The PS5 is a capable platform that provides an excellent current-generation gaming experience. Using the DualSense controller, 3D Audio, and the console’s blazing-fast SSD, its catalog of unique games excels. Though a few flaws prevent it from being perfect, it might be too big for some settings.
PS5 evaluation Design
Although the PS5 has been extensively explored, it is a very enormous piece of technology. With the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro, Sony’s 15.4 x 10.2 x 4.1-inch console eclipses all game consoles released in the last ten years. It dwarfs the Xbox Series X, its new next-generation rival, and makes the Xbox Series S appear like a toy.
The PS5’s enormous chassis enables it to deliver some serious performance while largely remaining cool and silent (which we’ll discuss in more detail later), but its size may be an issue for people who have small entertainment spaces.
If you want to stand your PS5 upright, you’ll probably need a separate tiny table unless you want to place it on the floor. In my entertainment center, I just about managed to horizontally squeeze the PS5 in. As a result, before you set up a PS5 at home, you should estimate the space you have available.
In relation to positioning, the PS5 comes with a retractable stand that enables you to set the enormous console either vertically or horizontally. The stand clamps onto the PS5’s rear port area in horizontal mode and screws into the console’s bottom in vertical mode (the PS5 comes with a screw, but no tool to screw it in).
It would be wonderful if the PS5 came with a tool for unscrewing the base, but I found it to be simple enough to attach and detach with a quarter. With the base attached, the system stands up well in vertical mode, but I discovered the base to be much more erratic in horizontal orientation. Before I could get it to lay flat and securely on the base, it took me a few tries. I ultimately managed to get the PS5 to remain horizontal in my entertainment center, but the fact that the console readily slipped off the base unless it was in the ideal position makes me wonder.
The PS5’s eye-catching, futuristic aesthetic has been the subject of much debate ever since it was unveiled, and I still have mixed feelings about it. However, I’ll likely be keeping the PS5 in horizontal orientation for most of my time with it, simply because I’m worried about accidentally tipping over the insanely tall chassis while it sits on my table (especially when my hyperactive nephews are over). Due to its pointed white side panels and the asymmetrical mass that the Blu-ray drive adds, I believe that the console appears unattractive and bulky when it is vertically positioned.
Although its curves and edges seem to shine more when it is positioned horizontally under my TV, I have grown to adore the way it looks (even if it looks like a miniature Barclays Center). A nice feature of the interior are the eye-catching LED status lights, which are more prominent and sleeker than the PS4’s status light. Also a nice little touch are the tiny, concealed PlayStation controller icons inside the inner panels. Whether you like it or not, the PS5 is a system with a ton of attention to detail and a unique appearance.
PS5 evaluation eficiency and loading times
The PS5 boasts some of the best performance ever seen from a gaming system thanks to its potent 8-core AMD Zen 2 processor, 10.3 teraflops of graphics processing power, and an absurdly quick bespoke SSD. And even though I’ve only played a small number of games made specifically to take advantage of the PS5’s capability, I’m immediately amazed with the quality, framerate, and—most importantly—loading times that Sony’s platform can provide.
On Sony’s latest console, games look beautiful, which shouldn’t be surprising. I oohed and aahed as I marveled at the stunning reds and purples of Spider-Man and his opponents leaping off the screen in 4K, making Spider-Man: Miles Morales look more like a high-end PC game than a PlayStation game. Manhattan’s towers reflected off of one another accurately, and a sequence of genuine puddles appeared in a busy Times Square, thanks to the console’s ray-tracing capability.
Miles Morales for the PS5 contains a unique Performance mode that disables features like ray tracing and uses upscaled 4K in favor of a better fps. I felt as like I was doing something that simply couldn’t be done on previous-gen consoles when I switched to this mode and sped across the city at a seamless 60 frames per second while still enjoying gorgeous sights. This made it very challenging to return to Miles Morales for the PS4, which frequently chugged below 30 frames per second.
PS5 evaluation: Price
The PS5 went on sale in the United States on November 12, 2020, and on November 19 in the United Kingdom and the majority of other countries. If you don’t mind going discless, the basic PS5, which has a 4K-Blu-ray drive, costs $499, while the PS5 Digital Edition costs $399.
We have reached a point where the PS5 is easier to locate in stock than it was previously. Still, don’t expect to find it for a bargain.
Performances and graphics
Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Devil May Cry 5, and Bugsnax were the only next-generation exclusives available when the platform originally launched, although this list has inevitably grown during the course of the console’s first two years.
Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Forbidden West, and God of War Ragnarök, among others, have demonstrated how fantastic PS5 games can look, even if concurrent last-gen releases of first-party games may have prevented some of them from realizing their full visual potential.
Similar to the Xbox Series X, the PS5 can achieve 120 frames per second performance when paired with displays that support HDMI 2.1, though two years into the console’s life, there are still only a few games that can achieve such performance levels at the moment, and the graphical trade-offs are frequently too much for some.
Variable refresh rate (VRR), which enables compatible HDMI 2.1 TVs and monitors to dynamically sync their refresh rates with the output of the system for smoother gaming with less screen tearing, was not supported by the PS5 at launch. In addition, some PS5 games have a high refresh rate (HRR) mode that, depending on the activity on the screen, can push the game’s goal refresh rate anywhere between 60Hz and 120Hz. Although these features ought to have been available right away, it’s fantastic to see that players now have more choices.
I made the decision to compare the loading times of some of the greatest platform exclusives between PS4 Pro and PS5 Pro given its strong emphasis on backwards compatibility. The findings below show that the changes are evident right away. Every test was performed by loading directly into a save file from the main menu.
