edition PS5 because there are some Sony titles I want to be there for on Day 1. I've tried so many game streaming solutions over the years, dating back to the Nvidia Shield in 2014. I'm a huge believer in the idea that your game should be running on the device locally for optimal performance and reduced input lag. I picked up the Portal 6 weeks ago on a lark, because I found an open box sale for about 40 bucks off MSRP. I loaded up some games and instantly felt blown away by both the input response and the overall image quality. I honestly had no idea Sony had done such a good job with Remote Play, as I've never tried it before owning a Portal. There are a few games where the input lag absolutely CAN ruin the experience (like Doom Eternal), but overall even most 3rd person action games like Control run very well over Remote Play. Then I went crazy and bought a PS5 Pro, and started playing Alan Wake 2 on the thing. It really hit me one evening lying in bed with my wife - I'm enjoying a huge triple-A game with ray-tracing effects on a handheld. Even my Steam Deck OLED can't currently do that (though I will concede the SD OLED blows the Portal out of the water in terms of screen quality). Additionally, I wasn't stuck in the living room with the PS5. I could enjoy a story-based game with her in bed, and she started getting invested in it since I was next to her and progressing through the game. I sat up last night for two hours straight playing Stellar Blade on that new Pro visual mode with the HFR mode engaged. I was taking down difficult bosses and hitting my dodge and parry timings extremely well. I'm absolutely in love with this thing, and I can't believe I got it for 160 bucks.
People give the Portal shit, but it really is a solid device for the price. And now that you can stream PS5 games without the console being on…..huge plus! Glad you’re enjoying your Portal!
You know your Steam Deck can do the same thing, right? Steam also has remote play and it works great.. you can stream your whole steam library from your PC to your Steam deck or even your phone..so just like how the Portal works, you can also play Triple A game with ray tracing on your Steam deck..if you have the proper PC hardware for ray tracing, of course
@@ItzMeWill I have tried streaming PC games to my Steam Deck, but it's nowhere near as smooth as running PS5 titles on the Portal. I think that probably has to do with my PC being in a totally different room from the WiFi router, so I'm unable to plug directly in via Ethernet. By contrast, the PS5 is plugged directly into the router because the router sits on our TV console, so it's easy to hook it directly in. One thing I do want to try in the future is Chiaki4Deck, because I've yet to try streaming PS5 titles to the Steam Deck.
@@HorseheadNebula85 o ok.. i gotcha...That probably explains why my remote play is so good. I have both my PS5 and PC plugged straight into router. Probably also helps that I have a 1 gig internet connection.. I don't have a Portal but I like to stream both to my PS5 and PC to my Iphone.. The remote play for both is seamless. My first time seeing it. I couldn't believe my eyes. It almost feels like I was playing native..My mind was blown.. Even though I was directly connected to fast internet. I was still expecting some latency. Might be a tiny bit there but it's so small that I always end up forgetting about it
I bought a portal at launch, and it was a horrendous experience. It worked significantly worse than any other streaming device. However with all the hype around the recent update I decided to try one out again and its working amazingly. No glitching, no lag, no stutters. Im absolutely thrilled with its performance. I will say while the cloud streaming works well, the selection is pretty terrible for the time being, and not really worth the upgrade unless theres a specific game available now that you want to play
The upgrade isn’t worth it? The upgrade is free, it costs you nothing and you don’t have to use PS Plus streaming if you don’t want it, so how can it be “not worth it”?
@@rodeyrevenge dude backbone is absolutely trash. the thumbsticks and bumpers are terrible, and it doesnt fit anything bigger than a standard phone which is way too small. plus backbone + tablet is like 5x the price of the portal.
@@madsandreassen5441 im saying in its current state, its not worth paying for ps premium just for streaming on the portal unless there is a specific cloud title you want to play, since the options are so limited right now.
Anecdotally, I've been playing ratchet & clank via the cloud streaming since it became available. (I don't own a PS5, but did get to pick up a 30th anniversary portal.) The streaming quality has improved a LOT for me. In the beginning it was terribly blurry with loads of artifacts & it would degrade every so often to a garbled mess. Lately it's been very stable and sharp enough where I feel games are actually playable this way. It still looks like a game with FSR 2.0 set to medium or so and there is definitely some latency.
One of the few things I disagree with you guys on. Love my portal and have been using it much more than I thought I would. Latest update has removed the stuttering I experienced.
The stuttering is much , much improved for me. It used to happen every few seconds now it’s very rare unless I’m purposely spinning camera quickly in a new area or something. I don’t know, stuttering is near non-existent for me where as before the update it was happening every few seconds and very noticeable in every game. I use Fallout 4 as a baseline
I’ve been enjoying my Portal since launch. My PS5 and PS5 Pro are hardwired and I have a WiFi 7 router, so my experience has been fine. I play The Crew Motorfest on it a lot at night. I think DF is missing the point, especially with the last comment on the video, that this product isn’t about anything discussed in the video - none of that matters - it’s just the convenience and experience of being able to pick up the Portal and enjoy your game when you want without really disturbing anyone, that’s why it is selling well and e why nothing said in the video really takes away from that. I have a backbone for my iPhone and it’s just not the same because they lack the dual sense functions. Enjoyed the “technical” review (should have verified if Control stutters on console though!) but it’s clear that you guys have zero love for the product or product category at all.
You can stream from literally any other device you own. And the cloud streaming is limited and requires a subscription. Not for me. Rather have a dedicated handheld that will work without always being online.
It's a step in the right direction though, and with the rumors of a local device in the works, I'll be a little more patient. The issue with the device is remote play/streaming, but the build quality feels premium, and the most comfortable portable device to play on. Unfortunately for me, my hands on time wasn't enough to convince me sinceyou get a much better remote play experience with chiaki on the Ally, but if the rumurs are true, and they make a fully local handheld with a similar build quality, it's an instant buy for me!
A dedicated device would basically be a Steam Deck or any of its rivals - which are all at least twice the price of the Portal. (You also don’t stream from a device. You stream to a device, from your PS5 or the cloud).
That’s what everyone has said so far who have tried it. Just wondering if the Control game itself has occasion stutter when spinning the camera and df are blaming the stream quality? Df are the outliers on this.
I’m honestly surprised Rich didn’t notice stutter difference.. it’s night and day to me, it used to have these constant micro stutters now it’s flawless
@@dinkomalinko8585it could easily be related to what wifi router he's using. If it's an older router especially, it's not going to provide peak performance
The 30th Anniversary Portal is the most gorgeous device on the planet Earth. Also, do any of these guys have kids and/or a spouse? I feel like you're missing the entire point (use case) for this gadget.
The stutter after the latest patch is a night and day difference. While it was almost unplayeble experience before now i can finally enjoy playing on portal. Not perfect but usable.
I got one for Christmas it’s a great device for parents or travelling a lot and being able to play anywhere much prefer having a real controller than something that doesn’t deliver like a true console controller It works good on home internet where I’ve played so far
I can t Say I agreed Lads... Sinceramente latest update my portal , has has a Big performance un stability and imagen Quality...I wonder if My ps5 pro is the differential here
Hmm not sure I agree here at all. The stutter certainly isn’t there for me anymore. Especially with 3 bars connection on the portal. As a parent and a regular bed player, the portal is excellent.
I purchased it when it it was first released. Based on my Bluetooth experience with the Nintendo Switch, I was positive that in a matter of time, Sony would release a software update that allowed us stream games since this was already possible on our mobile phones.
So not only do you need a 200 dollar portal, you need to spend money on a new router for this to work properly. Nothing to do with the fact it only has WiFi 5 installed
This is the problem with reviewing products in a vacuum. It was clearly created with specific use cases in mind. So if you do not fall into one of those categories, you're literally setting yourself up for failure and will more than likely come away disappointed. Everyone I know that purchased it to address an explicit need are all huge advocates! Point is.. Be careful listening to other people trying to tell you what's good for you when what they really only mean is that it's not for them.
@@184Dadada So this is exactly my point though. You are comparing the two (a gourmet meal vs fast food) just on their own merits without a use case. Obviously one is "objectively better" than the other but when you add context, it's not so simple. If you are running late to a meeting but you're hungry, then the convenience-oriented value proposition of fast food just may appeal more to that consumer than someone else with plenty of time and access to other food options. And yes of course you are entitled to your opinion. I was not implying otherwise. My comment was simply imploring those listening to said opinions that they should apply a little critical thinking.
I think a lot of people just don't get it about the Portal. It's not for everyone, you either like the concept and can make use of it or if you're not, then just don't mind it. Me for example, I use it if I'm not home, or if I'm home and still want the TV on, or want to play in another room. Quality is great if your Wi-Fi is good and stable. Great image quality with a little bit more lag. But imagine the hardware you'd need (and its price and battery life) to be able to do the same natively. I think now they just need to keep improving the quality of the streaming and of course work on a real handheld, but the price will be steep when it'll release...
I’ve been streaming from my PC to my steam deck oled via moonlight/sunshine for a while now over the local network. It’s honestly my preferred way of playing 3rd person games. It all works, even HDR after some tinkering. I’ve played God Of War Ragnarok and Red Dead the most on it, as well as Mass Effect. Only reason I don’t touch fps games on it is cus I don’t really feel like handhelds work for first person games that much.
Still getting stutters. I tested turning the camera, in any game, while watching on my TV. It's perfectly smooth on my TV, but my portal stutter every few seconds. Latest firmware, wifi connected with wire from console, etc etc. I don't know why I still get this problem. Also getting audio lag. I have reset the portal multiple times, but it doesn't help.
I'm very curious about whatever handheld Microsoft has brewing. I probably won't own one, I haven't owned an XBOX since the 360. But it is interesting, regardless.
It is for people who doesn't always want or can play their PS5 games in front of the TV. And it's for people who rather have a dedicated Remote Play device to do so, instead of setting up controllers on their phone every time. The question is really simple: Is this device the best way of utilizing Remote Play. Based on this being a first-party dedicated device designed to do just that suggest it might be. The fact that you can just push a button and your in, and can still use your phone for phone stuff independently is a selling point to me.
This is very different from the google stavia, steam portal etc. and other streaming devices. It looks good and latency is acceptable. I think the biggest perk is just the ability to load any game on the library without need to install and if they eventually expand the library itll be amazing. Ive found it better than streaming from my ps5
Nope, u need to pay the yearly subscription (max tier) to use it to stream… And when the joysticks started malfunctioning (not an IF, but when) it is gonna be hard to repair for non US/ Japan or major EU cities
I do not get any stutters streaming from my wired home network. Have you tried a different portal? I can honestly say that I have never had issues with stuttering since the beginning (got one at launch) and I’m extremely annoyed by stuttering in my games. The picture has been great, gameplay smooth, with minimal input lag.
I mainly play games on my supercomputer. This portal actually made me care about my PlayStation 5. I lay in bed and play a few hours on the Portal every night now. Well worth it for $200!
“It’s just another Remote Play client”. Well, it’s not. With the Portal you also have the haptic feedback and gyroscope. I don’t have that through a Backbone + iPhone combo for example. I don’t think remote play emulates the vibrations. Or I’m mistaken!
Here's the use case: You are traveling. Maybe you are at a hotel. With the Portal you can continue playing some of your games---if they are available on the cloud. Somewhat niche, but makes far more sense than the "dad" use case of not having access to your home TV.
It was phenomenal at launch. Never had a single issue even before first patches. I have been killing my PS5 library for months. Thousands of people have missed out on this device and still do
Nobody has "missed out" on anything. We either have absolutely zero interest or have other means of streaming our PS5 catalogues via mobile phone, PC Handhelds etc and see no reason to spend money on something that offers a feature set we already have. Glad you enjoy your device but We're good.
Scrub fanboy comments are hilarious 😂 you are proof they could do anything and you’d say the same shit 🤡 I own it and it’s average you definitely had issues you just let the fanboy go past the latency and resolution being trash 🤣
@@hammygaming8278 no fan boy here, just someone with common sense. Most people criticizing haven’t even tried it. Before, I used to remote play with a backbone or another handled like an Odin, the portal as far superior ergonomics, the advance haptics feedback of a dual sense a larger screen. Have you tried playing Astro on it? Regarding streaming issues, 99% of people here may have 1gb download speed, but only 25mb upload speed. Get a better internet plan with high upload and you will see.
It's a beta release for streaming. There will be issues, and it will take time for Sony to iron out the firmware and fine-tune it. The great news is that they are actively working towards making streaming a great experience for users. I have never had issues with Stutter, my router and PS5 work via wireless too (they are not in the same room). I think this update is great step forward for the portal, all future updates will focus on further improvements for streaming too. Fantastic!!
I tried remote play for the first time tonight and the latency wasnt bad at all almost instant but my ps5 is on ethernet and right next to my router. The only thing was my 14pro max screen felt to small think i may get a portal
I had one at launch and sold it, the image quality and lag were terrible despite following all the advice on getting the best connection. I am now considering buying this again but analogue stick drift is putting me off.
I wasn't impressed at first at all considering i pre ordered one thought it was gonna be better. Then it sat in it's case until I saw that the 4.0 changed it completely and now with the 4.0.1 update it's even better. Now I don't feel like I wasted 200 dollars.
If you are going to live up to the pedigree of "Digital Foundry" I would expect you to put in the work to make a detailed review for a product released from a major manufacturer. This podcast format has given DF a bad habit of putting out these mediocre segments which do not live up to the "Digital Foundry" pedigree. The video game technical review space needs some real competition. Digital Foundry has become lazy and complacent. There is even a hint of bias especially from Alex.
I tried the cloud thing on the portal… i noticed the added latency compared to streaming from the ps5… not a fan of that BUT i know itll get better in time. Until then i actually just prefer streaming all my consoles and pc on my oled steam deck and iphone with backbone controller… better latency and fidelity
“I won’t buy it because it’s not as good as running the game on a PS5” 🤯 surely there needs to be some compromise expected if you’re playing a current gen game over the internet? I used mine on a work trip abroad recently, over basic Hilton WiFi and it was great!
Do you still need the headphones or can you now use other types of headphones??? For example can still use my 3D PlayStation headphones from my usb connected to the ps5. The Sony 3D headphones comes with a usb dongle.
Depite the lukewarm reception from certain sections of the interwebs, the PS Portal community (those who have actually bought one) seem to be very pleased with it.
The recent update not only allowed players to play their games straight from the cloud on the PS5 portal but the recent update also allows players to play their PS5 games without the need of buying a PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Pro in order to play your games on the portal and I think that's actually a wise decision from PlayStation since home consoles are not as popular as they used to be back in the day and let's just be honest handhelds are the future, the handheld Wars are definitely coming....Look out Nintendo.
Bought a portal on launch day and to be honest, it was terrible so sold it along with my PS5. I have now bought another portal since hearing about the cloud streaming update being added, and WOW what a fantastic standalone device it now is. Works perfectly on my average speed network with no stutter or latency issues that are noticeable whatsoever!! Well done Sony 👍🏻
Why not buy a monitor or another tv? I don't understand the appeal of this product, you're literally downgrading your gaming experience for no good reason .
@@malekinceptionbecause you can’t lay in the bed with your head on a pillow while looking up at a monitor. You also can’t move to different rooms. Unless you try it, it will never make sense.
@@thev3432 gaming in bed while laying down? Thats a very specific scenerio that i cannot relate to. And im not sure why you would have to move around to game from a place to a place. 😅 Im wither gaming or im not, just like watching a movie. I dont take the movie with me around.
@@malekinception it doesn’t make sense because you’ve clearly never had a hand held. Trust me, its not complicated. Its no different than if you watched a movie on your Ipad in bed.
@@malekinception you could have stopped at "I don't understand". You've got some kinda complex if you can't see past your own personal view on something. Portal is a very welcome piece of hardware for many people. Get over it weirdo.
The downside is that Playstation Plus Cloud Streaming is not available in many parts of the world. Here in Brazil, for example, we have Xbox xCloud and even NVidia Geforce Now, but no PS Plus Cloud Streaming and no sign that we will have it anytime soon, so this PS Portal update ends up being useless for us. What is most frustrating is that as PS3 games are only available via streaming we end up losing this, I even believe that this is why the PS3 is still such an active console with almost 2 million active users since Because of this, most people end up buying a PS3 to play PS3 games because they have no other option.
Bought it this week from sale by exchanging some old games for it. Playing diablo 4 dlc with it frequently. I have good connection with it. You can improve the stream by disabling some options from ps5 system, hdr etc.
people will endlessly cope about streaming, but even localized streaming is a huge compromise. bit rate issues and input latency are too large of a compromise, and if you have a suboptimal router setup forget about it. the only decent solution to any sort of streaming was with the wii u and it's gamepad.
I really encourage you to reconsider, even if it means giving the Portal a trial run. I've given almost every streaming service a shot dating back to the original Nvidia Shield 10 years ago. I hated game streaming with a passion, but gave the Portal a chance since I found a good open-box deal. If you have a solid ISP and an ethernet cable going directly into your PS5, the Portal is an awesome experience, especially for more cinematic 30 fps games.
@@Cybo-Man I think cloud gaming is a nice secondary option if you want to try something before downloading but it's never going to replace the current system. I just consider it as a bonus feature to the two super expensive subscription services I pay for, ps plus premium and gamepass ultimate
I stil believe the PS Portal is as much of a proof of concept just as the first PSVR was. So the more people invest in the product, the better chances we'll have a successor to the PSP.
The PSP was a standalone device, the PS Portal is a streaming device. You can still use your PSP in 50 years. Will it be the same for the PS Portal? Sony can discontinue the PS Portal any day in the future, this device will then turn into a brick. If we're lucky some people may be able to mod it.
Also having PS Plus streaming has me very interested in this. Mind you all the PS Classics coming to PS Plus already had me very interested. Playing th elites of Timesplitter and Jack and Daxter whilst keeping the TV for newer games seems the way to go
The highlight of subjectivity is pretty notable here when it comes to the Portal. Explains why those approaching it ready to hate generally walk away hating it, and vice versa. As someone who was away from home during the time Portal launched, it was simply the only option I had to play my PS5 in a non-janky manner. But now that i am local again + having a Deck, I'm surprised how much I'm still using the Portal. For example, Dragon Age Veilguard was "free" on the highest tier of Geforce Now, but I ended up buying it on PS5 for hassle-free reasons. But it provided the interesting opportunity to test the Deck & Portal's cloud streaming capabilities side-by-side. Obviously GFN runs the game at higher settings, but at that screen size (not to mention it's lower resolution than the Portal), I had to really strain to notice. The latency blows the Portal out of the water (usually down to just 5ms). But the image quality on the Portal is significantly better. Panning left to right, my character's face becomes a smudge on the Deck while streaming, compared to the Portal holding steady without breaking down like that. For certain shooters, the Portal is a hard sell as a streaming device. I got away with playing The Finals on it for months, but the moment it became compatible for Deck, I switched to it in a heartbeat despite having to play everything on Low and still getting significant drops. But for the vast majority of other games, the Portal does cross the threshold of "forgetting I'm streaming" for me, and I know my kid-self would have loved this thing. But even 26-self loves this thing tbh. Not a dad, just someone who likes having full games in a portable form factor like this.
@@gorillagroddgaming "I didn't read a single word, but I felt the need to sit down and write that I didn't read" is such an interesting and thoughtful take, thanks for your contributions to the discussion 👍
@ Just jumping to the explanation rather than going back and forth with haters repetitively as each subsequent person doesn't read the prior reply ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Why does it bother you so much that some don't think its stupid?
Rich is spitting nonsense again. What stutter or lag is he even talking about? I have far cheaper internet and probably router and the stream was always perfect. No stuttering at all
I recently purchased it because I had been interested in it for some time, but I found out that the game genres that can be played are quite narrow considering it is a dedicated peripheral device with limited functions, and that the line quality and speed required by the user are high. Also, compared to a monitor or TV, there is noticeable stutter when scrolling, whether this is because the screen is closer to your eyes or simply due to a delay. The worst PS5 peripheral I ever bought was PULSE Elite, but Portal was Second, it is a poor quality product whose price and performance do not match.
I've not had any noticeable stuttering while using my Portal, as far as your comment about subscribing without a PlayStation well what's Game Pass? Sales don't lie... I'm disappointed that you guys are dissing the Portal because it's a great device.
I enjoy the portal for what it is … the streaming is not available where I am though though hopefully they will update that. More confused on the rumours of a ps5 portable if it’s real can they have two portables seems strange to me
PS Portal quality is just top and has no match. Screen is far better than any of the competition. Ergonomics too. It's a shame they stuck with an outdated WIFI protocol, but if you have a mesh array its flawless. I never played games again on the 65'' TV and just play the Portal in the comfort of the bed. It has done wonders to crushing the backlog this year. Something about picking up and playing that just gives you so much more gaming time. I left the Steam Deck and Switch catching dust ever since. And the cloud Beta is amazing. It plays so well, just tried Doom Immortal last time. Flawless experience. These so called experts played it only on the beginning before the first software update even and just decided then its trash. Like their opinion...
Your experience is not what I saw in my time with a Portal a few months ago. I'm comparing it to moonlight/sunshine streaming from my PC and the portal can't match what moonlight does on my steam deck. 60fps, zero stutter, almost no latency. Heck, the portal couldn't even match what PS/PSXplay did on my Steam deck, streaming from the ps5. The portal was jittery, laggy and a worse experience than the 3rd party open source apps on a 3rd party device (steam deck). Shame because I really liked the ergonomics of the portal, much better than the steam deck. Although I didn't care for the miniature thumbsticks sony chose to use for the Portal. I haven't tried the Portal on the latest update, I'm seeing comments that the stuttering and hitching with local play might be better.
I can stream games with 5G on Xbox gamepass to my phone via backbone. I’m not getting a WiFi only tablet controller portal for the same price almost as a switch 😂
We need a PS Portal refresh aka PS Portal Pro (or just PS Portal 2). Add Wi-Fi 7 just like PS5 Pro has and stuttering lag will be GONE! Also add an OLED screen and 4K resolution and it will sell like CRACK!!
Still a bummer you need to link it to a PS5. Had they patched so all you need is a PS Plus Extra account and they could have sold it as a starter bundle to try the Sony Ecosystem without buying a full console like for kids or people on the fence on buying a console.
This the one time idk what the hell DF is talking about. The portal is literally amazing. Maybe there internet connection is bad. But unless you playing call of duty you shouldn’t have any problems with latency. At least not to point where it’s a bother to your gameplay.
Why would it be quite extraordinary for a portal owner to have a ps plus subscription? That’s what Microsoft are angling for, people that have a game pass sub but don’t own an Xbox
Because you have to pay for the highest PS Plus subscription tier but won't get any of the benefits other than the few games that are available for Cloud Streaming.
Streaming is still crappy, because a lot of people still don't have or can't get decent wifi where they live. That's why games like MSFS 2024 is in the state it's in. I have 1gb internet, so I don't have a problem, but people are refunding the sim, because of streaming. A lot of people are asking to download the assets instead of streaming them and they are going back to MSFS 2020.
I did buy the thing voluntarily, mainly hoping that I might be able to play some games while travelling. When I tested it at home on a separate network it did not work at all (it did on local network although I would not exactly describe it as a "great experience" or anything), so now I don't use my Portal at all.
@nickjacobsss i don't think u understand what I mean.playing Diablo 4 with the portal is a nightmare just because of a proper touchpad and the game functions better if it had a dedicated touchpad
@nickjacobsss Diablo 4's menu controls are complex but not complicated.i haven't played the game in 6 months and because of that it took me some hours to get used to the controls as I forgot how to play.its different from other games.and the touch pad plays a big part on how navigating the menus.back then when I purchased the ps portal when I first came out, I would take it to work just to keep up with the game and friends coz it's so damn addictive...I died alot and couldn't play well on the ps portal because of a missing dedicated touch pad.
I’m sorry but you guys have to have really bad internet. My portal feels almost native. You can’t tell it’s streaming with my internet speeds and the network never drops
If you plan to pay for multiple subscription services, then yes, the Portal is not the optimal device for you. But if you want to be able to stream Playstation games with the best possible experience, it's the device of choice.
The biggest issue I had with the portal, the microstutter mismatch, of 59.75hz remote play output not fitting the 60hz portal screen output, is now fixed.
Any hitches now are purely Wi-Fi related, and for me thats rare, and fair enough. Portal now feels like a decent experience.
Yes this was such a massive difference for me with user experience. I couldn’t play it before and nearly traded it in.. then tried after cloud update and it’s pretty much flawless. I’m surprised Rich didn’t think the stuttering was much different. To me it’s massive obviously better
@@dinkomalinko8585I was surprised too. The truth here is I actually sold my portal about two months ago after not using it much, due to the stutter largely. I ordered a new one after the update and the claim the stutter was fixed.
When I heard Rich say it wasn’t I was thinking ‘Ah, well I guess I’ll making use of that 30 day returns policy then.’ However, when it arrived and I tried it, the difference really was inarguable, and huge.
Yes, the update has clearly improved the stuttering, and the fact that Digital Foundry doesn't even notice the improvement shows the low level of their analysis, which is very disappointing!
I have one and hadn’t really been using it. I’m using it now. No longer limited to what I have downloaded to the PS5. Of course I have some sunk cost bias. But I had considered selling it, and now I’m keeping it cuz it seems a bit more future proof. Just my subjective experience.
I've had a Portal since launch. Initially i had huge issues with disconnecting and very low bitrate issues even with 1gbps fiber and WiFi 6 mesh. But then I discovered one of the CAT cables was to blame and since i replaced it, Portal has been perfect. I finished all of Elden Ring DLC and Astro Bot (inc all challenge levels) on it and that was before this update. For me, its been an excellent addition to my gaming lifestyle. I think sometimes we just need to be grateful for the insane technology we have available. Nothing is ever perfect but Portal for me is most of the way there
I play Fallout 76. Locally, there is essentially no latency or stutter. The clarity isn't as good since its only 1080p. But the fact that I can play it on the toilet is a win for me.
The Portal has been the absolute biggest surprise of 2024 for me. I'm a PC-heavy gamer who (as of 2 months ago) owned a launch edition PS5 because there are some Sony titles I want to be there for on Day 1. I've tried so many game streaming solutions over the years, dating back to the Nvidia Shield in 2014. I'm a huge believer in the idea that your game should be running on the device locally for optimal performance and reduced input lag.
I picked up the Portal 6 weeks ago on a lark, because I found an open box sale for about 40 bucks off MSRP. I loaded up some games and instantly felt blown away by both the input response and the overall image quality. I honestly had no idea Sony had done such a good job with Remote Play, as I've never tried it before owning a Portal. There are a few games where the input lag absolutely CAN ruin the experience (like Doom Eternal), but overall even most 3rd person action games like Control run very well over Remote Play.
Then I went crazy and bought a PS5 Pro, and started playing Alan Wake 2 on the thing. It really hit me one evening lying in bed with my wife - I'm enjoying a huge triple-A game with ray-tracing effects on a handheld. Even my Steam Deck OLED can't currently do that (though I will concede the SD OLED blows the Portal out of the water in terms of screen quality). Additionally, I wasn't stuck in the living room with the PS5. I could enjoy a story-based game with her in bed, and she started getting invested in it since I was next to her and progressing through the game.
I sat up last night for two hours straight playing Stellar Blade on that new Pro visual mode with the HFR mode engaged. I was taking down difficult bosses and hitting my dodge and parry timings extremely well. I'm absolutely in love with this thing, and I can't believe I got it for 160 bucks.
People give the Portal shit, but it really is a solid device for the price. And now that you can stream PS5 games without the console being on…..huge plus! Glad you’re enjoying your Portal!
You know your Steam Deck can do the same thing, right? Steam also has remote play and it works great.. you can stream your whole steam library from your PC to your Steam deck or even your phone..so just like how the Portal works, you can also play Triple A game with ray tracing on your Steam deck..if you have the proper PC hardware for ray tracing, of course
@@ItzMeWill I have tried streaming PC games to my Steam Deck, but it's nowhere near as smooth as running PS5 titles on the Portal. I think that probably has to do with my PC being in a totally different room from the WiFi router, so I'm unable to plug directly in via Ethernet. By contrast, the PS5 is plugged directly into the router because the router sits on our TV console, so it's easy to hook it directly in.
One thing I do want to try in the future is Chiaki4Deck, because I've yet to try streaming PS5 titles to the Steam Deck.
@@HorseheadNebula85 o ok.. i gotcha...That probably explains why my remote play is so good. I have both my PS5 and PC plugged straight into router. Probably also helps that I have a 1 gig internet connection..
I don't have a Portal but I like to stream both to my PS5 and PC to my Iphone.. The remote play for both is seamless. My first time seeing it. I couldn't believe my eyes. It almost feels like I was playing native..My mind was blown.. Even though I was directly connected to fast internet. I was still expecting some latency. Might be a tiny bit there but it's so small that I always end up forgetting about it
Like my portal a lot more than expected. The new update fixed stutter for me
I bought a portal at launch, and it was a horrendous experience. It worked significantly worse than any other streaming device. However with all the hype around the recent update I decided to try one out again and its working amazingly. No glitching, no lag, no stutters. Im absolutely thrilled with its performance.
I will say while the cloud streaming works well, the selection is pretty terrible for the time being, and not really worth the upgrade unless theres a specific game available now that you want to play
U paid for an overpriced backbone and tablet
The upgrade isn’t worth it? The upgrade is free, it costs you nothing and you don’t have to use PS Plus streaming if you don’t want it, so how can it be “not worth it”?
@@rodeyrevenge dude backbone is absolutely trash. the thumbsticks and bumpers are terrible, and it doesnt fit anything bigger than a standard phone which is way too small. plus backbone + tablet is like 5x the price of the portal.
@@madsandreassen5441 im saying in its current state, its not worth paying for ps premium just for streaming on the portal unless there is a specific cloud title you want to play, since the options are so limited right now.
@@rodeyrevenge calm down mad bot!
Anecdotally, I've been playing ratchet & clank via the cloud streaming since it became available. (I don't own a PS5, but did get to pick up a 30th anniversary portal.) The streaming quality has improved a LOT for me. In the beginning it was terribly blurry with loads of artifacts & it would degrade every so often to a garbled mess. Lately it's been very stable and sharp enough where I feel games are actually playable this way. It still looks like a game with FSR 2.0 set to medium or so and there is definitely some latency.
So you bought the PS+ premium subscription?
Brain rot…
@@BUPMY1He could have bought a second hand PS5 Slim for nearly the cost of PS+ Premium.😂
@@BUPMY1 Yeah 1 month via 14 euro card to test the waters.
@@Wedge_The_Almightysettle yourself bot. You can get Premium for $111 for the full year right now.
One of the few things I disagree with you guys on. Love my portal and have been using it much more than I thought I would. Latest update has removed the stuttering I experienced.
Maybe, but you PS fans have to admit you like streaming games and all digital consoles. lmao.
The stuttering is much , much improved for me. It used to happen every few seconds now it’s very rare unless I’m purposely spinning camera quickly in a new area or something. I don’t know, stuttering is near non-existent for me where as before the update it was happening every few seconds and very noticeable in every game. I use Fallout 4 as a baseline
I’ve been enjoying my Portal since launch. My PS5 and PS5 Pro are hardwired and I have a WiFi 7 router, so my experience has been fine. I play The Crew Motorfest on it a lot at night. I think DF is missing the point, especially with the last comment on the video, that this product isn’t about anything discussed in the video - none of that matters - it’s just the convenience and experience of being able to pick up the Portal and enjoy your game when you want without really disturbing anyone, that’s why it is selling well and e why nothing said in the video really takes away from that. I have a backbone for my iPhone and it’s just not the same because they lack the dual sense functions. Enjoyed the “technical” review (should have verified if Control stutters on console though!) but it’s clear that you guys have zero love for the product or product category at all.
You can stream from literally any other device you own. And the cloud streaming is limited and requires a subscription. Not for me. Rather have a dedicated handheld that will work without always being online.
It's a step in the right direction though, and with the rumors of a local device in the works, I'll be a little more patient.
The issue with the device is remote play/streaming, but the build quality feels premium, and the most comfortable portable device to play on. Unfortunately for me, my hands on time wasn't enough to convince me sinceyou get a much better remote play experience with chiaki on the Ally, but if the rumurs are true, and they make a fully local handheld with a similar build quality, it's an instant buy for me!
A dedicated device would basically be a Steam Deck or any of its rivals - which are all at least twice the price of the Portal.
(You also don’t stream from a device. You stream to a device, from your PS5 or the cloud).
No stutters for me. Runs really well on cloud 🎉
1080 is fine on such a small s screen surely
If you have a decent connection of course.
The problem with stutter is gone.
That’s what everyone has said so far who have tried it. Just wondering if the Control game itself has occasion stutter when spinning the camera and df are blaming the stream quality? Df are the outliers on this.
Yep! Also, these guys insistence about any noticeable lag is a flat out lie. I have no idea why they would do that.
I’m honestly surprised Rich didn’t notice stutter difference.. it’s night and day to me, it used to have these constant micro stutters now it’s flawless
@ definitely an agenda.
@@dinkomalinko8585it could easily be related to what wifi router he's using. If it's an older router especially, it's not going to provide peak performance
I hope they can improve latency or input lag in future patches. It’s small but noticeable. But I picked up on sale for $150 so it’s okay for me
The 30th Anniversary Portal is the most gorgeous device on the planet Earth.
Also, do any of these guys have kids and/or a spouse? I feel like you're missing the entire point (use case) for this gadget.
John for sure does.
The stutter after the latest patch is a night and day difference. While it was almost unplayeble experience before now i can finally enjoy playing on portal. Not perfect but usable.
I got one for Christmas it’s a great device for parents or travelling a lot and being able to play anywhere much prefer having a real controller than something that doesn’t deliver like a true console controller
It works good on home internet where I’ve played so far
I can t Say I agreed Lads... Sinceramente latest update my portal , has has a Big performance un stability and imagen Quality...I wonder if My ps5 pro is the differential here
Hmm not sure I agree here at all. The stutter certainly isn’t there for me anymore. Especially with 3 bars connection on the portal. As a parent and a regular bed player, the portal is excellent.
Mine is easily 2x quality on portal vs phone. For me it was an easy buy and I’ve been mostly happy.
Love the Portal. The build quality and the screen are 💯
@@praneet48 truth!!
I purchased it when it it was first released. Based on my Bluetooth experience with the Nintendo Switch, I was positive that in a matter of time, Sony would release a software update that allowed us stream games since this was already possible on our mobile phones.
Its an amazing gaming handheld.
Just bought the Portal and tried cloud streaming. It is actually good. Finished RE3 without problems
@Richard the stutter could be your wifi router. I would try it with a few different routers before making a conclusion
So not only do you need a 200 dollar portal, you need to spend money on a new router for this to work properly. Nothing to do with the fact it only has WiFi 5 installed
This is the problem with reviewing products in a vacuum. It was clearly created with specific use cases in mind. So if you do not fall into one of those categories, you're literally setting yourself up for failure and will more than likely come away disappointed. Everyone I know that purchased it to address an explicit need are all huge advocates! Point is.. Be careful listening to other people trying to tell you what's good for you when what they really only mean is that it's not for them.
Nope bad product! There are objectively better ways to spend your money!
Yep! And they are lying about the lag. Very strange. Maybe the internet in the UK sucks.
@Nate0808 we're all entitled to our opinions. Not everyone enjoys liver and onions. Objectively a better meal than fast food. Silly goose.
@@184Dadada So this is exactly my point though. You are comparing the two (a gourmet meal vs fast food) just on their own merits without a use case. Obviously one is "objectively better" than the other but when you add context, it's not so simple. If you are running late to a meeting but you're hungry, then the convenience-oriented value proposition of fast food just may appeal more to that consumer than someone else with plenty of time and access to other food options. And yes of course you are entitled to your opinion. I was not implying otherwise. My comment was simply imploring those listening to said opinions that they should apply a little critical thinking.
@@Rbbrdcky i was responding to the first guy who replied to you bud.
I think a lot of people just don't get it about the Portal. It's not for everyone, you either like the concept and can make use of it or if you're not, then just don't mind it. Me for example, I use it if I'm not home, or if I'm home and still want the TV on, or want to play in another room. Quality is great if your Wi-Fi is good and stable. Great image quality with a little bit more lag. But imagine the hardware you'd need (and its price and battery life) to be able to do the same natively. I think now they just need to keep improving the quality of the streaming and of course work on a real handheld, but the price will be steep when it'll release...
I’ve been streaming from my PC to my steam deck oled via moonlight/sunshine for a while now over the local network. It’s honestly my preferred way of playing 3rd person games. It all works, even HDR after some tinkering. I’ve played God Of War Ragnarok and Red Dead the most on it, as well as Mass Effect. Only reason I don’t touch fps games on it is cus I don’t really feel like handhelds work for first person games that much.
Still getting stutters. I tested turning the camera, in any game, while watching on my TV. It's perfectly smooth on my TV, but my portal stutter every few seconds. Latest firmware, wifi connected with wire from console, etc etc.
I don't know why I still get this problem. Also getting audio lag. I have reset the portal multiple times, but it doesn't help.
I'm very curious about whatever handheld Microsoft has brewing. I probably won't own one, I haven't owned an XBOX since the 360. But it is interesting, regardless.
It is for people who doesn't always want or can play their PS5 games in front of the TV. And it's for people who rather have a dedicated Remote Play device to do so, instead of setting up controllers on their phone every time.
The question is really simple: Is this device the best way of utilizing Remote Play. Based on this being a first-party dedicated device designed to do just that suggest it might be. The fact that you can just push a button and your in, and can still use your phone for phone stuff independently is a selling point to me.
This is very different from the google stavia, steam portal etc. and other streaming devices. It looks good and latency is acceptable. I think the biggest perk is just the ability to load any game on the library without need to install and if they eventually expand the library itll be amazing. Ive found it better than streaming from my ps5
I am pleasantly surprised with the Portal
Nope, u need to pay the yearly subscription (max tier) to use it to stream… And when the joysticks started malfunctioning (not an IF, but when) it is gonna be hard to repair for non US/ Japan or major EU cities
Does it work if you use your phone's hotspot function? Assuming 5G internet.
Well I get no stutter problem and definitely don't get lag on my portal either at my house or my brothers . Maybe try checking your Internet speed ?
I don't normally turn up the sensitivity and spin in circles when I play games. Lol. I noticed input latency but it was workable.
I do not get any stutters streaming from my wired home network. Have you tried a different portal? I can honestly say that I have never had issues with stuttering since the beginning (got one at launch) and I’m extremely annoyed by stuttering in my games. The picture has been great, gameplay smooth, with minimal input lag.
I mainly play games on my supercomputer. This portal actually made me care about my PlayStation 5. I lay in bed and play a few hours on the Portal every night now. Well worth it for $200!
Remote play on Steam Deck with Chiaki is pretty decent
“It’s just another Remote Play client”. Well, it’s not. With the Portal you also have the haptic feedback and gyroscope. I don’t have that through a Backbone + iPhone combo for example. I don’t think remote play emulates the vibrations. Or I’m mistaken!
Here's the use case: You are traveling. Maybe you are at a hotel. With the Portal you can continue playing some of your games---if they are available on the cloud. Somewhat niche, but makes far more sense than the "dad" use case of not having access to your home TV.
It was phenomenal at launch. Never had a single issue even before first patches. I have been killing my PS5 library for months. Thousands of people have missed out on this device and still do
How is it at dinner?
Nobody has "missed out" on anything. We either have absolutely zero interest or have other means of streaming our PS5 catalogues via mobile phone, PC Handhelds etc and see no reason to spend money on something that offers a feature set we already have.
Glad you enjoy your device but We're good.
Scrub fanboy comments are hilarious 😂 you are proof they could do anything and you’d say the same shit 🤡 I own it and it’s average you definitely had issues you just let the fanboy go past the latency and resolution being trash 🤣
@@hammygaming8278 no fan boy here, just someone with common sense. Most people criticizing haven’t even tried it. Before, I used to remote play with a backbone or another handled like an Odin, the portal as far superior ergonomics, the advance haptics feedback of a dual sense a larger screen. Have you tried playing Astro on it? Regarding streaming issues, 99% of people here may have 1gb download speed, but only 25mb upload speed. Get a better internet plan with high upload and you will see.
@@MrCrockett1 hahaha 😂
How does the cloud stream work/perform with racing games?
Someday HDR.
We don’t have it yet but when we’re really pissin on the earth blowing that much energy on internet we will!
It's a beta release for streaming. There will be issues, and it will take time for Sony to iron out the firmware and fine-tune it. The great news is that they are actively working towards making streaming a great experience for users. I have never had issues with Stutter, my router and PS5 work via wireless too (they are not in the same room). I think this update is great step forward for the portal, all future updates will focus on further improvements for streaming too. Fantastic!!
I tried remote play for the first time tonight and the latency wasnt bad at all almost instant but my ps5 is on ethernet and right next to my router. The only thing was my 14pro max screen felt to small think i may get a portal
I had one at launch and sold it, the image quality and lag were terrible despite following all the advice on getting the best connection. I am now considering buying this again but analogue stick drift is putting me off.
He literally said ‘The PlayStation 5 Professional’ I’m dead
I wasn't impressed at first at all considering i pre ordered one thought it was gonna be better. Then it sat in it's case until I saw that the 4.0 changed it completely and now with the 4.0.1 update it's even better. Now I don't feel like I wasted 200 dollars.
If you are going to live up to the pedigree of "Digital Foundry" I would expect you to put in the work to make a detailed review for a product released from a major manufacturer.
This podcast format has given DF a bad habit of putting out these mediocre segments which do not live up to the "Digital Foundry" pedigree.
The video game technical review space needs some real competition. Digital Foundry has become lazy and complacent. There is even a hint of bias especially from Alex.
I tried the cloud thing on the portal… i noticed the added latency compared to streaming from the ps5… not a fan of that BUT i know itll get better in time. Until then i actually just prefer streaming all my consoles and pc on my oled steam deck and iphone with backbone controller… better latency and fidelity
Sure you did xbot
@ you be under these comments console warring too much… you need a female companion or something
“I won’t buy it because it’s not as good as running the game on a PS5” 🤯 surely there needs to be some compromise expected if you’re playing a current gen game over the internet?
I used mine on a work trip abroad recently, over basic Hilton WiFi and it was great!
Do you still need the headphones or can you now use other types of headphones??? For example can still use my 3D PlayStation headphones from my usb connected to the ps5. The Sony 3D headphones comes with a usb dongle.
If you have the Pulse Elite or Explorer, they should work fine with the Portal, wirelessly.
Otherwise, tou can only use it with wired phones.
Depite the lukewarm reception from certain sections of the interwebs, the PS Portal community (those who have actually bought one) seem to be very pleased with it.
Sunk cost + Blind loyalty
The recent update not only allowed players to play their games straight from the cloud on the PS5 portal but the recent update also allows players to play their PS5 games without the need of buying a PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Pro in order to play your games on the portal and I think that's actually a wise decision from PlayStation since home consoles are not as popular as they used to be back in the day and let's just be honest handhelds are the future, the handheld Wars are definitely coming....Look out Nintendo.
Bought a portal on launch day and to be honest, it was terrible so sold it along with my PS5. I have now bought another portal since hearing about the cloud streaming update being added, and WOW what a fantastic standalone device it now is. Works perfectly on my average speed network with no stutter or latency issues that are noticeable whatsoever!! Well done Sony 👍🏻
Portal is so great. I just run ps5 streaming but the quality of the streaming is suprising
Why not buy a monitor or another tv? I don't understand the appeal of this product, you're literally downgrading your gaming experience for no good reason .
@@malekinceptionbecause you can’t lay in the bed with your head on a pillow while looking up at a monitor. You also can’t move to different rooms. Unless you try it, it will never make sense.
@@thev3432 gaming in bed while laying down? Thats a very specific scenerio that i cannot relate to. And im not sure why you would have to move around to game from a place to a place. 😅 Im wither gaming or im not, just like watching a movie. I dont take the movie with me around.
@@malekinception it doesn’t make sense because you’ve clearly never had a hand held. Trust me, its not complicated. Its no different than if you watched a movie on your Ipad in bed.
@@malekinception you could have stopped at "I don't understand". You've got some kinda complex if you can't see past your own personal view on something. Portal is a very welcome piece of hardware for many people. Get over it weirdo.
The downside is that Playstation Plus Cloud Streaming is not available in many parts of the world.
Here in Brazil, for example, we have Xbox xCloud and even NVidia Geforce Now, but no PS Plus Cloud Streaming and no sign that we will have it anytime soon, so this PS Portal update ends up being useless for us.
What is most frustrating is that as PS3 games are only available via streaming we end up losing this, I even believe that this is why the PS3 is still such an active console with almost 2 million active users since Because of this, most people end up buying a PS3 to play PS3 games because they have no other option.
Bought it this week from sale by exchanging some old games for it. Playing diablo 4 dlc with it frequently. I have good connection with it. You can improve the stream by disabling some options from ps5 system, hdr etc.
Can you buy the game online, for example Cyberpunk, and then play on this PSP, only from cloud?? 😮😮😮
What stutter?
I dont care how bad people want to normalize streaming games, it sucks and im never going for it.
people will endlessly cope about streaming, but even localized streaming is a huge compromise. bit rate issues and input latency are too large of a compromise, and if you have a suboptimal router setup forget about it. the only decent solution to any sort of streaming was with the wii u and it's gamepad.
I really encourage you to reconsider, even if it means giving the Portal a trial run. I've given almost every streaming service a shot dating back to the original Nvidia Shield 10 years ago. I hated game streaming with a passion, but gave the Portal a chance since I found a good open-box deal.
If you have a solid ISP and an ethernet cable going directly into your PS5, the Portal is an awesome experience, especially for more cinematic 30 fps games.
Clearly, you need better internet.
@@Cybo-Man I think cloud gaming is a nice secondary option if you want to try something before downloading but it's never going to replace the current system. I just consider it as a bonus feature to the two super expensive subscription services I pay for, ps plus premium and gamepass ultimate
It's not optimal. I wouldn't play competitive or fast paced games as much on it unless I had to, but most games the latency is more than fine.
I let my plus premium lapse. I'm not paying a hundred plus, even on sale. But my portal's connection to the PS5 does seem to be a lot more stable now.
I'd get one if I could stream from my PC as well
Look into one of the android handhelds, and then you can use sunshine/moonlight to stream games from your pc.
I stil believe the PS Portal is as much of a proof of concept just as the first PSVR was. So the more people invest in the product, the better chances we'll have a successor to the PSP.
The PSP was a standalone device, the PS Portal is a streaming device. You can still use your PSP in 50 years. Will it be the same for the PS Portal?
Sony can discontinue the PS Portal any day in the future, this device will then turn into a brick. If we're lucky some people may be able to mod it.
Also having PS Plus streaming has me very interested in this. Mind you all the PS Classics coming to PS Plus already had me very interested. Playing th elites of Timesplitter and Jack and Daxter whilst keeping the TV for newer games seems the way to go
The highlight of subjectivity is pretty notable here when it comes to the Portal. Explains why those approaching it ready to hate generally walk away hating it, and vice versa. As someone who was away from home during the time Portal launched, it was simply the only option I had to play my PS5 in a non-janky manner. But now that i am local again + having a Deck, I'm surprised how much I'm still using the Portal. For example, Dragon Age Veilguard was "free" on the highest tier of Geforce Now, but I ended up buying it on PS5 for hassle-free reasons. But it provided the interesting opportunity to test the Deck & Portal's cloud streaming capabilities side-by-side. Obviously GFN runs the game at higher settings, but at that screen size (not to mention it's lower resolution than the Portal), I had to really strain to notice. The latency blows the Portal out of the water (usually down to just 5ms). But the image quality on the Portal is significantly better. Panning left to right, my character's face becomes a smudge on the Deck while streaming, compared to the Portal holding steady without breaking down like that.
For certain shooters, the Portal is a hard sell as a streaming device. I got away with playing The Finals on it for months, but the moment it became compatible for Deck, I switched to it in a heartbeat despite having to play everything on Low and still getting significant drops. But for the vast majority of other games, the Portal does cross the threshold of "forgetting I'm streaming" for me, and I know my kid-self would have loved this thing. But even 26-self loves this thing tbh. Not a dad, just someone who likes having full games in a portable form factor like this.
Not a single word
@@gorillagroddgaming "I didn't read a single word, but I felt the need to sit down and write that I didn't read" is such an interesting and thoughtful take, thanks for your contributions to the discussion 👍
Bro keeps writing pages on pages to justify his stupid purchase…
@ Just jumping to the explanation rather than going back and forth with haters repetitively as each subsequent person doesn't read the prior reply ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Why does it bother you so much that some don't think its stupid?
@ Does it bother you that 2024 Wrap-Up says a majority of my playtime was on the Portal? 😏
Rich is spitting nonsense again. What stutter or lag is he even talking about? I have far cheaper internet and probably router and the stream was always perfect. No stuttering at all
No you actually see it you're just not paying attention... it's the first thing that pop up after updating smh 🤦♂🤦♂
I recently purchased it because I had been interested in it for some time, but I found out that the game genres that can be played are quite narrow considering it is a dedicated peripheral device with limited functions, and that the line quality and speed required by the user are high. Also, compared to a monitor or TV, there is noticeable stutter when scrolling, whether this is because the screen is closer to your eyes or simply due to a delay. The worst PS5 peripheral I ever bought was PULSE Elite, but Portal was
Second, it is a poor quality product whose price and performance do not match.
I've not had any noticeable stuttering while using my Portal, as far as your comment about subscribing without a PlayStation well what's Game Pass?
Sales don't lie... I'm disappointed that you guys are dissing the Portal because it's a great device.
I wish it also supported PS4, most of my games are on that simply cause the menu is better (folders + it lets you have more than 10 on the dashboard)
That's not a good reason to play on significiantly weaker hardware.
That's a really dumb reason to play your PS4 games on a PS4 over a PS5. The image quality, frame-rate and loading times are way worse
It's still sad that none of these streaming services can hold a candle to Stadia. Technically Stadia was almost flawless.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I enjoy the portal for what it is … the streaming is not available where I am though though hopefully they will update that. More confused on the rumours of a ps5 portable if it’s real can they have two portables seems strange to me
As usual, we dont have it in Australia.
Amazing video, thank you Digital Foundry.
Moonlight is fantastic. I bought and returned the Portal, it was a terrible streaming experience
Surprised I haven't seen any sales for this yet.
Cuz it constantly sells out at the price it's at.
PS Portal quality is just top and has no match. Screen is far better than any of the competition. Ergonomics too. It's a shame they stuck with an outdated WIFI protocol, but if you have a mesh array its flawless. I never played games again on the 65'' TV and just play the Portal in the comfort of the bed. It has done wonders to crushing the backlog this year. Something about picking up and playing that just gives you so much more gaming time. I left the Steam Deck and Switch catching dust ever since. And the cloud Beta is amazing. It plays so well, just tried Doom Immortal last time. Flawless experience. These so called experts played it only on the beginning before the first software update even and just decided then its trash. Like their opinion...
Over hyped tablet backbone 👎
Your experience is not what I saw in my time with a Portal a few months ago.
I'm comparing it to moonlight/sunshine streaming from my PC and the portal can't match what moonlight does on my steam deck. 60fps, zero stutter, almost no latency.
Heck, the portal couldn't even match what PS/PSXplay did on my Steam deck, streaming from the ps5. The portal was jittery, laggy and a worse experience than the 3rd party open source apps on a 3rd party device (steam deck).
Shame because I really liked the ergonomics of the portal, much better than the steam deck. Although I didn't care for the miniature thumbsticks sony chose to use for the Portal.
I haven't tried the Portal on the latest update, I'm seeing comments that the stuttering and hitching with local play might be better.
@@chamamemestre I unsubscribed from many so called experts because of their trashy reviews. Many of them didn’t even have good internet
There is No stutter anymore
I can stream games with 5G on Xbox gamepass to my phone via backbone. I’m not getting a WiFi only tablet controller portal for the same price almost as a switch 😂
@@rodeyrevenge Imagine being an xbox fanboy in 2024 🤣🤣🤣
We need a PS Portal refresh aka PS Portal Pro (or just PS Portal 2). Add Wi-Fi 7 just like PS5 Pro has and stuttering lag will be GONE! Also add an OLED screen and 4K resolution and it will sell like CRACK!!
Still a bummer you need to link it to a PS5.
Had they patched so all you need is a PS Plus Extra account and they could have sold it as a starter bundle to try the Sony Ecosystem without buying a full console like for kids or people on the fence on buying a console.
This the one time idk what the hell DF is talking about. The portal is literally amazing. Maybe there internet connection is bad. But unless you playing call of duty you shouldn’t have any problems with latency. At least not to point where it’s a bother to your gameplay.
Why would it be quite extraordinary for a portal owner to have a ps plus subscription? That’s what Microsoft are angling for, people that have a game pass sub but don’t own an Xbox
Yeah, I didn't get that either.
Because you have to pay for the highest PS Plus subscription tier but won't get any of the benefits other than the few games that are available for Cloud Streaming.
@ I think during the beta there is around 120 games in all
Streaming is still crappy, because a lot of people still don't have or can't get decent wifi where they live. That's why games like MSFS 2024 is in the state it's in. I have 1gb internet, so I don't have a problem, but people are refunding the sim, because of streaming. A lot of people are asking to download the assets instead of streaming them and they are going back to MSFS 2020.
Most regular users don't agree with your take on the portal cloud gaming
Myb u guys need to do a repeat review 😂😂😂😂😂
I did buy the thing voluntarily, mainly hoping that I might be able to play some games while travelling. When I tested it at home on a separate network it did not work at all (it did on local network although I would not exactly describe it as a "great experience" or anything), so now I don't use my Portal at all.
The cake is a lie.
They should make you able to watch youtube and twitch and the alike. Other then that its very nice
It looks a bit duff though
I wana buy the PS Portal again...but sony needs to add the touch pad in a innovative clever way.
the whole portal is the touch pad though
@nickjacobsss i don't think u understand what I mean.playing Diablo 4 with the portal is a nightmare just because of a proper touchpad and the game functions better if it had a dedicated touchpad
Not worth it save your money. It's shit always was
@@Final_Fantasy_7 gotcha, are there specific movements/commands on the touch pad that you have to do in D4 or something?
@nickjacobsss Diablo 4's menu controls are complex but not complicated.i haven't played the game in 6 months and because of that it took me some hours to get used to the controls as I forgot how to play.its different from other games.and the touch pad plays a big part on how navigating the menus.back then when I purchased the ps portal when I first came out, I would take it to work just to keep up with the game and friends coz it's so damn addictive...I died alot and couldn't play well on the ps portal because of a missing dedicated touch pad.
They need to add screen magnification in a firmware update, for small text.
I’m sorry but you guys have to have really bad internet. My portal feels almost native. You can’t tell it’s streaming with my internet speeds and the network never drops
No. It should have been native. The streaming sucks
Unlike Portal, other cloud handhelds supports Game Pass, PSN, NVIDIA GeForce Now and others.
Why would anyone buy a limited one for PSN only?
Native dualsense support that’s pretty much it.
Why should anyone need to justify the reasons for purchase to you?
@@funkDr1 Why are you trying to justify it?
If you plan to pay for multiple subscription services, then yes, the Portal is not the optimal device for you. But if you want to be able to stream Playstation games with the best possible experience, it's the device of choice.
I guarantee 99.87% of all Portal sales were from people not realising it is a streaming device.
Is street fighter 6 now playable? It was a stuttering mess before and as a result I sold my portal.
Will rog ally have gta 6