New leaks claim that Sony is working on a brand-new gaming handheld, tentatively named the “Q Lite”. The device is reported to be based around the PlayStation 5’s remote play feature.
Recent reports from Jeff Grubb and Tom Henderson have claimed that Sony’s next handheld could be a PlayStation Remote Play device. Internally called the Q Lite, the handheld wouldn’t offer much in the way of local gaming, but instead, rely on the remote play feature.
Sony’s recent push for remote play could potentially be tied to building up to an announcement at the incoming PlayStation Showcase later this year.
According to Insider Gaming’s report, the device currently looks like a PlayStation 5 controller with an 8-inch screen in the middle. The Q Lite will also use the PS5’s haptic feedback.
Insider Gaming also was the main source of the leaks surrounding the PlayStation 5 Slim.
Sony could be hopping on the cloud gaming bandwagon
Multiple “cloud gaming” handhelds have been released in recent months, with Logitech, Razer, and Japanese company Abxylute leading the charge for hardware. Lenovo had a similar device in the works as well, before it was canned.
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While we don’t expect the device to immediately run various third-party cloud services, we’re anticipating that the device could be running a version of Android. If it does, this would allow the Sony device to easily be sideloaded with different apps.
In our testing of the aforementioned devices, we’ve found that they’re not primed for local gaming due to their lower-end, much cheaper chips embedded onto the system. The Razer Edge remains an outlier, offering cutting-edge hardware.
Be sure to take these leaks with a pinch of salt until an official announcement. Pundit Jeff Grubb has said to “scope down those expectations” surrounding the hype building online about it. We’d also urge the same.
Since the PlayStation Vita has been discontinued, Sony has effectively been out of the portable console game. Both PSP and Vita gained huge followings but were trounced in overall sales by the competing Nintendo DS and 3DS.
Cloud gaming has slowly begun to take off, as Microsoft and Nvidia continue to push their own services. But, will it catch on with mainstream audiences? Only time will be able to tell.