Black Friday is approaching, and Sony has already introduced significant price reductions on three models of the PlayStation 5. The PS5 Digital Edition (slim) is now available for approximately $399, a $100 discount and its lowest price of the year, at major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. The standard PS5 (slim) is also part of the sale, priced around $449, which reflects a similar $100 price cut.
For gamers seeking enhanced performance, the PlayStation 5 Pro has hit the market with a discounted price of around $649 at Amazon, Walmart, and Target, marking it as a matching low for the model. These discounts come as a surprise, especially following Sony’s price hike across all PS5 models earlier in August due to tariffs sanctioned by the US government. The current promotions will remain active until December 18th.
The PS5 Digital Edition stands out as the most affordable variant of Sony’s latest gaming consoles, featuring a modified port configuration and omitting a disc drive to facilitate solely digital gaming. It includes 1TB of storage but allows users to upgrade the internal NVMe M2.0 SSD for additional space, provided the new drive incorporates a heatsink such as the Samsung 2TB 980 Pro.
In contrast, the standard PS5 Slim resembles the Digital Edition but comes equipped with a built-in disc drive capable of playing physical games and Blu-rays out of the box. This model represents a cost-savings option for those who already own physical copies of PS5 games and movies, as it is cheaper than purchasing both the Digital Edition and a separate disc drive.
The upgraded PlayStation 5 Pro offers notable enhancements with its superior GPU, faster memory, improved ray tracing capabilities, and support for Wi-Fi 7 and AI-powered upscaling. While it allows certain games to be played at higher resolutions or frame rates than its predecessor, it does not feature any exclusive titles. Reviewers have noted only marginal visual improvements when comparing gameplay between the PlayStation 5 and the Pro unless viewed from a very close distance. Just like the Digital Edition, the PS5 Pro also lacks an internal disc drive but can work with the same external disc drive and boasts 2TB of internal storage.
In addition to console discounts, the Black Friday event includes attractive offers on accessories, including the PlayStation Portal and bundled PlayStation VR 2, both at historic lows. Controllers, including the standard DualSense and the premium DualSense Edge, are also on sale, with reductions of up to $30. Similar to the console discounts, these accessory deals will be available until December 18th or while stocks last.
This proactive move by Sony to reduce prices ahead of Black Friday is a boon for gamers looking to snag the latest technology at lower prices, ensuring an exciting shopping season for avid fans.