Sony dropped new PS5 hardware on October 10. The PS5 Slim continues the tradition of a slimmer and lighter design than the girthy original, but there’s plenty more in play. Let’s look at how the PS5 and PS5 Slim are really different.
If you’re a keen follower of PlayStation history, you’ll have been expecting a PS5 Slim at some point. Sony has offered refined versions off all of its consoles to date.
The PSOne reduced the original to around the size of a Discman, while the Slim nomenclature was added to slighter versions of the PS2, PS3 and PS4. Three years into the lifecycle – about the midway point traditionally speaking – the time is right for a PS5 Slim.
It weighs less and it considerably reduces the physical footprint. However, there are some other key improvements and tweaks – namely making the disc drive an add-on that can be bought with the console or at a later date.
Let’s take a closer look at the PS5 Slim vs PS5, which maintains the price of the current models.
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All-new detachable disc drive
The disc or no disc dilemma is no more. For the PS5 Slim consoles, that Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc Drive that plays physical games and media is attachable and detachable. You can buy it already attached to the console, while the Digital Edition is also available.
However, the choice is no longer permanent. Digital Edition purchasers can add the drive at a later date, as it’s available to purchase separately. It costs £99.99 / $79.99 / 119.99 Euro.
More storage
It was always strange that Sony only equipped the original PS5 models with an 825GB SSD. What an odd number! Now the company has rectified matters with the new PS5 Slim.
Both the disc and digital models come with a 1TB SSD as standard, meaning more room for your favourite games. The increase in storage is particularly pleasing when you consider the next category…
Size and weight
PS5 models have been sneakily getting lighter for a while now. The PS5 Slim with the disc is 3.2kg. That’s 18% down on the previous model. The PS4 Slim Digital Edition, meanwhile, drops to 2.6kg. That’s a full 24% reduction. Of course, adding the optional disc drive will push it back up to 3.2kg.
Both the new models carry a 30% lower volume, in terms of size. That’s a massive boost for those who don’t want a hulking great penguin-looking thing next to their television.
No change in price
The PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc drive costs £479.99 / £499.99 / 549.99 Euro, while the Digital Edition, minus the drive will be £389.99 / $449.99 / 449.99 Euro. That’s the same as the current pricing in the UK.
Same Specs
Other than the size, weight, storage and detachable drive options, Sony isn’t changing a winning formula. As far as we can tell right now the specs are otherwise identical. Same CPU , GPU and RAM for starters. There’s the same ports connectivity options, although Sony doesn’t mention the MVMe slot for expanding storage in today’s announcement. However, we can’t imagine that’s gone by the wayside. The SSD speed is the same at 5.5GB per second read speeds. The disc drive still maxes out at 100GB per disc.
