PS5: 8 features you need to test your new PlayStation

The PS5 is only a day from the start and during Games are undoubtedly the most important part of a console launchThe PS5’s new user interface is pretty impressive too. We took a close look at the options and came up with some tips and tricks that can help you improve your PlayStation experience.

Some are handled seamlessly during setup, while others are buried in a mountain of settings and options. We thought it was worth breaking down.

We think this is worth doing the first time you turn on your PS5 to customize your PS5 experience to suit your own preferences.

1. Check your privacy settings

During the initial setup of the PS5, you will be asked to choose from a number of four different privacy settings with names such as “Social and Open” or “Solo and Focused”. It essentially gives you control over your online profile and what others can see.

However, these settings can be broken down further within these categories so that you have complete control over whether they appear in search results or who can add you as a friend, etc.

These settings can be found in the settings on the “Users and Accounts” tab.

2. Choose your power settings

The PS5 gives you better control over how much power your PS5 is using, especially when you put it into “sleep” mode. As with the privacy settings, you can choose between profiles during setup. The presets can be broken down further if you want to dive deeper. These preferences set how long it takes for your PS5 to turn off while idling, and whether or not the console will automatically download updates – very useful if you want to avoid the dreaded system update when you want to play something online.

3. Play around with HDR sliders

If you have a TV that is HDR capable, you should definitely make sure you have these settings set correctly.

Here, too, you can tinker with contrast and brightness with the PS5 during setup. Personally, however, I have made these settings a few times, mainly when you change the settings of your TV after setting it up (e.g. to a game mode) these HDR settings will be affected. It makes sense to go back and optimize. Especially when you’re as picky about image quality as I am! (I spent an embarrassing amount of time correcting these settings.)

4. Experiment with the submenu

Perhaps my favorite part of the PS5’s UI is the submenu that you can access in-game. When you press the big PlayStation button in the middle of the controller, you will see this submenu in the game. Very clever.

Older consoles have had some variations on this feature for a while now, but I’m a huge fan of the PS5 version. It’s unobtrusive, subtle, and customizable.

You can access settings, play around with sound levels, and add additional devices like headphones. You can even link your Spotify account and choose music from the submenu. VR options are also available from here, which will be of great help to those trying to troubleshoot VR issues on the fly.

You can also easily switch between recently played games in this submenu so that you no longer have to go to the home page to start a new game.

But my favorite part: it is possible to customize your submenu. You can even add the PS5’s accessibility to the subwoofer, which I think will be incredibly helpful for disabled gamers.

5. Choose between performance and resolution

Those of you with a PS4 Pro will most likely know that games can run a bit of PC. Games like God of War With Horizon Zero Dawn, you can choose whether you prefer the PS4 Pro’s extra processing power, which is focused on resolution or performance (which essentially means frame rate).

Personally, I always prefer a focus on performance over resolution. And if you have a TV that doesn’t support 4K, you will certainly Prefer performance to resolution.

In both cases, the PS5 allows you to make a standard selection in the settings to save you the hassle of selecting your settings each time you play. Go to the Game / App Settings for Saved Data and select Game Preferences.

6. Choose your standard difficulty

There are a lot of good things in the Game Preferences section – you can even choose which difficulty you prefer by default.

Personally, I wouldn’t do that. I think game difficulties are far too subjective and vary a lot between games. But I know that there are people who immediately want to turn on the toughest attitude and vice versa, people who just like to play games for the story.

7. Check your controller settings and tinker

This is an absolute must.

This isn’t exactly new, but the PS5 allows you to set default controller settings that apply to all games. First and foremost, you can “invert” your standard setting for first person shooters or third-person games with camera control.

I have to constantly dive into the game settings to change that, so this is a must for me.

You’ve probably heard that the PS5 DualSense controller is a huge step forward in terms of its adaptive trigger and vibration capabilities. You can also change the intensity of the effect. Personally, I wouldn’t touch it. I’m very happy with the default setting, but it’s there if you want to tweak it.

8. Choose your spoiler settings

I couldn’t believe it existed, but it does!

You can control the number of spoilers that appear when you navigate the PlayStation Store. You can choose to remove “all” potential spoilers or the spoilers set by the game’s developers.

So if you are incredibly sensitive to spoilers, you can click Game Preferences under the Game / Saved Data app section in Settings. The option is in there.