When the PlayStation Portal arrived in 2023, we at PCMag—myself included—were less than impressed. Principal Writer Will Greenwald rightfully criticized it in his review, stating that the Portal was “just too limited for the price, especially when there are more economical options that perform just as well.” But since then, the Portal has received substantial software updates, including one that lets you stream the PlayStation Plus game library without a pricey PlayStation 5—even when adding $159.99 for a 12-month PlayStation Plus Premium subscription to expand your cloud streaming library.
That last feature caught my eye. At $249.99 plus the subscription, the Portal is still less expensive than the PS5, the Steam Deck OLED, the Nintendo Switch 2, and the Xbox ROG Ally X. And that really matters now, thanks to the RAM crisis. So if you’ve been turned off by Sony’s ever-increasing console prices, I highly recommend buying the Portal, now that I’ve given it another whirl. It’s the only affordable way to play PS5 games in this increasingly unstable and hostile video game economy.
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Sony PlayStation Portal
PS5: The Latest Victim of the RAM Crisis
You might have noticed that the PS5 (along with just about everything else tech-related) has slowly crept up in price. At first, you could point to the Trump administration’s tariffs, which heavily affected China, India, Vietnam, and other Asian markets that host much of the world’s electronics manufacturing. The Supreme Court has since invalidated Trump’s wide-sweeping tariffs, but that didn’t stop the President from adding another 10% to the ones already in place, using a different US law.
But the latest case of sticker shock comes from a different source: artificial intelligence. Although AI apps don’t demand much memory, the data centers that power them need massive amounts of it. According to TrendForce, a Taiwan-based industry analysis and consulting firm focused on the semiconductor industry, AI-centric memory is projected to account for an incredible 70% of global memory hardware production.
To meet the new, ravenous demands of data centers, major memory chip makers are shifting their manufacturing capacity to stacked-design high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and server-grade DDR5, further cutting the supply meant for consumer-grade devices. That doesn’t just affect desktop and laptop computers; it also affects consoles, including the PS5.
Google’s AI datacenters require a lot of RAM (Credit: Google)
Fast forward to April 2, and Sony raised the prices of the PS5, PS5 Pro, and Portal, citing “continued pressures in the global economic landscape.” Despite a price increase from $199.99 to $249.99, the Portal remains the only low-cost way to play PS5 games.
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Can the PlayStation Portal Replace a PS5?
Excited, I revisited the Portal. When it launched, it was simply a remote player, meant to stream PS5 games rather than play them natively. The device was limited, to say the least. However, a major update in November 2025 added cloud streaming, instantly making the once-mediocre Portal a way to side-step the ongoing RAMaggedon. Streaming, after all, doesn’t require nearly as much RAM as rendering polygons.
When I paired the Portal with a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, it introduced me to roughly 600 titles, including a wide net of PS5 (and PS4!) games that support cloud streaming. The deep library of major and indie games made the subscription more than worth the investment. By playing PS5 games on the Portal, you can save $191, $241, or $491, respectively, by avoiding the PS5 (digital), PS5 (standard), or PS5 Pro. I already own a PS5, but I would go this route if I didn’t.
Streaming, after all, doesn’t require nearly as much RAM as rendering polygons.
The PlayStation Plus library is pretty robust, letting me enjoy first-party releases like Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us Part 2, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, as well as notable third-party titles including Blue Prince, Cyberpunk 2077, Persona 5 Royal, and Silent Hill 2. So, I got a taste of many different video game flavors.
It’s not just the cost and library that I enjoyed; the Portal felt good in my hand. The Portal is basically a PlayStation controller with a tablet screen mounted in the center. I played games on it much like I do on my PS5, with a very low learning curve. Admittedly, it was a bit awkward to play first-person shooters because of Portal’s width and weight, but I’d rather keep my money in my pocket.
Recommended by Our Editors
The Portal + PlayStation Plus combo comes with other trade-offs, too. For starters, there’s no way to add another controller for local co-op. Additionally, not every PS5 title is available for cloud streaming via PlayStation Plus. For example, at the time of this writing, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Tekken 8 aren’t part of the package. Still, the Portal is much easier to recommend buying than the pricier Sony systems, especially the $899.99 PS5 Pro. With the hundreds you save, you can digitally purchase titles not part of PlayStation Plus and stream them to your Portal.
That’s what makes the Portal so important right now. As long as your internet connection is stable, you can enjoy PS5 games at full 1080p resolution at 60Hz.
The Sony PlayStation Portal costs just $249 (Credit: Sony)
Save Your Money, Get a Portal
I try to own media when I can, whether that means buying a Blu-ray of an obscure anime or skipping a digital release in favor of a physical one. The way today’s gaming landscape is going, that may not be an option in a few years. I’ve made (some) peace with the unfortunate reality of the situation amid the RAM crisis and the PS5’s related price hike.
Despite my monetary and existential issues, there’s no denying the convenience of the PlayStation Portal-PlayStation Plus combination in 2026. As someone who reviews gaming handhelds, the PlayStation Portal has proven that, with the right updates, a less-than-stellar system can mature into an excellent handheld experience, and most importantly, one that’s affordable. So, before you sink way too much money into buying a six-year-old system that has continually gone up in price instead of down, pick up the PlayStation Portal. You might be surprised at how much gaming you can get for just $249.99.
About Our Expert
Zackery Cuevas
Writer, Hardware
Experience
I’m a PCMag reviewer and ISF-certified TV calibrator focused on computer accessories, laptops, gaming monitors, and video games. I’ve been writing, playing, and complaining about games for as long as I remember, but it wasn’t until recently that I’ve been able to shout my opinions directly at a larger audience. My work has appeared on iMore, Windows Central, Android Central, and TWICE, and I have a diverse portfolio of editing work under my belt from my time spent at Scholastic and Oxford University Press. I also have a few book-author credits under my belt—I’ve contributed to the sci-fi anthology Under New Suns, and I’ve even written a Peppa Pig book.
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