PS5 Handheld Device in the Works at Sony, New Report Claims

But it's still years away

by · Push Square

Sony is currently in the "early stages of developing" an all-new handheld PlayStation device that would allow users to play PS5 games on the go, a report from Bloomberg claims. Sources speaking to the outlet under anonymity said the device is "likely years away" from release and warned it may never actually make "it to market".

Working a lot like a Steam Deck, such a device would let you download and natively play PS5 titles, either from a library tied to your existing PSN account or one you set up for the handheld system itself as a potential new customer. This would mark a change in approach from Sony when it comes to portable devices, as its previous efforts the PSP and PS Vita both had their own libraries of games designed specially for the consoles.

The recent PS Portal device saw the firm return to the space in a sense, but it didn't go all the way, instead letting buyers stream their games over the internet rather than downloading them. This rumoured console would fulfil the latter. "The product is aimed at expanding Sony’s reach and contending with Nintendo for the portable gaming market, according to people familiar with its development," said Bloomberg.

Over the weekend, we ran a Push Square Poll asking whether you would be interested in such a device. Over 50 per cent of responders said they would "absolutely" be interested, with just 10 per cent suggesting disinterest. It now sounds like there's a good chance of such a device becoming a reality. Microsoft is also creating handheld prototypes for the Xbox brand, so the space may be about to grow significantly in the coming years.

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All hands on deck

[source bloomberg.com]

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About Liam Croft

Liam grew up with a PlayStation controller in his hands and a love for Metal Gear Solid. Nowadays, he's found playing the latest and greatest PS5 games as well as supporting Derby County. That last detail is his downfall.

Comments 30

Yeah, continue what PS Portal is doing, but usable without internet connection. "Take Playstation with you wherever you go"

I would be so down for this I absolutely adored the PSP it was my world back in highschool/collage and the Vita god bless it's soul had huuuuge potential unfortunately they screwed it with those stupidly expensive memory cards and didn't support it enough. They could really help themselves back home in Japan with a dedicated handheld that's for sure

@REALAIS Exactly. Offline running games is the most important feature it must contain. That is why I bought Switch, to play my games regardless internet access. And that is also why I'm avoiding PS Portal, because I have no usage for it.

Ah yes, the famous Nintendo exists in their own space and isn't our direct competition is now "Oh, 147m in 7 years? Let's be having some of that".

I actually really liked the Vita. Still play it to this day, but I have to say the addition of a handheld that can play any game from your collection natively really appeals to me, especially as a predominantly digital collector of games.

The Laws of physics are undefeated. It’s simply not possible to create current gen performance in a handheld due to power and heat dissipation.

The technology to do that for PS5 games is a long way off. By the time it exists, you will be playing PS7 games via streaming on a cheaper and lighter Portal successor.

Same reason I don’t want a mobile device that can play PS4 games natively, as my Portal is far better.

And what about people that have physical media? There is no way Sony will let me download the digital version of a game I own physically.

PlayStation Portal is a great device on its own, and I'm glad Sony is entering the handheld market again and we're getting a native one.

As someone who was one of the few kids who owned a PS Vita at the time, I'm so happy with this news!

Good, competition drives the market forward.

I hope Sony will get some more competition on the higher specs market. They’ve become arrogant and have developed anti-consumer practices. And their CFO is ‘addicted to growth’, as he says.

Well I hope they use standard media rather then their own propriety ones this time (See M2 vs MicroSD).
And lets have PSP levels of support at least, rather then Vita levels.

Still have my Vita, it's a little slow but still got a lovely screen and some real gems.

Feels like something that would launch alongside the PS6.

Portal has laid down the foundations for success. (Although I would argue Switch has actually done most of that work and Sony are late to the party).

@Futureshark I doubt they will do physical media for a handheld now.

I'm also curious whether Sony will be able to support 2 systems this time. They forgot the Vita existed pretty quickly. And they have also mostly forgotten about the PSVR2 it seems.

If a Sony handheld releases I will hold off for at least a year to see where they plan to go with it.

@ChimpMasta not with current chips, but as processor nodes shrink you get more operations per second for less power, although concentrated into a smaller area, which is why newer handhelds are starting to have more complicated cooling systems. I would be unsurprised if by the time the PS6 rolls around you can get a handheld PS5.

@Friendly if it runs ps5 games straight from the library, it won't need as much support as a system with completely different games I suppose.

I can see Sony going down the "PS Deck" route, whereby you are playing native PS5 (or whatever) games on the system locally, with the game scaling to meet the resolution etc of the handheld.

I still like the idea of having an SSD in a case that can attach to the existing Portal so you can have a few games stored locally, but that will probably never happen (I also mentioned this in the Talking Point article, so will shut up about this now).

@Friendly if they make a portable PS5, the goal will probably to let you play your digital PS4/PS5 games that you own on your account.

I dont expect it to have its own library like the psp or vita had.

@theheadofabroom why would you want to play PS5 games then? Not that it will happen, but if it did, why? It’s old hat at that point.

The success of Switch and Portal is down to the fact that people can play the absolute latest games for those systems, whilst in bed/toilet etc.

It’s essentially zero compromise handheld gaming, aside from an “on-paper” resolution drop, which isn’t noticeable and could even be a higher pixel density due to the smaller screen.

Why compromise by going back to old fashioned native processing, which will always lead to out of date graphics, heavier weight, shorter battery life and more heat and fan noise?

Streaming may not replace home consoles for a while, but having tested the latest Portal update, it’s clear that handhelds with native processing are done.

Noting faster internet and mesh networks will be the norm for everyone before long. Those running 5mb connections on a 15 year old ISP router with a range of 10m are a dying minority with dwindling commercial influence. Same reason Sony are very bold about Digital games and selling drives as optional extras.

@Haruki_NLI I don't think they looked at Nintendo for this, I think they saw higher specs handheld like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally and thought that would be a good idea, like, play your PlayStation library on the go same as the Steam Deck.

I love me some handhelds, and have a Switch, PS Portal, Steam Deck, ROG Ally and a zillion other smaller ones. So I'm all in but there is a bit of a problem with the direction for Sony and big AAA players. There is always going to be a contention between performance and battery life/size in a handheld world. At the moment, Sony's big thing is to champion top tier graphics and push for devs to support PS5 Pro etc. This will then be the opposite side - also making devs support a lower grade system. Unless they just go for a PS4 era device. So I think its cool and I'd be down but is it too late after going for the top end performance piece of the pie?

I have my doubts about this. It'll be really expensive or disappointing, or both. And Sony have shown how bad they are at supporting multiple platforms many times. They've kind of struggled with just supporting the PS5 so far this gen.

The portal already seems like a perfect way forward with handheld gaming for Sony.

@Friendly Sony isn’t a charitable organization. They are for profit. Like all for profit hobby vanity companies, shareholders appreciate it when consumers continually buy into their ecosystem. No one is forcing us to be gamers. Personally id save the anti-consumer tag for later. As these companies really want everything to be internet of everything with subscriptions and no ownership. No that really messes up the consumers.

@ChimpMasta half of all PlayStation players are still on the PS4. The Steam Deck is really old hardware as is the Nintendo Switch. People still want to play games that aren't on the cutting edge and a lot of people are happy to pay a premium to play them on the move without needing a connection to their home console or a cloud gaming service.

I could see it being fairly popular if you have one device that plays all the games from the past two generations, as well as emulated PS1&2 games, as well as being a great way to remote play games from the new generation. It's likely that the PS5 will have an even longer tail than the PS4, so I can't see there being many games you can play on the the PS6 that aren't also playable on the PS5, and of those I can't see them being games you'd want to play on a handheld anyway.

@Czar_Khastik I heard that they’re working on a disc drive that you strap on your body like a fanny pack. It’s $100 and already sold out. 😜

It'll flop. It won't have the support needed to fight against the Switch 2 or 3, Steam Deck 2 or 3, Lenovo Asus and other make handhelds. And Microsoft as they are releasing their own handheld too.

@Czar_Khastik I'm sorry mate, I know I've perhaps said something along these lines to you once before, but... if you keep being so sincere and sensible, I'm going to have to report you.... 😉

@djlard the switch has real physical media. Something that I hope the switch 2 has. A switch is the best handheld device IMO because one doesn’t need an internet connection down the line when one has an urge to play a game they bought physically.

Remember vita was a failure so we need to call This a psp successor

Companies do R/D projects all of the time so that they can be competitive. If Xbox seriously launched a handheld before Sony, Sony wouldn’t want to miss out. As Sony is a hardware company at its core. This could be a niche product for Sony just like the Pro. Assuming they can make a profitable SOC that can appease the fans multiple high demands. Developers already complain about the series s and x SOCs. They will complain even more if Sony has three. As the console developers haven’t optimized their workflows.

@Friendly Wouldn't it be a good thing for a business to grow? Are you suggesting they become stagnant?

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