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PS Vita specifications revealed

Published on 14th September 2011 by Joe Martin

Sony has revealed the PlayStation Vita's full specifications, including details of the battery life.

Sony has revealed the full specifications of its upcoming new handheld, the PS Vita, out at the Tokyo Game Show.

Among the revelations contained in the PS Vita specifications is the fact that the Vita will have a battery life of just three to five hours, extending to nine hours of music playback in standby mode.

The PS Vita will also take two hours and 40 minutes to charge from empty to full, Sony has said.

Check out the full spec sheet below and then let us know your thoughts in the forums.

Model number: PCH-1000 series
CPU: ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
GPU: SGX543MP4+
Main memory: 512MB
VRAM: 128MB
External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
Weight Approx: 279g (3G/Wi-Fi model), 260g (Wi-Fi model)
Screen: 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED, Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
Rear touch pad: Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras: Front camera, Rear camera; Frame rate: 120fps@320x240(QVGA), 60fps@640x480(VGA); Resolution: Up to 640x480(VGA)
Sound: Built-in stereo speakers, built-in microphone
Sensors: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Threeaxis electronic compass
Location: Built-in GPS (3G/Wi-Fi model only), Wi-Fi location service support
Keys/Switches: PS button, power button, directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left), action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), shoulder buttons (Right/Left), right stick, left stick, START button, SELECT button, volume buttons (+/-)
Wireless communications: Mobile network connectivity (3G/Wi-Fi model only), 3G modem (data communication): HSDPA/HSUPA *specification for Japanese region, IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1x1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode), Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP）
Slots/Ports: PlayStation®Vita card slot, memory card slot, SIM card slot (3G/Wi-Fi model only), multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In], Serial data communication), headset jack (Stereo mini jack) (for Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In]), accessory port
Power: Built-In Lithium-ion Battery: DC3.7V 2200mA, AC adaptor: DC 5V
Operating environment temperature: 5℃～35℃
Supported AV content format: Music - MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), WAVE (Linear PCM). Videos - MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High/Main/Baseline Profile (AAC). Photos - JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG

27 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

oblivion181 14th September 2011, 11:27

So according to the operating temps I cant take this on holiday anywhere hot or it won't work. Come to think of it if we have a heat wave in England it won't work either.

Interesting

arcticstoat 14th September 2011, 11:28

Haha, this just reminds me of the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx - all specs over practicality. I'd like to say that the Nintendo 3DS will give it a run for its money, but its rubbish games catalogue just means it won't. Sad days for handheld gaming, especially if you're not into most of the rubbish that gets put onto smartphones.

Jamie 14th September 2011, 11:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by oblivion181
So according to the operating temps I cant take this on holiday anywhere hot or it won't work. Come to think of it if we have a heat wave in England it won't work either.

Interesting

Don't use it in Winter either if we have another cold one.

oblivion181 14th September 2011, 11:33

A very good point that I had not thought of (I focused on the heat aspect because I just got back from holiday where if was 40 + for 3 days running and 36+ the rest of the time)

Eggy 14th September 2011, 11:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by oblivion181
A very good point that I had not thought of (I focused on the heat aspect because I just got back from holiday where if was 40 + for 3 days running and 36+ the rest of the time)

Doesn't mean you can't use it, just that the optimal temperature is a little lower. Which is kinda normal for electronic appliances.

Bindibadgi 14th September 2011, 12:36

I have to say I'm very impressed for a few reasons:

I would have thought Sony would push to use a fast dual core than four slow ones, but still I'm interested to see where they got a quad A9 from. I don't expect Sony engineers to magically be able to create ARM stuff in a year.

That 543MP4 will be 2x as powerful as an iPad 2 which already rinses most smartphones in benchmarks, yet it has to render roughly the same pixel count. This is YET ANOTHER endorsement for the PowerVR Tile-Rendering which is quickly becoming the norm for mobile gaming - so developers will have to optimize game engines for this rendering method. I wonder how this will split the gaming industry as mobile gaming starts earning more and more money...

OLED display! Very sexy! But I want to know what type of AMOLED.

I hope the battery is replaceable too...

Fod 14th September 2011, 12:44

I want one purely for the OLED display (it would make a great video machine)

Krikkit 14th September 2011, 12:45

Looks nice, is PSP v3.0 finally man enough for a PS2 emulator though? Only then will it be truly excellent.

SlowMotionSuicide 14th September 2011, 13:00

This is pretty nice, I'm playing a lot with my iPad and phone, and I can appreciate the concept of physical controls this device would bring to the table.

However, most games on my mobile devices cost a few EUR tops, so If Sony is planning to sell 30-50 EUR games to a handheld device.... It's gonna fail even harder than current PSN have. Anyone heard whether there's any info on upcoming pricing model?

Scroome 14th September 2011, 13:37

Well, I really have to think about this now.

Do I really want a unit that takes nearly the same amount of time to charge, as I can play it. The tech specs are pretty awesome, but it makes portability play of this unit somewhat less impressive than I had hoped for.

billysielu 14th September 2011, 14:04

wow this sounds awful

MjFrosty 14th September 2011, 15:27

Only 128 VRAM?

Fod 14th September 2011, 15:42

More than enough for a handheld. textures really don't need to be that high res.

javaman 14th September 2011, 15:48

Its the need for a sim card for 3G that pisses me off, especially with the patchy-ness outside the city of coverage plus the ridiculous pricing.

Kyser Soze 14th September 2011, 15:52

Hi there - I'm a PSP developer (amongst other platforms) so I'm pretty interested in the specifications. Obviously we've had this info for a while and I'm looking forward to playing with our shiny new dev kit. 128 meg of vram is chuffing loads - I have 2Mb on the psp :-)

Its plenty of space to fit a lot of texture data - PC cards rarely use their full 1 or 2 gig of vram on most games, unless they go to very high screen modes, in which case double/triple buffering uses up a lot of that. That won't be such a problem with the vita's screen res. Trust me, it will be plenty :-). Half a gig of actual ram is lots too - especially as the vita won't be hosting an operating system as complex as windows or even iOS in some of that space.

azazel1024 14th September 2011, 16:06

Apple also says not to store an iPad in temperatures over 45C and I've done that a few times when I had to leave it in my car (even in the trunk, in the sun when it is 38C out, it is easily over 45C in the trunk).

Basically it is just the range that it is guaranteed to work and/or not cause any kind of damage or (likely) thermal throttling. I wouldn't suggest running it when it is 40C out with some hardcore game standing in the sun. Probably will get thermal throttling or shutdown then. I haven't seen anything with an "on" operating temperature range much above 35C (the iPads rated top temperature, though it is rated down to 0C, take that Vita!).

rollo 14th September 2011, 16:44

5 to 35c is normal for nearly all technology items

talladega 14th September 2011, 17:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by rollo
5 to 35c is normal for nearly all technology items

but its made by Sony so even though other devices have the same temperature range its not acceptable on this one. :(

Cei 14th September 2011, 17:31

Want.

Ok, the battery isn't stellar, but that's how handhelds have gone now (see the DS's ever-decreasing play times as a prime example). Yet Sony have stuffed an absolute power house in there, rather than using gimmicky 3D with crap graphics.

enciem 14th September 2011, 20:49

The battery life isn't that bad, it's about the same as the PSP. The major bummer is that it's not a removable battery so you can't carry a spare. I know the rear touch pad is taking up the space but surely they could have worked something out

sandys 14th September 2011, 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by oblivion181
So according to the operating temps I cant take this on holiday anywhere hot or it won't work. Come to think of it if we have a heat wave in England it won't work either.

Interesting

Same as most consumer devices iphone/ipad 0-35 degC

sandys 14th September 2011, 22:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bindibadgi
I have to say I'm very impressed for a few reasons:

I would have thought Sony would push to use a fast dual core than four slow ones, but still I'm interested to see where they got a quad A9 from. I don't expect Sony engineers to magically be able to create ARM stuff in a year.

Samsung.

Bindibadgi 15th September 2011, 01:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by sandys
Samsung.

Ahhh. Makes sense now. ;)

derpooch 15th September 2011, 15:52

I'm interested in the Vita, though I'm not sure what I'd use it for, my phone/ipod take care of most of my mobile gaming needs, but there is of course the argument that dedicated hardware means longer support and a better experience. That screen does look gorgeous from what I've seen, can't wait to handle it in person! :)

Sloth 15th September 2011, 18:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyser Soze
Hi there - I'm a PSP developer (amongst other platforms) so I'm pretty interested in the specifications. Obviously we've had this info for a while and I'm looking forward to playing with our shiny new dev kit. 128 meg of vram is chuffing loads - I have 2Mb on the psp :-)

Its plenty of space to fit a lot of texture data - PC cards rarely use their full 1 or 2 gig of vram on most games, unless they go to very high screen modes, in which case double/triple buffering uses up a lot of that. That won't be such a problem with the vita's screen res. Trust me, it will be plenty :-). Half a gig of actual ram is lots too - especially as the vita won't be hosting an operating system as complex as windows or even iOS in some of that space.

Thanks for the input from someone who really knows what they're talking about, +rep.

Now to wait and see what the final price tag's going to look like on release...

RichCreedy 15th September 2011, 20:44

are we doing predictions on price? mine would be £225 for wifi only and £250-£275 for 3g/wifi

muffdiver6996 29th December 2011, 02:40

If and when the PS Vita can be a true smartphone and read an external harddrive, then it needs to be completely ignored. That's the only message that Sony would understand and act on. Otherwise, we'll see this thing go like the Chevy Volt.....nowhere faaaaaaaaaaaaaast!