Following the Xbox Series X release, the Playstation 5 is finally available to the public, marking the official start to Sony’s next generation of gaming. Pre-orders were a bit of a debacle for this console, so it’s possible you weren’t able to reserve one before launch. That’s a shame- the PS5 is much faster than the PS4 and the adaptive triggers on the Dualsense controller are a unique experience you can’t get elsewhere. The launch library’s thin enough that there is a strong argument to be made for waiting to buy one, but Spider-Man: Miles Morales at 60 fps and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart are tempting.
There’s two versions of the Playstation 5 out now, but they’re identical aside from the presence or lack of a disc drive.
Online stock for both is still infrequent, usually launching in occasional small batches via various retailers or direct from Playstation. We'll link to all the stores where you'll have the best luck of finding one below, but for regular updates on online restocks, follow our Techradar colleague Matt Swider over on Twitter.
As for in-person stock, there hasn't been any at major retailers (outside of club stores) for 2021 yet. However, Best Buy recently confirmed that it will be holding an in-store console purchase event on September 23rd.
Playstation 5
US PS5 retailers at a glance: Amazon | Best Buy | Gamestop | Target | Newegg | Walmart | Playstation Direct
US PS5 resellers at a glance: eBay | stockX
The Playstation 5 is Sony’s aptly named successor to the PS4, and has a custom 8-core Zen 2 cpu and custom 10.3 teraflop RDNA 2 GPU. On paper, that leaves it a little less powerful than the Xbox Series X, but optimization and specific games will probably make performance more of a case-by-case issue. This version comes with a 4K Blu-ray disc drive as well, which might be important to you if you like to own your games and movies physically.
We expect supply for the PS5 to be largely sold out for a while, but occasional online stock batches do drop now and then, so it’s not a bad idea to check major retailers on occasion.
Of course, there's also more underground options available. While we don't necessarily condone resellers, keeping track of markup can be a helpful way to figure the current state of demand. The current PS5 markup on eBay seems to be between $100 - 200 depending on your listing. There’s also stockX, which has similarly priced listings.
Playstation 5 All-Digital Edition
US PS5 retailers at a glance: Amazon | Best Buy | Gamestop | Target | Walmart | Playstation Direct
US PS5 resellers at a glance: eBay | stockX
The Playstation 5 release also marks the first time Sony is releasing a discless version of one of its consoles. This isn’t like the Xbox Series S- the PS5 Digital Edition is the same machine as the regular PS5, just without a disc drive. Still, that concession will save you $100 if you can manage to find one new.
It also gives you another avenue to find a Playstation 5 that’s in stock.
The current markup for the PS5 All-Digital Edition seems to be about $100 on eBay. Listings on stockX are more expensive, being priced similarly to versions of the console with the disc drive.
