Sony - PlayStation 5 Console

It was quite difficult to pre-order the PS5, but I truly lucked out because even with all the restocks certain retailers have had... it is still unbelievably hard to place the order. I hope anyone that still wants one gets one soon because it really is unfair that the gamers aren't able to land one whilst scalpers have thousands. The PS5 has run beautifully and so intelligently from what I've experienced. The set up was of course easy and fast. The new UI is smooth and I definitely like it more than the old one on the PS4. The Dualsense Controller is AMAZING. It is probably the next best thing (only second to the console itself) with the way it works. It's not as slippery like the Dualshock and feels great in hand. Even after hours of gaming, I did not feel any fatigue in my hands. The battery life is probably similar to its predecessor. Overall, the console runs very smoothly and I have not experienced any sort of loudness with it. I do recommend when playing games, to choose performance over the resolution. You will absolutely get a higher FPS and I think it just runs a lot better that way. Would highly recommend this to anyone that wants to experience next gen even though we've just merely begun to play those games.

Going over hardware and software. Not going over the every exact technical specs as you can easily look that up. Software can change overtime, this is review of software at launch. If any hardware hiccups or failures in near future I'll update this review --Hardware: Physical: Looks futuristic yet tacky. In my personal opinion, looks doesn't really matter as long it can play next gen games well Large console. Standing up it's the tallest home video console. A lot of air-vents throughout making it aerodynamic, cool, quiet, and does not overheat or get hot with consecutive gameplay hours. This may change in the future if games require more performance out of the system, with similar fate like the PS4 where it was whisper quiet in beginning and became louder over the years with more graphical intensive games. Has LED lights giving it a PC look (?) Face plate easy to take out for future customization options (?). 667of 820gb of free download space in console Swapping SDD is not as easy as Xbox Series X (with it's plug and play method) as you have to remove some screws. Upside is that it's standard and not a propriety SDD. PS5 is compatible with most PS4 games. If you have an external SDD from PS4 it's just plug and transfer to PS5 internal storage Comes with stand. Console is not entirely flat, so stand is required for horizontal position. You have console in vertical position without stand, but does not have grip (rubber feet) so may slide if bumped into or during an earthquake Front of console: USB-C, USB-A, power, and eject button Back of console: Two USB-A (Super Speed), LAN port, HDMI, and power port Wished it had more USB-C ports to be future proof, but guess they kept USB-A for some current accessories to be backwards compatible. Disappointed the PS5 official 3D pulse headset and camera uses USB-A. Also no optical audio port means i can't use some of my surround sound headsets. Load times for PS5 games are instantaneous. Ps4 games will load much faster, even without optimized patch. Ps5 have ray tracing giving games realistic lighting effects -Controller: Console comes with one controller Physically larger than past DuelShock controllers. Great for those with adult sized hands Great tech demo included with 'Astro's Playroom'. Haptic feedback. Similar to Nintendo Switch HD rumble, but more apparent. Not sure if developers will implement in future their games. Even with Nintendo first party; only '1-2 Switch' and 'Mario Party' from what I recall used HD rumble at great extent and it dropped off after that. Adaptive triggers. Will feel resistance/push back on triggers if developers implement it in game. Hope both Haptic feedback and Adaptive triggers say the entire lifespan and transfer to PS6 instead of dropping off like the six axis on PS3 and light bar in PS4 Has built in mic. Sound quality is similar to current smart phone on speaker. Has mute button Similar to PS4, it has speaker and touch pad. Touch pad is more sensitive this time around About double battery life of Ps4 controller. Able to get in 10 consecutive hours Wished it came with back paddle buttons. Hopefully they release a DualSense Back Button Attachment like they did the DualShock 4 You can play PS4 games with DualShock 4 or DualSense . PS5 games only can be played with DualSense --Software UI, OS is the similar to PS4 with scrolling apps/games (left, right, up, down) There's an activity row where you can track your progress on games Other rows are News and PSN store There are notifications popups, but you can turn on 'Do Not Disturb' mode Similar to phone's swipe down tool bar for basic profile (trophy list, avatar, user info,etc), accessibility options, sound, Game Base, internet wifi select, controllers (see connected controllers), etc on home screen for easy access. 'Game Base' section is where you make party with friends and chat with them, view friend requests. Share button this time around will pull up menu to take snap shot, record video, or save video previously played game session for up to 60mins There's an 'Your Accolades' feature where you give props to other players. Reminds me of how to give endorsements (Sportsmanship, Good Teammate, Shot Caller) in Overwatch to encourage positivity in online community. For PS5 has Helpful, Welcoming, and Good Sport There are accessibility options/preferences you can setup that transfers to your games There's a 'Switcher' option where you can change games on the fly, but unlike the Xbox Series X's 'quick resume' does not leave where you left off, and will boot you back to the home screen of that game Picture-in-picture mode if you want friends to help show you how to get through levels PS4 games load faster on PS5 if downloaded to SSD. Graphical upgrade depends on publisher if they implement a 'PS5 upgrade" patch -For PS5 trophies. Trophies that have collectables there is a progress bar showing how much left to collect. There are also tutorial videos for some games that implement it. Some trophies once selected will drop you into the level/section where you can obtain the trophy. Again depends on game developer if they implement it. PS4 trophies on PS5 act the same Base price for games are $70 ($10 more than last gen); Excluding Special/Collector's editions, DLC, micro-transactions, loot crates, and surprise mechanics Overall, aside from some odd design choices very capable next gen system. There are some features especially on the controller that developers have to utilize and may not be present in all games. If anything like the PS3 and PS4, going to have thousands of gameplay hours on this system

An actual buyer here!!! The console has been great. No issues so far (Crosses fingers). No glitches (like many who don’t work in the tech field claim). I’ve tried plenty of PS4 games and they all work normal. I have Spiderman, 2K, COD and Valhalla and they are all good games. The adaptive triggers on the controller definitely stand out as a highlight. I turn them off for multiplayer in COD because they can be a distraction. I’m sure the Xbox has some benefits, but I’m sticking with Sony. Hope everyone is able to get the console they want.

Best Buy did a great job with pain free purchase on an item that was very hard to find anywhere else. Everything about this purchase was excellent. It was my first time doing curbside pickup and it was great. I was literally in the parking lot less then 10 minutes. The woman who came out with it was so nice. This was a late Christmas present for my 15 year old. He loves it! He says it has lightning fast loading speeds. Graphics are gorgeous. You can play old games as well as new. The controls are awesome! No complaints. We did buy an extra control so two can play. Or one to charge while one is in use. And be patient with set up. It took us at least and hour to set up, because of our internet download speeds. But no delays while playing.

Unboxing Unboxing the console was a pleasant experience with all the peripherals well laid out and packaged. The items were easy to remove and lay out for set up. Connecting If you’ve set up a console within the last five years you should be able to set up the console without any worries and start enjoying in no time. Using the console The biggest change from previous generations would be the DualSense controller. After setting up the console, I highly recommend launching the included Astro’s Playroom to grasp the full engineering and technical genius behind this new controller. It definitely is a game changer. Pros - Beautiful system and controller - Fast load times - Excellent graphics and gameplay - Can play physical games and not just downloaded titles Cons - Challenging to get at retail price - No many games optimized for the system yet Overall this a great console and I would recommend it to everyone considering purchasing. Don’t pay more than retail for it though, I suggest you wait until you can get it at retail price, it’s not worth paying more.

The PS5 runs great.. It is quiet and cool running! Games look and run amazing on it! I do have some gripes on how to see what DLC you own for Ps4 games on your PS5... When you select “View Content” or Manage Content” on the old PS 4 under any games option in your library would show an Itemized list of all the DLC owned for that particular game which was perfect to see things like your Season passes or any kind of DLC you own for that game.. Well, for whatever non-bright reason Sony decided on the Ps5 With All the backwards compatible PS 4 games now when you select “View Content” for your Ps4 games instead of the DLC you own being specifically itemized like on the PS4 they decided to change it to be able to see a total amount of DLC for that PS4 game.. For example, if you own a game like Far Cry 4 or 5 and have all the DLC on the PS4 You can see the specific DLC like Season pass, skins, map packs, etc. you own, but on PS5 for all PS4 games installed It just says “Currently, 8 game content items are installed. Theres no other game content you can install.” But, for PS5 Games they left it the same, unchanged as it was on the Ps4 to when you select “manage game” on a Ps5 game it shows you all the specific itemized DLC just like it did on the PS4 ... I dont know why all the backwards compatible ps4 games they changed to only see a total of DLC owned is a bad move... This needs to change as when you have a game that you did not play in a while and not sure if you own things like the season pass it was easy to check on the PS4 but, now you have to further dig into your main account to see what DLC you specifically own for that PS4 game... It makes no sense why they changed the way we can see our DLC purchases with a specific game to just total it with no descriptions or thumbnails like Microsoft still does on their side on the Series X.. On Xbox Series X I can still see all the Old Xbox 360 itemized DLC when I select “Manage Game content” I dont know why Sony took itemized DLC which was perfect to see what you fully own easily changing it to make it more complicated only seeing a total amount of DLC not knowing if you own a $3 skin for that game or $20-$30 season pass. If I buy a game on sale I might not play it right away so when it comes time to play it sometimes I need to double check fast what DLC or extra maps if I got them yet or not and on the PS5 it is now much more of a hassle to check what PS4 DLC you have... If Microsoft can still itemize there xbox 360 games DLC on a series X then Sony could have left it like the Ps4 as well as you can see All itemized DLC with the Ps5 games the same. Ps4 games on the PS5 should be able to view all the Itemized DLC and not just total it with no details. There is no logic to this change and it needs to be fixed ASAP... I love the console but, do not like that I cant see an itemized list of the tons of DLC I bought for my PS4 games. Why change the way DLC is viewed for Ps4 games when that worked perfect before.. Not sure but this was a mistake on Sony’s behalf.

4.5/5 Pros: -Most PS4 games load quicker and look better. -Dualsense features; adaptive triggers, rumble, and a microphone up the ante if all previous controllers, and has good battery life. -Next Gen games; I also own the Xbox Series X, 6 months later the PS5 has only 2 or 3 "true nest gen games" while the Xbox has only enhanced Xbox one games. I highly recommend Demons Souls. -Design allows it to run quietly. -Great price. If you can find one at retail, $500 is absolutely a steal for the included tech; the Bill of Materials is somewhere around $800+. Cons: -$70 games. 10 dollars more than PS4 games add up. -Design is big and garish; it definitely stands out in an entertainment center, which is often opposite of what a game console should do. -Software; the OS has less features than the PS4 and no equivalent to Quick Resume which allows the Xbox Seires X to run more than one game at a time. -825GB SSD isn't even enough for 6 months of use, and adding compatible high speed storage isn't user friendly and cost prohibitive. -Loud disc drive; though the fan stays relatively quiet, if you have a disc in, it gets loud, and worse yet, it occasionally (every 1 hr or so) will spin the disc, even while playing non-related digital or steaming material.

Overall the PS5 is great. Games run at a steady frame rate, load times are basically instantaneous and the controller is something you really have to feel for yourself to understand how immersive it makes the experience. However, there is an issue with most, if not all launch models including mine. If you have an external storage device hooked up to the console and a disc inserted the console says "unsupported disc". You then have to either disconnect the external storage device or simply open another game and close out for that disc to be read. It's probably the worst issue Sony could have given that the PS5 only has 600 something GB of storage after the OS is installed to begin with. If it's a firmware issue it can be patched but if this is a hardware issue then there are going to be a lot of recalled PS5 consoles. There are a lot of people trying to get ahold of these right now but with this issue it wouldn't be a bad idea to wait a few months until it's resolved. In all I'm giving it 5 stars because it really is an amazing console, I just hope they can can fix the external storage bug with an update.