Dust off those PlayStation Portals, they may finally have a use again.
When I first bought a PS Portal I was….less than enthused…. To say the least. One of my biggest complaints was how the unit is basically useless if you don’t properly set up a PS5, have strong internet, and the wind blows in the right direction. Wanting to use the tablet by itself was entirely pointless, but that’s changing.
Sony announced that a new update is hitting Portal this week that will include several new features. One being audio options to make the audio lower when needed, and you will now also be able to adjust the audio for a PlayStation link device directly on the unit.
Sounds pretty boring overall, until you realize it probably has to deal with the second part of the update. Along with the audio options is a new beta for PS Plus Premium users to stream games directly to the unit.
The beta program will be exclusive to Premium subscribers and include a “select” line up of PS5 titles, which is currently over 120 titles. No PS5 is required to stream the game library. Sony mentions that it is truly a beta program, so games and features may change throughout the program.
To access the beta here are the steps:
Open “Quick Menu” and access “Settings” on your PS Portal.
Select the “Cloud Streaming (Beta)” button
Switch the Cloud Streaming (Beta) toggle on (this will be off by default).
Once enabled, a cloud streaming option will appear on the Portals home screen. At any point you can opt out of the beta to go back to the standard home screen option.
Considering it is a beta, certain features are not available:
As we are in the beginning stages of publicly testing cloud streaming on PS Portal, some features will not be available, such as Game Trials, streaming games purchased on PS Store, system features such as Party voice chat and game invites for select games, Create button, 3D audio, and in-game commerce.
(PS4/PS3 games are not available)
To me this is great news, it gives the Portal a little more purpose. I have struggled to find any real use for my Portal, but hoped that with the big sales Portal saw it would lead to a real handheld unit by Sony. This is about as close to that as we have gotten in some time. I still take issue with the audio needing PlayStation exclusive headphones and other problems, but with several major updates now, the Portal is shaping up better than it initially was.
