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Confirmed: The PS5 is the biggest game console in modern history

Confirmed: The PS5 is the biggest game console in modern history

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Oh my god

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When internet detectives revealed the PlayStation 5 was going to be huge, we were extremely amused — but even their fancy Photoshops couldn’t completely prepare us for how enormous the PS5 truly is.

Roughly half an hour after Sony finally revealed the next-gen console’s price and release date ($399 or $499, November 12th) the company released a full spec sheet that includes the console’s dimensions. And it’s a monster.

Quick, what’s the biggest console ever made? Did you say the original 2001 Xbox, or the VCR-sized original Xbox One? Perhaps the 60GB PS3, affectionately dubbed the “Phat”?

Wrong. The PS5 is bigger than all of them.

Bigger than the Phat

According to Sony, the PS5 is approximately 390mm (15.4 inches) tall, 260mm (10.24 inches) deep and 104mm (4.09 inches) wide, making it the single biggest game console you’ve probably ever heard of. (I think that makes it a 10.5-liter case, in PC terms.) The model without the disc drive? Same story, just 12 millimeters slimmer.

I plugged the numbers into CompareSizes.com to see how it stacks up to consoles that we’ve previously ridiculed for being absolute chonks:

From left to right: PS3 60GB, Xbox, Xbox One, PS5 Digital Edition, PS5
From left to right: PS3 60GB, Xbox, Xbox One, PS5 Digital Edition, PS5
Visualization: CompareSizes

There’s barely a comparison. The PS5 is so much bigger, you can’t even argue the 3D perspective throws off its actual size. I’m pretty sure you’d need to go back to the days of game machines with built-in CRT televisions, or computers like the Commodore 64, to get much bigger.

And boy oh boy is this box bigger than the new Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S:

Notice that the 3D tool doesn’t line up the backs of each console. The PS5 is so much deeper than either Xbox.
Notice that the 3D tool doesn’t line up the backs of each console. The PS5 is so much deeper than either Xbox.

I don’t even need to tell you which console is which. It’s plainly obvious. Remember when we were worried whether the new Xbox would fit in our entertainment centers?

Oh, and there’s one little tidbit I forgot to mention, which makes this even better: Sony isn’t including the PS5’s “largest projection” or optional base in those measurements, according to its press release.

See those yellow and blue boxes? Now imagine some fins sticking out the top of them.

Here’s a 3D visualization of all seven consoles whose dimensions I plugged in, if you want to spin them around yourself. And in case you’re wondering, the PS5 will also weigh 4.5kg, or about 10 pounds. Dropping the disc drive brings you down to 3.9kg or 8.6 pounds.

Mind you, I loved my 60GB PS3 despite its girth, and I doubt I’ll feel differently about the PS5. The rest of the spec sheet is pretty impressive, too!

I’ll leave it below so you can peruse.

PlayStation®5 Specifications

CPU

x86-64-AMD Ryzen™ “Zen 2”

8 Cores / 16 Threads

Variable frequency, up to 3.5 GHz

GPU

AMD Radeon™ RDNA 2-based graphics engine

Ray Tracing Acceleration

Variable frequency, up to 2.23 GHz (10.3 TFLOPS)

System Memory

GDDR6 16GB

448GB/s Bandwidth

SSD

825GB

5.5GB/s Read Bandwidth (Raw)

Optical Drive

Ultra HD Blu-ray (66G/100G) ~10xCAV

BD-ROM (25G/50G) ~8xCAV

BD-R/RE (25G/50G) ~8xCAV

DVD ~3.2xCLV

PS5 Game Disc

Ultra HD Blu-ray, up to 100GB/disc

Video Out

HDMI™ OUT port

Support of 4K 120Hz TVs, 8K TVs, VRR (specified by HDMI ver.2.1)

Audio

“Tempest” 3D AudioTech

Dimensions

PS5: Approx. 390mm x 104mm x 260mm (width x height x depth)

(excludes largest projection, excludes Base)

PS5 Digital Edition: Approx. 390mm x 92mm x 260mm (width x height x depth)

(excludes largest projection, excludes Base)

Weight

PS5: 4.5kg

PS5 Digital Edition: 3.9kg

Power

PS5: 350W

PS5 Digital Edition: 340W

Input/Output

USB Type-A port (Hi-Speed USB)

USB Type-A port (Super-Speed USB 10Gbps) x2

USB Type-C® port (Super-Speed USB 10Gbps)

Networking

Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)

IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax

Bluetooth® 5.1

DualSense™ Wireless Controller Specifications

Dimensions

Approx. 160mm x 66mm x 106mm (excludes largest projection) (width x height x depth)

Weight

Approx. 280g

Buttons

PS button, Create button, Options button,

Directional buttons (Up/Down/Left/Right), Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square),

R1/L1 button,

R2/L2 button (with Trigger Effect)

Left stick / L3 button, Right stick / R3 button, Touch Pad button, MUTE button

Touch Pad

2 Point Touch Pad, Capacitive Type, Click Mechanism

Motion Sensor

Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope + three-axis accelerometer)

Audio

Built-in Microphone Array, Built-in Mono Speaker, Stereo Headset Jack

Output : 48kHz/16bit, Input : 24kHz/16bit

Feedback

Trigger Effect (on R2/L2 button), Vibration (haptic feedback by dual actuators), Indicators (Light bar / Player indicator / MUTE status)

Ports

USB Type-C® port (Hi-Speed USB), Stereo Headset Jack, Charging Terminals

Communication

Wireless

Bluetooth® Ver5.1

Wired

USB connection (HID, Audio)

Battery

Type

Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery

Voltage

DC 3.65V

Capacity

1,560mAh