A while back, Sony unveiled a rather interesting hardware peripheral during its showcase event, grabbing headlines and getting some pretty divisive reactions from the online gaming community. Known as the PlayStation Project Q, the handheld features an unconventional design, although Sony was clear that the device was meant to serve as a streaming companion to the PS5, allowing gamers to access their titles from the cloud.
More recently, a new video shared on Twitter shows a hands-on teardown as well as usage of the Project Q, which sheds more light on the mystery handheld. Originally uploaded by user Zuby_Tech, the clip shows the device almost completely dismantled, and gives us a glimpse into the software that’s loaded inside. From the footage, it looks like the Project Q will run on a modified version of Android, based on the screenshots featured in the Tweet.
It’s not clear what version of Android is running, although it could be a forked version similar to the Logitech G Cloud handheld, which comes with a heavily-modified version of Android 11. The teardown also reveals that the controller grips on the sides of the Project Q are not detachable, unlike on the Nintendo Switch.
It’s clear that Project Q adopts a lot of the PlayStation 5 design language as seen with the controller grips on the left and right, which look a lot like a PS5 controller that’s been split in half. In addition to the same design, the controls will come with all the functionality as found on the more “standard” PS5 controller as well.
It’s worth noting that these controllers flank a large display, not unlike the Nintendo Switch. The display is specified as having a width of 8 inches, putting it in league with other compact tablets out there, such as the iPad Mini. One difference from the iPad Mini though is the Q’s aspect ratio, which should be more in line with what we usually see on TVs.
As from the company’s earlier presentation, Sony has stated that the device is intended to be a streaming companion to the PS5 itself, meaning that it won’t come with its own library of games. Instead, the Q will stream the titles that you already own on your PS5, and will of course require a constant internet connection.
At the moment, Sony has been silent regarding the software and UI that’s running inside the Q, although this newly-released footage does add a bit more clarity as to what we can expect. With that being said, it’s definitely a far cry from older Sony gaming handhelds, which come with their own proprietary OS and library of games. There’s also the fact that you can already set up an Android phone and third-party controller to use as a PlayStation remote play device, which does bring a bit of questioning to the Q’s existence.
However, it doesn’t seem that the Sony Project Q is meant to succeed the Vita or the PSP in any way, other than the fact that it is a portable PlayStation-branded gaming device. The reliance on streaming, unconventional design, and mysterious software – at the moment, at least – shows that Sony has a different objective in mind this time around. This new leak at least reveals more secrets behind the device, although we still wish for a proper Vita successor.
