PS Portal is becoming more appealing: Sony finally fixes one of its biggest shortcomings

The PlayStation Portal increasingly seems to be evolving into a serious handheld. Sony appears to want to give that momentum an extra push and has released an update for the streaming handheld that delivers visibly improved picture quality. More specifically, it introduces a new 1080p High Quality mode with a higher bitrate, allowing titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, God of War Ragnarök, and others to look sharper and cleaner overall.

The PS Portal launched in November 2023 and, for much of its life, was little more than a neat gimmick for the PS5. It allows users to stream PS5 games from their own console via Remote Play and play them on the go. For many players, however, that was not especially appealing, because without its own cloud functionality, the Portal remained heavily tied to the home PS5.

Since November 2025, PlayStation Plus Premium members have also been able to stream selected digital PS5 games directly from the cloud. Combined with other improvements, this has apparently led to a sharp rise in user numbers. According to Sony, the number of cloud-streaming users rose by 162 percent in January 2026 compared with the previous year. Sony also says that more than 50 percent of PS Portal users are now PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers. A Premium subscription remains mandatory for cloud streaming on the Portal.

Significantly better picture quality thanks to the new 1080p High Quality mode

The new 1080p High Quality mode increases the maximum streaming bitrate from 15 to 25 Mbit/s, which should make the image look visibly sharper and more detailed. That is exactly what PurePSX found in a hands-on test: image quality appeared clearer and cleaner overall, especially during local Remote Play. Latency was also very low, in some cases measuring just one to two milliseconds according to the test. Games also looked sharper when streamed from the cloud, although delay remained somewhat higher there at around 20 to 30 milliseconds in most cases. Overall, the update should represent a noticeable improvement for users, especially those who primarily use the Portal via Remote Play.

Uncertain future

The big question now is whether Sony will continue down this path consistently. Users on Reddit have welcomed the latest update, but many are also hoping for further improvements to streaming quality or added value through PS4 streaming. This becomes especially interesting in light of Sony’s rumored handheld console, which has been the subject of reports since late 2024. That device is said to run PlayStation 5 games natively, but it could theoretically also take over additional streaming functions currently handled by the PS Portal (currently $260 on Amazon). Alternatively, Sony could choose to pursue two separate systems – one handheld for native gaming on the go and another focused on Remote Play and cloud streaming.