Chinese creators have pulled off an impressive feat by turning Sony’s PlayStation 5 into a kind of portable device, although it’s more like a laptop without a battery. Dubbed the BBook AI and showcased on Weibo, this device captures attention with its 17.3-inch screen and hefty construction that harks back to early gaming laptops. Weighing in at over 9 pounds, it’s not exactly the lightest gadget around, but it certainly grabs the eye.
Inside the BBook AI Original Edition’s 3D-printed shell are the guts of a PS5. The real showstopper here, though, is the integrated screen. It’s a sizable 17.3-inch 4K IPS display boasting 100% DCI-P3 color accuracy, though sadly, it only refreshes at 60 Hz. A side-mounted HDMI 2.1 port lets you hook up to another display, diverting a bit from the concept of a self-contained device. But without a battery to power it, you’ll need to be near an outlet to keep the action going. The modders can’t be faulted for this; the PS5’s hefty 200W gaming consumption would zap a 100Wh battery in just half an hour.
Scrolling horizontally through the specs, the BBook AI is powered by an eight-core Zen 2 CPU and a 36 CU RDNA 2 GPU, packed with 16GB of unified GDDR6 memory and 825GB of PCIe 4.0 storage. Its 17.3-inch 4K display ticks at 60 Hz, and the whole unit is about 31.3mm thick, weighing 4.321kg plus another 500g for the adapter. Priced at 19,999 Yuan or $2,750, it’s certainly a pricey piece of kit.
To the right of the laptop, there’s a lightning-fast USB Type-A 10 Gbps port for connectivity. According to reports, the BBook AI can get quite loud, reaching noise levels comparable to a roaring sports car at 71.3 dB. And lest we forget, this laptop houses a working PlayStation 5 interior, complete with PlayStation OS, making it the first pseudo-PC capable of running games like Astro Bot. Can your gaming laptop compete on that front?
In terms of spec parity with the PS5, the system relies on an eight-core Zen 2 CPU and a 36 Compute Unit RDNA 2 GPU. The 16GB of memory is fixed, and there’s a solid 825GB of PCIe 4.0 storage on-board. However, with its asking price of $2,750, you’re shelling out over five times what you’d pay for a regular PS5. The BBook AI even includes a keyboard from the looks of the pictures, though details on whether it’s membrane or mechanical remain murky.
The BBook AI targets portability, yet when you include the adapter, it ends up being twice the weight of a Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 8, which packs an RTX 4090 and a 99Wh battery. For the price-conscious gamer, a more sensible route might be to snag a PS5 and a portable monitor separately for a combined price of around $700 to $1,000, depending on your choice of screen. While undeniably fun as a DIY project, practicality isn’t exactly the BBook AI’s strong suit.
