I Swapped My Switch 2 for a PS5 on a Trip, and the 30 Second Setup Challenge Came Down to a Single Second

Thirty seconds, one attempt. I gave myself a single shot to pull an entire PS5 setup out of a closed bag in a hotel room, and the PS5 made it in 29 seconds with the legendary PlayStation screen showing on the monitor. After replacing my Switch 2 with a PS5 for a whole trip, though, the Switch 2 is still the console I would take with me. The PS5 is the one I would rather have once I am actually sitting down.

The rules were simple. If I got the PS5 setup out of my bag before the timer hit zero, PlayStation stayed in the fight. If I missed by even 1 second, the challenge was over and the Switch 2 was officially the better console, officially according to my own rules, obviously. Nintendo and Sony have absolutely not agreed to any of this. And one timer in a hotel room does not actually decide which console is better. So while I was replacing my Switch with a PS5, I also wanted to compare the things that actually matter: portability, flexibility, the gaming experience, and whether bringing a full PS5 was worth the trouble. The 30 second challenge was just PlayStation's first chance to prove this idea isn't completely ridiculous.

The Switch 2 starts with an extremely unfair advantage

Normally, if I am going somewhere and want to play games, the Switch is the obvious choice. It already has a screen, controllers and a battery built into one device. I press one button and I am playing, which makes the competition extremely unfair. So, naturally, I left it at home and took the PS5 instead.

My job was to turn the PS5 into my travel gaming setup before the next day, and when I reached the hotel, I would get exactly one chance to prove that it worked.

The Arzopa C3 FC and a power strip turned the PS5 into a travel kit

The centrepiece is the Arzopa C3 FC, a 16 inch portable gaming monitor. The important part for this challenge is that it is small enough to fit into the same bag as the rest of my setup. With the Switch, a monitor like this is an upgrade. With the PS5, it is basically required. Because the Switch has basically zero setup, the PS5 only had a chance if I removed as many steps as possible.

I was allowed to prepare everything however I wanted, but there was one rule: no complete timed practice run. The first time I would try the entire setup from a closed bag would be at the hotel, so I had to design it properly in advance and hope I hadn't forgotten something.

The biggest shortcut is the power strip. Instead of finding separate outlets for the PS5 and the monitor, everything was already connected to it, so at the hotel I would only need one wall socket. After that, the monitor needs power and one HDMI cable connects the PS5 to the screen. That is basically it, at least in theory. When I packed, the PS5 and the screen were inside the bag along with the white power strip, and a yellow extension cable was connected to the strip. At that point it looked really good.

In the Swiss mountains, the PS5 beat the clock with 1 second to spare

Conveniently, we already had a short trip planned to the Swiss mountains, which is perfect for testing a travel console and less perfect when your travel console is a PlayStation 5. For this trip, the Switch stayed home. As I put it at the time: "If I regret this in 2 hours, that's entirely my problem." Under the championship rules I invented that morning, the PS5 also had to survive an actual trip before it got its attempt. Once everything was carried into the hotel, there was no preparation left. The next time I opened the bag, the timer would be running.

The task: with the bag closed and nothing set up, I had 30 seconds to unpack the PS5, pull out the monitor, connect the power cable and the HDMI, and press the power button. It only counted if the monitor got a signal afterwards, and if anything went wrong, there was no second attempt. "Nintendo and Sony, your entire reputation depends now on a man in a hotel room with a power strip."

The result was 29 seconds, with the PlayStation screen up on the monitor. So, against every reasonable expectation, the PS5 actually passed. That does not make it more portable than a Switch. It just means my terrible idea survived long enough to continue.

Sitting down, the PS5 is not a compromised version of itself

This is where the PS5 finally has a real argument. "Getting here was ridiculous, but once I'm sitting down, none of that matters anymore." I had the full PS5, a DualSense and a proper 16 inch display. For pure portability, the Switch wins easily, but for the actual sitting down gaming experience, I would rather have the PS5.

Once everything was running, the comparison became much more interesting. The Switch obviously destroys this setup in convenience, but I was not playing a compromised version of the PS5. It was just my PS5: same controller, same games, same console, only using a 16 inch display instead of the screen I have at home.

The PS5 sends its video to the C3 FC over HDMI, while the monitor gets power separately through USB-C. The power strip means both devices can run from the same wall outlet, which makes the whole setup a lot less annoying than it looks.

Outdoors, reflections and outlets expose what the PS5 cannot fix

Since the whole point was to get away from my normal setup, I also wanted to see what happened when I moved outside. That is where things like reflections matter much more than they would at my desk. In the shade, the screen looks very, very good, and I can't really say anything against it. With stronger light hitting the panel, you need to angle the monitor correctly to actually see it.

This is also the one advantage I could never engineer out of the PS5. With the Switch, if I want to move somewhere else, I just stand up. No outlet, no HDMI, no controller to pack. The PS5 can become surprisingly easy to travel with, but the Switch was actually designed for this.

With the Switch 2, the C3 FC is an optional upgrade rather than a requirement

The Switch has another advantage: the monitor is completely optional. If I only have a few minutes, I can just play handheld. If I am sitting somewhere for longer, I can pull out the C3 FC, unfold the stand and connect it in seconds.

The C3 FC supports full function USB-C on compatible devices, so USB-C can handle the display connection and, when the source supports it, power as well. With the Switch, the monitor isn't something I need. It is something that turns an already portable console into a much better sitting down setup.

Testing the monitor's 180 Hz took a PC

There was still one thing neither console could properly test. The C3 FC goes all the way up to 180 Hz, and neither the PS5 nor the Switch can use that full refresh rate, so for this I needed a PC.

Going from 60 Hz to 180 Hz is immediately obvious in fast motion. Going from 144 to 180 is much more subtle, but it is still impressive that a display this small can run at that refresh rate. More importantly, I actually tested the setting instead of just reading 180 Hz from the box.

The verdict: the Switch 2 wins for travel, the PS5 wins once you sit down

So after actually replacing my Switch 2 with a PS5 for a trip, which one is better? For portability, it isn't even remotely close. The Switch wins. It has its screen, battery and controllers built into one device, and if I want to move somewhere else, I just pick it up. Once I am sitting down and gaming, though, the PS5 has the advantage: the full PlayStation experience, the DualSense, my normal PS5 games, and none of the performance compromises that come with trying to make a game portable.

The PS5 also somehow survived my 30 second setup rule with 1 second to spare, which I'm sure Sony will be adding to the box immediately. But if I were leaving again tomorrow and could only take one of the two, I'm taking the Switch. So, according to my completely legitimate console commission, the official winner is the Nintendo Switch 2. "Congratulations, Nintendo. I'm sure this means a lot to you."

What surprised me most is that the monitor was never really the problem. With the Switch, the C3 FC takes something that is already portable and gives me a much bigger 16 inch setup whenever I want one. With the PS5, it solves the exact opposite problem: suddenly I don't need to find a television every time I take the console somewhere. Arzopa sponsored this test. Honestly, if it were up to me, I probably wouldn't even compare these two consoles in the first place. They are completely different products.

Would you pack the Switch 2 for its one button convenience, or put up with the cables to get the full PS5 experience on the road?