PS5 Digital Edition, as perfect as its twin sister?

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Discover now my opinion on the PS5 Digital Edition, the second model of next-gen PlayStation consoles. Is it as perfect as the normal version?

Released on November 19, 2020, the PlayStation 5 is Sony’s next-gen console which will have the difficult task of succeeding the PS4 which has won everything in its path. The adventure began with difficulty with the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused many shortages. Thus, since its release, the PS5 is almost nowhere to be found.

The situation should “quickly” get better according to Sony, by June 2021 according to AMD, Sony’s official partner for the PlayStation 5. Despite these complicated beginnings, the PS5 does not have to be ashamed of its big sister [the PS4], since on March 6, 2021, the Sony console had already sold more than 6 million copies.

On November 10, the preview of the PS5 test to discover the new machine from Sony. Today, here’s a review of its twin, the PS5 Digital Edition, which we could have had in our hands for a month. So, is it really a drive-less carbon copy with the same advantages and disadvantages? We can see this immediately!

A futuristic design … even more elegant

Unlike Microsoft’s strategy with its Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, Sony doesn’t offer two very different consoles. These are two machines with identical power and characteristics, as well as a very similar design. We find the famous white dresses that hug the black lacquered central body of the console. Sony offers the same fragile materials subject to scratches and numerous fingerprints. It always has a little effect when the machine turns on with this blue LED.

We can of course find its details on the back of the controller or inside the white walls of the console with the mythical logos of PlayStation (the square, the triangle, the circle and the cross) is to be emphasized. The only big difference in design is the absence of the 4K Blu-Ray player which allows for a console that is thinner, more homogeneous and much more elegant.

Always so silent …

On this point, the PS5 Digital Edition also keeps its promises. After complicated years with the different models of PS4, we finally find the silence to enjoy next-gen experiences. This digital version is quieter than the “standard” version since it does not have a Blu-Ray drive. At no time (neither when launching the game nor during the game) can the reader be heard. The PS5 Digital Edition is therefore a completely silent console and it is really very pleasant. Whether it’s Control, God of War, Spider-Man Miles Morales or Astro’s Playroom, no problem to report.

As on the standard PS5, we were allowed only three to four seconds of blowing the fans during a three and a half hour session of play. Other than that, the console performs flawlessly in this category.

And that still does not heat up

Another great thing about the “standard” PS5 was to deliver a gaming experience that doesn’t heat up your room at the same time. The console has a very good cooling system. The latter allows air to pass through to cool naturally and silently. The SoC (“System on a Chip”) also plays a key role in this cooling system. This allows full use of the thermal conductor (or TIM). The PS5 has liquid metal as a thermal conductor allowing high and stable cooling performance over long gaming sessions. It works wonderfully.

This digital version uses the same system and therefore remains just as effective. Again, this is a good point.

An SSD just as powerful… but less exploited?

Here again, the PS5 Digital Edition embeds the powerful SSD of its twin. Unfortunately, the same concerns arise. The PS5’s hard drive is exclusive for several months and is touted as the best performing on the market. Quality inevitably has a price, forcing Sony to lower the capacity of the latter to respect the price set by the console. We end up with hard drives of 828 GB. This removes the space occupied by the operating system of the machine. Which actually results in a high performance SSD hard drive, but only 667.2 GB.

The aim of the Digital model was to offer a lower price with the absence of the Blu-Ray drive. Sony has therefore made the choice not to change anything else. You will understand, if the storage capacity was already a concern on the “standard” version, this becomes totally problematic on a console that allows games to be installed only for download.

The use of external media is therefore essential in order to keep the 667 GB for PS5 games and install your PS4 titles on the external drive. Unfortunately, with this choice, improvements such as faster loading times will have to be put aside.

Fortunately, this SSD is very powerful and works wonders. Too bad not being able to use it fully and having to make choices and even sacrifice.

Just a game console

Opting for this digital version also means skipping the physical multimedia part. It will also be impossible to play your Blu-Rays. Worse yet, it will soon no longer be possible to buy and rent movies and series from the PlayStation Store. Thus, the PS5 Digital Edition, without a subscription to a streaming platform (Disney +, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.) will no longer allow the “multimedia” part to be used. It will be purely and simply a video game console.

(Good) internet connection required

This is a point that seems logical, but it is still essential, if you opt for a PS5 Digital Edition, it is recommended to have a very good internet connection (or even fiber). All of the games will be available for download on your machine. Some will be quite small like Ubisoft’s Immortals Fenyx Rising with its 27GB. But others will damage your connection and your hard drive. Red Dead Redemption II, the latest Call of Duty or CyberPunk 2077… Count more than 100GB of downloads with updates!.

My opinion on the PS5 digital edition

The PS5 Digital Edition is therefore indeed the twin sister of the “standard” PlayStation 5, but with some additional advantages and disadvantages. Priced at $ 499.99, this slim version doesn’t have a Blu-Ray drive and offers $ 110 in savings on purchase. The console is also a bit quieter than its “standard” twin since you cannot hear the disk drive spinning when installing or launching games. In addition to that, it has all the positive points of the “normal” PS5 with an ultra powerful and fast SSD, a very elegant design, a remarkable cooling capacity. But also an intuitive and very fluid interface.

Still, the console is not without its flaws. Due to the absence of a Blue-Ray reader, the machine no longer offers multimedia support. It is no longer possible to play your movies and series, nor your backward compatible PS4 games (which you will have to pay again if you want to enjoy them on PS5). The console’s SSD fills up very quickly and forces you to use an external hard drive for installing PS4 games. This has the effect of depriving players of self-improvements such as load times. Note that even today, it is still not possible to increase the storage capacity of the machine.