Over in China, some clever modders have taken on the challenge of making the PlayStation 5 a bit more portable, turning it into something that resembles a hefty laptop, though it lacks the typical battery setup. This eye-catching transformation, known as the BBook AI Original Edition, weighs in at over nine pounds and visually takes you back to the days of bulky gaming laptops.
Encased in a sturdy 3D-printed frame, the PS5’s guts find a new home. The standout feature here is undoubtedly the enormous 17.3-inch 4K IPS display with full 100% DCI-P3 color coverage. Yet, despite this grandeur, the refresh rate is a paltry 60 Hz, which might leave avid gamers a bit underwhelmed.
An HDMI 2.1 port graces its side, offering the chance to hook up an external monitor, although it might defeat the purpose of having such a unique device. Unfortunately, you still need to keep it tethered to an AC power source—there’s no escaping that. Given the PS5’s appetite for around 200 watts during gameplay, even if a battery were included, you’d be looking at about half an hour of usage on a 100Wh power pack.
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Connectivity is rounded out with a USB Type-A 10 Gbps port on the right side of the laptop. There’s a report that this contraption makes some serious noise, getting as loud as 71.3 dB—think along the lines of a revving sports car engine. Let’s not forget, inside this gadget lies a fully operational PS5, letting you immerse yourself in exclusives like Astro Bot. So, picture this as your gaming laptop taking a swing at the Game of the Year title.
Under the hood, the BBook AI mirrors the PlayStation 5’s core features. It uses an eight-core CPU based on the Zen 2 architecture and a powerful GPU with 36 compute units under the RDNA 2 banner. You get 16GB of unified memory—which you can’t switch out—and 825GB of PCIe 4.0 storage. But, at a price tag of $2,750, it’s considerably steeper than a standard PS5. It even seems to come with a keyboard—though, from photos alone, it’s hard to tell if it’s mechanical or just a standard membrane type.
While the allure of portability is this laptop’s main selling point, don’t forget that with its adapter, it’s twice as heavy as the Legion 9i Gen 8 from Lenovo, which manages to pack an RTX 4090 and a 99Wh battery. If cost-cutting is your aim, pairing a portable monitor with a PS5 will save you significantly, with both components likely setting you back about $700 to $1,000, depending on your monitor preference. Ultimately, the BBook AI remains a fascinating DIY endeavor, albeit perhaps more of a novelty than a necessity.
