I Turned a PS4 into a Handheld Console
Thank-you to PCBWay for sponsoring this video. They offer high quality custom circuit boards as low as $5 for 10 pieces. Plus professional 3D printed parts. Very happy with the quality and service!
Start now:- https://www.pcbway.com/setinvite.aspx?inviteid=527668
Can you make the PlayStation 4 into a handheld portable console? In this video, I set to find out if it's possible, practical, or simply madness!
I take a PS4 and strip it down to it's bare essentials, add some custom parts, and squeeze it all together in the smallest form factor I could design.
Enjoy!
.........................................................
Subscribe & check out my other tech restoration, teardown and mod videos!
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restoretechnique/
Buy Me a Coffee ☕ : https://www.buymeacoffee.com/restoretech
Filmed on: Samsung S22 & HyperX Quadcast S
https://amzn.to/3PAtmUp
Need cheap tools and parts?
There's an AliExpress AU$7.00 coupon waiting for you. New customers only.
Use my unique link to grab AU$7.00 off items from all over the world!
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mtsYYR6
Music:
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/all-the-things-you-love
License code: AABT6P9NVDRELDRZ
https://uppbeat.io/t/sensho/coffee-break
License code: UHT9CLAR7ISZ9X93
https://uppbeat.io/t/soundroll/forgotten
License code: EMUKO0DGQZHAKHAM
Install Tubelator On Chrome
Video Summary & Chapters
No chapters for this video generated yet.
Video Transcript
Converting game consoles into portable versions has been a challenging undertaking for modding enthusiasts.
But most portable mods are of smaller, less power hungry consoles.
So what if I wanted to make a current gen console portable?
I may not be the first to try portabalising the PS4, but let's see how small I can make it.
I've chosen the PS4 Slim, not only because it's the smallest, but because it uses far less power than the original.
but also one of the later model numbers as they have slightly smaller motherboards and
a smaller heatsink, which not only saves space but most
likely means a lower power consumption. This PS4 only uses 42 watts at standby and about 80 watts
whilst gaming. But that's with an optical drive, which is obviously being left behind due to size.
Let's strip this down and see what we can remove. The power supply makes up almost a quarter of the
whole console. Its role is to take AC current from the outlet and convert it to DC current,
so it's not necessary if we're adding a DC battery pack.
We just need to match the two DC voltages that the power supply outputs.
Now I'm not going to try and trim this motherboard down,
seeing what I can cut off and still have it work,
like expert modders have done with other consoles.
So the footprint of the portable is going to be roughly the same size as the motherboard.
Other than the motherboard, we'll need a controller,
a battery,
a screen,
a cooling system,
and a power management system. I'm going to remove all the unnecessary ports to
save space. The SATA port sticks out too far so I'll remove that along with the
Ethernet port, HDMI, auxiliary port and some of the components that were only
needed for those ports. Plus I'll remove one of the USB ports. I need to keep some
of the metal shields for heat dissipation, but I can trim them down a bit. You may have
noticed I cut off the hard drive shields. The mechanical hard drive takes up too much
space, uses too much power and is vulnerable to jostling. Aren't we all. So I'll replace
it with an M.2 drive. An even smaller M.2 drive. For this I need an M.2 to SATA adapter,
which is annoyingly the same size as the old hard drive. To the Dremel! There we go,
that's much better. Now rather than make custom controls for this portable, I'm
going to squash a PS4 controller into the build. Let's see if the DualShock
works plugged in without the battery. Yes, awesome, and it only draws 0.10 amps.
I don't need the rumble motors, essentially I only need the motherboard and the
buttons. But obviously I'm going to need to relocate all the controls. I'll strip
all the connectors off the board to make it as thin as possible. Now it's nice and thin,
ready to squeeze in somewhere. I'm not sure how to separate the carbon flex buttons to
relocate them, as you can't solder wires to it. We will cut the controller down the
This carbon circuit normally presses up against the contacts on the motherboard, so running
them across the console isn't possible, unless I splice them together which is a bit
janky.
But then I found there was a DualShock controller model which has separate connections for left
and right controls, with separate ribbon cables to match.
I just need to harvest these contacts, so I can then run wires from the boards to the
original controller motherboard.
Then I'll clamp the carbon contacts down with some 3D printed brackets.
As for the analog sticks, I'll design a simple board to mount them.
that I can then get printed by PCBWay for only $5 for 10 boards.
PCBWay are the experts in custom circuit boards
from standard PCBs like I'm ordering to advanced PCBs,
