Sony PlayStation 5

PlayStation by AMD

Let's start with some technical information. Most likely you have already heard that the hardware for the PS5 was made by Radeon, using a modified 3rd generation Ryzen processor and an RDNA 2 video core, which together allow the console to deliver 10.28 teraflops of overall performance. And all this for a price tag of $500. Go find it on PC. The console supports the now fashionable hardware ray tracing, but so far it puts the system on the fifth point and you can’t dream of any 60 FPS in 4K. The icing on the cake was almost the fastest SSD in history with transfer rates up to 5.5 GB / s. However it will not last long, 825 GB by the standards of current AAA projects will fit a maximum of 5 – 6 games. Then we'll have to wait until Sony certifies other companies' solid state drives and allows you to install an additional drive in an additional M.2 slot. So far, he is like a gopher from a DMB movie, we don’t see him, but he seems to be there. This version has a traditional disc drive, but if you don't need one, you can buy a digital version of the console without it for $100 less.

Exotic appearance and excellent cooling system

The appearance of the console is impressive. If not by design solutions, then at least by size. 39 cm high — go find a suitable cabinet that it will fit into. You can put it on its side on a small stand, but in this form it looks strange. The console is assembled with high quality, a barely noticeable texture with branded circles, triangles, squares and crosses is applied to the white plastic sides. The sides can be removed to clean the case from dust or install a new SSD. The attractive glossy black plastic base instantly picks up fingerprints and dust. Inside, all the iron is covered with a 100 mm fan with a huge two-section radiator on four heat-conducting pipes, and liquid metal is used instead of thermal paste. Despite the doubts of specialists, in new projects at 4K, the console behaved damn quietly and did not heat up above 54 °C. The Xbox Series X is also very quiet, but gets hotter.

The biggest changes in the gamepad

In fact, it will take a very long time to disassemble the prefix by bones, so we will quickly go over what we liked and what disappointed. I liked the microphones built into the gamepad for hands-free calls. They catch speech well and in the future will be used for voice control of the console or web search. I really liked the new adaptive triggers and Haptic Engine vibration motors, which add a whole new layer of sensations from interacting with the gamepad. And the Xbox actually has the same gamepad. It's great that when you turn on and start your account, the set-top box offers to transfer saves and installed games from PS4. The main menu has been cleared of a bunch of unnecessary information, becoming simpler and clearer.

3D sound

I didn’t particularly like the advertised Tempest 3D Audio three-dimensional sound system. It was talked about a lot at the presentation, but so far it sounds like a Dolby Atmos or DTS:X smoker. Either Sony decided to save on licenses, or Tempest 3D Audio hasn't been finalized yet. Support for Bluetooth sound is also not delivered, Sony is afraid of delays. Well, the vaunted SSD assembled by Japanese virgins is still losing to the Xbox Series X drive: 29 seconds for a cold start (20 – 25 for Xbox), 9 seconds to wake up from sleep (5 seconds for Xbox) and in general a slightly slower game loading. Although, these are already nit-picking, but against the background of the previous generation, the new items impress with their speed. It's too early to draw conclusions on games, the PS5 launch lineup is dominated by projects that are also available on PS4.