Navigating the PlayStation 5 Landscape: Beating the Price Hike and Unlocking Hidden Features
Sony has comfortably won this generation’s console war against Xbox. The PlayStation 5 is simply far more popular than the Xbox Series models, bolstered by a consistently strong lineup of exclusive titles. The initial supply chain woes that plagued the console’s launch are a distant memory, and the market is currently offering some genuinely fantastic deals. There is, however, a looming catch. Ongoing RAM shortages are expected to impact the wider hardware market, and PlayStation is planning to raise its prices quite soon. Time is very much of the essence if you want to secure a bargain before the hike takes effect.
Choosing the Right Hardware for Your Setup
Back in 2020, buying a PS5 merely meant deciding whether you wanted a disc drive. Things are rather more complicated today. Buyers must now weigh up the Slim Digital, the standard Slim with a disc drive, and the high-end Pro model. Interestingly, the Pro ships without a disc drive as standard, though you can retrofit one later for roughly 120 euros.
Your choice ultimately depends on your gaming habits. If you are keen on exploring the second-hand market or already own a hefty catalogue of PlayStation 4 discs, the Slim Disc version is overwhelmingly the most sensible choice. During sales periods, this model typically costs about half the price of a fully kitted-out Pro. The Slim Digital is really only viable if you are absolutely certain you will never buy a physical game, especially given that the price gap between the two Slim variants is rarely more than 100 euros.
Of course, the PlayStation 5 Pro remains a highly enticing prospect for tech enthusiasts, boasting some seriously impressive specifications. It features a massive 2TB of internal storage alongside WiFi-7 support. Gamers can expect 4K resolution at a stable 60 frames per second, with the potential for 120 FPS and even 8K resolution in specific scenarios. Add in advanced ray tracing and PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution AI upscaling, and it is an incredibly capable machine. Regardless of which version you pick, you are effectively future-proofing your living room. Every PS5 will play all upcoming titles, though pairing your new console with a top-tier gaming television will always yield the best visual results.
Accessing the Console’s Hidden Web Browser
Once you have your console set up and ready to go, you might spot a rather glaring omission. Anyone who owned a PlayStation 4 will likely remember its built-in web browser app. Sony dropped this dedicated application for the current generation, reasoning that players hardly ever used it anyway. Officially, the company probably never intended for users to surf the web on the PS5, likely because the background functionality isn’t entirely flawless for complex media consumption. If you want to watch videos or stream music, bespoke applications like YouTube or Spotify are far better suited to the task.
Yet, the console is actually quite adept at handling text-heavy sites for reading daily news or game reviews. Thankfully, there is a clever workaround to access the internet, provided you have an active Google account. We cannot say for certain if Sony ever intends to roll out a fully realised browser update in the future. For now, you can dive into the system’s hidden browser using a slightly convoluted but effective method.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Going Online
To get started, navigate to the top right corner of your home screen and open the Settings menu via the small gear icon. From there, dive into the System options, scroll down to the Web Browser section, and ensure that both the ‘Enable JavaScript’ and ‘Allow Cookies’ toggles are switched on.
With those preferences sorted, head back to the main Settings menu. Select Network, followed by ‘View PlayStation Network Status’. This action will open a dedicated PSN service page. From here, simply click the ‘Back to playstation.com’ link. Once the official PlayStation site loads, scroll right down to the bottom where the ‘Follow us on social media’ section sits, and click the YouTube logo.
You will then be prompted to sign into your existing YouTube account. After logging in, click on your Google Account profile, and look for the ‘Google Apps’ icon nearby. Clicking this allows you to select ‘Search’. Just like that, you have a functional Google search bar at your disposal, opening up the wider internet directly on your television screen.
