For most PS5 owners, the console's power saver mode is a niche feature—a handy setting for background downloads that slightly trims the electricity bill. But for a growing number of industry watchers and tech analysts, it’s something far more significant: a live preview of how games will run on Sony’s rumored PS6 handheld.
The theory is simple. To shrink the formidable power of a home console into a portable form factor, you need to make extreme efficiency sacrifices. The PS5's power saver mode, which forces games to run within a strict power budget, is a real-world laboratory for developers to test and implement these very techniques. Now, thanks to comprehensive testing from the technical experts at Digital Foundry, we have a clear look at how two different PS5 games handle this constraint, revealing the potential playbook for a future portable.
A Tale of Two Approaches: Demon's Souls vs. Days Gone
Digital Foundry’s deep dive focused on two titles that have implemented support for the new power saver mode: the visually stunning remake of Demon’s Souls and the recently remastered Days Gone. The results show that developers have multiple paths to achieving power efficiency, with varying impacts on the player's experience.
In Demon’s Souls, the approach was straightforward and restrictive. The game, which normally offers a choice between a native 4K/30 fps Cinematic Mode and a dynamic 1440p/60 fps Performance Mode, locks players into a single setting when power saver is active. Regardless of whether you're on a base PS5 or a PS5 Pro, the mode enforces a 1440p resolution target at 30 frames per second.
As seen in the detailed analysis, the results are remarkably stable. The visual fidelity takes a noticeable step down from the top-tier modes, but the frame rate holds firm at 30 fps with only occasional, minor dips. The payoff for this consistency was a dramatic reduction in power consumption, with the console's wattage dropping from approximately 200W to just 100W—a 50% saving.
For a visual breakdown of these performance trade-offs, check out the full Digital Foundry analysis below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTcgIGLXpQg&t
Days Gone Remastered, on the other hand, demonstrates a more complex, and arguably less polished, method of power saving. Interestingly, the game still presents players with its standard Performance (1440p/60 fps) and Quality (4K/30 fps) mode options even with power saver enabled. However, the system works aggressively in the background to cap power draw, leading to significant compromises.
Digital Foundry found that the game frequently rendered well below its target resolutions, with checkerboard rendering artifacts becoming visible. When the on-screen action intensified, the frame rate in Performance Mode could plummet to around 45 fps, and textures became noticeably pixelated. This "dynamic" approach to saving power was thirstier than Demon's Souls' method, but still achieved a similar percentage drop, going from 235W to 115W.
Bridging the Gap to a PS6 Handheld
So, what does this all mean for the potential of a PS6 portable, often rumored under the codename "Canis"? The data from these PS5 tests aligns perfectly with the speculated needs of such a device.
Leaks from sources like the YouTube channel Moore's Law is Dead suggest a PS6 handheld would need to implement severe, system-level limits to be feasible. This would include restricting the CPU to only 8 of its available threads and slashing the clock speed of its GDDR6 memory by as much as 50% compared to its home console counterpart.
The PS5 power saver mode tests prove that current-generation games can be reined in to operate within such a strict power envelope. A native PS6 handheld would take this even further.
- Lower Native Resolution: While the PS5 tests often targeted 1440p, a handheld screen would make a sub-1080p resolution (when undocked) completely acceptable, further reducing the GPU load.
- Advanced Upscaling: The PS6 generation is expected to bring significant advancements in upscaling technology, likely a version of AMD's RDNA 5. Features like AI-accelerated upscaling could reconstruct a crisp, clean image from a very low internal resolution, preserving battery life without sacrificing visual clarity.
- System-Wide Efficiency: A device designed from the ground up for portability would have efficiency gains that a power-capped home console cannot match, from the processor architecture to the display.
The Verdict: A Promising, But Imperfect, Prototype
The key takeaway from these tests is that the foundational idea works. While the current implementation of power saver mode on PS5 can feel like a downgrade, it successfully demonstrates that cutting power consumption by half or more doesn't necessarily make games unplayable. In many cases, the experience remains perfectly acceptable.
For a dedicated PS6 handheld, this is the crucial first step. The techniques being pioneered right now in the PS5's power saver mode are the very same ones that will be refined and perfected to allow you to take a true next-generation gaming experience on the go. The future of portable gaming isn't just about weaker hardware; it's about learning how to do more with far, far less.
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