Is the PS5 Worth Buying in 2026? An In-Depth Look at PlayStation 5‘s Value
For hardcore gamers, PlayStation enthusiasts, and those looking for a major graphical upgrade in their gaming experience, the answer is an emphatic yes – the PlayStation 5 is absolutely worth buying in 2024. While supply constraints have made PS5s difficult to find at times, Sony‘s latest console offers a huge generational leap over the PS4 generation. Between groundbreaking exclusive games, incredible 4K 120fps graphics powered by advanced hardware, revolutionary SSD speeds, and immersive haptic feedback, the PS5 delivers the most cutting-edge console gaming experience on the market today.
A Major Upgrade Over the PS4 Generation
As a long-time PlayStation fan and avid gamer myself, the PS5 is easily Sony‘s most impressive console to date. The jump from PS4 to PS5 represents the biggest generational leap we‘ve seen yet from the PlayStation brand. It feels like a similar breakthrough to when the PlayStation 2 ushered in modern 3D gaming over 20 years ago.
While the PS4 Pro offered 4K gaming, it was limited to 30fps in most titles. With the PS5, native 4K 60fps or even 4K 120fps is now the standard for next-gen games. This level of buttery smooth performance and visual fidelity was unheard of in the living room just a few years ago.
Combine this with the PS5‘s custom SSD which drastically reduces load times, and games on PS5 simply feel different than ever before. The SSD doesn‘t just accelerate load times – it enables developers to design games without constraints, streaming open worlds rapidly as players move through them.
Having tested and compared multiplatform games on both PS5 and Xbox Series X, the experience is so close on both that the system you choose really comes down to game library preference. But for PlayStation fans, the PS5 offers the definitive next-gen console gaming experience.
Custom Hardware Enabling New Gaming Experiences
The key to the PS5‘s impressive graphical showcase is its custom hardware developed hand-in-hand between Sony‘s system architects and the AMD engineers behind the GPU and CPU technology.
At the heart of the PS5 is an AMD Zen 2-based CPU with 8 cores running at 3.5GHz. This keeps everything humming smoothly behind the scenes.
The star of the show is the PS5‘s GPU based on AMD‘s RDNA 2 architecture with 36 compute units hitting speeds up to 2.23 GHz. This enables the PS5‘s hardware ray tracing support and powers games with up to 4K resolution and 120fps frame rates.
Combined with 16GB of GDDR6 memory and a blisteringly fast custom SSD, games on PS5 can hit visual quality and performance heights not possible on past PlayStation consoles.
While the PS5 hits 10.28 teraflops to the Xbox Series X‘s 12 teraflops on paper, in reality the difference is indistinguishable. Every cross-platform game I‘ve tried looks and runs so similarly on both systems that PS5‘s enviable exclusives and DualSense controller win out for me.
Stunning First-Party Exclusives You Won‘t Find Elsewhere
The main reason to own a PlayStation console has always been Sony‘s first-party exclusives. Studios like Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio, Insomniac, and Guerrilla Games have consistently delivered generation-defining masterpieces over the decades. That pedigree continues with the PS5.
Horizon Forbidden West has brought Guerrilla‘s unique open world vision to new heights with its jaw-droppingly beautiful environments and deep gameplay improvements. God of War Ragnarök promises to be another showstopper later in 2022.
And early peeks at Marvel‘s Spider-Man 2 show Insomniac isn‘t sitting still but leveraging PS5 hardware to bring Peter Parker‘s next adventure up to the visual quality of a Marvel film.
Gran Turismo 7 demonstrates how PlayStation studios are building exclusives from the ground up for PS5, dazzling players with photorealistic visuals at a rock solid 60fps. As more exclusives leverage PS5 hardware, the experiences you can only get on PlayStation will blow you away.
Haptics and Adaptive Triggers for Immersive Gameplay
The PS5‘s DualSense controller itself represents a huge innovation through its use of advanced haptics and adaptive triggers. Sony built an entire haptics engine into the DualSense enabling highly precise vibrations that can simulate everything from the grind of tires on gravel to the tension of drawing a bow.
Combined with detailed sound effects from the controller speaker, games like Astro‘s Playroom simulate tactile sensations in your hands you simply can‘t experience otherwise.
The adaptive triggers dynamically adjust the tension levels as you hold down R2/L2, allowing you to truly feel actions like drawing an arrow or the kickback of a gun. Haptics provide sensory feedback that makes gameplay more visceral.
Lightning Fast Load Times
Of all the next-gen accomplishments, I‘m most impressed by the PS5‘s SSD and its transformative impact on load times. Games like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart leverage the SSD to near instantaneously warp between entire worlds with no loading.
Fast travel systems in huge open world games have been reduced from immersion-breaking 30+ second pauses on PS4 to blink-and-you‘ll-miss-it experiences on PS5. Same goes for respawning in competitive multiplayer. The SSD fundamentally changes how quickly you can jump into the action.
The Tech Behind the Speed
The PS5 utilizes a custom designed solid state drive built on the PCIe Gen 4 NVMe protocol. With raw throughput capable of 5.5GB/s, it‘s 100x faster than the PS4‘s hard drive.
The speed allows for new features like decompressing game assets on the fly rather than duplicating them to mask loading. PS5 games achieve more with smaller file sizes since assets no longer need redundancy.
For developers, the PS5‘s SSD eliminates design constraints and allows them to build richer, more immersive worlds. The fact it has only 667GB of usable space is its Achilles heel, but expanding with an NVMe SSD isn‘t too costly.
Backwards Compatibility with PS4
The PS5 is fully backwards compatible with PS4 games, meaning your existing game library will carry forward. PS4 games also benefit from the power of PS5 – many titles see enhanced resolutions and frame rates when played on new hardware.
Sony has released Director‘s Cut versions for games like Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding too, allowing older games to leverage PS5 capabilities.
Not only can you play PS4 games directly off the SSD, but you can also plug in an external hard drive and play PS4 titles that way too. So you shouldn‘t miss out on any past generation games when upgrading.
Tempest 3D AudioTech
Complementing the visual showcase, the PS5 Tempest 3D AudioTech enables far more immersive sound in supported titles. The custom Tempest Engine can synthesize 3D positional audio, adding greater dimensionality to sound effects and making you feel like you‘re inside the game world.
Tempest also more accurately models how we hear sounds from different elevations like above or below us. This level of acoustic realism wasn‘t possible in past generations. When combined with a capable surround sound system or headset, PS5 audio is a revelation.
DualSense Features Enhance PS4 Games Too
Even your existing PS4 game library benefits from PS5‘s DualSense controller. While you don‘t get specialized haptic feedback designed for each PS5 game, the heightened immersion provided by haptics and adaptive triggers makes last-gen games more engaging too.
The subtle rumble and dynamic trigger tension of DualSense adds to gameplay whether you‘re playing a brand new PS5 exclusive or revisiting a PS4 favorite.
PlayStation VR 2 Coming Down the Road
While not available yet, PlayStation VR 2 represents a major leap forward for virtual reality gaming on PS5. Once PSVR 2 arrives in 2024, it will offer 4K HDR visuals at 90Hz or 120Hz, inside-out tracking so no camera is needed, eye tracking, 3D audio, adaptive triggers/haptics, and more.
With specs rivaling the best PC VR headsets, PSVR 2 promises to be a game changer. The PS5‘s power ensures top-tier VR experiences once PSVR 2 releases. Any PS5 owner will want to consider the upgrade.
Sony Rapidly Improving Supply
There‘s no denying one downside of the PS5 has been the constant supply constraints since launch, making buying one challenging. The global chip shortage has severely limited production. However, Sony recently announced PS5 production is ramping up substantially in 2022.
Supply is steadily improving week to week. Follow reliable Twitter trackers and be diligent, and you‘ll likely secure a PS5 within a few weeks. Supply should continue opening up as 2022 progresses, making buying a PS5 far less difficult.
Sales & Adoption Rates
As of January 2022, Sony has sold over 17 million PS5s globally despite supply issues. That‘s the fastest adoption rate of any PlayStation console so far, demonstrating extremely high demand.
In the US, the PS5 became Sony‘s best-selling console in its first 12 months, surpassing the PS4‘s first year sales by 8%. All signs point to the PS5 achieving massive success once production constraints are fully resolved.
A Pricey But Worthwhile Upgrade
With a $499 starting price for the base model, the PS5 is certainly expensive, especially in the context of prolonged high inflation. But for serious gamers who can afford the premium, the PS5 is an investment that delivers a massive graphical leap over past generations.
If you‘ve waited this long, buying a PS5 in 2024 vs 2022 won‘t make much difference. But once supply normalizes, the PS5 offers long-term future proofing you won‘t gain from remaining on PS4. PlayStation studios will continue optimizing exclusives specifically for PS5 hardware.
PS5 vs. Xbox Series X – A Direct Comparison
The Xbox Series X costs the same $499 as the flagship PS5 model. When comparing the two consoles, the PS5 wins out for me due to Sony‘s first-party exclusives, the innovative DualSense controller, and VR potential with PSVR 2.
However, the Xbox Series X bests PS5 when it comes to pure power and performance. On paper, Series X has 12 teraflops to PS5‘s 10.28. In my experience though, both consoles deliver extremely similar performance on multiplatform games. Unless playing with an FPS counter, it‘s hard to discern any difference.
The Xbox Series X also has a slight edge in its expansive 1TB SSD versus PS5‘s 667GB usable space. And Xbox provides certain consumer conveniences like Dolby Vision gaming and Dolby Atmos support that Sony omits. Still, for longtime PlayStation gamers, PS5 is likely the way to go.
God of War Ragnarök – Optimized for PS5
As a prime example of PlayStation studios leveraging PS5 over time, God of War Ragnarök is being developed from ground up exclusively for PS5. Unlike the PS4-based God of War (2018), Ragnarök can fully utilize PS5 capabilities.
Developer Santa Monica Studio says Ragnarök will have higher resolution textures and geometry, improved lighting and shadows, enhanced particle effects, better draw distances, almost instant loading, immersive 3D audio, and of course DualSense haptics designed specially for gameplay. Expect to be amazed at what Ragnarök achieves on PS5 hardware.
My Take – Well Worth the Investment for Core Gamers
As both a tech journalist and passionate gamer, I believe the PS5 100% delivers on its next-gen promise. The 4K 120fps visuals, radically fast loading, and incredible new experiences made possible by its SSD and DualSense controller represent a true generational leap.
Factor in PlayStation‘s pedigree for delivering jaw-dropping exclusives, and PS5 makes a compelling case as the definitive console for core gamers – if you can accept the premium price tag. For the lower $399 Digital Edition, you still get the full power and features.
Considering a good gaming PC costs well over $1000 currently, the PS5 offers tremendous value stacked up against its performance and technical capabilities. While supply shortages have been frustrating, Sony is ramping up production substantially. Given a few more months, buying a PS5 should be straightforward again.
If you‘ve held off on upgrading from PS4, 2023 is a great time to make the next-gen leap to PS5. For serious gamers, the PS5 is an investment that pays for itself many times over thanks to the groundbreaking new gaming experiences it enables. You truly have to play next-gen exclusives like Horizon Forbidden West to understand just how monumental the improvements are.
For core PlayStation fans seeking the best console gaming experiences possible, the PS5 is absolutely worth buying in 2024. You won‘t be disappointed taking the plunge. Sony has delivered something extraordinary with its latest console.
