The PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition were released in November 2020 and were incredibly hard to find at the time of their release. Whilst it is getting slightly easier to source a console, given their popularity, they are still on the pricier side. The PS5 is Playstation’s latest console and Playstation have since discontinued manufacturing all of their PS4 models. The PS5 Pro is expected to be released in November 2024 and, if you are after a handheld console, we would highly recommend the Nintendo Switch.
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PS5 & PS5 Digital Edition Buying Guide
The PS4 has been one of the leading consoles in the gaming world ever since its release in November of 2013. PlayStation have been loath to mess with a winning formula, which is why there has been no massive upgrade on the device in the years that have followed. Whilst the PS4 Pro was released in 2016, it was more of a subtle improvement on the tried and tested rather than a complete re-design of PlayStation’s market-leading console.
That has all changed with the release of the PS5, which has essentially seen the device redesigned from the ground up. That manifests itself in a high-speed Solid State Drive, 3D audio and a custom CPU and GPU. If you want things to load even faster then you can opt for the Digital Edition, which does away with disc drives altogether and runs everything digitally. Whichever version you opt for, there’s a whole raft of new games to play.
What Is New
It’s hard not to write ‘everything’ in response to the question of what’s new in the PlayStation 5. Even if you only look at the basics then you’ll find that it allows for 8K output and 120-frames-per-second, both of which make it visually sensational. It is Sony’s most powerful device ever, so you can expect everything to work faster and smoother than ever before. Hardware ray tracing will allow more realistic shadows and reflections, for example.
Purely in terms of the technical specifications of the new device, Sony have opted for a ‘go big or go home’ approach. The CPU promises 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz with variable frequency, whilst the GPU is also variable frequency and is 36CUs at 2.23GHz. The GPU architecture is customised RDNA 2, whilst the memory is 16GB GDDR6 with 448GB/s bandwidth. It’s the SSD that is key to speed, though, and is blisteringly fast.
The Key Factors
Whether you’re thinking of buying the PS5 or the PS5 Digital Edition, there are a number of key factors that it’s worth drawing your attention to. These are the things that separate the model out from the PS4, ensuring that it truly is the next generation of PlayStation. There’s obviously some crossover, such as PS Plus being available on either model, but there are also some things that genuinely set the new console apart.
Ray Tracing
The PlayStation 5’s ray tracing capability is part of the reason the games you can play on the device look like next level offerings. The technology works by tracing each ray of simulated light from its source, giving the impression of photo-realistic graphics. If you’re after some sort of comparison to give you a sense of what we’re talking about, you might want to bear in mind that it’s the technology major film companies use in their CG work.
The graphics technology of ray tracing ensures that games look about as realistic as its possible for them to do in the modern era. The likes of Gran Turismo 7 and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart are examples of new games that make brilliant use of the technology. The fact that Sony have mentioned this realistic way of simulating light pretty much every times the company has talked about the new console tells you just how game-changing they think it will be.
Games
Let’s be honest, a new console can be the most powerful device on the market but if the games aren’t good enough then you’re not going to be all that interested in playing it. Sony wants users to ‘Play Without Limits’ as far as its PS5 marketing is concerned, which helps to explain why the company is releasing a whole host of new games alongside the console. The fact that PlayStation is the baby of Sony, which has a huge backlog of games to work with, is good news for players.
There’s a wealth of games that are exclusive to the PS5, including an upgrade to Astro’s Playroom. The likes of Demon’s Soul, Destruction AllStars and God of War Ragnarok are also available especially for PS5 owners. Gran Turismo 7 and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales will be hugely popular, as will the re-masted version of Marvel’s Spider-Man. That includes a new 60-frames-per-second mode, increasing performance massively.
Backwards Compatibility
People that own a PS4 and have spent a lot of money accruing games for that device will be pleased to know that the PS5 offers backwards compatibility for all titles. Not only that, but selected titles have been given an ‘upgrade path’, meaning that you can get the PS5 version of certain PS4 titles at no extra cost. It is a title specific scheme, but it will be a big help for people looking to save a little bit of money here and there.
At the time of writing, we don’t know a huge amount about whether you’ll be able to play games from the PS1, PS2 or PS3 on the PlayStation 5, but doubtless Sony will look to do whatever they can to help people out on that front. It’s all about allowing people to play as many games as they can, with Sony happy to allow people to do that because they’re confident that once they see the power of the PS5 users will be keen to play the latest titles.
The DualSense Controller
PS4 users will be well-versed in the use of the DualShock controller, but Sony have decided to give the way you play games and use your PlayStation a complete overhaul when it comes to the PS5. DualSense is the title given to the new controller, earning the name thanks to its ability to help completely immerse you in your gaming experience. Haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are a key component of that, whilst the overall look is one of space-age futurism.
Imagine if the PlayStation’s DualShock controller had been given a rebrand in order to look a little bit like a Star Wars Stormtrooper. That’s what the DualSense controller looks like, with plenty to love about it because of that. White is the new dominant colour of the controller, with black also in there to give it a two-tone look. Everything you’d expect to be there is there, it just looks awesome whilst also being entirely thrilling to use.
3D Audio
Sitting alongside the visual benefits of ray tracing is a new 3D Audio aspect to the PS5 that gives an auditory experience that users will love. Powered by the Tempest Engine, which is proprietary technology, it simulates spatial positioning to give users the genuine feeling that they’re engulfed in a 3D world. There are thousands of different sound sources at play, meaning that everything will sound more natural and realistic.
To give you an example of how it will work, imagine you’re playing a game in which someone walks alongside you. The PS5 has the ability to position the sound of the footsteps to your side rather than all around you, giving you the impression that they’re really there with you. This will allow for new dynamics in game play, including the ability to impair your character’s vision and force you to use your sense of sound to navigate the world that you’re in.
PS5 vs PS5 Digital Edition
You may well have noticed that we haven’t drawn much attention to the differences between the PS5 and the PS5 Digital Edition yet. That’s because in many ways, there aren’t any. The key difference between the two devices is that the PS5 Digital Edition doesn’t have a disc drive, so absolutely everything you wish to do with the console will need to be streamed or downloaded. The PS5, on the other hand, can play games and Blu-Rays that are on discs.
Other than that, the two machines are pretty much the same. The only other major difference is that the Digital Edition will be cheaper to buy, but even that isn’t quite as good as it might seem on the outside, as we’ll explain shortly. The outward design of the two models differs slightly, with the PS5 being a bit fatter where the disc drive is located, which perhaps means that the Digital Edition is a bit sleeker than its sister console.
Other than the body’s outline, the two devices opt for the same white-collared shell that supplies a gap to the body in order to aid ventilation. The measurements are 39 centimetres by 26 centimetres by 14 centimetres, making it the biggest console that Sony has ever produced. They boast the same ultra-high speed SSD, 3D audio and ray tracking, pays they both offer 825 GB of storage and 8K video support.
What to Think About
Essentially, you’re in for the same under the hood experience regardless of which version of the PS5 you opt for. That means that you’re in for a treat in terms of your game-playing and might well wonder why on earth you’d choose to spend more money buying the PS5 over the PS5 Digital Edition. The answer, of course, comes in the form of both what you already own and what you’re likely to own in the future.
If you have a library of PlayStation 4 games that you’d like to keep playing then you’ll struggle to be able to use them on the PS5 Digital Edition unless you bought them on the PS Store. The inability to put a game disc into the console will mean that you’ll almost certainly have to buy a new digital version of the game to go along with your new console. Yes the ‘upgrade path’ will be available on some titles, but it’s unlikely to be all of them.
The other issue with the PS5 Digital Edition is that you’re pretty much locked into using the PS Store to buy the games that you wish to play. You might not think that’s a massive issue, but when you consider that online stores often offer physical copies of games for much less money than their digital counterparts cost, you’re going to end up paying a lot more for the ability to play every title you fancy on the PS5 Digital Edition than the straight PS5.
Just as one example, we saw one game that was £60 on the PS Store but £40 on an online shopping platform, so you’d only need to buy a few games before you’d spent more on the PS5 Digital Edition. That’s if we’re only talking about games. For people that own a wealth of Blu-Rays, DVDs and CDs that they might wish to play on the PS5, you’ll have to either buy digital versions or sign up to a load of streaming services to get them on the PS5 Digital Edition.
Is It Worth the Upgrade?
The PlayStation 5 is a totally new gaming experience that will blow even the PS4 Pro out of the water in terms of gameplay. As developers get to grips with the machines’ capabilities, the games will get better and better. Visually the games are stunning, whilst the 3D audio allows what your ears hear to match what your eyes will be seeing. It is the fastest, most impressive console that’s on the market right now.
Combine that with the fact that Sony are offering the people the ability to cut the cord with physical games thanks to the PS5 Digital Edition and you can see just what a tectonic shift in the market the new machine’s launch is offering. When the PS4 Pro came out it wasn’t necessarily all that easy to say that PS4 owners should definitely upgrade. That’s not the case now, however, with owners of any previous PlayStation iteration in for a treat with the new console.