Home Features PS5: 8 details you may have missed from the console teardown

PS5: 8 details you may have missed from the console teardown

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It’s big, pointy, and dammit I’m loathed to admit but…the PS5 console design is starting to grow on me. With just a month to go until it launches, Sony finally lifted the lid, side-panels, and heatsink on the PS5 console, providing a comprehensive breakdown on the internals of the device. It was a fairly dry presentation, one without any glitz or glam, just the facts Sam.

So in case you missed it, here’s a quick look at some of the interesting reveals from this week:

It’s a big boy

Photoshopped jokes aside, there’s no denying that the PS5 is anabsolute unit, but seeing it next to a fully-functioning human in that video? It just hammers home how big it really is, with Sony’s official measurements coming in at 104mm wide, 390mm high and 260mm deep.

If you were looking to get a new cabinet to store the console in, around, or on top of, well at least you have some maths with which to prepare yourself now.

Adjustable stand has no screws loose

Who would have thought I’d be waxing lyrical about a plastic sidestand, but here we are in the year of hell that is 2020! The PS5 can be positioned either vertically or horizontally, using a side-stand that makes the console look as if its levitating. Here’s the fun part: That side-stand is connected with a screw when the PS5 is in a vertical mode, but the horizontal layout doesn’t need that extra bit of security.

If you do choose to lay your PS5 on its side, you can take that all-important screw and store it inside of the stand. Neat! And may God of War help you if you drop it and vanishes into the netherrealm.

Removable side panels

While the look of the PS5 might not be for everyone, it appears that Sony is aware of this and may offer some sort of replacement shell in the near-future. Fancy swapping yours out for something that better suits your palette? You’ll be able to pop the hood off more easily, and gain access to some of the bleeding edge tech inside of the PS5. Or you can leave the console naked, you mad person you.

The disc drive is going to be deadly silent

Inside the console, if you adopt the traditional model that ships with a disc drive, is a brand-new system for reading information off of a disc that should result in a more serene operating sound from the console. Two layers of insulators help reduce vibration and noise when activated, and with the various cooling systems in place, this will make for one whisper-quiet console.

Liquid metal cooling solutions

I assure you, it’s not the T-1000. What the liquid metal does, is create a thermal conductor to create a long-term and stable cooling solution to the heat that the console emits. Sony spent over two years working on this mechanism, to get it optimised for the PS5 and intense gaming scenarios.

Massive gaming, an even more massive heatsink

Speaking of cooling solutions, at least we know why the PS5 is so massive! There’s a gigantic heatsink stuffed within the console. Sony says the new design, which uses a heat pipe like the PS3 and PS4 did, has made it possible to achieve the same performance as a vapor chamber. Good news for anyone who still wonders why their PS4 Pro occasionally pretends to be an aircraft carrier with all the noise it makes.

Finally, proper dust-catchers

Honestly this is what impresses me the most: A proper dust-catcher that you can not only access, but clean. My current PS4 is jammed with…stuff, and while I’ve tried to clean it I just cannot reach some parts due to the complicated structure of that unit. With the PS5, you’re not just getting a console with dust-catchers shaped into its eternal design, but one that you can easily access and vacuum out. A nice tough, to keep an expensive piece of kit in pristine working condition.

Wi-Fi 6 means lightning-quick downloads

Games are getting ludicrously massive, but the technology is present to easily download them if you can access it and are rich enough to do so. While the PS5 may use the slightly older Bluetooth 5.1 in its hardware, it’s still a massive step up from the Bluetooth 2.1 in the original PS4 and Bluetooth 4.0 in the PS4 Pro.

For Wi-fi 6, that new standard is capable of a maximum throughput of 9.6 Gbps across multiple channels which is roughly 32 times faster than the Wi-Fi 4 support in the PS5. That puts the PS5 ahead of the Xbox Series X and Series S, as those consoles use wifi 5 to achieve their maximum theoritical download and upload speeds.

Ideally that means that you’ll be able to grab data quicker and download it faster thanks to the solid-state drive, if you have the capacity to do so. Or live in South Korea.

Last Updated: October 8, 2020

5 Comments

  1. For me the thing that was finally shown: The PS5 M.2 SSD expansion port will support all four sizes of the high-speed storage spec. The 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 PCIe Gen 4 M.2 SSDs can comfortably fit into the PS5 expansion port.

    Reply

  2. MechMachine

    October 8, 2020 at 14:56

    I`m with you on the dust catcher…impressive.

    Reply

    • Banana Jim

      October 8, 2020 at 16:05

      It’s a piece of engineering porn. I’ve said it before every part of this console has a purpose, every curve is there for a reason. It’s not just a big black box HAHAHAH!

      Reply

  3. CodeDisQus

    October 8, 2020 at 17:07

    It’s a pretty impressively engineered piece of kit. That liquid metal is REALLY interesting, can’t wait to see the testing that will be done. Next gen tech is looking too saucy!

    Reply

  4. Iskape

    October 9, 2020 at 08:32

    The size of the unit is what completely shocks me! It’s massive! The engineering though – that might be where Sony has MS beaten. I love the dust catcher aspect. Don’t forget MS has a massive fan vent on the top of their console, should you have it standing vertical, so expect tons of muck to get in there! For that very reason, chances are, I’ll be keeping it horizontal!

    Reply

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