9 new benefits of the PS5 system that make it even more convenient

I spend a lot of time fiddling my prefix 5: I delete games here, I download there, I look for old saves, and I try to talk with friends. It made me appreciate every new firmware update, no matter how small or niche the improvements it brings. And earlier this month, Sony made some nice changes.

Players received preview of the big March firmware update 7.0 back in February, revealing Discord integration, new save data transfer options, and more. It’s recently aired and it’s far from the usual opaque “improves system performance» updates. It’s not as important as the PS5. finally get the foldersand there are many more new features that I would like to see, but this is another milestone in the continuous improvement of the platform.

Use Discord to Voice Chat with Xbox Friends

Cross-play was great for bringing people together on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, but actually trying to connect with them was still difficult. Discord integration fixes this and allows you to easily start conversations with anyone and stream audio through the console.

Besides, it doesn’t even have to be related to the game. Someone is playing rocket league? Another person is watching mandalorian? No problem! Discord is actually great for just chilling out together while everyone goes about their own business.

Record gameplay using your voice

Sounds silly, but you can now use the microphone on your DualSense controller to ask your PS5 to record gameplay. Perfect for capturing gameplay in the thick of battle or intense competition where you don’t want to lose control when switching manually. Now if only there was a text-to-speech to print social media posts where I share my highlights.

Update your DualSense wirelessly

There is nothing worse than trying to play a game and seeing that your controller needs a firmware update. Previously, this required connecting it to the PS5. Now you can download and install it wirelessly. It was the smallest inconvenience, and, fortunately, it no longer exists.

Get variable refresh rates on 1440p monitors

Variable refresh rate support came to the PS5 last year. This helps to smoothly change the frame rate and makes the graphics sharper. With the latest patch, it will also work with 1440p monitors, a niche but practical intermediate point between 1080p and 4K. I don’t play my PS5 on one of these displays but would be pleasantly surprised if I could.

Receive notifications when data is stored in the cloud

Like many PS5 owners, I have a huge library of PS4 games and I keep all of them in a cloud backup. However, unlike the Xbox Series X/S, the PS5 does not automatically fetch save data. But now it does something almost as good: it sends a notification when you install a game that backs up your existing PS4 data (like a PS5 game that you can transfer saves to). Clicking on a hint will automatically start the transfer instead of rummaging through a bunch of menus.

Join games directly from the team chat

Another shortcut with a button hint, now you can meet friends in the game directly from the team chat menu. This is a good time saver considering how often you can get together to play the same game and your friends or clan mates have probably already started playing before you.

It’s easier to see what your friends are playing

This feature is still not complete, but it’s still a step in the right direction. As with Steam, it’s now easier to see which friends own or actively play your game. A small section with this information is located under each game tile on the PS5 home screen. My only gripe is that you have to click to see which friends own it, and that only tells you that someone is playing the game if they are online in the middle of an active session. Baby steps.

Request to view a friend’s game directly from their profile

I rarely use the screen sharing feature, usually because if I’m online with friends, we’re probably already playing something together. However, it’s another nice way to quickly see what someone’s playing right from their profile, skipping yet another part of the tedious and often esoteric PS5 menu scrolling.

Filter games when adding them to a folder

Okay, game folders are my favorite new feature the PS5 has received since launch, and they’re easier to create. When they first aired, you had to scroll through your entire library, adding material as you went. Now you can filter it by different categories, which greatly speeds up the whole organizational process. Will I ever be able to play 99 percent of the games I keep in my PS5 folders? Not a chance. But I still love doing it. It helps me relax and feel less guilty about my lagging behind.

Maybe we’ll get another batch of PS5 tweaks later this year. “We’re always thinking about features our fans might want to see and how to make their PS5 games more fun, social and connected,” said Hiromi Wakai, VP of Product Management at Sony. said in a recent interview. “We have a very long list of features, and we think carefully about how we prioritize our time and resources to deliver the ones that will have the most meaningful impact on our players’ experience.”

I hope PS5 background themes are just around the corner.