PlayStation Portal restock: our proven way to buy Sony's PS5 portable in stock
Throughout 2024, our team of experts have found PlayStation Portal in stock, and we're currently tracking when and where it'll be in stock in April
Finding the next PlayStation Portal restock has been at the heart of what trusted experts at The Shortcut have been up to in 2024. We have been tracking the PS5 portable accessory in the US over the past five months at stores like Best Buy, GameStop, Target, Walmart and the official PlayStation Direct Store.
Shockingly, find PlayStation Portal in stock this year has remained difficult at all of the major American retailers, so we’ve restarted our PlayStation Portal Twitter tracker notification system, which once helped 400,000 people find a PS5 or Xbox in stock when those consoles were hard to get.
How to get it? Follow my PlayStation Portal restock Twitter tracker – follow and turn on notifications – to get real-time alerts when it’s in stock.
Check the PlayStation Portal restock links
From our PlayStation Portal tracking research, we’ve found that Sony hasn’t been making enough of the portable console, not that it’s as popular as the PS5 system. So when it does come back in stock for the MSRP price of $199, it quickly sells out. And it seems as if Sony’s own store only has it in stock monthly, if at all each month.
Walmart has been the other retailer in the US with a PlayStation Portal restock every once in a while. In fact, we broke the news that PlayStation Portal would be in stock for $199 in the US at Walmart in late 2023, and sure enough Walmart had the PS Portal in stock very briefly at the tail end of Cyber Monday. But it sold out within minutes.
Only Best Buy and Target have had sporadic, region-dependent restocks of the PlayStation Portal in recent weeks. When the Sony PlayStation Portal is in stock at only a few stores, it becomes difficult to send out a nationwide restock tracker alert to everyone without dashing hopes.
Like our PS5 restock coverage, we’re noticing that retailers in the US just aren’t very prepared to allow as massive number of people to buy this PlayStation 5 accessory. The same thing is happening to Sony’s PlayStation Earbuds for PS5, officially called the PlayStation Pulse Explore buds. Very few consumers got Sony’s gear at launch.
Each Walmart PlayStation Portal restock, for example, fluctuates between $199 and $499 when thousands of people tried to find the Portal in stock based on our Twitter notice. While many people bought the PlayStation Portal for $199, others weren’t so lucky as third-party sellers swooped in to wreck havoc when certain areas of the US where out of stock. That only confused a lot of PlayStation gamers. Each store in the US that’s a part of The Shortcut’s fact-checked PlayStation Portal list has sold the handheld for MSRP to consumers multiple times in the last few months.
PlayStation Portal restock expertise
Our PlayStation Portal guide is based on our years of tracking down Sony products, with a proven track record throughout of PS5 restock coverage. That propelled The Shortcut to offer expertise on tracking all sorts of hard-to-find technology. We’ll know when and where the PS Portal will be in stock throughout 2024.
Walmart PlayStation Portal restock
Walmart hasn’t fully restocked the PlayStation Portal in several weeks, and that’s actually good news because the largest retailer in the US usually releases a lot of stock at once (usually in waves over the course of two hours).
There’s a lot of hope that Walmart will hold another PlayStation Portal restock in February, but there are no guarantees. There have been rumors that Walmart has been holding back on launching its inventory of the Sony handheld accessory. While this news hasn’t been officially announced, Walmart did this same exact thing when the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles were difficult to find in stock.
What’s interesting is that Walmart sometimes pulls its retail sales page for the Sony PlayStation Portal. That’s right, a landing page doesn’t even exist at times, according to The Shortcut’s tracking data (we saved the link for when it pops back up).
Target PlayStation Portal restock
Target has restocked the PlayStation Portal locally throughout the US at a handful of retail locations in 2024, but the flow of Sony’s portable accessory has slowed in April 2024. When it is in stock, it’s only a few units at select stores and nearly impossible to predict, as accurate as our PlayStation Portal Twitter tracker is. Your best bet is to check the online store each morning, especially between 7am to 8am ET.
Unlike Walmart, Target favors online purchases of rare products in the mornings, according to our PS5 restock experience. This avoids people from coming into physical Target store locations when hard-to-find products are not in stock.
The best advice we can give you about Target is what for the Matt Swider Twitter/X notification about when and where to find the PlayStation Portal in stock and, when checking out online for in-store pickup, try different store locations in your area. Oftentimes PlayStation consoles and PS5 accessories are sold out at your closest location, while bigger stores a but further away receive more inventory.
Amazon PlayStation Portal restock
Amazon did launch a bunch of PlayStation Portal sales at the top of 2024. A lot of the people who got the PS Portal through our in-stock Twitter notice were seeing dates delivery in February and March, so it may be some time before another restock.
Because of such long lag times on shipping dates at Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy remain your best bet if you want to buy the PlayStation Portal in the first half of 2024.
Best Buy PlayStation Portal restock
Best Buy has had the most frequent PlayStation Portal restocks of any US retailer, according to the exclusive tracking data of The Shortcut. Best Buy refreshes its daily deals at 1am ET since the retail giant is based in Central Time in the United States. But inventory of the PlayStation Portal is always sold out before most people can buy it, and it’s often regional based, so the add-to-cart button going live may mean nothing in your neck of the woods. What a tease.
As evidenced by our own failed attempt to buy the PlayStation Portal from Best Buy, you’ll want to make sure you’re logged in and ready for a 2FA code from the retailer. This is the stumbling block of many consumers who need to be quick in order to secure the handheld PS5 remote player.
But also note that Best Buy has had these overnight PlayStation Portal restocks, and in recent days, we have found little evidence of anyone who has successfully checked out with the PS5 remote player. In other words, the yellow add-to-cart button is lighting up and then it’s instantly out of stock. Temper your expectations at Best Buy.
Sony Direct PlayStation Portal restock
Sony Direct is promising more PlayStation Portal stock in early February 2024 and has typically restocked the handheld accessory one or twice a month. More recently, it’s been once a month.
There may be a lot of PlayStation Portal stock. When pre-orders launched, the official Sony store was the only place to reserve the PS5 Portal at $199. Sony initially shut out online retailers like Walmart, Target and Best Buy. Like we began to see with the PS5 Slim and PS5 Digital initially, Sony would rather sell to PlayStation customers directly and seems to be hogging inventory.
Because of this, our restock experts know that if Sony Direct is out of stock of the PlayStation Portal, supply must be extremely limited. Still, it’s worth checking Sony Direct daily, as the company would love to sell the PS5 accessories to you without involving other online retailers that get a cut of the $199 price.
How much is PlayStation Portal?
PlayStation Portal costs $199 in the US. That’s been the price at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Sony and Best Buy, although third-party retailers are known for charging more money for the hard-to-find PS5 remote player. The good news is that following our expert advice on each PlayStation “portable” restock should be able to score you the hottest PS5 accessory before the holidays.
At $199, PlayStation Portal is the perfect price for a “big gift” for existing PS5 owners who want the next big technology from Sony. It plays PlayStatin 5 games away from the primary television (but still requires a powered-on PS5 console and steady WiFi connection, so don’t expect it to work well outside the house) and cost the perfect amount for most American consumers. The PlayStation Portal is almost guaranteed to be something that techies don’t own yet, so it’s an easy product for parents to buy.
One word of caution for US consumers: some stores allow third-party resellers to profit off of consumers desperate to purchase the PlayStation Portal and may not know how much it actually costs. It’s MSRP is $199, so avoid paying double that price from resellers who often re-list the PS Portal for double.
Why is PlayStation Portal sold out?
PlayStation Portal is often out of stock at US retailers because demand is strong and the price is reasonable for consumers looking to gift something to PS5 owners. It’s not as popular as the PS5 console was in 2020 and 2021, but Sony’s new handheld is seeing both consumers and resellers interested in scooping up the PS Portal.
While there wasn’t strong demand when pre-orders when live, we now see people coming around to the fact that PlayStation Portal is a good gift, even if reviews of it aren’t completely positive.
I did end up getting one at Best Buy, checked out, got a confirmation email only to get another email a few moments later stating the item was unavailable and my order would be cancelled in a week if Best Buy was not able to get the order fulfilled. So disappointing. There was no option for shipping- only order pickup
Thanks guys! Can't wait to get my hands on one of these!