Sony’s New Handheld?

After how Sony handled the PS Vita you would think that the Playstation factory would have had their fill of handheld games consoles—they dropped the pocket powerhouse like a greased up bar of soap in the shower. But if an exclusive report from Inside Gaming is to be believed, Sony are cooking up a whole new handheld device.

Codenamed Q-lite, the rumoured device is not quite what you might expect. Not really a handheld in the traditional sense or a ‘hybrid’ console like the Nintendo Switch (call it that all day long, it’s a home console as far as I’m concerned), the Q-lite is described as a second screen for your PS5 in practical terms. The device will resemble a dualsense controller but with an added 8 inch screen for remote-play, the process by which the PS5 streams whatever it’s playing to a second device—like a PC. That’s right, this new Q-lite will require you already own a PS5 console and have it on, as well as a constant connection to the internet if the rumours turn out to be wholly true.

If both of those facts weren’t enough to put you off, a second screen to enjoy your PS5 when someone else wants to watch the TV isn’t actually an altogether unappealing notion, but that’s only if Sony market the thing right. If the Q-lite were simply a cheapish accessory to your PS5 that fans to pick up as not just the above but also an extra controller, well that actually sounds like a good idea. The problem is that it’s hard to believe Sony are looking for a fun little accessory to add to your collection. According to Inside Gaming, the Q-lite will come with adaptive triggers as the dualsense does. As of writing the dualsense will set you back £65, add to that an 8-inch LCD screen and we are quite comfortably looking at north of £100. That isn’t even considering the ‘pro’ controller, the dualsense edge, which is priced at £210 as of writing, son Sony have no trouble pricing high.

We’ll have to wait and see how much of these now numerous reports of a Sony handheld end up being confirmed, but unless Sony can offer a little more that an expensive second screen they might find themselves having a hard time convincing customers they need a Q-lite in their lives.