PS5 Slim vs Xbox Series X – Two Titans Battle It Out
The PlayStation 5 has lost a few pounds, can it still compete with the Xbox Series X?
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The PS5 Slim has finally been announced, ladies and gentlemen. Yep, according to Sony, the new slimmer PlayStation 5, features all the same horsepower as the old unit but has had its waistline trimmed by around 30% or so. It’s going to be launching this fall as well, right in time for the winter holiday season.
The PS5 Slim is launching in November in the US at least in time for the Holiday season. With the fact it’s replacing the original console on shelves once it runs out of stock, you’re not going to have much choice as to which you’re going to get. Whilst the Xbox has been out for some time now, since 2020 in fact. So does Sony get a leg up with this refresh?
How does the PlayStation 5 Slim compare to the Xbox Series X
Microsoft and Sony’s battle for console dominance has been legendary over the years, and with the arrival of the PS5 Slim, the big question is, how do these two compare? At least on paper. Well fortunately we’ve got the PS5 Slim specs for both, so let’s dive in shall we?
PS5 Slim vs Xbox Series X – Specifications
| PLAYSTATION 5 DIGITAL | PLAYSTATION 5 SLIM | XBOX SERIES X | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIMENSIONS | 358 × 80 × 216 mm | 358 × 96 × 216 mm | 301 x 151 x 151 mm |
| WEIGHT | 2.6 KG | 3.2 KG | 4.4 KG |
| CPU | x86-64-AMD Ryzen Zen 2 8 / 16 | x86-64-AMD Ryzen Zen 2 8 / 16 | X86-64 AMD Ryzen Zen 2 8 / 16 |
| CPU FREQUENCY | Up to 3.5 GHz | Up to 3.5 GHz | Up to 3.8 GHz (3.6GHz with simultaneous multi-threading) |
| GPU | AMD Radeon RDNA 2 – 36 CUs | AMD Radeon RDNA 2 | AMD Radeon RDNA 2 – 52 CUs |
| GPU FREQUENCY | Up to 2.23 GHz (10.3 TFLOPs) | Up to 2.23 GHz (10.3 TFLOPs) | Up to 1.825 GHz (12.16 TFLOPs) |
| SYSTEM MEMORY | 16GB GDDR6 | 16GB GDDR6 | 16GB GDDR6 |
| MEMORY BANDWIDTH | 16GB @ 448 GB/s | 16GB @ 448 GB/s | 10GB @ 560 GB/s, 6GB @ 336 GB/s |
| SSD | 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD | 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD | 1TB WD SN530 PCIe 4.0 SSD |
| SEQUENTIAL SSD SPEED | 5.5 GB/s | 5.5 GB/s | 4.8 GB/s |
| VIDEO OUT | 4K 120Hz, 8K, VRR | 4K 120Hz, 8K, VRR | 4K 120Hz, 8K, VRR |
| I/O | 2x USB Type C, 2x USB Type A | 2x USB Type C, 2x USB Type A | 3x USB Type A |
| NETWORKING | Ethernet Gbe, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac/ax | Ethernet Gbe, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac/ax | Ethernet GBe, WiFi a/b/g/n/ac |
| LAUNCH PRICE | $450 / £390 / €450 | $500 / £480 / €550 | $499 / £449 / €499 |
Form Factors vs Performance
So here’s where things get tricky. From day 1, the Xbox Series X has had the edge over the PlayStation 5. Without a shadow of a doubt. Although the variances between both the CPU and the GPU in both consoles are minimal, the one big change is clock speeds, and CU counts for the GPU.
In the case of the Xbox Series X, Microsoft opted for a higher CPU clock speed than its PlayStation 5 Slim competition, and, instead of a faster running GPU, opted for a larger GPU by design, running at lower clock speeds. As you can see, although both consoles use an RDNA 2 GPU, the 36 CUs (compute units, the graphical processors that process frames) found in the PS5 are running 22.19% faster than their Xbox cousins. Microsoft has offset that loss by having 44.44% more compute units than the PS5, and because of that, we’re seeing that slightly different TFLOP output (FLOP stands for Floating Point Operations and is generally a good marker for GPU performance). 10.3 TFLOPs for the PlayStation 5 Slim, and 12.16 TFLOPs for the Xbox (higher is better).
Microsoft has likely leveraged the extra internal capacity on better cooling to facilitate that. Why does all this matter? Well simply put, because the PlayStation 5 Slim is reducing the overall footprint by a staggering 30%. Although, we don’t know for sure, how that’s going to affect performance just yet (less cooling doesn’t typically translate to better performance in my experience).
PlayStation Slim Advancements?
Unfortunately compared to the current generation PS5, the only major hardware change for the Slim came in the form of its SSD getting a slight capacity upgrade (not that it matters a huge amount as you can still upgrade the PS5’s internal storage). So it now matches the Xbox Series X in that area, but that’s it. That said, since day one, the PlayStation 5 has had a storage edge over the Xbox Series X thanks to a faster SSD, clocking in at 5.5 GB/s compared to the Xbox Series X’s 4.8 GB/s. Aside from that, there’s not much in it.
And The Winner Is!
It’s tricky to call. Ignoring gaming exclusives (which is fairly balanced at this point anyway), and controller preference (although we do think the Dual Sense has the Edge… ha), from a pure hardware perspective, the Xbox Series X wins hands down. With more raw TFLOPs performance, better CPU frequencies, and some smarter use of memory, Microsoft just about cinches it, although the difference in gaming experience is likely fairly negligible (unless you get a Gaming PC instead, with access to those sweet Xbox “exclusives”).
The one caveat, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the difference in size and overall design. The Xbox Series X is built to be stood up, and it’s by no means a small device, compared to the PlayStation 5 Slim. In that regard, if you’re dead set on sticking your console in a TV unit, or want something a bit smaller, then the PS5 Slim absolutely smashes the opposition. Is it worth it compared to the PS5? Probably not if you already have one, but we’ve covered that in detail already.
