The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S use significantly more electricity than their predecessors when playing games designed for the new consoles, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group. However, the NRDC found that the new consoles consume less power than the systems of the previous generation when playing backward compatible games and using streaming video applications.
The NRDC analysis – which was also carried out in 2013 at the launch of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 – praises the low-power modes that Sony and the new Microsoft consoles offer. Power-saving modes allow users to resume full operation in 10 to 15 seconds, consuming less than 1 watt of electricity in standby mode. However, the NRDC criticized Microsoft and Sony for choosing not to make this power configuration the default – the same charge that the organization charged on the PS4 and Xbox One.
The new Xbox’s “Instant-on” mode still consumes 10 watts in standby, said the NRDC. The report extrapolated this extra use by 2025 and estimated that it could total an extra 4 billion kilowatt hours of energy – equivalent to the annual electricity generation from a single large coal plant.
The NRDC analysis used a PlayStation 5 and an Xbox Series S, which has less processing power than an Xbox Series X, and also doesn’t have an optical disc drive. The group said it was unable to obtain an X Series for full testing, but expects the more robust console to use more power than an S Series. Microsoft has not provided official power consumption figures for either console; Sony’s listed hardware specifications say the standard PS5 has a power consumption of 350 watts, while the PS5 Digital Edition is slightly lower, 340 watts.
Sony’s new console was praised by NRDC for its standby mode, which consumed 1 watt or less and started in 10 to 15 seconds. It consumed “a few extra watts” of power during the first three hours of waiting to charge devices with its USB ports. But the PS5’s rechargeable DualSense controller was an environmentally preferable choice for the NRDC over the new Xbox gamepad, which comes with disposable batteries. (A rechargeable power supply for the controller is sold separately.)
The PS5’s default power settings turn off the console after an hour of inactivity for games and after four hours for streaming content (both settings can be changed by users). This means that the PlayStation 5 continues to consume about 70 watts of power if the user leaves it on after, say, watching a little bit of Netflix.
Even so, the power consumption when using streaming applications, both for the PS5 and Xbox Series S, is less than that of its predecessors – although the NRDC claims that dedicated streaming devices use even less power for the same assignment. The PS4, according to the 2013 NRDC analysis, used 90 watts when streaming from Netflix to 74 watts from Xbox One. The S Series consumed 31 watts to stream Netflix (and, inexplicably, 41 watts to Amazon Video), while the PS5 consumed 68-70 watts to transmit from both services.
Overall, however, the expected consumption of 160-200 watts to run PS5 titles, or games optimized for the Xbox Series X, is more energy than a 60-inch television consumes, said the NRDC.
In 2013, the NRDC warned that PS4 and Xbox One could be responsible for up to three times more energy consumption than the previous generation of PS3 and Xbox 360. In 2015, the organization said that Xbox One could be responsible for up to $ 250 million in additional annual electricity costs for US homes. The latest NRDC analysis warns that Xbox Series S or Series X owners in the U.S. can pay up to $ 1 billion, combined, over the next five years, for the extra power these consoles use in their “Instant-on” mode versus o “Energy saving mode”.
In 2015, after the NRDC harshly criticized the power usage of the Xbox One launch, Microsoft added a power saving mode as an option when new Xbox One users set up their consoles for the first time. At the time, Microsoft said the difference in power consumption between these two modes would save customers between $ 6 and $ 15 on their annual electricity bill. And the company released a software update in late November that reportedly reduced power consumption from Instant-on mode by up to 61% for the Xbox Series X.
Polygon contacted representatives from Microsoft and Sony for additional comments.