The design is much more muted than the competition, sporting an all-black design with green highlights within the vent atop the console, but it still stands tall at 30cm. There’s a large library of games available to play, offering backward compatibility all the way back to the original Xbox – something that the PS5 can’t quite compete with, only offering compatibility with PS4 titles outside of its PS Now service. The Xbox Series X is Microsoft’s answer to new-gen gaming, offering the same performance with ray-tracing, high-quality textures and improved particle effects as the PS5, and although not quite as fast as Sony’s bespoke SSD, the inclusion of an SSD means games are snappy too.

There may not be a lower-powered variant like the Xbox Series S, but there is the disc-less PS5 Digital available at a discount without compromising on next-gen performance.īe warned though: the PS5 is a chonk, no matter which variant you go for. The two technologies combined offer a huge step forward compared to the Xbox controller, which offers minimal differences at best. Sony’s DualSense controller sports adjustable triggers, meaning the bumpers can better simulate the trigger of a gun or pulling back a bow before firing, and the advanced haptic motors make things feel much more realistic too. When it comes to performance, expect ray-tracing, high-quality textures, improved particle effects and a generally higher fidelity experience than that of the PS4, but it’s arguably the DualSense controller that truly separates it from the competition. The PlayStation 5 represents the pinnacle in new-gen gaming, offering solid (or even 120fps with a compatible TV) gameplay alongside lightning-fast load times thanks to the inclusion of a custom-designed SSD – although it is a little small at 825GB, and unlike the Xbox Series X, it’s pretty difficult (and pricey) to upgrade the internal storage.

Best games of 2017 console