Ways The PS4 Is Still Better Than The PS5
The PlayStation 5 is leading the way in this new generation. Even though its launch caused an uproar, it still went made history as a monumental success — and the accolades don't stop there. With an innovative controller, a speedy SSD, and impressive handling, the PS5 was named one of the best inventions of 2020 by Time Magazine.
As exciting as the PS5 may be, it is not without its faults. There are plenty of disappointing things about the PlayStation 5, but perhaps the biggest disappointment is that the PS5 lacks some fairly notable features that were found in the PS4. If you were excited to upgrade from last generation's PlayStation to Sony's newest console, you're going to miss these great functions.
Since evidence suggests that Sony may already be cooking up a PS5 Pro, fans can hope that some of these features will eventually come to its latest system. In the meantime, these are the ways the PS4 is still better than the PS5.
The Control Center
Touted as a serious step-up from the PS4, the completely redesigned user interface for the PS5, dubbed "The Control Center," looked to be great news for Sony fans. Sadly, it doesn't seem like it ultimately delivered on the promise of a better experience.
Paul Tassi, Senior Contributor for Forbes, named the Control Center as "the one thing about PS5 that is worse than PS4." Tassi loved the PS4 UI and thus felt that Sony tried to fix something that wasn't broken. Not only did he dislike what he referred to as a "giant full page ad" that appears whenever he logs in, but he was unhappy with the fact that he had to relearn a system that, after many years, had become second nature. The new UI also requires you to press buttons more often than with the previous design. On top of all that, Tassi thought the new card system was a good idea that was poorly executed.
Tassi is not alone in his assessment. Over on Reddit, there is an entire discussion of users coming together over a mutual disdain for the PS5 UI. While some held positive opinions of the Control Center, most agreed it was a step-down.
External dilemma
Internal storage is becoming a greater issue as video games advance. Since the PlayStation 5's storage capacity is already tight, one would hope that there was a better solution to storing games. Unfortunately, it looks as though Sony took a step backward in that regard.
PlayStation 4 users have the luxury of plug 'n' play gaming via external hard drives. On the PS4, not only can you move games from your system to a hard drive, making data management a breeze, but you can play directly off your external device. This offers a sizable solution to storage concerns while allowing gamers to easily take their libraries with them anywhere they go.
You would think that the PS5 would provide the same option, however, its external storage is fairly useless at the moment. As it stands, there is no way to transfer next-gen games from your console to your external storage device. You can, however, shift PS4 games to and from the PS5. It seems likely that such functionality will come to its next-gen games as well, but in the meantime, people are running out of space!
PlayStation Plus? More like PlayStation Minus
Since storage has been such a problem on the PlayStation 5, wouldn't it be nice if you could offload some of your save data for PS5 games to an external location? Well, you can ... if you're a PlayStation Plus member. For everyone else? Well, you're out of luck.
If you're looking to transfer PS5 save files, your one option is to send them off to the cloud, which is only available to PlayStation Plus subscribers. All non-PS Plus members will have to face the existential dilemma of forever vanquishing their save data or letting it take up precious space on their console.
PlayStation 4 games, on the other hand, do not force you to make such a life-defining choice. Instead, you can simply pop them onto a USB drive, even when played on the PS5. As such, it would appear as if Sony needs to figure out a way to make its next-gen titles more versatile when it comes to format, or else some gamers may eventually face a few tough decisions.