Now isn’t the best time to buy a PS5, so know what you’re in for first.
There’s arguably never been a worse time to be a PlayStation fan or buy a PS5, with systems more than half a decade old costing more now than they did at release. RAMageddon is screwing tech fans worldwide, and Sony seems dead-set on burning the goodwill it’s built up. We’re at a particularly bad point to invest in a game console.
While both the PS5 and upgraded PS5 Pro are great systems, neither represents decent value for money right now — especially when we don’t have any idea when a PlayStation 6 is going to launch.
PlayStation’s discless future is anti-consumer
Sony won’t put games on discs starting in 2028, which means when the PS6 eventually comes out, it won’t support physical games. Sony is seemingly doubling down on killing disc-based media going forward, per FlatpanelsHD’s reporting that the UBP-X700/K will be the last 4K Blu-ray player the company manufactures.
So as of 2028, Sony will end the PlayStation’s legacy as a true media hub. That’s frustrating given how many past consoles made strides in this area. The PS2’s DVD playback was a huge part of its enormous popularity, while the PS3 was one of the most affordable Blu-ray players of its time. I stood in line to buy a PS2 on November 24, 2000 not just to play EA’s snowboarding classic SSX, but also because that system let me play my brand-new DVD copy of Jurassic Park for the first time. Discovering chapter skip and DVD extras on what’s still my favorite film of all time was an awesome moment.
That will all be gone soon. GTA VI will just be a code in a box if you buy the “physical” version, for example. Soon, there won’t be an option to loan games to friends or take advantage of in-store sales.
I take a share of the blame for the switch to digital. During this generation, the only PS5 games I’ve bought on disc, out of my 36-title PS5 library, are Demon’s Souls, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, God of War Ragnarök and Saros. That means I’ve purchased a mere 11 percent of my PlayStation 5 games physically over the six years I’ve owned the console, which feels wrong as a self-proclaimed defender of physical media.
No version of the PS5 is cheap
Not only are the two launch models, supercharged Pro and svelte PS5 Slim not cheap, all four machines are significantly more expensive than when they first launched. In past generations, consoles have gotten cheaper the longer they’re on the market. But in the era of extreme RAM shortages, where Sony is forced to hike up hardware costs because memory and SSD prices have never been more expensive, gamers’ wallets are being hit hard.
When the original disc drive PlayStation 5 and cheaper Digital Edition launched in North America on November 12, 2020, their respective $499 and $399 price tags were pretty reasonable — especially considering the PS4’s $400 launch price and the PS3’s infamous $599 from 14 years prior.
Want to pick up either the disc drive PS5 or discless version now? It will cost you $649 for the disc-equipped system, or $599 if you don’t care about physical games. That means the PS5 is now 30 percent (disc) and 50 percent (digital) more expensive than in 2020. Ouch. At least the disc model has 1TB of storage compared to 825GB at launch, though the Digital Slim has dropped to the lower storage amount again.
Not surprisingly, the PS5 Pro has seen its own increases. When the beefed-up console launched in Nov 7 2024, it cost $699. Now, it will put a massive $899 dent in your bank balance — if you can find one. We’re in the middle of a PS5 Pro shortage because people are desperate for a mythic GTA VI 60 fps performance mode that neither Rockstar or Sony have confirmed ahead of launch. Still, that hasn’t stopped cheeky third-party Amazon sellers from trying to charge $1,449 for a used PS5 Pro. But hey, at least the optional Slim/Pro disc drive still costs the same $79 as it did upon the upgraded console’s arrival.
The PS5 Pro is powerful, but its CPU holds it back
The PlayStation 5 Pro is the most powerful video game console of all time. Yet as impressive as the Pro’s specs are, it can’t hold a candle to the most powerful gaming PCs. Even though it packs considerably more graphical grunt under the hood than the standard PS5, one key component somewhat holds back its full potential.
On the CPU front, the PS5 Pro’s processor upgrade over the standard console is modest. Both consoles use AMD Zen 2 eight core/16 thread processors. The Pro upgrade is that its chip is clocked at 3.85GHz vs. the standard PS5’s 3.5GHz clock. In real-world terms, that’s just a 10 percent upgrade; such a measly bump is likely why we’re not seeing 90 fps modes in CPU-intensive PS5 titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Dragon’s Dogma 2 on the Pro.
From a GPU standpoint, the PS5 Pro’s specs look a lot more robust next to the vanilla PS5. The Pro’s graphical solution outputs 16.7 TFLOPS of GPU compute power, compared to the base PlayStation 5’s (still respectable) 10.3 FLOPS. That’s a polygon-pushing 45 percent boost. The number of GPU compute units is also heavily in favor of the Pro, with the newer system having a 60-36 advantage over the standard PS5.
PSSR 2.0 upscaling tech also makes Resident Evil Requiem and Saros look incredible on the Pro. Yet with Sony bringing AI upscaling to the base PS5 — in the form of Quick Spectral Super Resolution or “QSSR” — the gap between the two consoles has become thinner.
The PS5 is arguably the ugliest console Sony has ever made
A few friends of mine who hadn’t gamed since the PS2 era all bought PS5s during the pandemic, but none of them proudly show off their OG launch model. I’m sure this is in no small part due to their significant others who all see Sony’s latest console for what it is: an eyesore. My pals’ PS5s are all stuffed inside entertainment cabinets so their better halves don’t have to look at them.
I can just about tolerate my PS5 Pro placed in a vertical position (courtesy of its optional stand). Then again, I’m a single gamer with very little design sense who has built his living room around a 77-inch OLED TV and clichéd reclining chair. I think every version of the PS5 is even more offensive when placed on its side, as they resemble misshapen Blu-ray players.
For folks with spouses and children, I completely understand why the bulky PS5 would look ghastly. All those jutting lines and the protruding disc tray are not easy on the eye. It’s slightly better for the discless Digital Edition PS5 and the fact you don’t have to attach a drive to either the Pro or PS5 Slim, as those console shapes are a little more uniform. Either way, no member of the PS5 family is an objectively good-looking piece of technology.