Sony may be preparing a return to the handheld gaming market with a PlayStation 6 handheld, according to new industry reports and speculation.
The company has not released a dedicated handheld gaming system since it ended production of the PlayStation Vita in 2019. However, the growing popularity of portable gaming has renewed speculation that Sony could bring a new PlayStation device to the market.
If the reports prove accurate, the PlayStation 6 handheld could become one of Sony’s biggest attempts yet to compete in the growing portable gaming sector.
PlayStation 6 Handheld Could Use AMD Technology
Industry sources claim Sony could use an AMD APU known as Canis for the PlayStation 6 handheld.
The reported chip would use AMD’s Zen 6 architecture. It could feature six CPU cores, including four Zen 6c cores and two Zen 6 LP cores.
The handheld could also use an integrated GPU based on RDNA 5.
Reports suggest the graphics processor could include 16 compute units.
The device may also feature 24GB of LPDDR5X memory connected through a 192-bit memory bus.
Those specifications would give the PlayStation 6 handheld considerable hardware power for a portable gaming system.
However, powerful hardware could also push the price higher.
PlayStation 6 Handheld Could Cost More Than $600
Industry leaker KeplerL2 has suggested that a PlayStation 6 handheld priced below $600 may be difficult for Sony to achieve under current market conditions.
Rising memory costs could become a major factor.
DRAM prices have increased sharply in recent quarters, creating additional pressure on manufacturers.
A handheld with 24GB of RAM could therefore cost considerably more than some gamers expect.
The high memory requirement could also make the system less attractive to budget-conscious players.
Handheld Gaming Prices Continue to Rise
Sony would enter a handheld market that has already seen significant price increases.
Companies such as Lenovo, Asus and Valve have raised prices for some portable gaming products.
For example, the Legion Go S with 32GB of LPDDR5X memory and 1TB of storage has reportedly reached an MSRP of $1,580.
A Z2 Go version with half the memory has been listed on Amazon for around $667.
Meanwhile, the recently released GPD Win Max 3 with a Strix Halo processor starts at around $1,750.
These prices show how quickly high-performance handheld gaming PCs can become expensive.
Sony could face the same challenge if it wants to deliver console-level performance in a portable system.
Memory Shortages Could Affect Sony’s Plans
The timing of Sony’s potential handheld launch could also depend on the global memory market.
If shortages become more severe, Sony could face higher production costs and supply challenges.
There is also speculation that Sony could delay its next-generation consoles until 2028 or 2029 if memory shortages continue to worsen.
For now, Sony has not officially announced a PlayStation 6 handheld.
The reported specifications and pricing remain unconfirmed, meaning the final hardware could differ significantly from current industry speculation.
Still, the potential return of Sony to portable gaming would mark an important development for the handheld market.
With Nintendo, Valve, Asus, Lenovo and other companies competing for portable gamers, a PlayStation-branded handheld could give Sony a major opportunity to expand its gaming ecosystem beyond traditional home consoles.
