Trimming down, trading off.

→ December 11, 2013 The PS Vita hasn't been a tremendous success. Despite its exceptional library of games and well-designed hardware, stiff competition from Nintendo, the rise of smartphone and tablet gaming, and the high cost of entry have stunted its growth. But Sony isn't giving up. This year, it launched a redesigned model in Japan that makes the PS Vita slimmer, lighter, more colorful, and less expensive at the sacrifice of the original's gorgeous OLED display and more premium build. But was it a worthy tradeoff?

The new PS Vita trims the overall thickness of the launch model by 20%, going from 0.73" to 0.59", and the weight by 15% at just under half a pound. It's a considerable reduction that makes the system more comfortable to use and easier to carry around. The overall footprint is still large, but it's more manageable. It's not quite pocketable, but it feels more like a portable than the hefty, bulky design of the original.

The buttons and controls remain largely unchanged, save for a few small tweaks to the shape and size of the start, select, and PlayStation home button, which are now circular instead of narrow and oval. Otherwise, the thumbsticks, action buttons, and D-pad are all the same. On the rear, however, Sony has scaled down the touchpad in order to make the grips larger, thus limiting erroneous commands caused by fingers spilling over onto the touch panel. The smaller surface area makes landing taps and gestures in specific corners of the touchpad easier, which is especially helpful during remote play with the PS4.

On the top, Sony has removed the mysterious data port and security screw holes found on the previous model, leaving only the game card port. There are also a pair of new indicator LEDs — one that designates the power state and another to note new system notifications. In Japan, there's an array of new color options, including white, pink, blue, and green, which provide a much appreciated burst of color and capacity for personalization. There's no 3G variant at present, but given the added monthly cost and slow connection speeds, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

The build feels cheaper than the previous generation, but it's not a significant step back. In spite of the thinner, lightweight plastic, the new PS Vita is still well constructed and durable.

The biggest change, of course, is the new display. Sony has traded the launch model's stunning OLED display in favor of a comparatively cost-efficient traditional LCD. Though the resolution remains the same, the LCD loses some of the brightness and vibrant color representation of the OLED. It's slightly less effective in daytime lighting, but to be fair, the OLED was barely useable outdoors to begin with.

But transitioning to an LCD-based panel comes with some benefits, most notably battery life. During my testing, I was able to get up to 7 hours of battery life out of the new PS Vita — a two hour increase over the original's 5 hour average. What's more, the LCD's more muted color palette actually makes content look more natural than the OLED's oversaturated presentation. And speaking of power management, Sony has ditched the PS Vita's proprietary data and charging port and adopted a micro-USB connector — the same type used by the DualShock 4 and most smartphones and tablets.

The new PS Vita also adds internal storage — a feature critically absent from the first-generation version. Each unit ships with 1GB of built-in storage, which can be used for system updates and other game data, though in truth, buying a separate memory card is still a must, especially if you plan on downloading content from the PSN.


The Verdict

With cheaper hardware, the new PS Vita may seem like a step back for the platform, but it could be the key to its survival. The new design makes it more portable and more comfortable to use, and while the new display isn’t quite as nice as the original’s, it yields better battery life. Most importantly, it allows Sony to be competitive and flexible on price — which may make the system more accessible to a broader audience. And with features like remote play and cross-platform purchases, the PS Vita is quickly becoming an appealing companion to the PS4.

Now all Sony has to do is bring the new PS Vita to the rest of the world.


8.7
Great
The OLED may be gone, but the new PS Vita makes compelling improvements to portability, battery life, and usability. RT
Scott Lowe 11 Dec 2013

+Compact, lightweight design
+Improved battery life

– Inferior display
– Cheaper build