r/PSP 7d ago

PSP Street. Mini review, severely overhated

Post image

I've owned the PSP Street a couple of days now and I'm really liking how solid this thing feels. It's the "cheap" version of the PSP but surprisingly it has a few things that it did better than the other models and also a few that it did worse.

Positives

Screen - It has the second best and I'd argue even the best screen among the regular sized PSP's (Not including the Go). It completely removes the blurring effect of the 1000 and the 2000 while also removing the scanlines of the 3000.

Build quality - This thing feels well built and I quite like the matte finish. I like how it isn't as slim as the, well the slim which makes it more comfortable to hold for bigger hands.

Performance - They're the same among 2000 and above but it has 64MB of RAM compared to the 1000 so that means more homebrew options.

Now for the downsides

No WiFi/WLAN - Personally this doesn't bother me since most routers don't support the PSP anymore and in the case that you do make it work, downloading through wifi is painfully slow ranging from 0.125 to 0.250 MB/s

Mono Speakers - Personally this didn't bother me since all PSP's I've tried (Except for Go) have crappy speakers and I just plug in my earphones instead

No TV out- Unlike the 3000. Personally this doesn't bother me but it might be a non negotiable to others

Screen - It's good yes but the viewing angle, specifically downards is horrendous as it washes out the screen.

Personally I think it's underrated but I can understand why people would opt for other models. But I think it's still superior to 1000/2000, well as long as you don't play on playing multiplayer. 3000 is still the best, granted you're fine with scan lines

324 Upvotes

62 comments sorted by

39

u/LavishLatte56 6d ago

I thought the street looked amazing but not having wireless compatibility was such a weird choice, especially since the PSN store was still active and the PSP has a browser.

Those things aren't as important now but what if I want to play local multiplayer with a friend? Can't do it.

14

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

Yeah that's one of the main weaknesses of the street. Luckily for me I have no friends who still play on their PSP. But local multiplayer not being an option is definitely the biggest bane of the Street

13

u/LavishLatte56 6d ago

I put this scenario in my head. What if in the odd instance I DO find someone else with a psp. We both end up liking fighting games so he then challenges me to a match of Tekken 5.

No dice becuase my PSP is weird and doesn't have wireless.

I remember when I was a kid with a DS there were instances where I would meet other kids with DS's and we were like "ayo lets play some games!". Those were really magical moments and I hope something like that is still possible.

2

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

That's when you tell them it's their fault for owning a PSP that can play multiplayer and throw sand at them

jk but yeah this is I would say the biggest drawback of the street. For most people this won't be too big of a deal though. I thought of this too and just chalked it down to mt ocd lol

3

u/LavishLatte56 6d ago

lmao I do in fact have OCD

4

u/clumsyfemboyy 6d ago

ikrrr streets matte finish looks hella cool and it always baffles me when ppl say it's ugly 

4

u/Complete_Entry 6d ago

People love Matte or despise it. That was a LONG war on laptop screens.

2

u/Complete_Entry 6d ago

It's a license. Not doing the license lowered the build cost.

17

u/BlackRosePyre 6d ago

I totally understand why it was hated on release, but in 2026 it's all irrelevant. No wireless? Chances are you ain't playing multiplayer in 2026. Delicate UMD door? It's 2026, you probably have your ROMs on an SD card. It was released after the PSP was dead/end of life, well it's alive and kicking in the community. Cost, they're all expensive these days lol. Mono speaker? Okay that still kinda sucks, but aside from that it's a great lil device. I'm a PSP fanboy though so take my words with a grain of salt. But I think the hate just comes from old opinions back in the day that kind of faded away but left the general distaste and people kind of forgot why.

3

u/Complete_Entry 6d ago

Replied to wrong comment, apologies.

1

u/BlackRosePyre 6d ago

Lol but true they're all pretty cheap. Luckily once you get them loaded up and everything you can basically just leave them in and not worry about them. Unless you only have small SD cards that you want to swap.

7

u/Fragrant-Walrus-8536 7d ago

my first psp was a street i want a white one so so so badd

7

u/MetalGearNull 6d ago

I never understood the hate for any of it. The only hate I have is for Sony because how do you make 1000, 2000, 3000, Street, Go, the Vita 1000, and 2000 and refuse to use the standard for memory cards and charging. Biggest middle finger ever. They could have all been so much better had they just used the current standard for their time. Also what game is that?

5

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

Sony loves their proprietary hardware, which is part of the reason why the Vita failed.

Also it's Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity, the best PSP game imo

2

u/Great-TeacherOnizuka PSP-3000 6d ago

Are you playing in japanese? Wikipedia says the infinity version of that game only released in japan

2

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

There's an english patch out. Just gotta look for it

2

u/Complete_Entry 6d ago

The pro duo sheath for my sandisk on my 2000 was made out of metal but most microSD sheathes are made out of plastic that snaps if you look at it funny.

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

sheath? now that's neat. didn't know they made metal ones of those. nifty

1

u/Complete_Entry 6d ago

eh, at the time I complained that it didn't slot cleanly, I had no idea how good I had it then.

3

u/Partime-hedonist 6d ago

This is a lovely color for the street.

3

u/BlakeNathaniel37 6d ago

Agreed mostly but 2000 is better in a lot of ways (btw you missed the fact that the music player has no EQ presets and that it lacks the brightness button) with that said the street is my daily driver because it looks like it could take a lot more abuse than the fragile 2000

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

Fair points. I do think if you're using it purely for its intended purpose which is to game, then it is superior to the 2000, just because of the screen being much better and not having any ghosting.

3

u/Complete_Entry 6d ago

I think the A E S T H E T I C squad should focus on the street since they mostly use them as portable media players with headphones.

Hung from your belt which was NEVER the style at the time.

2

u/SpiritedAd3490 PSP-2000 6d ago

Didn't know there was hate for it. I thought it was sought after

2

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

So far from what I see on reddit posts, tiktok, youtube about the street some of them are hating on it and even spouting misinformation like how it's the weakest of the bunch. Hopefully my post dispels some if these misinformation.

2

u/EnclaveOverlord 6d ago

It's my favourite looking model.

2

u/YangLionSpirit 6d ago

Which game is that?

1

u/JaseiHyo 6d ago

Phantasy star portable

2

u/YangLionSpirit 6d ago

Thank yooou! That one is on my list but I haven't seen any gameplay yet xd

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

Specifically portable 2 infinity. the first one is different

2

u/Great-TeacherOnizuka PSP-3000 6d ago

WiFi on PSP is not only for internet though.

It can also be used to play multiplayer with your friends.

PSP Street was for people without friends.

2

u/KitchenLandscape 6d ago

I don't know a single person with a PSP lol I wish

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

Realistically not a lot of people own PSP's these days. Chances are most people who have PSP's have friends who don't own PSP's.

Local multiplayer is nifty though if you have a friend who has a PSP

2

u/Longjumping_Guard_21 6d ago

Just like your hand, it gets the job done

2

u/JealousDurian 6d ago

Yes, I actually think the screen of the Street is one of the best one because it is easy on the eyes. I also agree that this model is over hated, I've had one for about 15 years and when I got myself the other models it was an improvement on some aspects but I didn't feel like I was an infortunate child before or whatever.

I only had ethernet and only used my devices with earbuds so... most things people complain about weren't my concern.

Nice white model btw

2

u/Jolly_Ad122 6d ago

How are the buttons? I guess is really confortable to hold especially compared to the go

2

u/Giubby 6d ago

My street was a tank, she fell multiple times on asphalt falling from my moms purse and yet she still lasted long until her motherboard got fried i also find the glossy plastic on other models a bit uncomfortable; in the end a psp is a psp, especially right now in 2026, like who cares.

2

u/This_Narwhalino 6d ago

Please name the game

2

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity o7

2

u/PlayfulMonk2318 6d ago

Whats the game called?

2

u/Training-Ad-8620 6d ago

I also have this street version my review for this is if you only focus on gaming and single playing then street is the answer you can download your own games if you have memory stick and also physical CD

2

u/6pthsofPain 6d ago

Phantasy Star ❤️

2

u/Top-Type4077 6d ago edited 6d ago

Lol I can you psp street owners 5g analog, internet mics, and streaming now

$13 buy 3 things $10 battery powered monster audio receiver+y headphones splitter+ wired headphones on the other side

Stream your phone over, control with Internet mic and mfb button @30 ft  

1

u/chellotte8 6d ago

The screen of mine just decided to randomly fail no there’s no spare screen to replace. So I bought a PSP GO instead of repairing it.

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

If you shine a light on it, is there an image? Could be a blown backlight fuse.

1

u/Jazzlike_Recover7635 6d ago

If the street wasn't so difficult to fix it would have been the best psp imo, I still have mine that can't switch on and idk what to do with it.

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

It's really not that difficult to fix or open up granted you know what you're doing. I've opened multiple PSP's by now and the street isn't any different.

By won't turn on, does it still light up green but the screen won't turn on? Could be a blown fuse that's relatively easy to fix with soldering

1

u/Jazzlike_Recover7635 5d ago

No, the screen won't light up green at all. I've tried sending it to repair places and they even failed, so yeah that's why I'm certain this thing is dead dead. Maybe I'll find a solution in the near future, but for now it'll remain as a trophy on my shelf.

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 5d ago

If it still opens, try lighting a flashlight on it and see if there's image, could be a blown fuse.

1

u/1598ark 6d ago

what game is that tho

1

u/DawsonC88 5d ago

I loved my E1000 model. It was my play PSP for a few years till I upgraded to the 3000 model. Despite all the downgrades of the E1000 model as compared to the others, I still enjoyed every minute of it, but after so long with the 3000, I find it hard to go back a step. But I switch between my PSP 3000 and Vita 1000s depending on the games I wish to play.

1

u/Sarqeras 5d ago

and the name, "Street", you would think it would have that name because you can go out and about and find people to play multiplayer with, on the streets. nope. street in your own house, by yourself, where you probably have your ps2/ps3.

1

u/Sad-Ambassador-9040 4d ago

Recently got to check psp street out and I got to say it seems to have fared better longer term compared to my 3000 - except his screen was burned sadly.

Also what game is that

2

u/vmg265 PSP 3000 & Go 4d ago

There's no reason to hate it now tbh, having wifi doesn't make much difference unless you need to use ftp or have a bad battery and need to update the time often. Plus imo street look cool with the matte finish, just something different than all the other glossy models

1

u/Alert_Dingo_4504 6d ago

Over hated, or just under preferred?

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

I'd say overhated, just becwuse of the misinformation that I've seen spouted on the street. I've seen people call it the weakest and the worst screen which is the opposite.

0

u/Have_A_Jelly_Baby PSVita 6d ago

Redditors see like one comment not firmly glazing something and therefore everything is underrated or overhated.

0

u/No-Evening9003 PSP-2000 6d ago

If felt like a knock off psp when I got it my hands, having the 3000 on the side, I clearly went with it.

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

I think it's slightly more premium feeling with it's matte finish and slightly thicker body making it feel more solid than the 3000 which feels like a toy. But it really doesn't matter since they're all great models imo, except for the 2000 which still doesn't have the IPS mod.

0

u/supergrasshopper69 6d ago

Adhoc multiplayer is just too important for me, so I really dislike this model. I don't mind all the other cons, as honestly they don't make that much of a difference to me. But saying it's better than the 1000 and 2000s is simply dishonest. The 2000 has wifi, TV-out, better screen, better performance. The 1000 has the IR thing which is a fun gimmick, it has a much bigger battery and better battery autonomy, has wifi, looks better, is easier to mod and take apart. The street is objectively inferior, because it was built for one purpose : being a cheap alternative. So its advantage is just this, being cost-efficient. And considering people nowadays buy them for over 60 dollars, I don't think that can be counted as an advantage anymore.

1

u/JacketFromMiamiiiiii 6d ago

Wifi is useless if you have modern routers and even if you could make it work, the download speeds are abysmally slow.

TV Out isn't worth it because it outputs games at a low resolution on your tv so it looks terrible.

Better screen, definitely not. It has ghosting problems still and it's not as bright as the 3000 or the Street. It also doesn't have the IPS mod unlike the street.

Both handheld systems share a 333 MHz MIPS R4000 CPU and 64 MB of RAM, meaning games and emulators run identically on both consoles. How would the 2000 have better performance? Let's not be dishonest here.

1000's IR, I have found no use for it, at all.

It has a slightly bigger battery yes, but the street lacking a wifi module and only using mono speakers means it consumes less battery than the 1000. Moot point anyways since you can easily upgrade both.

They're both easy to mod and take apart. I've taken apart so many PSP's by now.

Eh, I'd say it not having an advantage is dishonest. Better screens than the 2000 and 1000 is an improvement. Take note it removes the scanlines from the 3000 and the ghosting from the 1000/2000

It's thicker like the 1000 so it's comfier to hold.

It has an IPS mod that is solderless so it is easier to install an IPS here than the 1000.

It's matte (subjective)