For the past three years, the PlayStation 5 has been more than just a gaming console for me, and now in 2023 Sony launched the new slim version of PlayStation 5. So in this PS5 Slim review, I deep dive into it’s design, gaming, performance, multimedia support, and knowing is it rally worth upgrade over original PlayStation 5?
What’s Difference Between PS5 Slim and Original PS5?
Concerning what’s new with slim version, the most apparent changes lie in its size and design. However, there’s an upgrade that isn’t immediately visible.
Right off the bat, PS5 Slim noticeably smaller, and while it might not offer a practical advantage for most users, it can be a great convenience for those who need to move it around.
This could be particularly useful if you’re shifting it from the living room TV setup or if you’re frequently commuting between school and home, requiring you to pack it in a bag, it’ll definitely be easier to handle in such scenarios.
Though not drastically different from its predecessor original PlayStation 5, there are some subtle design changes. Notably, there are tiny PlayStation emblems on the bottom side of the plate, and the division between the matte and glossy sides for the stand.
The stand itself has these small slots in the slit, allowing them to pop in and help maintain the PlayStation’s stability while positioned horizontally. Apart from these adjustments, the disc drive is still present. Honestly, I can’t recall the last time I used a disc, so I might consider removing the disc drive if I end up obtaining the replacement plates.
Design and Build
As design, I’m not a big fan of the two-tone plates one being glossy, the other matte. Then again, I imagine we’ll be seeing official and third-party plates any day now. So if this design isn’t to your liking, it doesn’t have to be.
What’s up with the stand? The stand does what it needs to do so I can’t really hate on it. However, I would have loved to see the vertical stand included.
In comparison to the Original PS5, the Slim is definitely smaller. The setup is the same as before, though simply hook it up to your TV or monitor and go through the motions of signing in.
The annoying part is waiting for your big games to download, but outside of that, we still have that same great PlayStation 5 user interface.
Gaming Performance
The thing that grounds me every single day is unquestionably the gaming experience. The PS5 Slim consoles has been a significant leap for me personally. I find myself playing on my gaming PC less and less.
To those people it’s a gaming PC they’re more expensive and more powerful. I just prefer my PlayStation still with 4K gaming support alongside 1080p and 1440p, regardless of your resolution, you’ll see substantial benefits, even coming from a PlayStation 4. Between the insane load speeds on the SSDs and HDR support, just about any game on looks incredible, even last-gen titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 still shine.
Depending on your display you’ll have both variable refresh rate and auto low latency support. Variable refresh rate allows your display to fluctuate in frame rate to best match what the PS5 is pushing out.
Auto low latency or ALM reduces input lag, especially for those throwing down competitive games, All of these features combined are what truly make the PlayStation 5 experience incredible from start to finish. But it’s not all just on the system itself we also have fantastic games that developers are throwing our way, some of which can’t be found on PC or Xbox.
For me it’s been Spider-Man 2 and Ghost of Tsushima these two games are simply beautiful, and I’m starting to feel like I’m playing through an entire movie.
DualSense Edge Controller
You have the DualSense controller adding to the visual experience by providing a physical one. For me it boils down to the rumble, haptics, and Adaptive Triggers, with every in-game action, you get a subtle bit of feedback in your hand.
If you’re slinging webs around in Spider-Man, the triggers tense up with an added whoosh from the built-in speaker, drawing a bow in Horizon you feel the rumble of the bowstring’s strain alongside the trigger, and that’s just badass.
Not to mention PS5 Slim has a built-in mic if you need it along with the headphone jack for a headset where you can hear all the not-so-nice things people say about you in a Call of Duty lobby.
PlayStation Plus and Storage
While not mandatory I can certainly recommend PlayStation Plus for anyone on PlayStation, between the online play and the monthly games you accumulate in your library, it offers a substantial amount of choice in terms of which games you want to play. You also have a massive back catalog of games to choose from either to download and play or to stream them directly if you just want to try them before downloading.
There is one upgrade on the new PlayStation slim that wasn’t available on the previous one, and that’s more storage space. The Original PlayStation 5 came with 825 gigs and the new PS5 Slim comes with 1 terabyte.
Not massive by any means but still a welcome bonus, between PlayStation Plus and the massive sizes of games in general, I can say this easily gets eaten up super quickly. Still the storage can be expanded super easily using an SSD, this is simply done by removing the plate and installing it into the included SSD Bay. And then you can expand up to 8 terabytes which is wild and expensive but cool either way.
Setups and Versatility
One thing I mentioned before is how great the PlayStation 5 is in the desk setup, Regardless of your resolution be it 1080p, 1440p, or 4K everything looks impressive.
For the setup, I am using LG’s 1440p 240Hz OLED monitor Although the PlayStation 5 will only go up to 120Hz the smaller footprint of the PS5 is also great if you are using it on desk shelves, like me. I really dig how it looks, Realistically though sometimes when I’m working and need a break swapping to the PlayStation 5 Slim is legitimately an easy way to decompress even if it’s just for a little bit.
The PS5 Slim has an amazing selection of apps for just about anything you’d want to watch and it’s not limited to videos. The built-in Apple Music and Spotify work incredibly well, even while gaming.
The new Discord chat support really closes the gap a bit to a gaming PC From an overall media standpoint, though the PS5 Slim does a great job of being a one-stop system for both games and everything else. If you are considering something like an Apple TV but also a PlayStation just know PS5 Slim console does just about everything, including Dolby Vision and video up to 8K.
Conclusion
With all these minor changes to the PlayStation 5 being smaller and having some more storage, I don’t actually think that’s what makes the PS5 Slim so great.
Yes, its smaller and compact form with extra storage is an awesome but the PlayStation 5 in and of itself, is what really drives this home for me. Just finally getting cozy and playing a game at the end of a long day is invaluable.
However this experience will also be different from person to person between the DualSense, the fidelity of the games themselves, and the overall package you get for the price, it’s straight-up incredible. I find PS5 Slim is smaller gaming console, and simply does everything.
