Here's How Much Sony's PlayStation Portal Handheld And Pulse Explore Earbuds Will Cost
Sony is officially re-entering the handheld gaming race with the PlayStation Portal, and it will soon go on sale at $199.99. Think of it as a companion device for your latest-gen Sony console that will stream PlayStation 5 games to its 8-inch screen over Wi-Fi. Just make sure that the connection offers a bandwidth of at least 5Mbps, but for the best experience, Sony suggests a connection with 15mbps speed or higher.
Sony also recommends that you connect your wireless router with the PlayStation. The PlayStation Portal's 8-inch screen can play games at up to 1080p resolution and 60fps of peak framerate. Sony has borrowed the DualSense controller's tech for its latest creation, down to the trigger architecture and the haptic feedback. And to compensate for the lack of a touchpad you see on the controller shipped with the PlayStation 5, Sony says it will turn an area of the screen into a dedicated touchpad zone on the PlayStation Portal.
"Extending your thumbs towards the bottom corners of the display brings up two translucent rectangles onscreen, representing a virtual touchpad," says the company. So far, the PlayStation Portal seems like a glorified Remote Play-locked game streaming screen for PlayStation 5 and doesn't do any justice to the legacy of the PlayStation Portable. The handheld also features a 3.5mm headphone jack and a dedicated one-click pairing button to connect with Sony's latest pair of true wireless earbuds.
Pricey audio gear for PlayStation loyalists
In addition to the Portal, Sony has also launched the Pulse Elite wireless headset and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds. The Pulse Explore earbuds cost the same as the PlayStation Portal at $199.99, while the Pulse Elite headset will go for $149.99.
Both devices feature planar magnetic drivers and offer support for the new (and proprietary) PlayStation Link wireless technology that lets them reduce latency without compromising audio quality. The tech comes to life courtesy of the PlayStation Link USB adapter that needs to be plugged into the PC or a PS5 console for low-latency, lossless audio.
Sony is promising "lossless audio" with its new headset and earbuds but hasn't shared details about key figures like bitrate and frequency range. Multi-point connectivity over Bluetooth is also a part of the package, and there's AI-driven noise reduction tech at play here. Sony claims the noise reduction tech can cancel "repetitive background noise like loud munching, noisy traffic, [and] vacuum cleaners."
Each earbud independently allows volume adjustment and pairing on the Pulse Explore. Sony has created a neat charging kit for the Pulse Elite that allows the headset to hang with the brick extension while juicing up.
The asking price is steep, and goodies like Active Noise Cancellation are not mentioned, which is a shame, especially for earbuds that cost as much as $200 per pair. Unfortunately, Sony hasn't detailed when the two new audio devices will go on sale.