If you were lucky enough to pick up Sony’s new PlayStation 5 on launch day, fast enough to pick one up when the stock has reappeared, or you’ve marked one for Christmas, the important thing is that you have one. Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of next-generation console games! We’ve collected some not-so-obvious tips and resources that will help you get the most out of your new console.
Looking for accessories to equip your new system? Check out our guides on Best gaming headsets, Best wireless gaming headsets and Best gifts for PlayStation lovers for our top picks. If you just want to know more about the PS5, here’s exactly what’s new.
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1. Learn how to turn off the PS5
You can scoff at this first tip. How difficult can it be to turn off the console? I certainly didn’t spend 10 minutes trying to find the option, if that’s what you’re suggesting! It turns out that you need to press the PlayStation button in the middle of the controller once; do not hold it as you would on PS4. After tapping this button, a menu appears at the bottom of the screen and you will see the power icon at the far right. The menu changes, so it’s faster to go left.
You can also press the physical power button on the hardware itself, which is at the bottom if you have it vertically or at the left end if the PS5 is horizontally on the media console.
2. Transfer files and games from your PS4
If you are upgrading from a PS4, you may want to transfer games, settings, and other files to the new console. You will be asked to do this during setup, but if you skipped it, you can go back and do it later. Before you start, it’s a good idea to have the two consoles connected side by side and connected with an Ethernet cable to connect them (you can use Wi-Fi, but it will take longer).
When you’re ready, go to settings on PS5, so System> System software. To choose Data transfer, Continue and choose your PS4. When Prepare for data transfer appears, you need to hold down the power button on the PS4 for a few seconds until you hear a beep. Choose what you want to move and choose Start transfer.
3. See how long you’ve been playing a game
Now it’s easier than ever to see how many hours you’ve spent playing PlayStation games. Choose your avatar in the upper right corner of the PS5 home screen and select Profile, then the Games tab. You will see the total playing time next to each game with the progress of the trophy on the right.
4. Make sure you are playing the PS5 version of a game
While it’s great that you can play PS4 games on PS5, it can sometimes create a bit of confusion. Certain older titles have been enhanced for the latest console, so you’ll want to make sure you’re playing the updated version for the best experience. Take a look at the game title on the home screen. Any PS4 version will say PS4 next to. You can also scroll to the right and choose Games libraryand tap Sort and filter icon on the left and filter your games by Platform.
5. Adjust your controller settings
The DualSense controller on the PS5 is excellent and represents a real improvement over DualShock 4. The feel of the triggers and the range of vibrations increase immersion and change dynamically in response to action on the screen. The default settings are right for me, but if you want to reduce the intensity of the vibration or the effects of the trigger, go to Settings> Accessories> Controllers. Since you can use your old DualShock 4 controllers to play PS4 games on PS5, there is also an option here to reduce the brightness of your indicators.
6. Get more immersive sound with 3D audio
A prominent feature on the PS5 is 3D audio, which allows game developers to link sound effects to everything around them to increase the illusion that you are really in the room, but you need to use headphones to take advantage. 3D audio is enabled by default, so plug headphones into your controller and you’ll hear the difference immediately, but you’ll want to calibrate it to your ears using Settings> Sound> Audio output. Below the Enable 3D audiochoose Adjust the 3D audio profile and choose the one that sounds best to you from the five levels available.
7. Play Astro’s Playroom, Then delete it
Each PS5 comes with Astro’s Playroom installed and worth checking out. This fun 3D platform game is positively filled with PlayStation references that will give you a dose of warm and diffuse nostalgia, but it also does a great job of showing what the new DualSense controller is capable of. When you’re done, you can free up almost 11 gigabytes of storage space by locating and deleting it in Settings> Storage> Console storage> Games and applications. Don’t worry, you can always download it again for free from PlayStation Store.
8. Get more storage space
One of the PS5’s improvements over the PS4 is with an ultra-fast solid state drive (SSD) for storage. Game segmentation and a reduction in the need for duplicate data also means that game downloads should be lower, but you can still fill the 667 GB available quickly if you play many different games. Sony has promised to activate the internal slot that allows it to add an approved SSD card in the near future. For now, you can connect an external SSD or HDD compatible with USB 3.0 or higher to a USB port on the PS5. The problem is that you can only play PS4 games stored on that external drive.
9. Choose your game presets
You can save a little time by configuring games to your preferences by going to Settings> Saved data> Game / application settings> Game presets. You can select your preferred game difficulty, choose between performance or graphics quality and adjust the camera movement for first and third person, which includes the ability to set inverted controls by default.