After getting our PS5 review console earlier this week, one would assume we immediately hooked it up and started to play. But that’s not exactly how it happened. No, instead, after unboxing the PlayStation 5, I hauled the large console around my house looking for things to put it next to (and then brought it back to my office to take pictures of it next to those things).
A few of the comparisons are gaming related—how it stacks up next to gaming-related items and swag from collector’s editions—but there are plenty of random surprises in there too, like the katana I’ve had for 14 years, a dried-up Sharpie I found, and a persimmon. Really, I probably just wanted an excuse to take a bunch of pictures of the PS5 and call it work.
Here are 32 photos of the PS5… next to stuff.
PS5 Size Comparison – PS5 Next to Stuff
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PS5 Box Next to a Dog
Because “PS5 with pets” is a photo theme for pretty much everyone that got one early. It hadn’t been unboxed yet, but our little pup just looked too cute not to snap a quick picture.
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PS5 Next to a Lava Lamp
Look at that next-gen lighting and ray traced reflections!
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PS5 Next to a PlayStation Water Bottle
If I remember correctly, this PlayStation water bottle came from one of the PlayStation Experiences that Sony did. It’s my daily drinker, the thing that makes sure I stay hydrated while writing about and playing games.
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PS5 Next to GUNNAR Glasses
Another daily driver for me, I couldn’t do my work every day with wearing GUNNAR glasses.
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PS5 Next to Captain America Statue
Marvel’s Avengers honored the fallen (sike) Captain America in its Collector’s Edition, but the PS5 dwarfs the stature of this noble hero.
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PS5 Next to a Spyro Incense Burner
This Spyro incense burner from Numskull is one of the coolest and most random bits of gaming merch I’ve ever received. Smoke comes out of his nostrils! But no, I wasn’t actually burning anything when I took this picture.
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PS5 Next to D&D Player’s Handbook
The D&D Player’s Handbook is a big tome of how to roleplay as a fantasy being in a far off land, packed with a ton of information, but the PS5 could eat that book alive.
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PS5 Next to a Bag of Holding
Speaking of D&D, here’s the PS5 next to one of roleplaying’s most cherished items: the bag of holding!
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PS5 Inside a Bag of Holding
And as a bonus, here’s the PS5 inside the bag of holding.
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PS5 Next to an Editor-in-Chief
Hey, that’s me! The PS5 is nearly the size of a person’s torso, or a large baby.
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PS5 Next to a Cat
Here’s the PS5 next to a cat. This is just one of our three cats. We call her Tiny.
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PS5 Next to LEGO Minifigs
The PS5 looks like it could be a futuristic high rise as part of a LEGO movie.
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PS5 Next to a DualShock 4
We’ve all seen the PS5 sitting next to the DualSense controller countless times, but what about the PS4 controller? Here’s how it stacks up.
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PS5 Next to a Stadia Founder’s Edition Controller
Say what you will ab0ut Stadia, that controller is comfy. It’s also similar to the more bulked-up design of the DualSense.
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PS5 Next to a Crash Bandicoot Cosplaying Duck
One of the most absurd and innovative lines of gaming merch to start picking up steam is Numskull’s line of TUBBZ Cosplaying Ducks. This one is Crash Bandicoot.
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PS5 Next to a Sharpie
Because it’s what I had nearby.
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PS5 Next to a E3 2019 Limited Edition Ciri Funko POP!
The Witcher III’s Ciri got the Funko POP! treatment with a limited edition glow-in-the-dark model for E3 2019. Everybody knows how big a Funko POP! box is, so here’s the PS5 next to one.
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PS5 Next to a Playing Card
A playing card is a pretty standard item that most people are familiar with. Here’s one next to the PS5.
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PS5 Next to a Guitar Hero Live Guitar
Perspective messes this one up a bit, but yes, I do still have two of these plastic instruments laying around. I miss Guitar Hero Live’s GHTV always-on music streaming channels.
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PS5 next to a Katana
Every teen entering his 20s feels like he needs a katana. As much as I want to say this is Ghost of Tsushima related, it really isn’t. It’s just a remnant of a long gone bachelor me that wanted to own a sword.
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PS5 Next to the Days Gone Vinyl Soundtrack
Not even the sleeve of a vinyl—Days Gone’s limited edition LP seen here— can hide the enormous stature of the PS5.
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PS5 Next to a Record Player
No, I don’t just collect vinyls. I actually listen to them. Here’s the PS5 next to—or rather, on top of—a record player, with bonus Spirited Away and Transistor art!
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PS5 Next to a Vita
I actually dug out my old Vita just to take this picture. It’s crazy how small it seems now next to the towering PS5.
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PS5 Next to a Nintendo Switch
The Switch might seem large for a handheld device, but it is yet another thing that gets dwarfed when placed next to the monstrous PS5 console.
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PS5 Next to an External Hard Drive
Here’s how a pretty standard sized portable external hard drive—in this case the WD_BLACK P10 Game Drive—looks next to the PS5.
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PS5 Next to a Contra: Rogue Corps Flask
When previewing Contra: Rogue Corps at E3 2019, I received a flask. Yes, it has some kind of whiskey in it. No, I haven’t been able to open it in more than a year because the top is cross threaded and stuck.
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PS5 Next to Event and Expo Badges
I miss going to gaming conventions.
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PS5 Next to a Persimmon
I don’t blame you if you don’t know what a persimmon is.
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PS5 Next to an Original Launch PS4
This is the PS4 I got back on launch day in 2013, still chugging away for me. I never picked up a Pro. PS5 might technically be this guy’s younger brother, but it towers over the current-gen (soon to be last-gen) system.
The one thing I didn’t take a picture of my PS5 next to (well, okay, admittedly and statistically, there are a lot of things I didn’t take a picture of my PS5 next to) was how it looks in my entertainment setup, given that area is an absolute disaster zone right now; a mess of haphazardly placed consoles, accessories, and cables strung from a corner to two TVs on perpendicular walls. I could stash it away in my too-large entertainment cabinet, awkwardly shoved into the corner to make more walking space. However, the PS5 is absolutely a console that demands to be seen. Its towering aesthetic wants to be on display. With the potential for custom PS5 faceplates, both from third-parties manufacturers and directly from Sony itself, I want to dedicate a spot that will be seen.
The experience of unboxing the PS5 may be lacking in fanfare and extravagance, but the PS5 console itself is quite a stunning design, one that I’ve really enjoy looking at every day. Whether it’s next to stuff or not.