PlayStation Portal battery life: here's how long Sony's PS5 handheld lasts
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PlayStation Portal battery life: here's how long Sony's PS5 handheld lasts
The PlayStation Portal battery life rivals that of the PS5 DualSense controller
The PlayStation Portal isn’t out yet, but we already have a fair idea of the handheld console’s battery life.
The PlayStation Portal battery life won’t break any records. Considering this is essentially an 8-inch screen wedged in between a PS5 DualSense controller, you might expect it to offer several hours of playtime. However, after rumors suggested the PlayStation Portal's battery life would be around three to four hours, it turns out it might be closer to the PS5 controller’s battery life.
We’ll need to test this for ourselves when the handheld releases later this year as there’s no doubt different games and settings will impact your total playtime, but here’s what we know so far.
How long does the PlayStation Portal battery last?
According to a recent hands-on by CNET, the PlayStation Portal battery life is expected to last between seven to nine hours. A Sony spokesperson said it will be akin to the DualSense controller, which on average lasts around six hours in our experience before needing to be charged.
That’s not a terrible outcome considering the PlayStation Portal has to power an 8-inch screen and the fancy tech inside the DualSense. But when you consider that this is just a device used for Remote Play streaming and isn’t natively powering games like a Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch (there’s no Bluetooth either), it’s a little disappointing that it doesn’t last longer.
How to improve PlayStation Portal battery life
One of the easiest ways to improve the PlayStation Portal battery life will be to reduce the screen brightness and use a wireless headset like the PS5 Pulse Elite wireless headset or PlayStation Earbuds.
The biggest selling point of the PlayStation Portal is that it works with the DualSense haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, and it’s likely you’ll be able to make the same battery-saving adjustments as you can on the PS5.
You should be able to configure the following to squeeze out a little more battery life. There’s also no speaker to be found on the controller or LED indicator, which should help a little.
Vibration Intensity – lowering the vibration intensity is a great way of getting a bit more charge out of each play session.
Trigger Effect Intensity – similar to vibration intensity, consider lowering the trigger effect intensity.
PlayStation Portal battery life vs Nintendo Switch
The PlayStation Portal isn’t a native handheld gaming device like the Nintendo Switch, but its battery life at least sounds comparable. The Nintendo Switch (2019) and Nintendo Switch OLED last around 4.5 to nine hours, depending on the game you’re playing.
The PlayStation Portal’s battery will drain faster if you have the screen on max brightness, use the built-in speakers, and have the DualSense features on their highest settings – however, we’ll have to thoroughly test the battery life ourselves to see exactly how long it will last between charges.