Sony PlayStation Portable
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 18 handheld game consoles by recommenders
Handheld praised for its screen, multimedia and PS1 and SNES emulation, and it still holds up. Critics note aging batteries and Wi-Fi trouble.
Handheld praised for its screen, multimedia and PS1 and SNES emulation, and it still holds up. Critics note aging batteries and Wi-Fi trouble.
28 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 24
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 21 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 24 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Still holds up well
“It was incredible at the time, and still holds up well.”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Why Everyone's Picking Up a PSP Again in 2026” “I was pleasantly surprised by how well it's held up.”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Why Everyone's Picking Up a PSP Again in 2026” “It's still a genuinely great handheld.”
Comment from 18 May 2026 in “I Bought a "Junk" PSP from Japan: Here's How It Went” - Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Why Everyone's Picking Up a PSP Again in 2026”
Plays emulated PS1 and SNES games
“It was(/is) a great device for playing ps1 and snes games.”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Why Everyone's Picking Up a PSP Again in 2026” “Great fun for playing emulated PS1 games”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “I Bought a "Junk" PSP from Japan: Here's How It Went” Small enough to carry anywhere
“It fit really well in my hand and I could operate the shoulder button by squeezing it against my palm.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “E Ink Kaleido 4” “it's so easy to just throw in your pocket and play for a few minutes here and there”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Why Everyone's Picking Up a PSP Again in 2026” Good screen and multimedia
“A beautiful wide-screen with just enough resolution, just enough horsepower to drive it”
Comment from 12 May 2026 in “Why Everyone's Picking Up a PSP Again in 2026” “for its amazing multimedia capabilities”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “Nintendo DS code editor and scriptable game engine”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Battery wear and swelling
“I love my PSP but even with a new battery... it dies after 24hrs off”
Comment from 16 May 2026 in “I Bought a "Junk" PSP from Japan: Here's How It Went” “Found a swollen battery in my PSP, after not touching it 7-8 years.”
Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “Worst-case glacial lake flood scenarios in a transboundary Himalayan basin 2022”
Other handheld game consoles people recommend
The four most recommended other handheld game consoles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch | 143 | 103 | 58% | 12 | 8 yrs12 owners | — |
| Playdate handheld console | 43 | 15 | 74% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Sony PlayStation PortableThis page | 24 | 4 | 86% | 5 | 21 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Nintendo 3DS | 21 | 6 | 78% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Nintendo DS | 18 | 7 | 72% | 9 | — | Approved |
What people said
26 of the 30 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the PSP was almost the GBA I wanted in my early teen years, but enhanced”
“It fit really well in my hand and I could operate the shoulder button by squeezing it against my palm.”
“Found a swollen battery in my PSP, after not touching it 7-8 years.”
“It's just not the same. I made games for the PSP and Vita”
“there's NO way to authenticate PS1/PSP games on PSP anymore”
“PSP had an excellent browser. I tired to use it a few months ago, and it won't connect to any current wifi networks.”
“It really was janky, and could only scroll a page at a time, like an e-reader”
“It's still a genuinely great handheld.”
“Great fun for playing emulated PS1 games”
“it was a better GBA than a GBA itself”
“I love my PSP but even with a new battery... it dies after 24hrs off”
“I’ve surely spent more time modding PSP than playing games. Zero regrets”
“No such things as a "Junk" PSP, as this article clearly shows!”
“The PSP-1000 and 1001 are special pieces of hardware”
“I was pleasantly surprised by how well it's held up.”
“It was incredible at the time, and still holds up well.”
“it's so easy to just throw in your pocket and play for a few minutes here and there”
“it really was a slice of the future”
“the novelty doesn't last very long and then it just becomes just another device in the drawer graveyard”
“I recently freed mine and have been having a great time with everything it had to offer”
“As much as I love the PSP”
“A beautiful wide-screen with just enough resolution, just enough horsepower to drive it”
“all felt really balanced for the time”
“It was(/is) a great device for playing ps1 and snes games.”
“Neat system for its time.”
“for its amazing multimedia capabilities”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.