Do You Need a PlayStation 5 to Use a PlayStation Portal? Explained

Yesterday’s official release of the PlayStation Portal, the first handheld from Sony since the PS Vita over a decade ago, has fans clamoring to…well, get their hands on one to experience the best of modern PlayStation gaming while on the go.

Very competitively priced at $199.99 and going toe-to-toe with the likes of the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck, the mini-console is already selling out everywhere. Nonetheless, if you’re thinking about adding a PS Portal to your gaming arsenal, there is the big question of whether you also need the latest main console in order for it to actually work.

If you’re feeling a bit confused on this front, we’ve got you covered. Here’s our answer to the big question – Do you need a PlayStation 5 to use a PlayStation Portal?

Is a PS5 Required to Use a PlayStation Portal?

Handhelds like the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck are essentially standalone, self-sufficient consoles, as they have their own store to purchase and download games from to play on the device itself. However, the PlayStation Portal is different in that it’s a “Remote Player”, meaning that it is intended to remotely stream existing downloads from another base device.

In this case, as indicated in the screenshot above from the official product page on the PlayStation website, you do in fact need a PlayStation 5 console in order to properly use the PlayStation Portal. While the handheld is capable of streaming both PS5 and PS4 games, the games themselves have to be wirelessly accessible from a PS5 console. Due to the sheer difference in hardware, a PS4 console will not be able to do the job, and granted you’d be missing out on a number of current PS5 titles anyway.

The handheld incorporates the PS5’s exceptional DualSense controller technology, with familiar haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. You can use it anywhere with a suitable wireless connection (5 Mbps minimum; 15 Mbps recommended), be it at home or on the go.

Also in case you were wondering, a PlayStation Plus membership is not required to use the PS Portal itself. However, if one of your games that you decide to download onto the Portal has a multiplayer mode that requires PlayStation Plus, you will need a membership in that instance.

As players start to get their hands on the PS Portal in the coming days, we’ll see how well Sony’s newest handheld lines up against the likes of the Switch and the Steam Deck, despite their fundamental differences.

That concludes our guide that answers the question – do you need a PlayStation 5 to use a PlayStation Portal. We hope you found this helpful, and let us know if you purchased a PS Portal already, or plan to.

Be sure to check out all of our other news and guides related to PlayStation, such as our current predictions for the December PS Plus game lineup.