At last night's PlayStation reveal event, Sony showed off a lot of games including some heavy hitters like Gran Turismo, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Horizon 2: Forbidden West and many many more. But the showstopper of the event has to be the reveal of the PS5 console itself. Sony showed off two variants of the PS5 which will be available at launch – the PS5 and the PS5 Digital Edition. The only difference between the 2 is the absence of the Blu-ray drive from the Digital Edition. Although it isn’t clear whether we will be getting different storage options of the console.
The PS5 Console design is in line with the DualSense Controller. It has the same black and white colour scheme and from some angles looks like a router. The console has one USB-A port upfront and one USB-C port. We don't know the layout of the ports at the back of the console yet. The PS5 can be kept horizontally or vertically but it looks like the vertical stand could be a separate accessory, just like we have with the PS4. Whether you like the design or not is entirely a personal opinion, but you can’t deny the fact that it looks like something out of a sci-fi movie.
We know the specs of the Xbox Series X and the PS5 and you can check out the comparison here. This one is going to be purely about design. We have seen a teardown and deep dive into the Xbox Series X, and we know that cooling is a big deal for the console. It has an industrial design, is completely black and the vents on top have a green coloured underlying sheet giving it the green halo we see in the teaser videos. It is a simple-looking console and there is nothing wrong with that. It can be kept horizontally or vertically and you don't need an external stand for that.
The PS5, on the other hand, has a traditional rectangular design with curves instead of edges and will be available in 2 variants. One with a disk drive and one without. The one with the disc drive has more curves where the disk drive is located and the one without the disc drive is flatter. The biggest downside to the PS4’s design is that it sounds like a jet engine when playing games and Sony has said they are addressing the issue in the PS5. The PS5 can be placed both horizontally and vertically, although to place it vertically, one will need a stand.
Considering the symmetrical design of the Xbox Series X and the rectangular one of the PS5, how it fits in the aesthetic of your entertainment centre depends on the setup. One thing to note is that the Series X will blend into a home entertainment setup considering its design but the PS5 might draw attention to itself.
Twitter is abuzz comparing the sizes of the two consoles, and if the images reproduced on twitter are to be believed, then the PS5 may be taller than the Series X. Whether it will be wider in-depth as well is something to be seen. We would, however, suggest that you wait to see both consoles side by side before drawing conclusions as these are just mockups from images.
https://twitter.com/AndreasZiagl/status/1271194900441247744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Sony also announced a slew of accessories alongside the PS5 and this includes a headset (possibly optimized for the PS5’s 3D audio capabilities), an HD camera, controller charging dock and a media remote control.
There is a lot more to talk about in terms of console exclusives, services, UI, release date and above all, price. We will get to those topics in the coming days. However, one thing is certain – this is the best time to be a gamer!