Pimax Portal (Retail Version) Updated Review

The Pimax Portal is now shipping to early buyers, so we're going to take a look at the retail unit and see what has changed from my previous in-depth review.

Timestamps:
00:00 introduction
01:35 d-pad and face buttons
05:37 performance
09:51 battery life
10:48 display
12:40 size and comfort
13:22 "jack of all trades"
15:15 software updates
18:26 pricing
20:16 is the Pimax Portal worth it?

This was a review unit sent to me by the manufacturer. All opinions are my own, they did not see this review ahead of time, and no money was exchanged in any way.

Theme song written by Jim Gray of Our Ghosts:

This video is for entertainment and educational purposes only.

#Pimax #VR #androidgaming

[SMG.Trill.]

I can't believe the CEO wouldnt listen about the D pad. Nobody in the handheld market makes buttons like this.. for good reason!

[Yes-mepk]

I love this concept specifically with the VR integration. Will definitely get an updated model in 1 or 2 years that fixes the many downsides

[Apollo-iqvx]

Honestly, the d-pad wouldn't be an issue if it was like a PlayStation controller. Those have separated d-pad buttons, but they're my absolute favorite style of d-pad (even more so than the Anbernic pads or old-school Game Boy pads). The Dualshock d-pad has a nice shape, easy to do diagonal presses, very responsive.

[pixelpuppy]

thanks for the honest review! I was really hopeful for this device, but the d-pad is a deal breaker, and they basically "lied" with their performance with the overclocking. that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I have a feeling they aren't gonna listen to community feedback.

[colinmartin]

Seems like the steam deck and switch really have made this market challenging as hell for that performance tier. Valve and Nintendo heavily subsidizing their handhelds is keeping their older internal hardware still very competitive. I finally ordered my steam deck last week as my college graduation gift and can't wait to set it up as our living room game streaming setup from my office PC.

[NoNoz]

I love when a new Retro Game Corps videos pops up, especially when I’m looking for something to watch with my morning cup of coffee ☕️

[FranklySean]

I don't know what surprises me more, that it released at all, or that incredibly high price.

[dynamicide]

If the controllers weren’t abominations I’d actually buy one because this thing delivers the kind of performance I want in my RP3+ form factor.

[Braddockggb]

Imagine if someone just made a PS2/GC capable handheld with good buttons, no gimmicks or stupid design choices or needlessly poor decisions...

[FibroFantastic]

This really could have been the chosen one for me. A full android emulation handheld with the ability to remove the joycons and make it lighter when I'm having a bad fibro day! But that d-pad makes me want to cry.

[Sheepy]

You sat down with the CEO and gave recommendation about one part of the design?
You should've called the Video : " I made this! "

[oohhno]

This might be an unpopular opinion, but... As the Steam Deck and Asus Ally are pretty good for PC Gaming, I think that Android is the future of high-end emulation. Mainly in x86 vs ARM battery performance, size/weight of comparable devices, and thermals. I feel like we are so close, yet still not quite there. The day something like TOTK is playable on Skyline in Android, we will no longer need x86 for emulation.

[badmoose]

If you were considering going for the upper tier Pimax Portal I'd suggest going for the base model SteamDeck and the Quest 2. Together they are about the same price as the more expensive Portal and are a better at being a handheld and VR device respectively (assuming the VR goggle accessory is an additional charge). And it's not like you're saving that much space using the same device for handheld and VR gaming because the headset accessory for the portal takes up about as much space as a Quest 2 and the handheld unit takes up about as much space as the SteamDeck.

[liamcollinson]

I don't think the concept is bad but i think a future version would need a lot of improvements before i would consider it

[josealvarado]

Great vid. I think you stated the razer edge is a qled, but it should be an amoled

[lnkd]

I'm glad you made a follow up review. It looks really scummy to me that they were handing out overclocked units to reviewers, seems like they wanted reviewers to champion the device solely on performance.

[Impostor]

At $300 it would have been decent, but now it's just a novelty device.

[RedneckOgre]

Looks OK and price isn’t terrible. The VR definitely is an unneeded gimmick and the controllers seem like they would get annoying after awhile, just like the Switch Joy-Cons. Being Android powered and not having official PlayStore support is a real negative. Most of these Android powered handhelds are beaten in both power and price by just getting an Android phone with at least a Snapdragon 855 and a controller.

[PootWindbreaker]

What a journey this has been. I started out with cautious optimism (they seem capable, there will undoubtedly be changes made to the final production unit), then proceeded to sadness (first Russ review), then finishing with general amusement (this review).

As someone who both a) has hands, and b) has used them, I instantly knew the buttons and d-pad would be awful. Would have been the first change I made, but they survived and are making their way into the (soon-to-be-bloodied) hands of early adopters.

Still has the screen that is way too powerful for both its own size and the chip powering it.

No Play Store integration…like Russ said, it may not be their fault. I would not have shipped it without it though (figure out a solution).

Sad about the software. That should have been the easiest negative to get perfect before release. Also, WTF is “most delicate picture for 4k” (at 11:26 of the video). I now expect users to have to choose between “smart colors or loud animation”. What does it mean?? These are display settings, be descriptive ffs!

Well, just my 0.02 (though, by Taki rules, I have now created this device).

[BrandonGiesing]

I think the real comparison instead is this vs a Meta Quest 2 and it looks like a steal in that case. Compared to Quest it's only slightly more expensive (the Portal itself is cheaper by $30 but you need to buy the actual headset still for ~$150 more), has higher resolution, higher refresh rate, better Wifi (6E instead of 6), more RAM, and the exact same CPU but doubling as a full Android based handheld/tablet means you are basically getting 2 devices in one for cheaper (~$500 instead of $800 for both a Deck and a Quest 2)