Talk of a 'PlayStation 5 Slim' console has been circling for years now. I remember when T3 was publishing opinion about the rumoured console back in August 2021. And yet here we are, two years on, and aside from fresh PS5 Slim rumours appearing, there's still no actual sign of the upgraded Sony console.
The sudden emergence of new rumours, however, does suggest that a PS5 Slim could indeed be just around the corner (or, indeed, a higher-spec PS5 Pro). And as an avid Sony PlayStation 5 fan, owner and player, that's piqued my interest.
Although, based on the latest leaks, the Slim doesn't look that, um, slim. That rather major point aside, however, if the upgraded PS5 console refresh is the real deal, here are five major features that would tempt me to buy a new PlayStation on launch day...
1. Better cooling management
The PS5 is an impressive piece of gaming kit with lots of power, which often results in it kicking up a bit of fan fuss and generating a whole lot of heat. I've not had major problems with my PS5 overheating on the regular, but I know some people have really struggled with keeping the console in a cabinet.
That'd be the first thing on my wants list: for the PS5 Slim to be redesigned so it could better cool itself and avoid overheating. Perhaps that would mean a new cooling pipeline, or simply an internal redesign to separate specific components to add more space.
Although, as pointed out by my T3 colleague and News Editor, Rik Henderson, surely a slimmer PlayStation 5 console would mean worse cooling, not better? I'd like to think that Sony is playing the smart card, however, and that a more slender PS5 would be able to incorporate better cooling systems overall. Here's hoping, eh?
2. A removable disc drive
A long-rumoured feature of the PS5 Slim is the allegation that it'd come with a removable disc drive. I think this is a great idea for a number of reasons: it could aid with that overheating/cooling issue, as I've outlined above; but it'll also remove the physical spinning of discs which can be a bit loud, so the console could theoretically be quieter when you want too.
I wouldn't want to forego a PlayStation 5 with a disc drive altogether you see: the PS5 Digital Edition just wasn't for me for that very reason. As I penned in my love letter to 4K Blu-ray – Much as I love streaming services, the end of 4K Blu-ray will be a major loss for us all – I'll always want to get hold of the best media possible.
I'm also still an advocate of buying games on disc, as it gives resale potential, there are often better deals on physical media, and you can easily uninstall and reinstall as required should you run out of storage space on your console. Which brings me to my next point...
3. More storage
The PS5 comes with 1TB storage on board, of which about 800GB is accessible. That's not a small amount, sure, but with games hitting the hundreds-of-gigabytes scales these days, it can be somewhat limiting. Like pretty much everyone else, I've had to upgrade my drive with one of the best PS5 SSDs, as outlined in my piece here: How do I install a SSD in my PS5?
If the PS5 Slim came with double that amount as standard it would be a big bonus. And, perhaps controversially, I'd say that the Slim console could forego the manual upgradeability for SSD additions as part of its shrunken figure – so long as that initial figure was ample (hello there 2TB) I'd be okay with that. And if you've not yet expanded your PS5's storage, the WD Black SN850 with heatsink is a great option, and it's well priced – as you can see from the shopping widget below.
4. More USB ports
The single USB port on the front of my PlayStation 5 is almost always occupied by the dongle required to use the Pulse 3D Wireless headset wirelessly (which is one of the best PS5 headsets, I'll have you know). If not then it comes out for the occasional PlayStation VR2 session, as that needs the USB port too.
Many people may instead use the USB port to charge their DualSense controller (which is on offer at the time of writing, so worth checking out), which can be a frustratingly slow way to get battery power back in for those gaming sessions. It also means a lot of swapping out peripherals to that one port and, simply put, I'd like the PS5 Slim to feature more USB slots front and centre. A pair would be most appreciated.
5. An eye-catching price
Now I know this is a long shot: but if the PS5 Slim brought the price down then it'd be appealing to buy it, or even trade in my original PS5 console, to have a better equipped, slimmer(ish) console with improved cooling, more features and, frankly, less dust inside.
I know I'm dreaming here, of course, and as the PS5 Slim isn't even official yet, if all the features in my wants list above are true then I'm not sure that Sony could beat the current asking price – especially as the original PS5 just dropped to its lowest-ever price.
Get that price right, though, and it'll certainly tempt me and plenty of other would-be PlayStation 5 gamers to take the plunge. Although, that said, if the PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro turn out to be true – with the original models discontinued – I would be very, very curious to see how much higher-spec a Pro model would be and how that could further improve my gaming experiences instead...
