Sony has unveiled its in-home streaming device, so here’s everything you should know about it.
PlayStation
PlayStation is getting into the streaming handheld market – after a few months of rumours about it planning some sort of device, it unveiled what it’s calling Project Q for now during its Showcase in May 2023.
The handheld looks like it could be a really interesting proposition for those who want to play their PS5 away from a display in their own home, so here are all the key details you need to know.
Project Q announcement
Sony took the wraps off Project Q in a slightly unconventional way, during its May 2023 PlayStation Showcase – quickly mentioning the handheld with a brief look at its design, before moving on.
This still gives us a lot to go on, but given it’s clear the name isn’t even final, PlayStation might still be working on some details of the device.
Project Q release date and availability
During its announcement of Project Q, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan said that the device is coming out later this year, so Project Q cannot be too far away at this stage.
While we don’t officially have a firmer or more precise date to go with at present, the first reports around the handheld are already indicating that it’s headed for a release sometime in November 2023 – and that’s pretty credible, given that the same people reported the handheld’s existence before it was announced.
Project Q price
One of the biggest unanswered questions around Project Q right now is how much it’ll cost, and PlayStation is keeping quiet on this front, too – there’s no mention of price anywhere in the Showcase slot.
That’s no surprise, given it doesn’t yet have a final name to speak of, but for a device that you can’t use outside your home, it’s important that Project Q doesn’t come in at too premium a point – in comparison, for example to the price of a PS5 itself, or a PSVR 2.
Project Q design
Something that we can delve properly into after the PlayStation Showcase is the design and layout of Project Q, since it was shown off visually. The handheld will have an 8-inch display sandwiched between two halves of a DualSense controller, and it actually looks almost exactly as you might sketch out such a design if you’d never seen it.
PlayStation
The familiar white colourway of the PS5’s controller, therefore, is very much present, and the display itself looks really quite slim and thin, which makes us hope that the handheld won’t be hugely heavier than a DualSense on its own, to help with lounging about and playing it.
Since it’s not a standalone handheld but rather a streaming one, there is unlikely to be much additional functionality needed, just space for a battery – there’s been no mention of extra buttons or paddles to match the likes of the DualSense Edge, for example.
Project Q screen
The screen is perhaps the biggest single factor that will determine how Project Q holds up when playing the latest PS5 games, and while the announcement was thin on detail, Sony has confirmed some interesting specs subsequently.
We know that the 8-inch display with be an LCD panel, not OLED, but also that it’ll have 1080p resolution at 60Hz, which is a great match for the console games it’ll be playing.
While the PS5 can output at 1440p, 4K and 120Hz in various combinations, those resolutions wouldn’t be worth it on a screen so small, while higher frame rates might push the device’s cost up.
Project Q features
Project Q is going to be a Wi-Fi streaming device, meaning it will work with PlayStation’s existing Remote Play system to let you stream games from your PS5 to the handheld over the same Wi-Fi network. Crucially, this means it is not a cloud-streaming handheld by nature, although it could well stream games that your PS5 is itself streaming from the cloud, so to speak. You won’t be able to leave your home and connect Project Q to a network to play games, though – it requires that same network to be connected to your PS5.
PlayStation
This means it’s an interesting idea that revolves around the concept that you might want to play PS5 games without hogging your TV, for example, or while lounging more comfortably in bed. Because the handheld’s controls are basically a DualSense split in half, Jim Ryan confirmed that Project Q will be able to use all the haptics and trigger effects that make the PS5 controller so special, so it’s clear that it’ll feel great in the hand.