In a remarkable feat of tinkering, Chinese modders have crafted a portable version of Sony’s PlayStation 5, dubbed the BBook AI. This inventive creation, showcased on Weibo and shared by VideoCardz, mimics the look of a laptop and comes without a battery. It’s got a substantial presence, weighing in at over 9 pounds, and certainly grabs attention, much like the bulky gaming laptops of old.
Sporting a 3D-printed casing, the BBook AI Original Edition encases the PS5’s guts and offers a rather impressive feature for gamers on the go: a 17.3-inch 4K IPS display. Boasting full 100% DCI-P3 color coverage, it promises vibrant visuals, though it’s hampered by a moderate 60 Hz refresh rate — something of a letdown given the otherwise high specs.
An HDMI 2.1 port on the side lets you hook up to an external display, though that somewhat defeats the purpose of its portable guise. There’s no built-in battery either, meaning you’ll need to keep it plugged in to play. Blame this on the PS5’s demanding 200W power draw when gaming, which would give you a scant half-hour of playtime on a hypothetical 100Wh battery.
As for the hardware, here’s what you’re getting: the same power-packed specs as a PS5. It’s driven by an eight-core Zen 2 CPU and equipped with a RDNA 2 GPU with 36 compute units, alongside 16GB of unified GDDR6 memory and 825GB of PCIe 4.0 storage. That hefty $2,750 price tag? It’s about 5.5 times more than the cost of a regular PS5. On top, there’s a keyboard included in the setup, though whether it’s mechanical or membrane isn’t specified.
Connectivity isn’t neglected either; there’s a USB Type-A 10 Gbps port on the right. Sound-wise, the BBook AI roars at 71.3 dB—akin to the noise of a sports car—so it’s probably not the most discreet option for quiet spaces. Importantly, though, it runs the PlayStation OS flawlessly, effectively making it the first PC to run Astro Bot—a claim your regular gaming laptop can’t make.
Despite its portable ambition, lugging it around along with its adapter makes it heftier than Lenovo’s RTX 4090-equipped Legion 9i Gen 8, which packs a 99Wh battery. If you’re budget-conscious, consider pairing a PS5 with a portable monitor for $700 to $1,000 instead. In the end, the BBook AI remains a fascinating, albeit somewhat impractical, DIY marvel for those who love innovation and gaming nostalgia.
