# PlayStation 5

121 Hacker News commenters recommended PlayStation 5 and 181 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 3 years (8 owners).

**Verdict:** A console that just works, with strong exclusives, Blu-ray playback and cheap used units, though critics object to DRM, online check-ins, phased-out discs and locked-down hardware.

## Why people recommend it

- Strong exclusives and game library (6 comments): "Both Playstation and Nintendo Switch significantly exceeded xbox in terms of good games in the last decade" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47095556)) "You could buy another one used if they aren't ridiculously overpriced just so you can play exclusives." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49908196)) "The Pro hardware has an edge up on Microsoft, and I can get all the games I want to play." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48505948))
- Just works, fewer glitches (4 comments): "these consoles achieve long term stability for their games because they put effort into making THAT possible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46447177)) "PlayStations are actually really nice. It's an appliance that plays games without giving you trouble" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47461068)) "My PC games always have a lot more issues and glitches than any of my PS5 games have had." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49990091))
- Plays Blu-rays and older discs (3 comments): "A launch model PS3 and a PS5 can play PS1/2/3/4/5 game discs, as well as PSN games, so that's pretty good." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45924221)) "One of the major reasons I upgraded to ps5 was because it would also allow me to play blu-ray movies." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48746280)) "I bought a ps5 specifically so i could have a up to date playstation console with a 4k blu ray player" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48752980))
- Cheap used or refurbished (3 comments): "A second hand PS5 with about 12GiB of usable RAM is cheaper than the equivalent amount of RAM if bought new." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50129885)) "I paid $150 shipped a few months ago then maybe $40-50 for all the parts to run it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50124178)) "You can get a refurb PS5 for £250. Good luck building the equivalent PC for that." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47959323))

## What people warn about

- DRM and online check-ins (4 comments): "I don't discount a future where a console refuses to load a physical copy of the game because DRM impedes it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48750606)) "not long after they've been updating their ToS to require you to sign in and phone home in order to continue to be allowed access to your digital library" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48746051)) "PlayStation recently sent out emails regarding this, effectively reminding people that they did not, in fact, own what they purchased" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49507825))
- Physical discs being phased out (3 comments): "I'm keeping my ps4 as long as the hardware still runs because at least I can still buy discs for it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49554383)) "mislead into buying a PS5 with a disc drive thinking it'd be supported at least until the end of the product's lifespan" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48753383)) "Sony is going download only, which means any attempt to collect playstation games in the long run becomes impossible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48864605))
- Locked-down hardware (4 comments): "Sony restricted hardware access under Linux. If they had allowed GPU access, there would have been no motivation to attack the hypervisor." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46456730)) "PS4 was a lot easier to program for but if compared to a PC with equivalent specs it was overpriced and much more locked down." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48890716)) "How many more choices do you need to allow Sony to exclusively sell their own software on their $400 MSRP hardware?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49254163))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Valve Steam Machine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/steam-machine.md): 326 recommend
- [Xbox console](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xbox.md): 62 recommend
- [Xbox 360](https://hackerapproved.com/p/xbox-360.md): 41 recommend
- [PlayStation 2](https://hackerapproved.com/p/playstation-2.md): 40 recommend
- [Nintendo Wii](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nintendo-wii.md): 40 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Sony+PlayStation+5+console&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://www.playstation.com/en-us/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "PlayStation 5", https://hackerapproved.com/p/playstation-5/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).