PlayStation's Project Q handheld, which was announced at the PlayStation Showcase earlier this week, reportedly has a three-to-four-hour battery life.

One of the big surprises that PlayStation had at its most recent PlayStation Showcase was the reveal of Project Q, a new handheld accessory that focuses on Remote Play to work as a handheld. We only briefly saw Project Q in action towards the end of the showcase, but it's already stirred up a fair bit of controversy, mostly because of the focus on Remote Play instead of being a fully-fledged handheld device.

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Well, talk about kicking a man while he's down, because an insider has shared some information that's likely to make Project Q a whole lot less popular. As reported by Insider Gaming, Project Q is reportedly going to have a battery life that's between three and four hours long, which is comparable to the controversially short battery of the DualSense and DualSense Edge.

PlayStation Project Q and new PlayStation earbuds

Insider Gaming wrote, "Prepare yourselves, because Insider Gaming understands that the Project Q battery life will be around 3-4 hours. Yup, you read that right. At least Project Q is on brand with the DualSense having a short battery life, I guess". Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson went on to write that the short battery life of Project Q might make it a hard sell for Sony, but that it's ultimately going to depend on how much the device is sold for.

If the four-hour battery life rumour ends up being true, then Project Q is going to stand far behind its other handheld contemporaries. The Nintendo Switch OLED has a battery life that can last between 4.5 and 9 hours, while the Steam Deck has one that is between two and eight hours (although most claim it can be drained within three). Keep in mind that both of those handhelds are fully-fledged devices rather than just a controller accessory that focuses on using Remote Play and it suddenly starts to look a little silly that Project Q will have half the battery life.

Project Q playing God of War.

It's worth noting that this battery life is just a rumour right now and could possibly be changed by the time the device gets released, especially if Sony is aware of how much backlash it has had towards it. We'll have to wait until later this year (rumoured to be November) to find out for sure, but considering how much trouble PlayStation has seemingly had with getting a good battery life in its devices, it doesn't seem far-fetched to imagine that it's the same situation with a device that's literally just a DualSense with a screen.

Next: PlayStation Showcase Was Messy, Awkward, And Everything It Needed To Be