The PlayStation 5: A Deep Dive into Sony’s Latest Console
A quarter-century after Sony released the first PlayStation in North America, the PlayStation 5 raises the stakes even further for console gaming. Like the rival Microsoft Xbox Series X, the PlayStation 5 packs significantly more power than its predecessor, delivering native 4K gaming at up to 120 frames per second on supported screens.
But Sony has done more than load in more graphical prowess than before. The DualSense controller also represents an evolution from the classic DualShock design, bringing adaptive triggers that tense up and require additional force to squeeze, not to mention immersive haptic feedback all around the gamepad.
It’s been a real game-changer, represented at launch in the clever and ultra-charming free pack-in game Astro’s Playroom, and used to tremendous effect in later titles like Returnal and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
On paper, the PlayStation 5 lags behind the Xbox Series X in peak raw power, but seeing that difference in practice is a little tricky. Multiplatform launch games looked and performed essentially the same on both, while later titles performed a little better on the Series X. Slightly higher frame rates are typical. However, not everyone will key in on such minor differences.
The more significant difference is that there are more compelling games on Sony’s console, thanks to exclusive launch titles like Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demon’s Souls and subsequent releases like Returnal, Gran Turismo 7, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and the latest Ratchet & Clank installment.
These advantages have led to significantly more PlayStation 5 sales than Xbox Series X|S, although Sony doesn’t have the commanding lead it enjoyed last time.
Design and Ports: Awkward Console, Awesome Controller
I’m usually all for distinctive gadgets that eschew the bland, black box look, particularly when it comes to home entertainment devices, but the PlayStation 5 takes it to an extreme.
Depending on whether you prop it up or lay it flat, the PlayStation 5 is incredibly tall or long at more than 15 inches, complete with unorthodox dimensions that make it look like two opposing Pringles chips on one end and the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive is a bulbous afterthought on the other.
Even the PS5 Slim, now replacing the original as the standard console, is sizeable at 14.1 inches long or tall.
Microsoft’s Xbox Series X is the most simplistic, black box-shaped console line ever seen. Still, compared to the PlayStation 5’s overwrought design accents, it is thankfully unfussed and relatively compact. Both weigh around 10 pounds, so they’re densely packed tech behemoths, but the PS5’s shape has a lot of unnecessary added flourish.
At least the newer PS5 Slim weighs slightly less at around 7 pounds.
The original PS5 requires a detachable, packed-in stand in both configurations (horizontally and vertically), suggesting that utility was an afterthought in the design process.
The PS5 Slim isn’t dependent on a stand to lie horizontally, so the stand is an optional purchase rather than included in the box as before.
In either case, the console’s design has a glossy black plastic core surrounded by matte white plastic, although there’s no clean way to describe what’s going on here. It provides a lot of space for ventilation, at least. When set up vertically, the disc drive sits at the bottom of the console on the right side. The PS5 Digital Edition omits the drive, cuts $100 from the price tag, and is slightly slimmer and more uniform in dimensions.
The PS5 Slim also comes in digital and full varieties but you can add a drive to the digital version later if you prefer.
On this standard edition, small black power and eject buttons sit to the left of the drive, while USB and USB-C ports are closer to the center of the black core.
The PS5 Slim skips the USB-A port and sticks exclusively to USB-C ports on the front.
If you flip the console around, you’ll find a pair of additional USB ports, an HDMI port, a power cable port, and an Ethernet port for wired internet (the PlayStation 5 also supports Wi-Fi).
Controller: A True Game-Changer for Haptics
The DualSense controller continues the lineage of the DualShock line, resembling the PS4’s Dual…
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