Last month, it was reported that the PS5 was getting a surprise downgrade in Europe, as the 1TB SSD was being shrunk to 825GB on the digital edition console. The CFI-2100 model has been confirmed for that region, and in addition to the smaller SSD, it also features several other changes designed to reduce its costs.
While this has resulted in a slightly lighter PS5 console that will presumably be cheaper to produce and ship, these savings will not be passed on to the consumer, as it will still retail for €500–roughly $586–when stock enters the market and replaces the current PS5 Digital console model.
YouTuber Austin Evans has unboxed this new model, revealing the changes inside the PS5 console. The smaller SSD now has 667.2GB of storage capacity when compared to the 848.0GB of usable space that was available with the 1TB model–a reduction of 27%. Several components are also lighter, and the black central casing now has a matte finish.
Crucially, power and performance remain the same when compared to older PS5 console models, but consumers will want to consider expanding their storage capacity by installing a secondary NVMe SSD.
This year has been tough for gamers, as console hardware prices have continued to increase across the industry. In April, Sony increased the price for Digital and Standard Edition PS5 consoles across Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, and in August, the PS5 consoles increased by $50 in the US for all models. Sony said it was continuing to navigate a “challenging” economic environment, resulting in the console price increases.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has raised the price of its Xbox Series X|S consoles twice this year. The first price increase came in May and another round of price hikes was announced in late September. The company’s entry-level 512GB Xbox Series S console now costs $400–up from its 2020 launch price of $300–and the 1TB Xbox Series X console now retails for $650, which is a substantial jump from its original November 2020 launch price of $500.
