PS5 slim: PlayStation announces brand new, smaller version of its console

Existing PS5 will be phased out, company said

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Sony has announced the PS5 slim, a smaller version of its PlayStation 5 console.

The long-rumoured, new PS5 is more than 30 per cent smaller than its predecessor, the company said.

Otherwise it keeps the same specs – including the option of a disc drive – as well as a largely similar design.

That initial look, which relied on a bright white, swooping look for the console, proved divisive when it was first released. But the PlayStation 5 was incredibly popular, remaining sold out for months after it first went on sale.

Now Sony says that it created the new console to “address the evolving needs of players”. “Our engineering and design teams collaborated on a new form factor that provides greater choice and flexibility,” it said.

That meant cutting down its volume by more than 30 per cent, and its weight by 18 per cent and 24 per cent depending on the model. As with the existing PlayStation 5, customers will be able to choose between an “digital” edition and one with a disc drive, though an external Blu-Ray reader can also be used.

The PS5 will remain on sale for now, PlayStation said. But when all of that inventory has sold out, the new one will become the only model, and despite months of rumours referring to it as a “PS5 slim”, Sony only called it the “new PS5 model”.

It will go on sale in the US in November. It will then continue to “roll out globally in the following months”.

Though Sony said that the console was being redesigned ready for the “holiday season”, that suggested that it may not be available in all countries before the end of the year.

The recommended retail price of the new PS5 remains the same as the existing model it replaces. It will cost $499, €549, or £479 for the version with the disc drive, or $449, €449 or £389 for the “digital edition” without one.

The new separate disc drive available for the digital edition will cost $79.