We’re all used to Sony dominating the high-end console market with the excellent PS4, but what makes the PS5 different -and is it really worth buying in 2021?

The PlayStation 4 (PS4) has dominated the high-end console market since its successful launch in 2013.

The successor to the troubled PS3, the PS4 did away with every major issue its older sibling had – an eye-watering launch price, bad launch titles and awful performance from 3rd party ports – none of these problems affected PS4, much to all of our collective relief!

But now it’s all about the PlayStation 5. Launched in late 2020, Sony’s latest generation of system looks to build on the incredible success of its predecessor as, unlike with PS3 and it’s innovative Cell processor, PS5 carries over the same x86 architecture as PS4, the industry standard for all modern computers, allowing for backwards compatibility with virtually every PS4 title. It also has a custom SoC designed by AMD, just like PS4.

So, on a fundamental level, the PS4 and PS5 share a lot in common, but what’s actually different about them?

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Of course, PS5 is a lot more powerful than PS4, that’s a given. With that aside, let’s look at all the other significant aspects that differentiate the two Sony systems.

PS5’s Massive Two-tone Design

Before we got to sample any gameplay for ourselves or pour over benchmarks, we got to see the look of the PlayStation 5 at the PS5 official reveal event on June 11th 2020.

Unlike the OG PS4, which had an understated design, a slim and slanted black rectangle that resembled a couple of modest hardback books stacked slightly awkwardly on top of one and other, the PS5 took on the appearance of a bulging beast.

A massively tall black shell so packed with powerful innards it had to try and hold in the fat with an ill-fitting white plastic jacket.

The sheer size, unseen to date in the home console market, was mocked for both being shocking to behold and impractical for most people’s home media units.

In fact, the crazy dimensions of the PS5 became an instant meme classic. We made fun of the PS5’s massive size in a humour piece ourselves.

The contrast between black and white was also a surprise, considering most modern systems look to minimise their visual impact through various shades of matte and glossy black, all the better to fit in with your other muted electronics.

Still, the choice was bold and a refreshing departure from what everyone expected.

Such is the desire to have an all-black PS5 though, various companies including Dbrand are attempting to sell custom coloured side plates for the system, daring Sony to sue them in the process!

Hopefully, Sony will either offer their own custom side plates or at least allow third parties to do so without legal threats. We’re not holding our breath here.

As for how to place the system in a horizontal alignment, the PlayStation 5 requires an awkward stand due to its rounded shape, which led to an embarrassing incident in which the PS5 was accidentally placed upside down by one of Sony’s own executives – ouch!

The DualSense Controller

One of the most pleasantly surprising upgrades for PS5 was its controller, the DualSense.

Ever since the Xbox 360 redefined what a good controller should be back in 2005, Sony gamers have been craving a controller that can live up to the innate ergonomic qualities of Microsoft’s premier offering.

Although the Dual Shock 4 was considered a decent effort when it launched alongside PS4, it still felt inferior to the Xbox controller.

Fast-forward to the here and now though and its clear Sony have finally solved this niggling problem.

Both in ergonomics and build-quality, with a lovely premium look of black and white which matches perfectly with the console, the DualSense is a major improvement over anything Sony had produced previously.

But the major innovation is its high-resolution haptic feedback and variable tension triggers – something its rivals completely lack. Words cannot explain how good the feedback you get through the new controller really is. You need to feel it for yourself.

The DualSense also has a built-in mic, so in theory, you don’t need to use headphones while using chat, as the mic also has built-in noise cancelling. We wouldn’t recommend it as your main method for multiplayer sessions, as the DualSense’s in-built speaker is pretty feeble, but it’s good to know it’s there if you need it.

Overall, the DualSense addresses all of the weaknesses of Sony’s previous efforts, whilst retaining it’s distinct PlayStation identity. A home run.

Solid-State Storage Finally Comes to Console

Perhaps the greatest difference between last-gen systems and the new consoles is the inclusion of SSD storage.

For context, as a stop-gap solution to cater to the emerging popularity of 4K TVs, Both Sony and Microsoft released interim consoles in the form of PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

But despite the major GPU upgrades for both systems, both were held back from delivering on their full potential by their ancient mechanical hard drives.

SSDs were not at all uncommon back in 2013, let alone 2016, but nonetheless left out of games consoles due to their steep cost.

Fast-forward to 2020 and the price has fallen far enough that the latest SSD standard, M.2 NVMe, has been adopted by PS5 and Xbox Series X – albeit with less overall storage space onboard than is ideal.

Not only is solid-state storage more reliable – as there are no moving parts that could wear out or could crash if the system were to be dropped – but completely silent as well.

And as for outright performance, SSDs are on another planet compared to traditional HDDs, with PS5 storage up 100x faster than on PS4.

In real-world use, this means almost complete elimination of loading screens is possible with properly developed PS5 titles. Making Sony’s latest system feel more like an old-fashioned cartridge-based console like the Super Nintendo in how quickly it can throw you into the action.

PS5’s 4K HDR Interface

The design language may be pretty similar to PS4, but the PS5’s user interface includes a number of major innovations.

First off is the gorgeous rendering. Unlike Microsoft, Sony has gone all out on making the UI as beautiful as possible, with a full 4K and HDR presentation throughout. Images, artwork and particle effects are all showcased to the highest visual standard.

There are plenty of changes in the back-end too, with the inclusion of PS5 activity cards that not only let you jump straight to a particular level in a game – forgoing the traditional loading sequence – but can also act as in-game tips and tutorials, directly integrated into the systems UI. Which makes the whole process of obtaining trophies or completing difficult sections of a game much easier to navigate.

The PlayStation Store has also had a makeover, now integrated directly into the UI rather than a separate app that users have to fire up in order to explore the latest offers.

All in all, the whole experience is both more sophisticated and a lot more beautiful to look at. It’s true that, as of this writing, there are some niggling usability issues with the new design, but we’re sure they’ll be ironed-out in upcoming updates.

Conclusion

If you’re sitting on the next-gen fence, wondering whether there’s really much difference between PS4 and PS5, aside from the obvious boost in graphics power, we hope this article has helped to shed some light on the many differences that do in fact exist between the systems.

The PS5 is not only a powerful beast, but it is truly next-gen in its innovations and improvements that establish it firmly as fresh and forward-looking in its own right.

If you’re a PS4 veteran, we highly recommend the leap to PS5 in 2021, if you can actually find a PlayStation 5 available to buy anywhere anytime soon that is! But that’s a whole other story…