PS5 setup: things you need to know about your new PS5

Everything you need to know to set up your new PS5 console this holiday season

It’s the holiday season, meaning that millions of people across the globe will be opening presents soon, and there’s a pretty good chance that some of those presents will be a PS5 console. Sounds good, right? Well it won’t be so good if it takes hours to set up on Christmas day.

To ensure Christmas runs as smoothly as possible this year, make sure to get the PS5 you’re gifting to someone out early, plug it in, update the console and controllers, maybe install a game, and make sure things are set to start playing on Christmas morning using the tips in this guide.

Make sure to use the stand

Don’t ignore the stand, regardless of what position you’re putting your PS5 in. If you’re standing it up vertically, it’s frankly not stable enough without the stand – even with the disc drive helping it to stay up – and because it’s not flat on the sides, laying it down without the stand is just inconvenient. You need the stand, so it’s worth taking a few minutes to make sure it’s attached correctly.

More storage

The PS5 has space inside for an M.2 SSD to boost its base storage, but you can also attached portable USB drives. If you plug in a fast USB SSD, you can use it to store and run your PS4 games, and they will load at the same speed as the internal storage drive. An easy way to vastly improve the amount of space you have available for games.

HDMI 2.1 cables and displays

If you have a nice new console, it’s possible you have a nice new TV. Some PS5 features are only available with newer TVs or monitors that support HDMI 2.1, and of course, a HDMI 2.1 cable will also be necessary. The console will come with a HDMI 2.1 cable, so make sure you’ve got it plugged into a HDMI 2.1 port on your display so everything works – assuming you have a HDMI 2.1 TV or monitor, that is.

120hz and VRR

If you do in fact have a nice new HDMI 2.1 TV or monitor, you likely also have access to VRR and 120hz support. 120hz support will allow games to display up to 120 frames per second – very nice – and VRR will ensure that framerates above 45fps appear to be as smooth as possible. Both are excellent features to ensure you have turned on, if you have a capable display.

Controller feedback, strong or weak

One of the big features of the new DualSense controller is different haptic capabilities, including adaptive triggers and detailed rumble feedback. Combined with a bit of sound design from the controller itself, it’s very convincing. But it can also get in the way of play, a bit. Shooting a gun as fast as possible kinda sucks when you have a hard barrier for your finger to fight its way through. For many games, you may wish to turn down the effect, or disable it entirely.

PlayStation Plus Collection

Anyone logged into a PS5 console has access to the PlayStation Plus Collection, which has 19 games for you to play immediately – as long as you have an active PS+ subscription. You can even play these on a PS4, if you want to do that, for some reason. 

Double-tap for party settings

If you’re in a party but someone is complaining about your mic, or you need to adjust chat settings, simply double-tap the PS button to get straight into the party settings. Neat, right? You can also tap Triangle when in the PS5 menus to automatically skip to the search bar.

MP4 video capture

By default the PS5 captures video in webm format. Nobody really knows why they would decide to do that. Luckily you can change the default video format to mp4, and then you’ll easily be able to move your video clips onto a USB drive, and then edit or upload them from a PC. Or you could use the editing tools that exist on the console, I guess.

In-game guides

Many games on PS5 – particularly big first-party Sony titles – have in-game guides in the menus. You can simply tap the PS button to navigate to a series of clips and videos which will give you tips on clearing stages, finding items, and completing trophies. 

Play Astro’s Playroom

Astro’s Playroom comes free with your purchase of a PS5 console, and guess what? It’s great. It was the best game on PS5 for a while there, and now it’s a fantastic little platformer that’s well worth the short handful of hours it takes to finish the game. Plus, this game is uniquely designed to make use of the DualSense controller’s features, so it’s the best way to showcase your new hardware to your friends and family to justify your purchase.