Now that Sony has officially announced the PlayStation 5 and confirmed more of the next-gen console’s specs, we can begin diving into the differences and similarities between the next-gen Xbox and PlayStation. Granted, we don’t have enough to give a just comparison between Project Scarlett and the PS5, but we can at least start with what Microsoft and Sony have already given us.
In the following article, we dive into the differences and similarities between Microsoft and Sony’s respective next-gen consoles. Though both companies have been keeping details close to the chest, they have revealed certain specifications for their respective consoles, as well as what those nitty-gritty numbers translate into in a performance sense. In response to the growing market of players who are buying games digitally, both companies have laid out how storage will work on their next-gen consoles too. We go into all that, and more, below.
- Names
Names
Sony is the only one of the two to announce the name of its next-gen console. And–surprising literally no one–it’s PlayStation 5, or PS5 for short.
Microsoft refers to its next-gen console as Project Scarlett. For the sake of convenience, we’re going to refer to the console as Xbox Scarlett, or Scarlett for short.
Release Date
Both consoles are currently scheduled to release within the same window, the holiday season in 2020. Much like the Xbox One and PS4 before them, Scarlett and PS5 will be going head to head during the biggest shopping window within the same year. If you’re planning on buying both, you may want to begin saving now.
Specifications
There’s a lot about the exact specifications of each console that we don’t know yet, like how much each one is going to cost. We do have enough to at least begin comparing Scarlett and the PS5 though. Both use different CPUs, for example. As you’ll see below, it’s not all different though. Both next-gen consoles will support ray-tracing, for instance, which will allow them to better simulate light in games.
Xbox Scarlett PlayStation 5 Dimensions unknown unknown Weight unknown unknown Color unknown unknown CPU AMD Zen 2 AMD Ryzen GPU AMD Navi with ray tracing AMD Navi with ray tracing Disc Drive Yes Yes Storage Solid-State Drive Solid-State Drive 4K Support Yes Yes Price unknown unknown Release Date Holiday 2020 Holiday 2020 Cloud Streaming Project xCloud (unconfirmed) PlayStation Now (unconfirmed) Performance
Regardless of which console you go for, you’re getting an upgrade. Scarlett’s specs suggest a much stronger console than the Xbox One X, while the PS5 sees a similar improvement over the PS4 Pro.
Storage
Both Scarlett and the PS5 are using solid-state drives, or SSDs, this time around. PlayStation 5 users should see a noticeable improvement in the time it takes for a game to load on the next-gen console in comparison to the PS4 as a result. The same is true for Xbox Scarlett in comparison to Xbox One, which Microsoft already confirmed at E3 2019; but by how much has yet to be announced. That said, results will vary by game.
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