NEXT GENERATION CONSOLE COMPARISON, PS5 VS XBOX SERIES X/S

The release dates, pre-order dates, suggested retail prices, and technical specifications for both the PlayStation 5 and next generation XBox gaming consoles were announced in mid-September. There is a lot going on with these machines and for many gamers the decision on which to buy will be a major investment.

The Advocate is here to help your decision with a comparison of the competitors’ consoles.

We’ll start with the PlayStation 5, as its two versions are identical in specification, with one major exception: The PS5 has a Digital Edition that does not include a 4K UHD Blu-ray drive. The trade-off for this lack is a price difference of $100. The regular PS5 will be $499, while the Digital Edition will be $399. Looks-wise, the PS5 has a sleek white and black design, with blue lights.

The PlayStation 5 will release on Nov. 12 in the U.S. and some other countries, with a full global release a week later, Nov. 19. Pre-orders are currently open, but they sell out almost as quickly as they’re posted. Sony has promised more pre-orders will continue to come in stages but grabbing one will be tough. 

PS5 will have only one generation of backwards compatibility, allowing you to play PS4 games on it, as well as use many of your PS4 accessories. It will also have PS VR compatibility, with optional performance upgrades available to developers to give a heightened experience when playing virtual reality games over the PS4. 

Microsoft is releasing two new versions of its next generation XBox console, and unlike the PS5, the two have vastly different technical specifications. The Series X is all-around-bigger, stronger, and has greater processing power than the Series S, and the Series S also lacks the 4K UHD Blu-ray drive of its big brother. 

The price point gap is larger, however, with the Series X retailing at $499 and the Series S down at $299. Additionally, to further their “games as services” model, XBox Series X and Series S will both be available in a monthly installment package that includes XBox Ultimate Game Pass. Series X will cost $34.99 per month and Series S will be $24.99 per month.

It’s worth noting that XBox Ultimate Game Pass also includes a library of games you can download and play included in its monthly fee, as well as allowing you to play games on your Android mobile phone and tablet along with XBox Gold membership, which is required to play online games (similar to the Play Pass for PlayStation consoles).

The PlayStation 5 may have opted for a sleek modern look, but the XBox’s next generation seems to have taken the console’s naming convention literally: Both the Series X and Series S seem to just be… a box.

XBox Series consoles will both have backward compatibility for most previously released XBox games, going all the way back to the original XBox, as well as XBox 360 and XBox One titles, giving it a far greater reach of nostalgic titles and letting you consolidate down to the latest console while keeping your old library. XBox One accessories will also be backward compatible, so you can keep your favorite well-loved headset or controller if you so desire.

PlayStation 5 Technical specifications below. XBox Series X and Series S above.

• CPU: AMD Zen 2-based CPU with 8 cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency) 
• GPU: 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency) 
• GPU architecture: Custom RDNA 2 
• Memory interface: 16GB GDDR6 / 256-bit 
• Memory bandwidth: 448GB/s 
• Internal storage: Custom 825GB SSD 
• IO throughput: 5.5GB/s (raw), typical 8-9GB/s (compressed) 
• Expandable storage: NVMe SSD slot 
• External storage: USB HDD support (PS4 games only) 
• Optical drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray drive 

Both the PS5 and the two XBox Series consoles will be running on SSD hard drives, which means faster load times and potentially fewer loading screens, if at all.

In sum, Microsoft appears to have an overall edge at the front end of this generation’s release, with the Series X being a stronger machine than the PS5 overall, while the Series S offers a more affordable choice up front. It also releases 2 days earlier than the PlayStation 5, on Nov. 10. Like the PS5, however, it may be difficult to grab a pre-order and, ultimately, both Microsoft and Sony are likely to have a very profitable Christmas season this year.