a question that i'm often asked about on
my ps5 related content is which version
of the ps5 people should purchase and
i'll be honest i thought that the answer
to that question was really
straightforward but on talking to people
in the comments of my videos i realized
that there's still a little bit of
confusion about which model is right for
you so in this video i'm going to
quickly break down the difference
between the two console options that are
available to you and then explain the
pros and cons of each as well as
advising what console i think you should
look to buy depending on your specific
situation so for the sake of clarity
let's be clear about what your options
are when buying a ps5 right now in
november of 2021 there are two options
to choose from the disk edition and the
digital edition and the clue to the
difference between the two is in the
name the disc edition of the ps5 has a
disk drive built into it while the
digital edition does not beyond that
there are no differences between the two
consoles you've got the same cpu the
same gpu the same memory and the same
internal storage size and capability
across the two consoles you're not
getting one that's more powerful than
the other or one that's got more
internal storage or anything like that
it literally is all about that disk
drive there's no slim version of the ps5
right now no pro version either so if
you're deciding on which console to
purchase the key difference is going to
be around how much that disk drive means
to you and whether or not you can live
without it or whether you'd actually
prefer to live without it let's break
that down a little the key benefit to a
disk drive is that it can of course read
disks the ps5 disk drive can read ps5
games but it can also read and play ps4
games various types of blu-ray discs
including 4k ultra hd and dvds so it
covers a pretty wide range of media
types if you're someone who owns a wide
range of disk based media and you want
the option to play those on your ps5 you
have to go for the disk based console
you don't have any other option a
benefit beyond having a disc based media
collection is that games are installed
on your ps5 console and the files that
are needed to do this are pretty large
every game comes with an installation
file a core file that's delivered to
your console and installed on the hard
drive and then updated via the web as
patches are released for the game that
installation file can be huge let's say
for example that you've got a 45 gig
installation file you need to get that
file onto your ps5 with the digital
edition you can either download that
file from the cloud which is of course
going to be dependent on your internet
connection or you store it on an
external hard drive and transfer it over
when you want to access it this is
quicker but it's still not exactly quick
if you own a disk based ps5 you've got
both of those options but you also have
the option of buying a disk copy of a
game and accessing the file via the disk
now your console will still have to
install the game from the disk so you're
not saving hard drive space or anything
like that the console still fully
installs the game onto its internal hard
drive it's just obviously quicker for
most people to install a game from a
disk than it is to install it from the
cloud although do keep in mind most
games will then need to download and
update and that is done via the cloud so
a poor internet connection is going to
be troublesome for you regardless of
which console you own that said if you
have data caps on your internet for
example the disk based console could be
your best option a major benefit to
owning the disk based version of the
console is your ability to make the most
of deals that can be found outside of
the playstation network if you go to
your local game store or supermarket or
secondhand sale and find something for a
really good deal you can purchase the
physical copy of the game at a
potentially really good price something
that isn't available to owners of the
digital version that said those of us
who use the digital edition of the
console can still benefit from deals the
psn store has deals running all the time
and it's well worth checking back every
couple of weeks or so to see what's
available i've managed to amass a pretty
good collection although like any
digital collection there's an argument
to be had about whether or not i ever
actually own any of these games i've
technically got them on a super long
term rental oh and in case you were
wondering if you buy a disc copy of the
game you will have to insert that disk
each and every time you play the game
not because the ps5 is reading anything
from the disk each time it's an
anti-piracy feature is to stop you from
buying a game installing it on your
machine then returning the disk for a
refund and being able to still play the
game so lots of reasons to own a disc
based console you might be wondering why
anyone would go for the digital edition
well i went for the digital edition so
there are those of us out there who
prefer this over the disc version for a
few different reasons for me personally
i don't like owning physical media i
used to have a huge collection of dvds
for example and i sold them all off
years ago not for a lot of money really
i definitely made a net loss and that
was simply because it was clear back
then that streaming was the way forward
and my dvds which were much poorer video
quality than the streaming alternatives
would just be gathering dust on my
shelves the same with my cds i prefer
the minimalism of a home that doesn't
have large digital media collections
personally so i had no use for a disc
based console i also think and this is
of course my personal opinion that the
digital edition looks better than the
disc based i like that it doesn't have
the notch at the bottom for the disk
drive it's just aesthetically much more
pleasing to my eyes than the disc based
console personally it is also
technically cheaper to the tune of
almost 100 pounds here in the uk which
is a sizeable difference in cost but the
reason why i say technically cheaper is
because both versions of the console are
still borderline impossible to get hold
of even now in november of 2021 so with
that in mind even digital editions of
the console are selling online for twice
the retail price of the disc edition and
you might find yourself in a situation
where you've got an opportunity to
purchase the version of the console that
you don't want for a reasonable price
and if that's the case i guess you have
to ask yourself is the wrong ps5 better
than no ps5 at all only you can answer
that question so there you go that's an
explanation of the difference between
the two ps5 console versions with a
breakdown of which version i think you
should consider based on your needs what
about you have you been able to get hold
of a ps5 if yes which one did you get
was it the one that you wanted or are
you still struggling like so many other
people seem to be drop me a comment and
let's talk about it and as ever i hope
you found this video useful if you did
do please consider leaving me a like and
subscribing to the channel for more
content like this in the future see you
on the next video