PS5
Ranked 16 of 29 game consoles by recommenders
People recommend the PS5 for its strong performance, fast loading and large library of games, especially as a simpler alternative to a gaming PC. Critics mainly object to its locked-down nature and how few exclusive games it has.
People recommend the PS5 for its strong performance, fast loading and large library of games, especially as a simpler alternative to a gaming PC. Critics mainly object to its locked-down nature and how few exclusive games it has.
30 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 14
- criticize it
- 16
- approval share
- 47%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 14 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 0.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Strong performance and smooth gaming
“The PS5 pro has plenty of horsepower. Fewer problems, but I see it occasionally skip or freeze slightly”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “New Apple TV 4K” “it's the first console that's felt powerful enough to scratch a similar itch as PC gaming”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Steam Frame” “just works, decent 4K gaming, plays PS5 games and timed exclusives”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Steam Machine price leak shakes the console market” - Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “My Steam Machine Is a 50ft HDMI Cable”
Simple, works out of the box
“just works, decent 4K gaming, plays PS5 games and timed exclusives”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Steam Machine price leak shakes the console market” “I've been doing a game console with monitor or dumb-TV for ages”
Comment from 13 Dec 2025 in “Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options” Runs many games and exclusives
“runs an increasing library of Microsoft's own games at better resolutions and framerates”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “2025 was the year Xbox died” “just works, decent 4K gaming, plays PS5 games and timed exclusives”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Steam Machine price leak shakes the console market”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Locked down, restricts general computing
“They're taking general purpose computers and restricting you from doing general purpose computing on them.”
Comment from 8 Mar 2026 in “I ported Linux to the PS5 and turned it into a Steam Machine” “the PS5 prevents you from backing up your game saves to your own physical media”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “PS5 Relapse Exploit” “A PS5 is an even more locked down system!”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “Games using anti-cheats and their compatibility with GNU/Linux or Wine/Proton” Few exclusive games
“I just can't believe the PS5 has sold as many units as it has with just 15 exclusive games”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “PlayStation can delete all your digital games after 3 years of inactivity (EU)” “There are like 15 exclusive games for the PS5, what’s the point?”
Comment from 28 Sep 2026 in “Hijacking the PS5's RTMP stream” “There are only 15 exclusives for the PS 5”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “2025 was the year Xbox died”
Other game consoles people recommend
The four most recommended other game consoles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valve Steam Machine | 326 | 240 | 58% | 12 | 1 mo5 owners | — |
| PlayStation 5 | 121 | 181 | 40% | 12 | 3 yrs8 owners | — |
| Xbox console | 62 | 212 | 23% | 12 | 21 yrs6 owners | — |
| Xbox 360 | 41 | 19 | 68% | 12 | — | Approved |
| PS5This page | 14 | 16 | 47% | 8 | — | — |
What people said
30 of the 33 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The PS5 pro has plenty of horsepower. Fewer problems, but I see it occasionally skip or freeze slightly”
“Not worth it. It's basically a knee capped Ryzen 3700X with less cache.”
“Paying the money for a computer that I can't actually use leaves a poor taste.”
“the PS5 prevents you from backing up your game saves to your own physical media”
“Unsure why they do not let us use it as much as we can.”
“they could absolutely enforce TLS authentication of the server, but they don't”
“There are like 15 exclusive games for the PS5, what’s the point?”
“the loading time decrease was probably the single biggest innovation of the PS5”
“10 years from now PS5 will be a dead brick, even with a bag full of games”
“I just can't believe the PS5 has sold as many units as it has with just 15 exclusive games”
“vastly superior gaming performance”
“even with a PS5 Pro it would still be cheaper than the Steam Machine”
“Sony reduced storage on the PS5 Slim”
“They're taking general purpose computers and restricting you from doing general purpose computing on them.”
“running Linux on PS5 is so freaking cool”
“clunky UI of choosing a user or "Quick Play"”
“There are a lot of games that come out on PS5 and then either never come to PC or there's a year+ delay”
“just works, decent 4K gaming, plays PS5 games and timed exclusives”
“800 for a PS5 pro where I need to buy from a single store which historically abused this tactic, no tks”
“There are only 15 exclusives for the PS 5”
“runs an increasing library of Microsoft's own games at better resolutions and framerates”
“I've been doing a game console with monitor or dumb-TV for ages”
“I guess sony wanted to cut every cent off they could”
“A PS5 is an even more locked down system!”
“the heavily gimped built in browser”
“The PS5 is already about five years old, has had a slim release and a PS5 Pro.”
“has had a slim release and a PS5 Pro”
“it's the first console that's felt powerful enough to scratch a similar itch as PC gaming”
“I have no interest in tying myself to Sony and playing exclusively on my TV”
“A PS5 is a convenient and reasonably economical way to address that.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.