Entertainment

PS5 vs PS5 Slim: What are the differences?

Published

4 months ago

September 3, 2024

This PS5 vs. PS5 Slim face-off will help you get an better understanding as to how — exactly — the PS5 Slim differs from the original PS5.

For years, a good number of gamers complained about PS5’s bulky, unwieldy, awkward body — and Sony finally addressed the critical feedback with the new PS5 Slim.

It was in October 2024 that Sony announced the brand spankin’ new slim PS5 model. This follows PlayStation’s decades-long tradition of each console getting a thinner counterpart midway through its generation. As you can probably tell, the PS5 Slim is meant to be a smaller gaming system compared to the original 2020 model — but that’s not all.

PS5 vs PS5 Slim: price

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For context, the original, non-slim PS5 has two versions: a digital one (without a disc drive) and one with a disc drive. The same can be said for the PS5 Slim; it’s got a digital version and a disc one.

For whatever reason, Sony decided to not drop the prices of the new PS5 Slim models. The PS5 Slim with a disc drive is still $499, while the PS5 Slim without a disc drive is $449 — or a $50 increase over the original PS5 digital-only console.

PS5 Slim (no disc drive) – $449
PS5 Slim (with disc drive) – $499
Original PS5 (no disc drive) – $399
Original PS5 (disc drive) – $499

With that in mind, yes, the digital-only PS5 Slim is a money-saver in comparison to the one with a disc drive, but not in comparison to the digital-only model that launched three years ago.

The new price also means that buying a digital model before purchasing the additional disc drive would cost more than just snagging the version with a built-in drive. I don’t really have a good explanation for that.

My only advice is this: If you want a PS5 that only costs $399, you better get one now. This is an important note: Once the existing stock of both original models sells out, the new slim models will replace them on store shelves.

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PS5 vs PS5 Slim: size

Obviously, size is what many gamers are most concerned about here, so let’s get right to it. Looking at Sony’s stated dimensions, you can see that the new PS5 is indeed smaller than the original:

PS5 Slim models
Credit: Sony

In other words, per Sony’s announcement blog post, that’s about a 30 percent reduction in total volume. That’s definitely an improvement, but there’s some important context missing in just those raw numbers. The Verge ran a digital size comparison and discovered that both new models are still substantially larger than the Xbox Series X.

In other words, this “slim” console is still pretty dang big.

For a visual comparison, check out this awesome PS5 Slim vs. Regular Reddit post.

PS5 vs PS5 Slim: performance and storage

Another important aspect of the new PS5 models to get out of the way is that they have the exact same internal capabilities as the originals. This isn’t a PS4 vs. PS4 Pro situation. Games will run exactly the same across the spectrum of PS5 consoles.

PS5 Slim
Credit: Sony

One little internal bonus that owners of the new PS5s get, however, comes in the form of expanded storage. For some reason, the original PS5 only had 825GB of onboard storage, with the option to expand via external SSDs. The new ones have a full 1TB of built-in space, so you can install a few extra games depending on how big they are.

PS5 vs PS5 Slim: disc drive

Just like at the PS5’s launch in late 2020, there are two PS5 Slim models. One of them has a built-in disc drive and the other one is digital-only.

PS5 Slim
Credit: Sony

Well, sort of, anyway. There’s an optional detachable disc drive you can buy for $79.99. This was actually rumored more than a year ago, but the PS5 models were expected to launch next year — not 2023.

It’s worth nothing, however, that the PS5 Slim, unlike the OG PS5, does not come with a vertical stand in the box. However, seasoned gamers will tell you that you should keep your PS5 to be stationed horizontal anyway.