The new 1TB PS5 has more usable storage space than the Xbox Series X

By Giovanni Colantonio November 9, 2023

The new slimmer PS5 models. — Sony

It’s out with the old and in with the new for the PlayStation 5, as Sony has replaced its old 2020 model with a slimmer redesign. The new model fixes one of its predecessor’s biggest issues thanks to its 1TB storage upgrade. As is the case with any console, not all of that space is actually usable. In testing our own review unit, we’ve been able to break down just how much of an upgrade it actually is.

When popping into the storage menu, the new PS5 says it has 848GB of space. You’ll find that some of that is already taken up by a few things, including Astro’s Playroom, which comes installed on the system out the box. That’ll leave you with 830.6GB, though you can delete the game to get 11.06GB back. The only thing you can’t cut is 6.33GB of system files. All in all, that means you have roughly 842.2GB of usable space.

Those numbers are a notable improvement over the old PS5 model. The 2020 machine had an 825GB drive, but only around 667GB of that was usable. That means you’re getting almost 200GB of extra space here, which can go a long way depending on what kinds of games you play. Even those who mostly play Sony’s bigger releases, like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, should still be able to squeeze two extra games on there.

Notably, this also means that the new PS5, which costs $450 for the digital version and $500 for the one with a disc drive, has more usable storage space that Xbox Series X. The Xbox also has 1TB of storage, but only 802GB of that is usable. The new PS5 is a slight improvement over that, though it ends up coming up just a bit short versus the 861GB PS4 Pro.

All of that means that the new PS5 has the most usable space of any current-gen console on the market. So if you’re tired of deleting games off your old model or don’t want to spend money on hard drives, it might be time for an upgrade.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

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