After announcing Project Q in May, their next gaming handheld aimed at streaming PS5 games in May, Sony didn't provide much details about this system except for a glimpse at its hardware. Well, that’s the official case as unofficially, there has recently been a leaked video that provides a closer look at the device’s hardware as well as software. The news was shared by Twitter user @Zuby_Tech:

PlayStation Project Q Leaks:#PlayStation #ProjectQ https://t.co/gyFrsW7xkN pic.twitter.com/0R0yQIdr0I

— @Zuby_Tech (@Zuby_Tech) July 22, 2023

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While in low resolution, we can see from the video that the device’s OS, clearly an early and unpolished version, is Android-based. We can see a familiar Android launcher/app drawer, navigation buttons as well as some Android test apps. A “QC Test” app apparently indicates that the handheld packs a Snapdragon chip.

Based on the video, it appears that the handheld - likely a prototype - is also a single unit, as opposed to having detachable controllers like the Switch. In a separate tweet, Zuby_Tech also shared some additional pictures of the device, including one with the screen module remove and exposing part of the device’s innards:

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As these are unofficial videos, you might want to take this news with a pinch of salt but considering that the device will run on a version of Android, it suggests that it could be used for more than just streaming PS5 games. Options could range from cloud gaming to official emulators to loading unofficial emulator APKs; but its potentials will depend on its specs and we'll have to wait for the official word from Sony.

What do you think of the Project Q? Are you looking forward to this handheld?

SOURCE

 

[NyaakoXD]

Hello, Wii U Gamepad 2.0.

 

[The Catboy]

Wow! This is going to fail harder than the Vita

 

[raging_chaos]

That's one definition, and I don't know where you got that definition from.

You didn't mention what you found when you googled the definition of peripheral or "what is the difference between a handheld device and a handheld peripheral". Get that console word out of your head.

Spoiler

Handheld Device:

• A handheld device is a self-contained electronic device designed to be portable and used independently without the need for external connections or attachments.
• It typically has its own processing capabilities, display, and power source, allowing it to function as a standalone unit.
• Examples of handheld devices include smartphones, tablets, portable gaming consoles like the Nintendo Switch, and dedicated e-readers like the Amazon Kindle.

Handheld Peripheral:

• A handheld peripheral, also known as a handheld controller or accessory, is an external device designed to complement or enhance the functionality of another primary device.
• It requires a physical connection or wireless pairing to the main device to function properly.
• Handheld peripherals usually provide additional control options or features for the primary device.
• Examples of handheld peripherals include video game controllers (like those used with gaming consoles), styluses for tablets or touch-enabled devices, and handheld remote controls for certain electronic devices.

Stop trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, it's either a handheld device with absolutely no portability as a console or a handheld accessory/peripheral. It fits more in line with the latter with how Sony intends to use it.

You should probably google the Backbone One PlayStation Edition peripheral and think about how that relates to what Sony is doing here.

 

[Keriam]

On my side, if i had still a PS5, i can imagine myself to buy it : when TV is already used by someone, i like playing ps5 games using remote play.

For now, best device to do this was my hacked Nintendo swith OLED but a new device like this can be better if vibration from PS5 gamepad is supported.

 

[Ondrashek06]

I think that people are getting confused as to what this thing is.

It's not an Android tablet. It's not whatever complex explanation you're giving.

It's simply a DualSense that is split with a screen between the 2 halves. The screen has the needed components and software to be able to display and control a game that's running on a nearby PS5 via wireless connectivity.

While there are lots of speculations as to why it has Android, I think that it's just due to a device like that needing an OS but not being enough of a specialized console to need a custom OS.

 

[NyaakoXD]

Watch it just have the very bare minimum specs to allow smooth streaming, but not exactly some powerhouse of a device and still be overpriced as fuck because they added a premium on including a weird ass dualsense controller split on to the sides of it.

 

[raging_chaos]

It's simply a DualSense that is split with a screen between the 2 halves. The screen has the needed components and software to be able to display and control a game that's running on a nearby PS5 via wireless connectivity.

Basically its their in-house version of the Backbone One that doesn't require you to supply your own tablet and they will get suckers to pay a premium for it since it will have their Sony logo on it. It's running Android so it can use the already existing PS Remote Play app.

 

[JuanMena]

So... I could probably play Mario Kart Tour in it?

 

[raxadian]

They were thinking controller manufacture price is low + a 720p android tablet is cheap. Selling it for $300 is crazy good deal for Sony, since a lot of people will just blindly buy this.

I think all those people already have a Nintendo Switch or a tablet. If this sells more that a million units I will be surprised, is just sn overpriced tablet to stream games to.... like if all Switch games were cloud games... ugh....

 

[Ducolamia]

Imagine making a comfortable handheld mold almost 10+ years ago and instead of refining that concept or even improving upon it, you make...this monstrosity.
Sony L.
With so many options nowadays, why even bother with something so clunky like this? Even if you don't want to use a backbone or Razer Kishi....so many modern (and more comfortable) handhelds, even retro ones, allow for streaming nowadays.
And considering this is Sony, there's no way this isn't going to be under $200 USD. LOL
I guess if you want something different and like the controller format split into a tablet? That's all I got.

 

[DaniPoo]

You didn't mention what you found when you googled the definition of peripheral or "what is the difference between a handheld device and a handheld peripheral". Get that console word out of your head.

Spoiler

Handheld Device:

• A handheld device is a self-contained electronic device designed to be portable and used independently without the need for external connections or attachments.
• It typically has its own processing capabilities, display, and power source, allowing it to function as a standalone unit.
• Examples of handheld devices include smartphones, tablets, portable gaming consoles like the Nintendo Switch, and dedicated e-readers like the Amazon Kindle.

Handheld Peripheral:

• A handheld peripheral, also known as a handheld controller or accessory, is an external device designed to complement or enhance the functionality of another primary device.
• It requires a physical connection or wireless pairing to the main device to function properly.
• Handheld peripherals usually provide additional control options or features for the primary device.
• Examples of handheld peripherals include video game controllers (like those used with gaming consoles), styluses for tablets or touch-enabled devices, and handheld remote controls for certain electronic devices.

Stop trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, it's either a handheld device with absolutely no portability as a console or a handheld accessory/peripheral. It fits more in line with the latter with how Sony intends to use it.

You should probably google the Backbone One PlayStation Edition peripheral and think about how that relates to what Sony is doing here.

Ok lets look at that checklist (Even though I don't know where that information is taken from):
Handheld Device:

• A handheld device is a self-contained electronic device designed to be portable and used independently without the need for external connections or attachments.
• It typically has its own processing capabilities, display, and power source, allowing it to function as a standalone unit.
• Examples of handheld devices include smartphones, tablets, portable gaming consoles like the Nintendo Switch, and dedicated e-readers like the Amazon Kindle.

Ok so the first is fine. It has self-contained electronics to boot into the OS of the device and launch apps on its own. Although the RemotePlay app requires a connection to a PS5 (or PS4?)
Second point is also fine as it says typically. And the only thing that does not hold true is "processing capabilities", although it has its own processing capabilities, they are not enough to play PS5 games locally. But they are enough to run android and app, it remains to be seen just how much processing power this device has.
The third point are some examples but not limited to only those types of devices.


On to the second list

Handheld Peripheral:

• A handheld peripheral, also known as a handheld controller or accessory, is an external device designed to complement or enhance the functionality of another primary device.
• It requires a physical connection or wireless pairing to the main device to function properly.
• Handheld peripherals usually provide additional control options or features for the primary device.
• Examples of handheld peripherals include video game controllers (like those used with gaming consoles), styluses for tablets or touch-enabled devices, and handheld remote controls for certain electronic devices.

The first point holds true sure, but the question is "Can a handheld device also be meant as complementary device for a primary device?) I think so, that's what Sony tried to market the PS Vita as and also the PocketStation which is categorised as both a handheld console as well as a peripheral.
Second point: Well this remains to be seen, To stream from the PS5 it sure needs a wireless connection but from what we can make out in the pictures there's some other apps on the device. It could very well be that it can be used on its own for other purposes. And it boots into the OS without any kind of tether
Third point: As far as we know this device does not add any new functionality to the PS5
Fourth point: Yes this fits very well for this device, however like the Playstation Pocket station this could be both a peripheral as well as a handheld gaming device.

I get where you come from, but I think it's too early to say that this is merely a streaming device and nothing more. I was surprised with this news as I thought the OS would boot you straight into a RemotePlay UI and nothing more. But it looks like there actually more to this device than that, based on the pictures.

If it's indeed running android on launch then it's not impossible that Sony will allow us to install other software on who knows maybe even some Android games if we are lucky.

 

[raging_chaos]

You're moving the goal point, it's a peripheral.

The apps you're seeing are hardware test apps and those that are required for a minimal Android image to work, the same as in Android TV boxes. It probably will auto-launch into the PS app on startup.

 

[DaniPoo]

I think that people are getting confused as to what this thing is.

It's not an Android tablet. It's not whatever complex explanation you're giving.

It's simply a DualSense that is split with a screen between the 2 halves. The screen has the needed components and software to be able to display and control a game that's running on a nearby PS5 via wireless connectivity.

While there are lots of speculations as to why it has Android, I think that it's just due to a device like that needing an OS but not being enough of a specialized console to need a custom OS.

you don't know that for a fact.

The fact is that it is running Android and they say that it has a snapdragon chip.
If Sony wanted this device to only stream from a PS5 and nothing more then they could do so without a snapdragon chip. They could get away with using very simple components to get the system running and spend the money mainly on dedicated hardware components to handle each functionality such as wifi, bluetooth, audio and a hardware video decoder (h264 or h265).

Would be similar to how the Wii U gamepad does it.

Snapdragon is overkill for a device that should function only like a Wii U gamepad.

It wouldn't even really need to run Android, it could use something way more light weight (which would probably be a much better idea if they wanted the device to only do RemotePlay and nothing else) For Sony to use Android is a risk, because Android is a full Operating system that is well documented and studied. This increases the risk of vulnerabilities being found, and Sony don't like getting their hardware hacked.

Why take that risk and why pay more than they need by using SnapDragon? Only reason I could think of is that Sony wan't to use the processing power for more than the RemotePlay functionality

That's why I personally believe there might be more to this device than that.

 

[raging_chaos]

why pay more than they need by using SnapDragon?

So they can sell you a 1080p Pro version later and still have the overhead for the decoding without having to change the chip. They might also be exploring cloud streaming from their own or other storefronts.

 

[DaniPoo]

You're moving the goal point, it's a peripheral.

The apps you're seeing are hardware test apps and those that are required for a minimal Android image to work, the same as in Android TV boxes. It probably will auto-launch into the PS app on startup.

Yes it most likely a peripheral, but I think it's also a handheld gaming device.
There's no rule against it being both.

It is a handheld game console, well no. and most likely I won't ever be.

It's a companion device to the PS5, but I think it will have other capabilities than just RemotePlay

Post automatically merged: Jul 24, 2023

So they can sell you a 1080p Pro version later and still have the overhead for the decoding without having to change the chip.

That's not how it works, because they could just put a h265 hardware decoder on the board capable of 4k and call it a day. would still be cheaper than a snapdragon chip

 

[raging_chaos]

It's not a handheld gaming device, that would be the PSP and Vita.

This is a peripheral that will play games from the PS5 using Remote Play. It's obviously using a snapdragon chip because that's what Sony already uses with their Xperia line of phones. It doesn't cost anything to repurpose what they already have available to them from manufacturers they already have deals with.

 

[DaniPoo]

It's not a handheld gaming device, that would be the PSP and Vita.

This is a peripheral that will play games from the PS5 using Remote Play. It's obviously using a snapdragon chip because that's what Sony already uses with their Xperia line of phones. It doesn't cost anything to repurpose what they already have available to them from manufacturers they already have deals with.

Well that's your opinion and speculations.

I don't think a "handheld gaming device" necessarily has to be the same as a "handheld game console"
And I still think this could be both a peripheral ad well as a handheld gaming device.

Only time will tell

 

[raging_chaos]

It's a reasonable assumption with what limited data we have.

Labeling this as something that will be marketed as a handheld that lets you install third-party Android games (there was no Google Play Store app or services) is speculation and I doubt they want to share any revenue with Google or any other storefront.

For now, this is an Android-based peripheral that lets you use the PS5's Remote Play until we know more info.

 

[Purple_Shyguy]

This thing is just embarrassing. And shameful even for Sony.

 

[zoogie]

Snapdragon chip eh.
This streaming thing could easily end up more powerful than the Vita.