Sony's mysterious Project Q handheld stepped into the spotlight this weekend, when a purported device demo leaked on social media. Twitterer (X-er?) @Zuby_Tech shared a 28 second clip of what looked like the device in-hand, with a user navigating the software UI. From what is shown in the video, the device appears to be Android based.
PlayStation Project Q Leaks:#PlayStation #ProjectQ https://t.co/gyFrsW7xkN pic.twitter.com/0R0yQIdr0IJuly 22, 2023
In addition to the standard Android navigation and apps drawer in the video demo, there are some further revealing clues. Germany's ComputerBase notes that one of the apps in the blurry video appears to be called "QC Test". The site leaps to the conclusion that this is evidence there is a Qualcomm chipset within the Sony Project Q handheld. It isn't unreasonable that Qualcomm would indeed be supplying the processor for this streaming-only device, but QC is also a common abbreviation for Quality Control.
A bunch of Chinese apps which we are not familiar with are visible during the video. We spied what looked like apps for: HW testing, PlayStation firmware updates, Battery analytics, Wi-Fi testing, Wi-Fi linking, and a Video player.
Even if the Tweeted video is genuine, and the Project Q runs on Android, we would expect a great deal more UI customization to be completed before the device hits prime time (possibly in Q4 this year).
In a follow-up Tweet, @Zuby_Tech shared some stills. Two just looked like they were captured from the video, and were of unknown significance. A third image was more impactful, as it seems to show the Project Q handheld in a state of disassembly. Its screen and a substantial amount of electronics appear to have been gutted, and a set of four shoulder buttons removed.
In summary, the video doesn't really provide a great deal of enlightenment regarding the Sony Project Q. However, using Android could infer some additional flexibility to what we thought until now was a PS5 Wi-Fi connected remote-play only device. ComputerBase might also be right about the Qualcomm chipset. The only other things we know are that this portable features an 8-inch 60 Hz 1080p screen, and all the controls present on a DualSense wireless controller are available to its users. Rumors suggest the battery life of this game streaming handheld could be as low as three to four hours.
Of course, you shouldn't read too munch definitively into this leaked 'Project Q' video. It isn't unheard of for a Chinese firm to copy the design of something before the original thing has even been released. Any such clone would likley use Android as well.
