The home video game console PlayStation 5 (PS5) is finally released on November 12, 2020. I had the opportunity to borrow a PS5 immediately a few days after it was released, so I compared the startup time, loading time, electricity consumption, and graphics with PlayStation 4 Pro (PS4 Pro) to investigate how much it has evolved. But of all this, the PS5 users are most interested in how much power consumption has changed, so I went to explore it.
How Much Electricity (Power) Does a PS5 Use?
So How Much Electricity Does a PS5 Use? If your playing PS5 on a regular LED TV you will use approximately 260 watts (200 watts for the PS5 + 60 watts for the TV). For the 2h gaming session, you will use 520 watt-hours, which will cost you about 7 cents (13 cents per kW is the average price in the United States).
The power consumption test on PS5 showed that running “Spider-Man: Miles Morales” consumes 200 watts in game mode. If we compare this value to the previous PlayStation models, there is no significant increase. The PS4 Pro model runs this same game at 150 watts in 4K extreme mode.
The PlayStation is a console that is used for entertainment and therefore is used by the whole family. However, the power that your PS5 will consume during playing depends on the type of TV and the respective operating mode that you have. During the standby mode, PS5 only consumes 5 to 7 watts, while during the play mode the consumption will be from 140 to 200 watts.
Here you can get your PlayStation 5 if you still don’t have one!
The average electricity price in the United States is approximately 13 cents / kWh, which turns out to be approx. 4 cents per gaming hour. If you want to know more about the electricity (power) consumption of PS5 and what affects it, continue to read this article.
Sony PS5 Consumes More Power Than Gaming Laptop
We tested and found that the Sony PS5 consumes between 140W and 200W in the gaming mode. Gaming Consoles are usually designed and optimized to not be too power-consumption, but this new next-gen gaming model will certainly bound up the figures because of its demanding hardware capabilities. It is obvious that Sony PS5 power consumption beats the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 gaming laptop.
The PS5 consumes about 200W when he is at peak load and running next-gen games like Astro Bot or Spider-Man: Miles Morales. New Sony PS5 matches higher-end gaming laptops in terms of electricity consumption, like NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q that consumes about 200W.
If we take a comparison with some powerful laptops on the market, we can see that RTX 2070 laptops consume up to 200W, while the RTX 2060 laptops consume around 180W. Keep in mind that some RTX 2080 Super laptop models can go even up to 300W with extra configurations. You should know that the PS5 comes with a 350W power supply, so it can even go overclock a bit and still stay in the power limit of its PSU.
Electricity (Power) Consumption of PlayStation 5
The power consumption of PS5 primarily depends on the type of mode in which the console is used. So to know exactly how much each mode consumes power on your PlayStation you need to consider some of the following circumstances. The following values are generally average values and they can vary.
- Switched Off mode: When the PS5 is turned off, only the LED lamp is turned ON, so the power consumption is between 0.1 and 0.3 watts per hour.
- Stand-by mode: Duringthe standby mode, PlayStation 5 consumes around 5 to 7 watts. If the console is doing some updates and other downloads, it uses up to 15 watts per hour.
- Menu mode: When we use the operating menu, the PS5 consumes between 80 and 90 watts per hour.
- 4K Blu-Ray mode: Playing videos and films on your PS5, e.g. from a 4K Blu-Ray, your console will consume up to 93 watts per hour.
- Gaming mode: This is the mode that PS5 users will probably most use. The power consumption in this mode is between 140 and 200 watts per hour. Keep in mind that power consumption in this mode also depends on the resolution and the graphics engine of the game that is used.
PS5 is Less Economical With Demanding Games
With Sony’s new console, NextGen means not only more power, but also a more efficient use of energy. Even when it is switched off, the PS5 is more economical with 1.3 watts than the PS4 Pro, which uses 1.5 watts in offline mode. Although this consumption is completely useless, it is only a sign that PS5 is offering something big.
So while we can click through the main menu and download games to save energy, it looks a little different when playing. The tested Marvel’s Spider-Man Miles Morales demanded 203 watts from the PS5 under strong power. God of War, on the other hand, only consumed 177 watts on the PS4 Pro under a similar load. The comparison is not big but still makes a difference.
This means that the highest measured value of the PS5 is around 200 watts. From these comparisons we can see that the new Sony PS5 requires quite a lot of electricity because the games themselves are more demanding.
PS5 Energy Usage Modes
The power consumption of PS5 will primarily depend on the operating mode. Every mode on this console place different demands on the hardware and graphic card, and therefore the differences are considerable. For example, when the Sony console is on standby, the consumption is between 5 to 7 watts. When we turn on the PS5 and go into idle (menu) mode, the consumption is around 70 watts. But there are also a lot of different operating modes, which you can find in the table below.
PS5 Energy Usage on Different Operating Modes:
| Mode: | Watts: | Cost Per Hour: |
|---|---|---|
| PS5 Offline | 0.1-0.3 | $0.0001 |
| PS5 Standby | 5-7 | $0.0006- $0.0009 |
| PS5 Idle (Menu) | 80-90 | $0.010- $0.011 |
| PS5 Blu-Ray Mode | 93 | $0.012 |
| PS5 Netflix | 89 | $0.011 |
| PS5 Game Install | 110 | $0.014 |
| PS5 Gaming Mode | 140-200 | $0.026 |
Tips For Saving Electricity on the PS5
Just as every console has the ability to save energy, so can the PS5 save electricity if you follow the appropriate tips that we will give you. Keep in mind that these savings will not be large, but you can certainly take them into account after some time and save money.
4 Tips with that you can ensure that your PlayStation 5 will use less power:
- Standby Mode: You can adjust your settings to save energy in standby mode. For example, you can set your PS5 not to connect to the internet in standby mode, so automatic updates do not work.
- Blu-ray Mode: If you plan to watch movies watch them on a Blu-ray player, as it will consume around 20 watts, i.e. compared to PS5 that consumes 80 watts per hour.
- Switchable Multiple Socket: With this, you can switch off all devices, including PS5 completely so no electricity is wasted even in offline mode. (Make sure that your PS5 is shut down completely before switching off the multiple sockets, otherwise, the PlayStation’s hard disk could be damaged)
- Sleep Mode: This can be very handy when you take a pause from time to time and you want to pick up exactly where you left off. This can be also served while you downloading a new update.
How to Actually Measure Power Consumption?
The best and accurate way to measure PS5 electricity usage is to use Kill A Watt Meter. With this device, you can easily measure and monitor any electric device and see the real-time energy consumption. If you are interested to buy one, you can check the price on Amazon HERE.
In addition to measuring the consumption of your PS5, you can also use it for any other electrical device in your home to get a better insight into how much power each device consumes. This is a pretty cool device if you ask me!
Sony PS5 Vs Others – Electricity Comparison
Now that the PS5 is out, it would be desirable to compare it to the rest of the competition in the market and see how it stands out. Since this model comes with a high-end graphics card, it would be interesting to see how much energy (power) it all actually uses from the outlet. Let’s take a look and see which of these game consoles is the most economical to use.
| Console: | Watts: | Cost Per Hour: |
|---|---|---|
| PS5 | 50- 220 | $0.0065-$0.0286 |
| PS4 Pro | 75-160 | $0.0097-$0.0208 |
| PS4 Slim | 55-110 | $0.0067-$0.0143 |
| Xbox One X | 65-180 | $0.0085-$0.0234 |
| Xbox One S | 35 – 90 | $0.0045-$0.0117 |
| Wii U | 35 | $0.0045-$ |
PS5 Comes With a Dual Voltage
First of all, for some devices to be dual voltage, it means that it is capable of accepting both the 110-120V and 220-240V connections. Therefore no matter where you are (US or UK), you should be able to use and play your PS5 without having to invest in a converter. This is a massive deal, and you won’t have to worry about the step-down converters that have been used till now. The UK, US, and Europe have different electrical systems which require most of the consoles to have a converter of dual voltage.
Final Thoughts
After the PS4 hit the market in November 2013, we had to wait a full 7 years for the PlayStation 5 to arrive. This new PS model exceeded all expectations, from design, quality, graphical interface to more economical energy consumption. In this article, we described in detail how much PS5 has changed compared to the previous model and how much it actually consumes.
Each PS5 mode requires different power consumption, which is obvious, and the gaming mode requires the most power of all modes. I hope this article has helped you and that you are now aware of how much your PlayStation 5 affects your energy bill.
