With the PlayStation and Xbox platforms offering similar graphics capabilities (at least on paper) at similar prices, the reasons to choose the PlayStation 5 Slim or PlayStation 5 Pro over the Xbox Series X or S revolve largely around what games you want to play and how you want to play them.
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This version of the PS5 has a disc drive, so you can watch UHD Blu-ray movies, and play PS5 game discs or used PS5 and PS4 discs. Some features and hardware are the same.
If you have a large collection of PlayStation 4 virtual games, if you want to watch 4K Blu-ray discs on your console, or if you’re a bargain hunter looking for discounted new and used games on disc, you should get the regular Sony PlayStation 5 Slim so you can use its UHD Blu-ray drive.
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The PS5 Slim Digital Edition doesn’t include a disc drive, so you can’t watch Blu-rays or take advantage of new or used games or old PS4 discs. But if you’re comfortable going all digital, it has the same graphics, CPU, memory, and storage hardware as the standard PS5.
The Sony PlayStation Slim 5 Digital Edition usually costs $50 less than the version with a UHD Blu-ray drive, and it does everything the regular version does without playing discs. If you don’t want to spend $650 on a new console, if you don’t buy or watch movies on UHD Blu-ray, or if you don’t care about disc-based games, the Digital Edition might make more sense, especially if you take advantage of a PlayStation Plus game subscription. You can always add a disk drive later — but it will cost you.
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The PlayStation 5 Pro delivers the best performance of any PS5 model, but the visual benefits it offers may be hard to see if you’re too far away from your TV. It also doesn’t come with a disc drive, despite the higher price.
The PlayStation 5 Pro includes more powerful graphics hardware combined with new upscaling technology to deliver better performance, better visuals, or sometimes both, for all PS5 games, and comes with Wi-Fi 7 support and 2 TB of storage. But for $900, you’re paying a high premium for a visual upgrade that you may not see if you live too far from your TV, or if the TV is smaller than 65 inches. And like the PS5 Slim Digital Edition, the PlayStation 5 Pro doesn’t come with a disc drive for physical games and media, nor does it support the same add-on drive that the PS5 Slim Digital Edition does – or, if you’re upgrading from the standard PS5 Slim, you can remove the drive from there and add it to the Pro.
But the most important thing to consider is what games you want to play. While some PlayStation games have been released on PC, this will reportedly no longer be the case, so if you want access to the big PlayStation games – like Saros and the future Marvel’s Wolverine — you’ll need a PlayStation 5. Also, the PS5 also plays nearly all of the PS4’s huge library of games, and many of them run better on Sony’s new hardware.
The two console platforms share the same major titles as well, including installments from the same franchises Call of Duty again You are crazy. Even after Microsoft bought the makers behind the same big series Scrolls of the Elders, It fallsagain A disaster in the fall of 2020 and found the developers of Call of Duty, Military World, Diabloand more in 2023, most games continue to be multiplatform. However, this has tipped things in Xbox’s favor when it comes to the big games available in its Game Pass subscription, which in 2025 included. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion again Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. And last summer Helldivers 2The biggest exclusive release of the PlayStation in the past few years, came to the Xbox Series consoles.
While some games still restrict you from playing games with other players in the same area, cross-platform multiplayer that allows interaction between players on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC is now the norm, so this is not as much of a concern as it was in the past. Both PlayStation and Xbox platforms require registration to access even basic Internet functions. With PlayStation, this subscription is called PlayStation Plus; on Xbox, it’s called Xbox Game Pass Essential.
The PS Plus subscription service has three membership tiers: PlayStation Plus Essential, Extra, and Premium. The basic subscription, PS Plus Essential, costs $80 a year; annual rates rise to $135 and $160, respectively, for Extra and Premium. Members of any level get access to online play, special discounts on other titles during sales, and two free games per month (of varying quality). You keep the free games as long as you subscribe to PS Plus, but you lose access to them if you cancel, even if you’ve already downloaded them. Those who subscribe to the more expensive PS Plus, Extra and Premium categories, get access to additional game catalogs.
You don’t need to pay for PS Plus to use streaming video services like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video. You don’t need PS Plus to use the PlayStation 5’s party voice chat system to voice chat with friends (Xbox doesn’t have this limitation either).
The PS5 has its own native VR headset, called the PlayStation VR2. It’s a great device that’s comfortable to wear and easy to set up, but most people shouldn’t buy it because most of the games you can play on the PS VR2 can be played elsewhere, including cheaper headsets like the Meta Quest 3S.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X are equally capable media centers for the living room. Both output 4K video and have Blu-ray UHD disc drives, so you can watch digital movies or discs you already own. The PS5 doesn’t support Dolby Vision or DTS:X, though – if you don’t know what those things are, don’t worry about it, but if you want to take advantage of it at any level, the Xbox might be a better choice. If you’re considering either of the cheaper versions, the $600 PS5 Slim Digital Edition or the $400 Xbox Series S, you’ll have to be comfortable forgoing the disc altogether. Those models still support 4K video, but you’ll need to stream or own digital movies.
If you’re ready for the PlayStation 5, there’s one last thing to keep in mind: its size. The PS5 is a large console – yes, even the current, updated “miniature” model – and it can’t fit well in most media centers, vertically or horizontally. If you really want a PlayStation, we don’t think its size is a reason to skip it. But measure your space to make sure you know where it will fit.