Sony has unveiled two versions of the PlayStation 5 console, a 'Digital Edition' and one with an UHD Blu-ray drive. It also announced a media remote control.
Here's Sony PlayStation 5
Sony had already revealed many details about PlayStation 5. It will support 4K120, up to 8K graphics, 3D Audio (Tempest Engine), and ray-tracing for games.
Sony had also confirmed that PS5 will feature an UHD Blu-ray drive. However, the launch event took a surprising turn when the company announced that it will actually launch two PS5 consoles. The 'Digital Edition' will come without a disc drive and a slimmer design whereas the - presumable more expensive - PlayStation 5 with a disc drive has a bulkier cabinet.
- "At launch, we will offer two options: a PlayStation 5 console with an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive and a PlayStation 5 Digital Edition without a disc drive. The PS5 gameplay experience will be the same, so the choice is all yours. While there are some slight differences in the look of each model, for the overall design, we wanted to deliver a console that’s bold, stunning, and unlike any previous generation of PlayStation," the company said.
It is a surprise because many had expected UHD Blu-ray to be part of the base console and serve as a 'trojan horse' for the latest disc format, just like PlayStation 3 helped bring traditional Blu-ray into people's homes. That is now less likely to happen as many PS5 buyers may settle for the digital version.
Also read: PlayStation 5 section
How big? How loud?
As for the console, it is a white-and-black design that matches the new DualSense controller that Sony unveiled earlier this year. PlayStation 5 can be placed horizontally or vertically. It has some fancy blue lights as well as vents for heat dissipation. Sony's PS4 Pro struggles to run cool and quiet so we hope to see better performance with PS5.
PlayStation 5 also looks quite big. The company did not provide figures for height, width and depth but we can approximate dimensions based on the disc drive in the pictures. Microsoft unveiled the design of Xbox Series X in december 2019 and has confirmed that it measures 151 x 151 x 301mm. As we are pushing the limits of the x86 platform, expect future consoles to get bigger - hopefully not hotter and louder.
Furthermore, the company announced a media remote along with other accessories for PS5. The media remote is optional and will let you control media features and apps for video streaming.
Sony did not announce pricing or release details other than saying that PS5 will launch in late 2020.
PlayStation 5 - official specs
CPU
x86-64-AMD Ryzen "Zen 2"
8 Cores / 16 Threads
Variable frequency, up to 3.5 GHz
GPU
AMD Radeon RDNA 2-based graphics engine
Ray Tracing Acceleration
Variable frequency, up to 2.23 GHz (10.3 TFLOPS)
System memory
GDDR6 16GB
448GB/s Bandwidth
SSD
825GB
5.5GB/s Read Bandwidth
Expandable Storage
NVMe SSD Slot
External Storage
USB HDD Support
Optical drive
Ultra HD Blu-ray, up to 100GB/disc
Video Out
Support of 4K 120Hz TVs, 8K TVs, VRR (specified by HDMI ver.2.1)
Audio
"Tempest" 3D AudioTech
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