Here’s something interesting straight from the creative minds of Chinese modders: they’ve managed to turn Sony’s PlayStation 5 into a portable device, kind of like a hefty laptop without the battery. Over on Weibo, this intriguing piece of tech, known as the BBook AI, sports an impressive 17.3-inch display and resembles those old, cumbersome gaming laptops we used to know. At over 9 pounds, it’s a heavyweight, but trust me, it definitely catches the eye.
Crammed into a 3D-printed shell, the BBook AI Original Edition houses all the guts of a PS5. The main perk of this setup is undeniably the massive screen, offering a 17.3-inch 4K IPS panel with full DCI-P3 color coverage. However, there’s a slight downside: the refresh rate caps at a sluggish 60 Hz.
On the side of this modified system, you’ll find an HDMI 2.1 port for connecting to external displays. But let’s face it, that kind of defeats the purpose of making it portable. And speaking of portable, there’s no battery—so you’ll be tethered to an AC power source. Unfortunately, you can’t blame the modders for this design choice; the PS5 draws around 200 watts when gaming, which would drain a 100Wh battery in just half an hour.
Let’s take a closer look at the specs: the BBook AI Original Edition features an eight-core CPU from the Zen 2 architecture, coupled with a 36 Compute Unit RDNA 2 GPU. It packs 16GB of unified GDDR6 memory and 825GB of PCIe 4.0 storage, all crammed behind that 17.3-inch 4K screen. The whole setup is 31.3mm thick and tips the scales at over 9 pounds, plus an additional pound for the adapter. Meanwhile, the price tag sits at a hefty $2,750, or 19,999 Yuan.
There’s a USB Type-A 10 Gbps port on the right side to factor in. However, brace yourself for a noisy experience—this device roars up to 71.3 dB, akin to the sound of a sports car revving. On the bright side, it’s equipped with a fully operational PS5 inside running on PlayStation OS, meaning it’s the first PC to officially run Astro Bot. Your typical gaming laptop certainly can’t claim that!
While the BBook AI mirrors a standard PS5 in terms of hardware, the economics are a different matter entirely—it costs roughly 5.5 times more than a regular PS5. Adding to the eccentricity, this laptop even includes a keyboard, although we’re left guessing whether it’s membrane or mechanical.
If you’re looking for sheer portability, know that the BBook AI, with its adapter, is twice as hefty as an RTX 4090-powered Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 8, which notably includes a 99Wh battery. If budget’s a concern, a more economical route could be snagging a PS5 and a portable monitor, setting you back between $700 and $1,000 in total. Despite its impracticality, the BBook AI remains a novel DIY venture for those looking to dabble in something out of the ordinary.
