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There may be two new PS5 consoles on the way, but you only have a sum of money in your bank account. If you’re looking to jump into the next generation of gaming with Sony, should you go for the standard PlayStation 5 or save some notes with the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition?
It’s a tough, almost philosophical choice that includes arguments about owning your entertainment media, not to mention what you can realistically afford to spend as we look towards an unprecedented international financial recession.
Do not worry! We’ve been on the lookout for all the announcements related to Sony’s new machines and we’ve got all the details you need to make the right decision for you and your wallet. Next, we compare the PS5 to the PS5 digital edition in every area, from price to specs.
PS5 vs PS5 Digital Edition – prices and release dates
First, let’s take out the unconditional numbers. How much is it going to damage your wallet?
If you go for the standard PS5, the one that still consumes glossy Blu-ray discs for breakfast, it will cost $ 499.99 / £ 449.99 / AU $ 749.95.
the PlayStation 5 digital edition (with its identical specs aside from disk drive removal) it costs $ 399.99 / £ 359.99 / AU $ 599.95.
Both versions of the console will launch on November 12 in the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. If you live elsewhere (including the UK and Ireland), you have one more week to wait, and November 19 will be when the rest of the world has access to the PS5. Selected retailers will accept pre-orders beginning September 17.
So there’s a significant $ 100 / £ 90 savings if you go the all-digital route. But there are a few things to consider here.
First of all, you will lose the console doubles as a 4K Blu-ray disc player. Considering that standalone 4K Blu-ray players cost several hundred dollars and / or pounds, that’s a considerable amount of money saved for the avid fan of high-resolution movies.
Second, those with a disc drive will be able to take advantage of the ability to trade, loan, borrow, and trade physical disc-based games with their friends and swap stores. Over the life of a console, that could save you considerable second-hand. So what you can save now with the digital console may cost you over the course of a few years as you pay the prices Sony and the game publishers decide to set. That is before taking into consideration the real joy of owning something physical.
PS5 vs PS5 Digital Edition: specifications
Here are the full official PS5 specs straight from Sony, including differences for both editions where noted. The two PS5 models will be identical in performance, a big difference compared to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, which are much further apart in price. The only difference is that the more expensive PS5 console will have an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive; otherwise they will use the same custom processor and have the same SSD.
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
Optical drive (base unit only): Ultra HD Blu-ray (66G / 100G) ~ 10xCAVBD-ROM (25G / 50G) ~ 8xCAVBD-R / RE (25G / 50G) ~ 8xCAVDVD ~ 3.2xCLV
SSD: 825GB, 5.5GB / s read bandwidth (raw)
PS5 game disc: Ultra HD Blu-ray, up to 100GB / disc
Video output: HDMI OUT port, compatible with 4K 120Hz TVs, 8K TVs, VRR (specified by HDMI ver.2.1)
Audio: Tempest 3D AudioTech
Dimensions: PS5: Approx. 390mm x 104mm x 260mm (W x H x D) (excludes largest projection, excludes stand)
PS5 Digital Edition: Approx. 390mm x 92mm x 260mm (W x H x D) (excludes largest projection, excludes stand)
Weight: PS5: 4.5 kg
PS5 Digital Edition: 3.9 kg
Power: PS5: 350W
PS5 Digital Edition: 340W
Input and output: USB Type A Port (Hi-Speed USB) USB Type A Port (Hi-Speed USB 10Gbps) x2, USB Type-C Port (Hi-Speed USB 10Gbps)
Networks: Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T) IEEE 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac / ax Bluetooth 5.1
As mentioned, the solid-state drive included with both consoles will be the same, offering users 825GB of storage with a raw performance of 5.5GB / s (and up to 9GB / s of compressed data). However, there is a slight difference in weight and dimensions between the PS5 and its digital edition.
In terms of PlayStation 5 specs minus the disc drive, then, everything is the same in the areas that matter. The PS5 is powered by the 3rd generation AMD Ryzen chipset, with 8 cores and the manufacturer’s new Zen 2 architecture and Navi graphics. On the visual side, the GPU features 36 compute units running at 2.23GHz and offering 10.28TFLOP, while the PS5 packs 16GB of GDDR6 RAM with a 448GB / s bandwidth. This console can boot ray tracing – that is, advanced lighting that used to be the exclusive domain of expensive PC graphics cards. Expect stylish reflections in the games you love as a result of this addition.
3D audio is a big part of the PS5 offering, no matter what edition of the console you own – the immersive 3D audio will be powered by the Tempest Engine, which can translate sound sources by the hundreds to create realistic audio.
The PS5 can support up to 8K resolution, which many gamers won’t need on their 1080p TVs. Whether the games will run natively in 8K is more of a question mark, but it does mean the console is future-proof if you decide to buy a nicer TV in the future. Additionally, the PS5 will support 120Hz refresh rates, allowing you to enjoy smoother games by offering higher frame rates.
Most games are unlikely to maximize these short-term possibilities; in fact, Spider-Man: Miles Morales will offer a 4K 60fps performance mode, which will likely lower the visuals to hit a frame rate higher than the usual 30fps for the PS4.
Both consoles will include a single PS5 DualSense wireless controller, which features adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, supposedly to heighten the sense of realism in your games.
Both consoles can play PS4 games, and you can purchase an external hard drive for additional storage to play these older titles and thus conserve SSD space for PS5 software.
PS5 vs PS5 Digital Edition games: they’ll be the same
Fortunately, this is the easy part. Aside from the fact that one will play games from discs and the other exclusively from the console’s storage system, the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition will play the exact same PS5 games, in exactly the same way.
With identical internal specs, you’ll be able to enjoy 4K gaming at fast refresh rates on both the PS5 and its digital-only counterpart, and you won’t expect to see gameplay differences between the two.
Sony is already lining up some great exclusive titles to play on both machines, including Horizon: Forbidden West, God of War: Ragnarok, Final Fantasy 16, the remake of Demon’s Souls, and Miles Morales-enhanced Spider-Man for PS5. That’s before factoring in third-party titles like Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, and Resident Evil 8: Village.
Where things get a little murky is on the backward compatibility front. Yes, the digital edition of the console will play PS4 titles, but it obviously won’t be able to play your existing disc-based collection.
Instead, you will likely have to buy them again, digitally. However, Sony is taking the sting out of that fact with the introduction of its PlayStation Plus Collection benefit for PS Plus subscribers. Moving forward, PS5 owners’ subscription cost will also include access to free downloads of the 18 best PS4 games, including God of War, Uncharted 4, and Bloodborne, among others. It’s a nice bonus and an instant library of PS5 games for newcomers to the console family. But it doesn’t do much to cover the hundreds of PS4 titles on disc for owners of the digital edition of PS5.
Gut feeling
It’s hard to make a call on financial matters – if you’re an avid gamer without the cash to make the leap to the top-tier PS5, go for that digital console. Next-gen games are sure to be a delight on that entry-level model too, and it’s great that performance is consistent on both.
But our intuition remains that if you can afford it, go for the standard disc-based PS5 console. It will open you up to the joys of 4K Blu-ray viewing (they look better than Netflix’s 4K streams, honestly!), Not to mention the potential money you’ll save over the years by trading based games. in discs with your friends and in exchange stores.
One last thing to consider is also the gray area that is digital property, be it music, movies, or even games. While we haven’t seen the fine print on the PS5 in this regard yet, it is common that when it comes to digital media, in reality, you do not own a perpetual title. If, in the year 2035 or some other distant date, Sony decided to shut down the distribution of the PS5 digital store … where would you download your games again?
Yes, the online elements of modern games mean that patches come in frequently and may sometimes be required before a game will work. But if Sony’s servers are ever taken down due to unpredictable circumstances, it is not as reassuring to have an exclusively digital game collection compared to a physical one.
And in the rare event that your records stop working: at least you have a nice case with box art to remember …
