Optus Mobile Review ALDI Mobile Review Amaysim Mobile Review Belong Mobile Review Circles.Life Review Vodafone Mobile Review Woolworths Mobile Review Felix Mobile Review Best iPhone Plans Best Family Mobile Plans Best Budget Smartphones Best Prepaid Plans Best SIM-Only Plans Best Plans For Kids And Teens Best Cheap Mobile Plans Telstra vs Optus Mobile Optus NBN Review Belong NBN Review Vodafone NBN Review Superloop NBN Review Aussie BB NBN Review iiNet NBN Review MyRepublic NBN Review TPG NBN Review Best NBN Satellite Plans Best NBN Alternatives Best NBN Providers Best Home Wireless Plans What is a Good NBN Speed? Test NBN Speed How to speed up your internet Optus vs Telstra Broadband ExpressVPN Review CyberGhost VPN Review NordVPN Review PureVPN Review Norton Secure VPN Review IPVanish VPN Review Windscribe VPN Review Hotspot Shield VPN Review Best cheap VPN services Best VPN for streaming Best VPNs for gaming What is a VPN? VPNs for ad-blocking Check out our reviews for the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, then scroll on for the full next-gen cost breakdown. Where relevant, the pricing is calculated at an annual rate for relevant subtotals. If you opt to go disc-less, it’s $599.95 for the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and $499 for the Xbox Series S. It’s worth flagging that the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have more differences than just a disc drive, whereas the only difference between the PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition is the former has a disc drive and the latter does not.
Xbox Series S subtotal: $499 Xbox Series X subtotal: $749 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $599.95 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $749
Xbox Series S subtotal: $739 Xbox Series X subtotal: $989 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $839.95 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $989
(Console + average cost of games) Xbox Series S and X price changes are up in the air at the moment but mostly because there aren’t any first-party AAA launch titles for the next-gen Xbox consoles. Third-party games are a better indication of pricing, though Godfall is exclusive to PS5 (also available on PC) and follows the $124.95RRP approach. Games that are available on both consoles are priced the same. For instance, Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs Legion and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla are both priced at $99.95RRP, 2K’s NBA 2K21 costs $109.95RRP across platforms, and it’s the same story for the $119.95 asking price for Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War.
Xbox Series S subtotal: $818.95 Xbox Series X subtotal: $1,068.95 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $919.90 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $1,068.95
(Console + average cost of games + multiplayer subscription) You can attach a compatible external hard drive to play supported backwards-compatible games on your next-gen console, but next-gen games require next-gen storage to play. This means you’re initially at the mercy of the internal drives. It may say 825GB on the box, but with no games installed, the PlayStation 5 has 667.2GB of available internal storage, which isn’t a lot considering Spider-Man: Miles Morales, for instance, is a 38.96GB installation. The Xbox Series X fares slightly better with 802GB of available internal storage (from a 1TB drive), but the Xbox Series S advertises 512GB of internal storage, which equates to 364GB. Bear in mind that game installations on the Xbox Series S are estimated to be around 30 per cent smaller than those on the Xbox Series X because of the fidelity differences. Unless you’re content with only having a few games installed or are okay with deleting and redownloading next-gen games (or transferring between hard drives), there are two options: more storage or faster internet.
Xbox Series S subtotal: $1,178.90 (1.525GB) Xbox Series X subtotal: $1,428.90 (2TB)
(Console + average cost of games + Xbox Live Gold + Seagate 1TB Expansion Storage Card) This is basically identical to how you’d install one of these speedy drives on a PC. According to Push Square, Western Digital has dubbed its SN850 drive as PS5 compatible, which PC parts provider Mwave has listed at $419 for the 1TB version.
PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $1,338.90 (1.825TB) PlayStation 5 subtotal: $1,487.95 (1.825TB)
(Console + average cost of games + PlayStation Plus + Western Digital SN850)
Xbox Series S subtotal: $1,236.90 Xbox Series X subtotal: $1,486.90 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $1,396.90 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $1,545.95
(Console + average cost of games + multiplayer pass + next-gen storage expansion + external hard drive) If you were able to download at the full 250Mbps, assuming no-one else is using bandwidth while you’re downloading a game, a 60GB next-gen game would download in 32 minutes, compared to the hour and 20 minutes it would take to download on full-speed NBN 100. The main limitation here is that Superfast NBN is currently only supported on Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) and some Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) connections.
Xbox Series S subtotal: $2,197.75 Xbox Series X subtotal: $2,447.75 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $2,298.70 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $2,447.75
(Console + average cost of games + multiplayer subscription + Superfast NBN) You can see the most popular Superfast NBN plans below. Using those full 1Gbps download speeds as an example, a 60GB next-gen game could be downloaded in just eight minutes (if no-one else is using any download bandwidth). Depending on the provider, these plans are only available to FTTP connections and/or a small number of HFC connections.
Xbox Series S subtotal: $2,521.75 Xbox Series X subtotal: $2,771.75 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $2,622.70 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $2,771.75
(Console + average cost of games + multiplayer subscription + Ultrafast NBN) Check out the most popular Ultrafast NBN plans below.
PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $2,787.70 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $2,936.75
(Console + average cost of games + multiplayer subscription + Ultrafast NBN + TP-Link Archer AX10) At the time of writing, there are only around 20 or so teles that support HDMI 2.1, and some of those only offer one HDMI 2.1 port, which means you’re limited to one of the next-gen consoles or you’ll have to switch cables depending on which one you want to use. Because of this, we’re recommending the 55-inch Sony X9000H as an affordable HDMI 2.1-capable TV because it has two HDMI 2.1 ports, which means you can easily connect two next-gen consoles to the same TV. You can grab it from Bing Lee for $1,895.
Xbox Series S subtotal: $2,713.95 Xbox Series X subtotal: $2,963.95 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $2,814.90 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $2,963.95
(Console + average cost of games + multiplayer subscription + HDMI 2.1 4K TV) The LG Nano95 is one of the cheaper offerings at $3,695 from Bing Lee.
Xbox Series S subtotal: $4,513.95 Xbox Series X subtotal: $4,763.95 PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $4,614.90 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $4,763.95
(Console + average cost of games + multiplayer subscription + 8K TV) While you can make do with batteries, we recommend getting the Xbox Rechargeable Battery + USB-C Cable bundle for $29.95 to save on battery swaps, and so you can also charge and play.
Xbox Series S subtotal: $848.90 Xbox Series X subtotal: $1,098.90
(Console + average cost of games + multiplayer subscription + rechargeable battery) As for the other consideration, the PlayStation 5 boasts Tempest 3D AudioTech, which is best experienced with a compatible headset. While third-party options will doubtlessly become available, the Sony PlayStation 5 Pulse 3D Wireless Headset is built for the PS5 and costs $159.
PlayStation 5 Digital Edition subtotal: $1,078.90 PlayStation 5 subtotal: $1,227.95
(Console + average cost of games + multiplayer subscription + Tempest 3D headset)
