Sony PlayStation 4 (2015) review: 1TB of storage space proves bigger is always better

More space, more efficiency and the long-awaited arrival of PS Now are all reasons to revisit Sony's flagship PlayStation 4 console

Sony has relaunched its PlayStation 4 with an upgraded 1TB hard disk drive

The new model is called the Ultimate Player’s Edition but, to the casual observer,Sony’s all-conquering PS4 hasn’t changed much.




That’s because all the key changes have happened under the hood.

The Japanese company is looking to keep pace with Microsoft’s Xbox One. Which is why the main change for the 2015 revamp is a boosted hard drive.

Sony has doubled the 500GB storage space inside the console, bringing it up to a massive 1TB and matching the newest version of the Xbox One.

That means more games; more movies and more apps can all be squeezed into the matte black box.

Sony has also slimmed down the chassis of the console itself – it’s now 10% slimmer and 8% more power efficient than the model launched in 2013.

It still looks the same though, which is a good thing as the slanting design definitelywins out over Microsoft’s hulking Xbox One.

But the best part about the new PlayStation systems isn’t the extra storage space.

Unlike Microsoft’s Alcatraz-like Xbox 360 and One game systems, both Sony’s PlayStation 3 and 4 game consoles have been user upgradeable from the start, allowing owners to pop in new off-the-shelf hard drives at leisure. Thus if you already own a PlayStation 4, there’s no storage-related reason to buy a completely new console when you can just grab a much less expensive hard drive, then follow Sony’s own official installation instructions.


But the real reason to take note of the new models is that they’ll also be roughly one-tenth lighter and consume slightly less power than the original 500GB PlayStation 4. That, and if you find the current model’s fingerprint-magnetic glossy hard drive cover irritating, the new models—available in either “glacier white” or “jet black”—will come with a “grainy” matte finish across their entire exterior.



The PlayStation 4 remains the gamers’ choice when it comes to the latest console battle – but this new refresh pushes it even further into the realms of an all-in-one entertainment system.
There’s more space for movies and music as well as games and Spotify integration means you’ve got a ready-made jukebox as well as a games console.

Furthermore, PlayStation Now (when it finally gets going) will push the PlayStation ecosystem even further into the gaming consciousness.Buying the 1TB PlayStation 4 is a no-brainer if you’ve not yet made the jump to the latest console generation.But rest assured that if you’ve already picked up a PS4 you’re not missing out on anything that’s absolutely essential.

An upgrade was a calculated (and required) move by Sony to keep the PS4 at the forefront of the console war. Existing owners aren’t missing out but for new buyers, this is the one to go for.

No word on prices yet, but Sony PlayStation Europe says the new 1TB model will be available on July 15 in Europe. Sony Japan says that the new 500GB models will be available in Japan by the end of this month, followed in sequence (though without specific timetables) by the rest of the world.