The PlayStation 5 is a revolutionary console with a list of revolutionary features to match. Our PS5 tips and tricks will help you get the most out of them.
The PlayStation 5 features a totally unique UI and controller design, unlike the Xbox Series X. Although the change is for the better, Sony doesn’t explain many of the features hidden within the depths of the settings menu. From automatically setting your difficulty in games to taking advantage of activity cards, our guide to the top PS5 tips and tricks will help you get the most out of your new console.
Let’s get this one out of the way first: Always use the stand. It doesn’t matter if you have the normal PS5 or the digital edition or if you’re standing the PS5 up or laying it on its side — you need to use the stand.
This is particularly important if you have your PS5 in its vertical orientation. You can, technically, stand up the PS5 without the stand, but that puts all of the pressure on the clamshell plates surrounding the console, which not only makes your console more susceptible to falls but could break your faceplates.
The DualSense controller is really remarkable, and there’s no game that showcases it better right now than Astro’s Playroom. Even among Demon’s Souls and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Astro’s Playroom is one of the best PS5 games. We recommend playing the first hour or so of the game, at least. Not only is it an excellent 3D platformer, but it’ll give you a chance to experience the DualSense’s haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, and built-in microphone.
It sounds gimmicky, but the DualSense is a game-changer, and it’s best showcased with Astro’s Playroom.
Once you’ve seen what the controller has to offer, head to the Settings menu and follow Accessories > Controllers. Here, you can set how loud the internal speaker is, the strength of vibration, and more.
The DualSense controller has a microphone built-in, which is great for a quick gimmick in Astro’s Playroom but doesn’t hold much water in most games. The microphone quality isn’t great, and it automatically turns down the intensity of the DualSense’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Worse, the built-in mic is automatically enabled and set as your input option if you don’t have another mic plugged in.
After entering a few lobbies in any online game while unaware that your controller is functioning as a microphone, you’ll learn quickly: It’s best to mute the DualSense’s mic. You can press the button below the PlayStation button to mute your microphone every time you boot up your PS5, but it’s best to just disable the feature outright.
From the home screen, follow Settings > Sound > Microphone to bring up the microphone settings. You can’t change the default input device unless you have another mic plugged in. Instead, set Microphone Status When Logged In to Mute.
And a quick bonus tip: Pressing the Mute button on your controller will, indeed, mute your microphone. Holding it down for a second or two, however, will mute your entire system.
The DualSense still has a PlayStation button, but it doesn’t work like the DualShock 4. On the PS4, a single press would bring you back to the home screen, while a long press would bring up a guide with power and other options. It’s the opposite on the DualSense. A single press brings up the control center where you can select music, see your profile, put your PS5 in rest mode, and more. The long press brings you back to the home screen.
The PlayStation button has a new input, too: The double-tap. Double-tapping the PlayStation button does a few different things depending on what you’re doing. If you’re on the home screen and don’t have a game running, it’ll pull recent news from the Explore tab and present it to you on the left side of the screen. If the game you’re playing doesn’t support cards, it’ll bring up related media, and if the game supports cards, it’ll bring up the most recent card.
To recap:
More developers are starting to include multiple difficulties, graphics, and accessibility options on console games. Instead of configuring each of these settings every time you load up a new game, you can automatically select your settings using game presets.
