In a nutshell: The PlayStation 5 is Sony's biggest and heaviest console to date. At 390 × 260 × 104 mm and nearly 4 kg, it dwarfs previous systems. Lead architect Mark Cerny justified the size as "necessary" to house the console's oversized cooling system. But was it?
A Japanese modder known as Tera on YouTube has shown that Sony could have gone much smaller. He built a portable PS5 with a 15.6-inch display that measures just 357 × 224 × 53 mm and weighs 2.8 kg – a striking 60 percent reduction in volume and mass. Check out the full breakdown above – the terrible machine translation is hilarious and worth 30 minutes of your time.
The feat is even more impressive considering Tera added components that the PS5 lacked. His compact build includes not only the integrated LCD but also two internal stereo speakers, a headphone/aux jack, an extra USB-A port, and a heat monitor. And I love the arcade-cabinet-style power button on this thing. The only sacrifice was the PS5's USB-C.
Most of the size savings came from rethinking the cooling system. The PS5 draws about 210 watts – roughly triple the PS4's 70-80W – hence Cerny's insistence on an oversized cooler. However, for a portable redesign, that bulk had to go.
In an earlier iteration, Tera's all-in-one console used the stock cooler, which is longer than its motherboard. This oversized solution forced Sony to make the retail PS5's chassis larger, and the same issue carried over into Tera's first portable.
For this project, the modder set out to design a more compact cooling solution that would fit within the footprint of the PS5 motherboard. Attempts with a desktop CPU cooler fell short, with the console overheating under load. The breakthrough came with a server-grade vapor-chamber heatsink rated for 145W TDP. Although still under the PS5's 180W requirement, Tera believed he could make it work.
Lacking a suitable fan, he designed and 3D-printed streamlined blades inspired by Sony's monster cooler, along with a custom shroud to funnel air through the new heatsink. He also built a bespoke heat sensor and controller to regulate fan speeds, complete with a small chassis-mounted display. To maximize thermal efficiency, Tera applied the same liquid metal between the heatsink and APU that Sony uses in the retail PS5.
The finished product is a portable console – handle included – that slips snugly into a 15-inch laptop bag. With its built-in screen, speakers, ports, and kickstand, it's a fully self-contained gaming system. Aesthetically, it looks fantastic and runs reliably. The only weak point is the audio: the laptop-style speakers sound tinny, although headphones or external speakers solve the problem. Sound quality is something Tera plans to attack in his next iteration.