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Qualcomm Open To Working With Sony On Handheld Device

Project Q, Qualcomm

Semiconductor company Qualcomm has expressed interest in working with both PlayStation and Nintendo on their handheld devices.

Qualcomm’s Senior SVP, Alex Katouzian, shared this during Computex 2023. It wouldn’t be too shocking that they want to partner with either company as such a deal would likely make people forget about the lackluster Razer Edge, which they also worked on.

Nothing is set in stone, but a lot of stuff is going down, while Sony hasn’t properly had a handheld since the Vita, its bizarre cloud gaming Project Q might be a way its ease back into it, and down the line may even make a proper handheld.

It’s worth pointing out, though, Qualcomm would likely have to step up their game if they want to partner with Sony. While its gaming-centric chip — Snapdragon G3x Gen1 — found in the Razer Edge is fine, it’s not even more powerful than mobile devices, according to Trusted Reviews.

Some speculate that it could be already working with Sony on Project Q, though we have our doubts, there’s no real evidence to back this up. It would, however, be a better first project for Qualcomm to make a new chip since the PS5 peripheral handheld won’t run games natively, but rather stream them instead.

Project Q Has A Short Battery Life

Project Q

It’s sounding like Sony’s reentry into the handheld market isn’t off to a great start. Supposedly, the handheld will have a rather short battery life.

As reported by reputable insider Tom Henderson, the handheld companion to the PS5 will have a meager three to four hours of battery life, making it worse off than the DualSense Elite at six to eight hours.

During the recent PlayStation showcase, among the middling reveals and updates, we got something that caught some people off-guard. Well, caught off guard if you weren’t following an early April leak of a potential PlayStation handheld.

Project Q is the first sort of handheld peripheral that Sony’s made since ditching the Vita back in 2019. Unfortunately, it’s not anything to write home about, all it can really do is be used for Remote Play. We don’t know anything about it outside of what it looks like — no price or concrete release date.

What we do know is it’s supposed to be released sometime this year, which Insider Gaming understands to be in mid to late November.