PS5 Digital Edition vs PS5: Which is better?

The new generation PlayStation 5 is almost the holy grail in the gaming world, unfortunately not just because of the advanced features, best resolution, gaming experience or cool extras like new generation PS5 controllers, but rather because of the availability of these models on the market. Despite the passage of time, the new generation PlayStation in physical form is just as hard to find and it is not likely to change any time soon. Therefore, an option, for those who cannot wait for the PS5, is its digital alternative – the PS5 Digital Edition. And that is what we are going to talk about today! We will weigh up all the pros and cons, and then try to answer the question of which version is more beneficial! But first, let’s find out what the PS5 Digital Edition even is and what features it has.

PS5 Digital Edition –  what is it?

The answer to the question of what the PS5 Digital Edition is relatively mundane and fairly obvious, as the Digital Edition is a version of the PS5 that has no physical Blu-ray disc drive. As such, it is also lighter and slightly smaller. In terms of other internal technological features, there is no significant difference between the PS5 vs PS5 Digital Edition — both versions have an AMD Ryzen Zen 2 processor, 8 cores, 3.5 GHz, AMD RDNA 2.0 graphics, 10.28 TFLOPS, 16 GB of GDDR6 RAM, and an 825 GB SSD. What this means in practice is that with the PS5 Digital Edition we cannot use any physical media, such as bought back from someone for a low price but also new, and we can only install games via the digital PS Store, which in principle ought not to cause anyone too much trouble as most new games are sold as codes rather than physical CDs or other media anyway. However, let’s not stop there, because in order to decide which is better – the PS5 Digital Edition or the new generation PlayStation 5 – you need to carefully consider the differences between the two, and this is exactly what we are going to do now.

PS5 or PS5 Digital Edition – technical issues

We decided that it’s worth touching on both new generation PlayStation variants technically first, as these are the ones that are sure to concern most true gamers. Thus, the two PS5 models are basically identical in terms of performance and price, which is a big difference compared to at least the Xbox consoles, which are much more different in terms of price in the X and S variants. The only difference is that a bit more expensive, the PS5 console will have an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive, as they otherwise share the same non-standard processor and have to share the same 825GB SSD. As noted, the solid-state drive included in both consoles is the same, offering users 825GB of storage with a raw throughput of 5.5GB/s and up to 9GB/s for compressed data. However, that said, you only get 667.2GB of usable capacity, meaning that room is of the essence. On the whole, though, there’s a slight difference in weight and dimensions between the PS5 and its digital edition, but they are otherwise pretty similar. The PS5 operates on AMD’s third-generation Ryzen chipset, with eight cores, the new Zen 2 technology architecture and Navi graphics. In terms of visuals, the GPU has 36 processing units running at 2.23GHz and offering 10.28TFLOPs, while the PS5 has 16GB of GDDR6 RAM with 448GB/s of throughput. Consoles feature ray tracing, or advanced lighting, which until now has only been the domain of expensive desktop computers graphics cards. Another important aspect is 3D audio – regardless of which edition of the console you own, immersive 3D audio is driven by the Tempest Engine, which translates sound sources into hundreds, creating a high-quality audio experience. The PS5 supports resolutions up to 8K which, however, only comes in handy with the right quality monitors or TVs. Furthermore, PS5 supports a refresh rate of 120Hz, so you can enjoy more fluid gameplay, but those that are technically ready for it.  For both consoles, you get just one PS5 DualSense wireless controller with adaptive triggers and tactile feedback that enhance the sense of realism when playing games, but as you know consoles are more about entertainment for two, so in both cases, you should rather equip a good quality PS5 custom controller as an extra, or make your own custom PS5 controller suit your individual needs.

PS5 or PS5 Digital Edition – older versions of games

You can also play PS4-compatible games on both consoles, although physical copies you own obviously will not work on the PS5 Digital Edition, there’s no getting away from it and you’ll be able to buy an external hard drive for older titles to save space on the SSD for PS5 software. However, you can’t yet store or play PS5 games on external hard drives or SSDs, so this is an aspect to keep in mind.

PS5 or PS5 Digital Edition – appearance

The appearance of the two consoles differs, but only slightly due to the presence or absence of a disc drive. The standard PS5 has a small bulge at the bottom where the disc drive hardware is located, while the PS5 Digital Edition does not. Since the Digital Edition doesn’t have a disc drive, its design is much slimmer and more symmetrical, but you cannot say this has a huge impact on the aesthetic aspect.

PS5 or PS5 Digital Edition – price

The standard new generation PlayStation 5 costs approximately 450-500 pounds, while the digital version is about  £100 pounds cheaper at only  £350-400. The specifications of both versions are the same, and the price difference is simply due to the lower production price, due to the lack of a disc drive.

PS5 Digital Edition vs PS5: which is better and what should you choose?

In this case the issue is quite clear and transparent. If you prefer to keep the boxes on the shelf or simply sell or exchange the game for another title after finishing it, and you only choose the digital version on special offers, the choice is obvious. Digital versions are often viewed through the prism of a lack of physical possession and the fear that one day the servers will be shut down, resulting in a situation where the game simply cannot be downloaded from the internet and if you don’t have it on your hard drive it will be lost forever. Do you hate managing your discs? Are you tired of searching for promotions and leaving home to buy games? On the day of release do you want to be able to play the title you want in just a few minutes after it is released on servers? If you are interested in digital-only game releases and want to save as much as possible on your console, then the answer is clearly yes, you should go for a device without a disc reader. However, for all you collectors out there, we cannot fail to recommend the standard version of the PlayStation 5, compatible with new generation PlayStation controllers.

We hope you found this article helpful and informative, and that you make the best decision based on it regarding the purchase of a new console for yourself. We also welcome other articles on our blog, and soon we will cover more interesting topics from the world of gaming and consoles, so keep an eye out and visit our site!  See you there!