Here are several points to think about before you spend several hundred dollars on Sony’s latest console.
1. Can You Afford a PS5?
Before you buy anything, you should of course consider the price. The PS5 is available in two models: the standard version with a disc drive for $500, or a digital-only edition for $400. Neither PS5 model is cheap enough to buy on impulse.
Even if you can afford the console itself, don’t forget about the additional expenses associated with the purchase. The PS5 comes with a pack-in demo called Astro’s Playroom, but that won’t keep you occupied for long. Many Sony-published titles now cost $70 new, up from $60 in the previous generation. And if you want to play online, you need at least PlayStation Plus Essential, which is $60/year.
Thus, buying just two titles and a year of PlayStation Plus could increase the initial cost by another $200—50% more than the PS5 Digital Editon’s base price.
Games aren’t the only extra outlay, either. You might want to upgrade your headphones, buy a second DualSense controller for multiplayer ($70+), or get a charging stand for those controllers. You should figure those into your budget for the system too.
Depending on how many extras you want to buy, that initial $500 price tag could quickly climb to hundreds more. To help offset this cost, you might consider selling your PlayStation 4 and putting the cash towards a PlayStation 5, after considering…
2. Are You Done Playing PlayStation 4 Games?
The PS4 is home to tons of great games. If you picked up the system partway through its lifespan, chances are that you haven’t had a chance to play them all. Thus, you should consider whether you have PS4 games you still want to check out.
Older PS4 games are still perfectly playable even with a newer console out. Plus, as PS4 titles get older, you can pick them up at a discount compared to brand-new PlayStation 5 games.
Once you do upgrade, you’ll be glad to know the PlayStation 5 is backward-compatible with almost all PlayStation 4 games. You can use PS4 controllers to play PS4 games, and the PS5 also supports playing PS4 titles from an external drive. And while some PS4 games run slightly better on PS5, the difference isn’t huge.
If you’re not in a rush to play certain PS5 games, you might as well finish your backlog on PS4. With the PS5’s limited SSD space, finishing them before you upgrade means less juggling of installed games.
If you’re mostly done with PS4 games, moving to the PS5 makes more sense.
3. Are You Interested in the Available PS5 Games?
Many top PS5 titles, such as Horizon Forbidden West and Elden Ring, are also available on PS4 or other platforms. Whether it’s worth upgrading from PS4 to PS5 depends on the games you want to play. If you aren’t dying to play titles limited to PS5 like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart or Returnal, you can probably wait.
If the next entry in your favorite series is only coming to PS5, then you should get the newer console. It’s up to you whether you should upgrade for the superior PS5 version of cross-generational titles.
4. Waiting Gets You Better Deals
When you buy a console closer to its launch, you pay the maximum price to get a console with no extras and a small selection of games. If there are any hardware issues or bugs that haven’t been corrected, you have to put up with them.
Contrast this with buying a console in the middle of its lifetime. At that stage, it’s common to see price drops, a minor revision that makes the console smaller and fixes any issues with the original release, and bundles offering some of the best games packaged in. So if you wait, you can likely get a slightly enhanced console, for less money, that has a ton of games to choose from.
Waiting even longer to get a PlayStation 5 could be tough, as you see all the new games come out that you can’t play. It’s up to you whether this is worth jumping in right away or not.
5. Is the PlayStation 5 the Best Choice for You?
Don’t forget that the PlayStation 5 isn’t the only gaming system available. Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S launched around the same time as the PS5. If you’re a PlayStation fan, the decision is probably easy. But don’t discount the other choices.
The Xbox Series S is a less powerful console, but it’s available for $300. If you want next-gen gaming right away while spending as little as possible, that could be a better option for you.
Both new Xbox consoles are backward-compatible with loads of Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox titles. If you’re interested in bygone Xbox games, the new Xbox might be a better fit. And Xbox Game Pass provides amazing value with hundreds of high-quality games for a monthly cost, making it a selling point for both Xbox systems.
Alternatively, you could build a decent gaming PC for the cost of a PlayStation 5, though you can put a lot more money into that project if you like. PC gaming has a lot of benefits, such as more control options, better graphical performance, and free multiplayer. If you’re not sold on the PS5, perhaps this would be a good time to try PC gaming.
6. You Might Not Be Able to Find a PlayStation 5
The PS5 has been notoriously difficult to acquire since its launch in November 2020. While it’s easier to get your hands on a PS5 as of mid-2022, finding one in-store or ordering a console online still takes some work. You may need to be a member of a paid service (like GameStop’s PowerUp Rewards) for a shot at ordering a PS5 when they come in.
In the meantime, check in regularly with your favorite sites to score one. Sign up for email alerts, where available, so you know as soon as there’s a chance at new stock.
Carefully Consider Buying a PlayStation 5
We’re not here to discourage you from buying a PS5. The console is a big improvement over the PS4, and a few years in, there are enough great games that make it worth buying. But before you jump in, consider the points above to decide if it’s best to buy one right now.
Maybe you’ve decided to skip both systems for now. In that case, why not consider a portable game console instead?
