The PlayStation 5 is officially a go in India, finally. Though, it will still take some more time for most people to get their hands on it. Unlike the past, Sony has launched two different PS5 consoles at the same time. There is one with a built-in 4K Blu-ray drive, and another without it. The latter is called the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. Only the PS5 with 4K Blu-ray drive is 'technically' available in India for now. There is no word when the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition will arrive in India. We have spent some time with the PS5 (India unit) and here's our first look at Sony's brand new next-gen console. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The PlayStation 5 has a dual-tone design with a white and black colour scheme. The exterior is white (and a bit curvy) while the middle portion is black (and glossy). Sony likes to show off its consoles standing tall and all that, but you will be able to prop it up horizontally too. Some manual assembly is required to set it up. Sony ships a base stand in the box that attaches to the PS5 in either orientation. Vertically, the PS5 looks like a skyscraper from a big budget sci-fi movie. The console has already visited meme-city on Twitter where it has been compared with everything from a router to Sauron's tower. Regardless, it is big -- in fact, one of the biggest consoles ever -- and isn't shy about it either. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The real star of the show is the 'new' wireless controller which is called DualSense now. It focuses on heightening the feeling of immersion by bringing a 'sense of touch' in games. This starts with updated 'haptic' feedback, something that replaces Sony's older-generation 'rumble' technology adding "a variety of powerful sensations you'll feel when you play." Even the shoulder (L2, R2) buttons have been updated with something that Sony calls 'adaptive' triggers "so you can truly feel the tension of your actions, like when drawing a bow to shoot an arrow." The controller, though it is familiar, is a little bigger than the outgoing DualShock 4. It has an integrated microphone (that you can also mute) and USB Type-C. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The PS5 is powered by a custom AMD Zen 2 CPU paired with AMD RDNA 2 GPU and 825GB on-board SSD (only 667GB is available for use though). The PS5 opts for "variable" frequencies, for the CPU and GPU. The console supports expandable storage with regular NVMe PC drives. The expansion slot rests inside the console but it is not available at launch. At this point of time, you can connect your existing external hard drive to it and play PS4 games directly off it. The PS5 has a hi-Speed USB Type-A port, two SuperSpeed USB-A ports, USB Type-C SuperSpeed port, Ethernet jack, HDMI 2.1 port and an AC adapter. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The PS5 supports native 4K, HDR playback (no Dolby Vision) and is also theoretically capable of 8K output. Games can peak 120Hz and there is also support for Ray Tracing. The console also supports 'Tempest' 3D audio which seems to be Sony's take on Dolby Atmos though it only works with headphones. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The PS5 expectedly is launching with a few PlayStation-exclusives including Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Demon's Souls. The last-gen Marvel's Spider-Man has also received a 'remastered' update for PS5, though it is not a free upgrade for existing users. The PS5 is capable of playing older PS4 titles, with games like God of War getting 60fps support specifically for the PS5. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)
The PS5 costs Rs 49,990 while the PS5 Digital Edition will cost Rs 39,990 in India. Watch this space for our full review of the PS5 in the days to come. (Photo credit: Saurabh Singh/Financial Express)