Shooter expert Sven Galitzki is very satisfied with the new console after almost 3 months with the PlayStation 5. However, he still cannot get used to one change compared to the PS4.
Here’s how I reflect on the first months with the PS5: Although many players are still waiting to get their hands on a PS5 – it has indeed been almost 3 months since the PlayStation 5 was released. On November 12, it was available in the USA, Canada, Japan, and some other countries, while on November 19, it was finally available in Germany and the rest of Europe.
I have now spent almost 3 months on Sony’s new console and have been very happy with it so far. My console has not been loud or warm, and fortunately, I have been spared from other technical issues or teething problems like the annoying coil whine or crashes. I have also gotten used to the acute storage shortage and the now somewhat more complicated party function compared to the PS4.
Nevertheless, there is one thing that really bothers me on the PS5 – every single day, every time I turn on the console. Or rather, every time I have to turn it off…
Why, Sony? Why?
This is the change we are talking about: With the PS5, Sony has not only upgraded the user interface, but also changed an essential function of the PS4 within the new DualSense controller of the PlayStation 5.
If you want to turn off the PS4 using the controller, you have to hold down the PlayStation button on the DualShock 4 for a longer time. Then the quick menu appears, where I can shut down the console or put it into rest mode with a few clicks.
If you just tap the PlayStation button on the PS4 once briefly, you would go to the main page of the UI.
On the PS5, it is now different. To access the equivalent of the quick menu on the PlayStation 5, you must now briefly tap the PS button on the controller. If you hold it down as before on the PS4, you now go to the main page of the UI.
The quick menu of the PS5 
The quick menu of the PS4 (Source: Sony)
That doesn’t sound too bad so far; it’s basically just been flipped, right? It almost sounds like a luxury problem…
What’s so bad about it? Although it may seem that way – for me and many others I have spoken with about this issue, it is actually a really annoying thing. This small, seemingly trivial change is regularly driving me and many other PS5 owners up the wall.
After 7 years with the PS4, the pressing of the PS button has been so ingrained in my muscle memory that my brain still cannot process this change after almost 3 months with Sony’s new console. Every single time I want to turn off the PS5, I don’t end up in the quick menu, but on the overview page, and then, frustrated and often cursing, I have to navigate to the correct menu. And there doesn’t seem to be any improvement in sight.
Although I prefer the old quick menu of the PS4 – objectively speaking, I don’t even need more clicks on the PS5 to turn off the console this way. However, subjectively for me and some others, this small change plays a massive role. And unfortunately, you can’t change that – at least not currently.
What on earth was Sony thinking, changing such an essential fundamental function that must have become second nature to almost every long-time PlayStation player? For me, it feels like suddenly switching the accelerator and brake pedals in a car after driving for 50 years – simply inexplicable. I hope that it will be possible to adjust this differently in the future.
What about you? What do you think after the first months of the PS5? Are there things that annoy you extremely, or things you think were actually better on the PS4? What do you particularly like about the PlayStation 5? Or do you think this is all a luxury problem and would be happy if you could even own a PS5?
By the way, if you are waiting for the next ordering opportunity: When will the PS5 finally be available for purchase again? The current status in 2021
