Sony PSP Go Review

For those of us in the handheld world, rumours of the new Sony PSP Go have  been circulating for some months.  There have been many whispered stats, and plenty of fake ‘leaked’ pictures.  Sony have however finally put an end to this speculation and have given us our first hands on test of the PSP Go.

The Sony PSP Go has a brand new look, and while it may have plenty of upgrades there are a few downsides too, first and foremost the loss of the UMD slot means that your old games will not work on this, though it has made the device smaller, and increased it’s battery life.

The next main downside in my view is the smaller screen, the original PSP was just about bearable for watching the odd movie.  Now the screen has been downsized 4.3 to 3.8 inches widescreen you may just find it simply too small.

Infact a lot of the improvements to the Sony PSP Go make it feel more like an attempt to rival the iPod touch, but without the touch.  This comparisson has also sparked questions on why Sony have not integrated cell phone features in to this device, something which truely could put it up against the iPhone and similair portable multi function devices.

Despite this however the Sony PSP Go has plenty of features to keep it going.  Since UMD is no longer supported the PSP Go works soley on direct downloads.  To help support this it comes with a huge 16GB internal flash memory stick, with a slot for another flash card, if required!

The controls for the Sony PSP Go follow the usual playstation layout, it does take a little getting used to, since the controls are pushed together in to the small pop out layer.  This can feel a little bit more cramped, but since the control panel has it’s own section it there are less accidental button presses, which many people found a problem on the original PSP Go.

On top of the original PSP WiFi integration the PSP Go also includes bluetooth compatability.  This allows bluetooth headset integrateion, connection to a cellphone for 3G connectivity, and the possibility of connecting a PS3 on the horizon. Although with the new smaller screen I am not sure just how well that would work out.

The PSP Go allows for much easier integration with TV show, movie and music downloading. Unlike Apple, Sony did not create their own store for this.  Instead they partnered with eMusic, to allow users DRM-free digital media downloading over a WiFi connection. This will supply the top digital media at competitive prices to the PSP Go customers with none of the numerous restrictions placed on iPod users.

We expect to hear more details from Sony in the near future regarding the PSP Go, the world is waiting with baited breath for the technical specs behind teh latest version of the PSP!