Could PS5 'power saver' mode be intended for a PlayStation handheld?

This is all part of Sony’s ‘Road to Zero’ environment plan, however, which seeks to achieve "net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2040".

Sony as a whole manufactures all sorts of goods, from high-end cameras to TVs and, eventually, cars.

PlayStation 5s running games most likely don’t come all that close to the energy that these operations use up, but still, every little helps.

Yet some believe that this may, in fact, be acting as a convenient smoke screen for a potential project at Sony. More on that later.

This ‘power saver’ mode is said to "scale back performance" and will "allow your PS5 to reduce its power consumption when the feature is enabled, optionally by gamers", as noted by the official PlayStation Blog post.

Microsoft implemented a similar feature for Xbox Series consoles, and Microsoft reported that 66 per cent of users opted in to the feature (via Pure Xbox).

Other than helping the planet and your energy bill, what’s interesting about this is that Sony makes mention that this feature will come to "supported PS5 games".

This would be a unique performance profile, much like 60FPS performance and 30FPS quality modes commonly found in many titles, but, as it is intended to sip as little power as possible, some are convinced that this is laying the groundwork for a potential upcoming PlayStation handheld device.

Recently, known leaker Moore’s Law Is Dead revealed the codenames for APUs in development by AMD for Sony. These are Orion and Canis, with the latter said to be intended for a portable console.

The handheld is reported to be able to play PS4, PS5 and PS6 titles. PS5 titles, as they stand, however, would prove much too demanding for a handheld and would require specific performance profiles. Enter PlayStation Power Saver mode.

As a matter of fact, we can play select PlayStation 5 titles on handheld consoles right now on portable gaming PC machines such as the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally.

PS5 ports typically have a pre-made settings profile that users can select, which reduces the strain on these power-constrained systems.

Compared to other publishers, Sony has been very cosy with the Steam Deck, with many of its titles being Deck Verified ahead of launch.

It stands to reason that Sony would be keen to use it as a test bed of sorts to dial in settings for games ahead of an official PlayStation handheld.

This is all speculation, though by the power of deduction, and with a little helping hand from leaks, we believe that this theory holds water.

Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.