The World’s First PS5 Tablet Is Here
DIY Perks just built what is probably the world’s first PlayStation 5 tablet, thanks to some very impressive console modding.
Late last year, Sony released the Portal. It is a handheld “remote player” for the PlayStation 5 console and obviously meant to capture some of the magic of the Nintendo Switch. But while the Portal is useful for some people, it isn’t actually a portable console; to use a Portal, you still need a PS5 hooked up and running on the same network. So DIY Perks addressed Sony’s oversight and built what is probably the world’s first PlayStation 5 tablet.
The DIY Perks PlayStation 5: Tablet Edition is not a handheld console, because it still requires controllers and a nearby power outlet. But it is otherwise self-contained and portable, with a slim chassis, built-in 4K OLED screen, and speaker system.
If you’re not familiar with the inner workings of the PS5, you may not realize how impressive this is. The PS5 console — even the Slim version — is quite bulky and that wasn’t just the result of an aesthetic choice on Sony’s part. To squeeze out all of the performance they could, Sony equipped with PS5 with a massive cooling system. That and the power supply are responsible for most of the console’s considerable volume.
To build this Tablet Edition, DIY Perks had to design a more compact cooling system than Sony could. From custom nickel-plating to heat pipe path optimization, that was a big challenge. DIY Perks constructed a 100% custom cooling system that fits the (admittedly chonky) tablet form factor. It uses high-performance laptop blower fans that are very quiet, but keep the PS5 running indefinitely at around 42°C without straining.
The power supply issue was easier to solve: DIY Perks simply built an external power supply brick similar to a laptop. But the PS5 sucks up a lot of power, so DIY Perks had to purchase a high-end Gallium Nitride (GaN) power supply that can put out a lot of watts from a compact unit. They even made a custom power cable that matches the rest of the console while also being very flexible.
Those accomplishments almost overshadow the custom enclosure, which was far from trivial. It uses a combination of aluminum, 3D-printed parts, and carbon fiber to increase rigidity. DIY Perks clearly took some styling cues from the PlayStation 2 era and it looks fantastic. It even has a hinged kickstand, like a Nintendo Switch.
That enclosure also contains the speaker system and display. The screen is a 4K OLED model salvaged from a high-end gaming laptop that no longer functioned. At that size, the pixels on a 4K screen are indistinguishable to the human eye. Combined with the high contrast and deep blacks of OLED, it looks stunning.
We cover a lot of console modding projects here at Hackster.io, but the PlayStation 5: Tablet Edition is one of the most impressive we’ve ever seen. It is a perfect example of someone turning to DIY to fill an empty niche in the market, and the construction quality is top-notch.