PS5 media remote hands-on: simple, streamlined, safe

Compared to the PlayStation 5 itself — a giant hulking mass of a recreation console — the PS5-branded media distant could be very conservative. It does just about precisely what you’d anticipate from a media distant and never rather more, however at the very least it’ll match your new video games machine.

Establishing the distant is extremely easy. It’s powered by a pair of AA batteries, and there’s an possibility within the PS5’s system menu to pair a distant; as soon as you choose it, you simply have to carry down two buttons for a number of seconds to finish the pairing. From there, you’re able to go. One good factor in regards to the distant is its design, which performs off of the PS5 itself. The distant is usually white, with a band of shiny black across the center, type of like an Uh-Oh! Oreo. It’s small and lightweight and cozy.

When it comes to buttons, there are ones for controlling quantity, TV energy, and video playback, in addition to a directional pad with a choose button for navigating menus. You additionally get the PlayStation residence button, which behaves the identical because it does on the DualSense — mentioning a fast menu of helpful actions on the backside of the display screen — in addition to 4 assigned app launches for Disney Plus, Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify. Apps launch shortly like all the things else on the PS5, however as somebody who doesn’t use Spotify, it might’ve been good to have the choice to reassign them.

In the meantime, the “choices” button, which can be current on the DualSense, brings up a playback menu while you’re watching a Blu-ray disc. There’s additionally a button that doesn’t have a use simply but: the microphone, which Sony says is “reserved for future use,” suggesting that some type of voice management is on the way in which.

I’ve spent a day or so utilizing the distant and it’s a pleasant little addition, though not the entire apps appear to be optimized for it. Within the YouTube app, for example, you’ll see button prompts that reference the DualSense as a substitute. That stated, it’s simple sufficient to navigate round this, and the PS5 is launching with a reasonably first rate lineup of leisure companies — together with Apple TV Plus, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Hulu, Netflix, Peacock, Spotify, Twitch, YouTube, and Crunchyroll — along with the choice to play films through the disc drive (except you go for the cheaper, digital-only PS5).

The opposite essential factor to notice in regards to the distant, nonetheless, is that it’s fully optionally available. The DualSense will get the job finished simply advantageous. Apart from being smaller and extra snug, the media distant doesn’t add any new performance — it’s as much as you whether or not that’s price an additional $30 on prime of a brand-new console.