HardwareNov 12, 2026, 8:18 AM UTC·2 min read

PlayStation Portal Player has new storage, and Sony isn't saying why

Sony's new PlayStation Portal Player quietly adds built-in storage for a feature it hasn't named yet. Don't expect a handheld PS5, though.

A black PlayStation Portal Player handheld streaming a PS5 game, with controllers on either side of the screen. — Image: ギズモード・ジャパン

The new PlayStation Portal Player comes with something the old model never had: built-in storage. Sony says it's there for a future feature, and that it will share details once they're decided. That's all it has said so far.

The Portal Player is the successor to the PlayStation Portal Remote Player, which first launched as a way to stream games from your own PS5 over Wi-Fi. Thanks to cloud streaming, you can now play supported PS5 games on it even without a console, as long as you subscribe to PlayStation Plus Premium. The new Japanese-language model arrives next month, in midnight black, at 39,980 yen.

That price is the first clue. Sony didn't raise it, even though component costs are climbing across the tech industry. So the extra storage is probably small, and the speculation that Portal could now run downloaded games offline looks like a stretch. Sony hasn't announced anything like that.

Is the PlayStation Portal Player a real handheld?

Not yet, and probably not this one. The current Portal already carries a little memory: LPDDR4X next to a Qualcomm SG4150P, an ARM-based chip. That is enough for streaming. Turning it into a console that plays games natively would need a much bigger hardware overhaul, which isn't realistic to expect from this model.

Sony hasn't made a standalone handheld since the PS Vita.

What is the second Portal device?

Leaked Wi-Fi Alliance certification listings pointed to two new Portal devices. One is presumably this Portal Player. The other is unidentified. Rumours have long suggested a PS6 portable built on a new custom AMD chip, but nothing in what Sony has said confirms that.

For now, the practical takeaway is simple: if you want a cheap way to stream PS5 games, this is it. If you're waiting for a real PlayStation handheld, keep waiting.

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Tags:playstation portalsonyps5ps6handheldcloud gaming