Play Station 5

PS5 release date: November 12 (US) / November 19 (UK)

The PS5 is a monster of a machine for starters, with Blade Runner-esque skyscraper looks and a rare sensitivity to users with existing games libraries. It is almost fully compatible with the vast number of PS4 games, something we've not really experienced before with a Sony machine: complete backward compatibility. Yet it also gives us something new and fresh ? a delicious prospect.

 

However, before you rush headlong into our review, we have to point out that, for now, we can't talk about some specific aspects of the PS5 yet. The day one system software and/or apps were not quite ready at the time of writing, so a few areas will be improved in the coming week and thus we cannot, hand on heart, review areas we cannot yet access. We'll update this review when we can ? before the US release date ? and will add anything that we have purposely missed out this time. That includes media playback, the PlayStation Store and 4K Blu-ray performance.

 

The PS5 is mere weeks away now, and we finally have the various pieces of the PlayStation 5 puzzle. We now know the PS5 price, the PS5 launch games, the staggered release date, and even the delicious new PS5 UI.

 

The price is now locked at $499 / ?449 for the standard PS5, and $399 / ?349 for the Digital Edition. The release date is staggered as the rumours suggested, with the first wave launching November 12 (which includes the US, Canada, and Australia), and the rest of the world will get it on November 19.

 

The big PS5 reveal event in June was seriously exciting, delivering us games galore, and our first look at the PS5 design, not to mention PS5 accessories.

 

PS5 release date: November 12 (US) / November 19 (UK)

Price: $499 / ?449 (Digital Edition $399 / ?349)

"With PlayStation 5, we are making a significant leap to deliver a truly new generation of transformative play experiences that will redefine expectations for what games can be," said Jim Ryan, president, and CEO of SIE.

 

"Worlds will be richer and more beautiful, they'll captivate your senses in ways you didn't think possible, and you'll be able to experience them much more seamlessly, with lightning-fast loading. Today's showcase is just a glimpse of what's to come in the next generation, and we want to thank our community for taking this journey to PS5's launch with us."

 

Hardware

CPU: Octa-core Zen 2 CPU / GPU: 10.3 TFLOPS

Memory: 16GB of GDDR6 RAM

Storage: 825GB SSD (667GB available to user)

SSD storage card slot (not activated at launch)

Inside the PlayStation 5, you get a whole lot of bang for your buck. It might not be the most powerful next-gen games console on paper, but it has more than enough power to present games at their very best ? both native PS5 titles and PS4 through backward compatibility.

 

Design

Dimensions: 390 x 104 x 260mm (excluding base and longest projection) / Weight: 4.5kg

Connections: HDMI 2.1, 3x USB 3.1, USB-C, Ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1

It took a long while between the PS5 being officially confirmed and images/video of it to emerge (the Digital Edition too). Let's just say that it was quite a shock when it was finally unveiled.

 

DualSense controllers

New controller with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers

Built-in microphone, speaker, motion sensors

Battery: 1,560mAh, USB-C charging

Also radically different from what we've had before is the DualSense controller. It continues with some of the technologies first introduced with the DualShock 4 but adds significant new ones for good measure.

 

The shape of the DualSense is more Xbox than PlayStation, and while that might come as a shock to some die-hard fans, you soon get used to it. Same with the slight ridge around the underside that apes the faceplates on the console. It feels odd at first but not for long.

 

User experience

?         Backward compatible with thousands of PS4 games

?         New content rich homescreen

?         4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player

?         Storage space aside, everything else about the PlayStation 5 impresses us, including the all-new user experience.

 

From the moment you boot the console and sign in, you are treated to a much more content rich experience. It's faster than the UX on PS4, but also much prettier. Games ? accessible through a top scroll bar that's smaller than before ? now come with their own backdrops and, in the case of PS5 titles, theme music that plays on the homescreen as you browse.

 

Performance

2160p 60fps, up to 120fps possible; 8K support for future use

Ray-tracing and HDR10 support

Tempest 3D AudioTech

For complete transparency, the only native PS5 games we've played to date are Astro's Playroom ? which comes free with the console ? and Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

 

Games

PlayStation Plus Collection of 20 classic PS4 games available to PS Plus members

One of PlayStation's big wins throughout the PS4 era was its uncanny ability to churn out streams of five-star exclusives. That is likely to continue with the PS5. However, at launch things will be a little more muted.