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SmileyAja on 27 December 2016
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This would be an instant flop.


First of all, they would need to have some sturdy hinges for the clickable dpads, adding up to the price. Not to mention that sounds inconvinient and would add to the bulk, uncomfort of holding the device and weight.


Second of all, more powerful hardware than the Switch? Yeah, that would be impressive. You suggest Android (which would eat up RAM and sacrifice performance that could be used for games, unless Sony magically strips the features it doesn't need for Android which could result in incompatibility with a lot of Android apps which eliminates the purpose of having Android on it), meaning they would have to use Apple's new A-series (if they're already partnering for iMessage for some reason) chip to compete with nVidia ARM-processor wise, as x86 chips are not practical power-consumption wise, heat up easily without a good quality cooling system and they're more expensive than ARM chips. But even Apple would have a hard time beating the new nVidia Tegra chips, and Qualcomm is leaps and bounds behind these performance-wise. And there's no reason for Apple to collaborate with Sony, and they're the only one that have chips on the market that can compete with nVidia's.


Third of all, if it's more powerful than the Switch, why use PSNOW? It would probably be around XBONE or PS4 performance, meaning it doesn't need a streaming service (which would work badly on the go with mobile data in rural areas) as devs could simply port the titles over. Remote play wise, all it would need is cross saving I suppose if you already have the two consoles and maybe cross-purchases. Otherwise, it's not really needed. Heck, you point it out yourself, it would basically be a last resort if third party devs never ported anything to it (which would happen very shortly after launch).


QHD screens would eat up the battery for nothing, since it wouldn't be able to run any console-type games at that resolution at a stable framerate, unless you lowered the graphical settings which make no sense to sacrifice for screen resolution, 1080p or heck even 720p is fine on a 5-ish inch screen. Having such a high resolution for UIs and videos makes no sense for a gaming device, let alone a media consumption device at that size, unless it has a huge battery (like 8000-10000mAh which would again, add up bulk and costs).


And last but not least, this would never work as a phone. Cramming this all into a tablet is hard enough, having all of this in a device with a 5.2 inch screen would mean having gigantic bezels, and it would never compete with flagship smartphones, unless you prefer having a heavy, bulky device that's far too big to carry arround let alone put in a pocket for gaming purposes which will last you around 4 hours of battery life on a 5.2-5.7 inch screen QHD screen which hogs battery for pretty UI's and video watching (if you watch content availble in 1440p).


Also, no chance in hell this would cost 600-700 dollars. More like 850-1000 (which some people actually do pay for an iPhone, but I'd rather have an iPhone than this unpractical mess of a device for the price). The device you describe is currently impossible. And a better option would be having a standard flagship phone with PSNow support. This would never kill the Switch, even at 350$.


Heck, if you want the Switch killer buy a 200$ Chinese Windows Tablet and use the PS Now for PC service. If it doesn't have a SIM Card slot, buy a USB SIM Card reader for 3$. And you can also use Windows desktop apps on the go. Or even better, Microsoft is already working on emulating Windows on ARM chips (as they showed off) and it runs smoothly from what we've been shown, so when it's released in 2017, you could buy a Windows phone that supports Contiuum and use PS Now for PC.