Sony Announces a New PlayStation Portal for Japan With Extra Internal Storage for Future Functionality

Sony has announced a new PlayStation Portal model for Japan that adds internal storage "with an eye towards future functionality," according to a post on the PlayStation Japan blog.

The revised handheld keeps the features of the original Portal and goes up for pre-order in Japan on November 13 at ¥39,980, the same price as the current model.

Sony says more information on the storage is coming and that details of the feature are still being finalized. The company has not said how much storage the new model includes.

New PlayStation Portal Storage and Region Limits

The PlayStation Portal works as a remote player. It streams PS5 games from a console at home, or through the cloud with a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, and does not run games locally.

Sony lists no changes to the internals of the new model beyond the added storage, so running PS5 games directly on the handheld is not part of the announcement.

The original Portal was found to have about 6 GB of free space after its launch. Sony has not confirmed the capacity of the new storage or what it will be used for.

The new model is locked to Japan, like the Midnight Black PS5 announced last month:

• the system language can only be set to Japanese
• a Japanese PlayStation Network account is required to use the device
• pre-orders open in Japan only, on November 13

For buyers in Japan, the choice between the two models comes down to the storage alone. Both cost ¥39,980 and offer the same remote play and cloud streaming features, so the new model adds the storage at no extra cost. Owners of the current Portal do not need to change anything, since Sony has not tied any existing feature to the new hardware.

What Buyers Outside Japan Should Know

The new model is not built for use outside Japan. The language lock and the Japanese PSN account requirement limit the device to the Japanese store and interface, and the storage has no announced use yet. Players in other regions who want a Portal today can buy the current model, which offers the same remote play and cloud streaming features.

Sony has not said whether the storage update will come to PlayStation Portal models in the US, the UK, or other regions, and the company has not given a date for the details of the future functionality.