Have you finally gotten your hands on the PlayStation 5? Sony’s console can do more than let you experience top-tier titles. Check out these PS5 hidden features and add-ons to make the most of your powerful gaming system.
PlayStation Plus
PlayStation Plus is an optional premium subscription. It offers many benefits depending on your spending budget. The “Essential” base tier costs $9.99 per month and offers new monthly games (for as long as you remain subscribed), access to online multiplayer services, discounts in the PlayStation Store, cloud storage for saves, and access to the PlayStation Plus Collection, a curated library of PS4 favorites like Bloodborne, God of War And Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
For $14.99 a month you can unlock the “Extra” tier which provides all of the above, plus access to an all-you-can-eat game catalog of PS4 and PS5 titles. You’ll also get an Ubisoft+ Classics subscription, for accessing even more games. Sony’s game catalog regularly new titles and takes old ones away every month.
Lastly, $17.99 a month unlocks the “Premium” tier for access to game trials for brand new releases, the classics catalog featuring PS1, PS2, and PSP games that run natively, and some PS3 titles that run in the cloud. All tiers offer a free week-long trial before billing, as well as all feature discounts when you subscribe to three-month or twelve month blocks.
Upgradable storage for users
While the Xbox Series consoles must use Microsoft’s proprietary expansion cards to increase internal storage, Sony’s PlayStation 5 features a user-upgradeable M.2 slot using which you can increase your PS5’s fast storage with an aftermarket NVMe drive. These drives are similar to those used in PCs so you can shop around and get the best deals while saving money.
You should consider certain things when choosing a drive that will work with your PS5. These are spelled out on Sony’s support page, and include conforming to the smaller form factor, ensuring the drive doesn’t exceed 4TB in capacity, and ensuring your drive has (or can be fitted with) a heatsink that isn’t too thick.
If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve rounded up some of the best NVMe drives for use with the PS5.
3D Audio
Sony did a lot of publicity about their 3D audio technology prior to the PS5’s release. In fact, they even released matching stereo speakers to emphasize the point. Sony created a new solution to work with more devices than existing audio technology such as Dolby Atmos.
You can use headphones to make 3D audio work best. You don’t even need Sony’s fancy headphones for this, one of our best third-party PS5 headsets will do just fine. Head to Settings > Sound > 3D Audio for Headphones to toggle the setting on and off.
You can also enable 3D audio on your TV or existing surround setup under Settings > Sound.
Remote Access
Remote Play allows you to stream the content on your PS5 from another device such as Windows, Mac computers, Android smartphones and the iPhone or a PS4. You can enable this under Settings > System > Remote Play on your PS5. You should also enable “Stay Connected to the Internet” and “Enable turning On PS5 from Network” under Settings > System > Power Saving > Features Available in Rest Mode.
Head to Sony’s PS5 Remote Play website to download companion apps for streaming to a computer or mobile device. On a PS4, you’ll need to download the latest version of the system software and use the PS5 Remote Play app.
Remote Play is available locally and online. To link your consoles, use your PlayStation login. Remote Play works better when you have a wired Ethernet connection. Poor network speeds can lead to visual artifacts, interruptions, latency, and network slowdowns.
Capture Screenshots & Videos
Sony introduced the Share button on the PS4 and the PS5 enhances it with the Create button. This button can be found to the left side of the touchpad. It allows you to quickly access Create quick menu, capture screenshots and record gameplay videos.
The default mapping lets you launch the Create button by tapping, capture a screenshot with pressing and holding, or record gameplay clips by double-tapping it. You can access the Media Gallery app from the Home screen to view all media that you have captured.
You can change these controls, preferred media formats and clip duration, and enable auto-upload under Settings > Captures and Broadcasts. When enabled, Auto-Upload will send files to Sony’s cloud which makes your captures accessible via the PlayStation app for iPhone and Android.
See How Many Hours You’ve Spent in a Game
Platforms like Steam and the Nintendo Switch make it easy to see how long you’ve spent playing a game (take note, Microsoft) and the PS5 is no exception. If you want to know how many hours of your life you’ve dedicated to a particular title, select your avatar on the Home menu then head to Profile > Games to see how long you’ve spent playing games in your library.
Game Presets can be used to set difficulty and more
Game Presets is a handy feature that Sony added to the PS5 so that you don’t have to change the same old settings, time and time again in supported titles. Head to Settings > Saved Data > Game/App Settings > Game Presets to set common preferences so that you don’t have to change them in each title separately.
You have the option to choose between quality and performance graphical modes, game difficulty and camera movement settings. Also, you can decide whether or not your camera controls are inverted by design. While you’re there you might want to enable Spoiler Warnings (also in Game/App Settings) which will hide certain screenshots within the PS5 interface that could spoil aspects of a game for you.
Remote Control of Your 5G: Trigger Downloads
You can control your console remotely using the PlayStation app on Android and iPhone. That includes downloading games and add-ons remotely, buying new games, seeing console notifications, chatting with friends (and seeing who’s online), managing your console’s storage, and using quick sign-in and remote game launching to kickstart your play session.
Logging in to PlayStation.com allows you to buy games and remote download titles from a connected console.
You can customize the Control Center
When you press the PS button one time, the PS5 Control Center will appear. It serves as a quick menu that includes some power options and shortcuts. It can be customized to make it more helpful by pressing the PS button on the controller and selecting Options. To hide an icon from the menu, select it and move it left or up.
This is also how to turn off your console (or put it in sleep mode). Previously, you had to press and hold the PS button on your PS4.
Share Play – Play Games
PlayStation Plus has a feature called Share Play that allows you to play with friends as if you were right there. This works in two ways, either by sharing “couch co-op” local multiplayer experiences with a friend over the internet or by allowing them to play as if they These were you. This allows friends to test out the games before you buy them.
For this feature to work, both the PlayStation Plus and Essential memberships are required. Sony recommends at minimum a 2Mbps connection (upstream or downstream), but the faster you can connect, the better your experience.
Each Share Play session lasts 60 minutes, though you’re free to repeat sessions as much as you like and the feature works on both PS4 and PS5. To activate Share Play, press the PS button on the controller. Then head to Game Base and choose a friend to join you. Start a “Voice Chat” with them using the relevant button, then hit the “Start Share Play” button to begin.
You have the option to share your screen or let someone else play. Or you can play in couch co-op. This mode can be used to help someone with a difficult part of a game, or to show them an easter egg or other interesting information.
Get More from Your PS5
If you’re still considering purchasing a PS5, we’d recommend opting for the slightly-pricier optical drive edition to give you more choice when it comes to buying games.
It might surprise you to know that you can hook up your console with a keyboard or mouse. You can also use your old PS4 controllers for last-generation games. Or, connect your DualSense controller and an Apple TV or iPhone or iPad for mobile gaming.
