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PS5 Remote Play on a Handheld: Every Option Compared in 2026
2026-08-12 · Buying guide
Affiliate disclosure: This guide contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Learn more.
Your PS5 sits in the living room. You want to play it in bed, on the couch, or in a hotel room. Sony sells a $249 device that does exactly that, and plenty of people buy it without realising they already own something that does the same job.
This guide walks through all four ways to get PS5 games onto a handheld screen. One of them is free. One of them requires no console at all. And a new app called Asobi has just made the Steam Deck route considerably more interesting.
First, Two Things That Are Not the Same Thing
Almost every article on this topic blurs these together, and the difference decides which route you should take.
Remote play streams from your own console. The PS5 sits at home doing the work, and your handheld shows the picture and sends button presses back. You need a PS5 or PS4, it needs to be on, and quality depends on your network.
Cloud streaming runs the game on Sony's servers instead. No console required. It needs a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, and until recently the PlayStation Portal was the only handheld that could do it.
That second point is the one that changed in August 2026, and it is why this guide exists now rather than a year ago.
The Four Routes at a Glance
| Route | Cost | Streams from your console | PS Plus cloud | Also plays other games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation Portal | $249.99 | Yes | Yes | No |
| Steam Deck + chiaki-ng | Free (if you own a Deck) | Yes | No | Yes, everything |
| Steam Deck + Asobi | Free tier, paid tier TBA | Yes | Yes | Yes, everything |
| Android handheld + PS Remote Play | Free (if you own one) | Yes | No | Yes, emulation |
Route 1: The PlayStation Portal
Sony's dedicated answer. It is a screen with a DualSense split around it, and it does one job.
The Portal costs $249.99 in the US, up from the original $199.99 after a price increase that took effect on 2 April 2026.
What you get for that is the smoothest version of this experience. It pairs with your PS5 in a couple of taps, the controls are genuine DualSense hardware with adaptive triggers and haptics, and there is no setup beyond signing in. It also handles PS Plus Premium cloud streaming, so it keeps working when your PS5 is off.
What you do not get is anything else. The Portal has no local processing worth speaking of. It cannot emulate, it cannot run apps, it cannot browse. When your Wi-Fi drops, it becomes a paperweight until the connection comes back.
Buy it: PlayStation Portal on Amazon (around $250)
Get the Portal if you want the thing to just work and you have no interest in a device that does more. For anyone reading a retro handheld site, the next three routes are usually the better answer.
Route 2: Steam Deck Plus Chiaki-ng
If you already own a Steam Deck OLED, this costs nothing.
Chiaki-ng is a free, open source PlayStation Remote Play client. It connects to your PS4 or PS5 the same way the Portal does, and it runs from the Deck's desktop mode. You can add it to Game Mode as a non-Steam shortcut so it launches like any other game.
One naming note, because this trips people up constantly. The project used to be called chiaki4deck, and a great many guides still tell you to install that. It was renamed to chiaki-ng once it grew beyond the Steam Deck to properly support Windows, macOS, and general Linux. Chiaki-ng is the actively developed one. If a guide is still saying chiaki4deck, it has not been updated in a while.
The strengths are that it costs nothing, the source is open, it is genuinely well maintained, and it is the most popular of the Chiaki forks with roughly 2,300 GitHub stars.
The limitation is that it does local remote play only. There is no PS Plus Premium cloud streaming. Your PS5 has to be on and reachable.
Route 3: Steam Deck Plus Asobi
This is the new one, and it is the reason the Portal's main advantage just got smaller.
Asobi: Remote Play arrived on Steam in August 2026 from a developer called Inside Internet. It does normal remote play from your own console, and it also does PS Plus Premium cloud streaming, which was the Portal's exclusive trick. A Steam Deck running Asobi can play cloud titles from the Premium library without a PS5 in the house at all.
The free tier gives you 1080p at 30fps. A paid premium tier adds 1080p60, HDR, 4K upscaling, gyro and haptics, and manual bitrate control. As of publication the app is in a free public playtest with everything unlocked, so the premium price has not been announced yet.
It is not endorsed by Sony, which is worth weighing before you rely on it.
We break down the full feature list, the requirements, and how it stacks up against chiaki-ng in Asobi: Remote Play vs Chiaki-ng.
At $789 for a 512GB Steam Deck OLED after Valve's May 2026 increase, nobody should buy a Deck purely to stream PlayStation games. But if you already have one, or you want one anyway for retro emulation, remote play is a free bonus feature.
Buy it: Steam Deck OLED on Amazon (from $789)
Route 4: An Android Handheld
Sony publishes an official PS Remote Play app on the Play Store, and it runs on any Android handheld with the Play Store installed. This is the route most readers of this site are already equipped for.
The appeal is obvious. A Retroid Pocket 6 is around $229 and plays PS2, GameCube, and Wii properly. An AYN Odin 3 or Odin 2 Portal does the same on a bigger AMOLED panel. Remote play is a free app you install on top of a device you bought for emulation.
Two catches. The official app does local remote play only, with no PS Plus cloud streaming. And it maps to your handheld's built-in controls rather than a DualSense, so adaptive triggers and haptics are gone.
Buy it: Retroid Pocket 6 on Amazon (around $229) or AYN Odin 3 on Amazon
Note that Linux firmware handhelds are not on this list. If your device runs ArkOS, muOS, OnionOS, or KNULLI, it has no Play Store and no practical remote play client. That covers most Anbernic, Miyoo, and TrimUI devices. Our Linux vs Android handhelds explainer covers why that split matters more than people expect.
The Thing That Actually Decides Your Experience
None of the above matters as much as your network.
Remote play is a live video stream with a control loop wrapped around it. Every one of these routes feels excellent on a strong 5 GHz connection near the router, and every one of them feels miserable two rooms away on 2.4 GHz. Wire the console to the router if you can. Sit close to the access point. That single change does more than any app choice on this page.
The same logic applies to all local streaming, which we cover in more depth in cloud gaming on retro handhelds alongside Moonlight, GeForce Now, and Game Pass.
Which One Should You Buy
You own a Steam Deck already. Install chiaki-ng today. Try Asobi while the playtest is free. You are done, and it cost nothing.
You own an Android emulation handheld already. Install the official PS Remote Play app. Same story.
You own neither and only want PlayStation on the go. The Portal at $249.99 is the right call. It is cheaper than every other device here and it needs no setup.
You want a PS Plus Premium library on a handheld without owning a PS5. Right now that is the Portal or a Steam Deck running Asobi, and Asobi is the one that also plays your Steam and emulation libraries.
You mostly play retro games and want PlayStation as a bonus. Buy the Android handheld you wanted anyway. Remote play is a free app on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you use PS Remote Play on a Steam Deck?
Yes. Two options exist. Chiaki-ng is free and open source and handles remote play from your own PS4 or PS5. Asobi: Remote Play is a newer Steam app that does the same thing and adds PlayStation Plus Premium cloud streaming. Neither is an official Sony release for Linux.
Do you need a PS5 to use a PlayStation Portal?
Not any more, and not exclusively. The Portal was built to stream from your own PS5, but it also supports PlayStation Plus Premium cloud streaming, which runs games on Sony's servers instead. That path needs a Premium subscription rather than a console.
Is the PlayStation Portal worth it if I own a Steam Deck?
Usually not. A Steam Deck running chiaki-ng or Asobi does the same job for free, and it plays your Steam library and emulators as well. The Portal wins on convenience, genuine DualSense hardware with adaptive triggers, and zero setup. If those matter more to you than $250, it is a reasonable buy.
What is the difference between chiaki-ng and chiaki4deck?
They are the same project. It started as chiaki4deck when its scope was the Steam Deck, then was renamed to chiaki-ng once it added proper Windows, macOS, and general Linux support. Chiaki-ng is the current, actively maintained name. Guides still recommending chiaki4deck are out of date.
Can Anbernic or Miyoo handhelds do PS5 remote play?
No, not in any practical way. Those devices run custom Linux firmware like ArkOS, muOS, OnionOS, or KNULLI, with no Play Store and no maintained remote play client. Remote play needs an Android handheld with the Play Store, or a PC handheld like the Steam Deck.
How much does Asobi: Remote Play cost?
The base app is free and streams at 1080p and 30fps. There is a paid premium tier that adds 1080p60, HDR, 4K upscaling, gyro and haptics, and manual bitrate control, but its price has not been announced. During the current Steam playtest all premium features are unlocked at no cost.
Does remote play work over mobile data?
It can, but treat it as a fallback rather than a plan. Remote play is designed around a stable low latency connection, and cellular networks vary far too much for a consistent experience. A strong 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection is what these apps are tuned for.
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