Sony Playstation Vita

Five-inch OLED touchscreen ; Quadcore processor ; Launch games line-up

Expensive ; Fiddly card ports ; Focus on core-gamers

The most powerful portable games console around, superb 5-inch 16:9 OLED touchscreen, light yet durable, as fast as an injury lawyer at a house fire in most circumstances, genuine effort to expand its remit beyond mere gaming

Rear multi-touch pad takes a lot of getting used to, front and rear camera qualities are nothing to write home about, game loading times can be painful, battery life is just 3 hours for gameplay (although better than the 3DS)

Expensive it may be, but the PS Vita offers the best mobile gaming experience around. Its OLED screen is simply divine, and the whole device’s performance belies its diminutive size. It may not set the world alight, but if you’re a serious gamer then...

Sony has got the hardware right. It looks good, it feels good, and it offers more input options than any other gaming device out there; handheld or otherwise. It’s definitely got a lot going for it that you won’t find on any other mobile device out...

Superb 5-inch OLED touchscreen, two thumbsticks, cross-platform multiplayer gaming, light but sturdy body, games are PS3 quality

Rear touch controls are strange and unfamiliar

This is not the Sony PSP mark 2, but an entirely different concept. Its speed and graphical abilities are exceptional, and we are in no doubt that hardcore gamers will embrace it from the off. We’re also extremely impressed with the variety and quality...

Incredible gaming ; Solid construction ; Brilliant screen ; Dual analogue sticks

There's a learning curve ; No internal storage ; Proprietary-tastic ; That browser

It's an absolutely brilliant handheld gaming console, held back from true greatness by a few small niggles. Said niggles will no doubt become less of a big deal over time - and the likes of Amazon are already selling the console for less than its list...

Powerful graphics. Beautiful screen. Dual analog sticks

Short battery life, and battery isn't removable. Proprietary memory card. Clunky media manager

Large, high-resolution display; wide selection of launch games; impressive graphics; plenty of potential for the future

Console, games and storage are all expensive; 3G version doesn't currently appear to have any major advantages; short battery life

Opinions of the Vita are likely to be split, but we're largely impressed. It's a pricey but powerful gaming handheld that's backed up by a wide selection of quality games

As with any new gaming platform, the key to success for the PlayStation Vita is the development of sufficient great games, but we like the design and build of the Vita.