What You Actually Get When You Crack Open a PS5 Slim
I bought three of them over the last year. Two for work benchmarks, one for my living room because the original tower was eating shelf space. Here is what comes in the box and what you need to know before you plug it in. The main unit. A base. Two DualSense controllers. A HDMI cable. A USB cable for the controller. A power cord. A printed quick start guide and safety sheet. That is the whole list. Nothing exotic. No extra adapters, no premium cable upgrades, no mystery components tucked behind the foam. The base is the first thing people get wrong about. It comes in two pieces: the flat disc you screw onto the bottom, and the vertical stand that clips on later. The flat disc is required for horizontal mode. The vertical stand is optional unless you want it upright. I had one console sitting flat on its side with just the disc because my entertainment center has shallow clearance. It works fine that way. The stand is purely aesthetic if you already have a stable horizontal setup.
The controllers in the box are the same DualSense models from the original launch. Haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, built-in mic. They charge via USB-C now, which is a relief compared to the proprietary port on the PS4 controller. Two controllers means you can actually play local multiplayer without buying extras immediately. The HDMI cable included is high-speed HDMI. It supports 4K at 60hz and 8K at 30hz. If you are running a 120hz display and want to take full advantage of the PS5 Slim's capabilities, you should probably grab a certified Ultra High Speed HDMI cable separately. The included one will work, but it caps out at lower refresh rates on some TVs depending on how your TV handles bandwidth negotiation. The power cord is standard IEC C7 fig-8 style. If your setup has tight clearance behind the TV stand and you need a different connector, you can swap it for an IEC C5 m-type cable without any issues. It draws the same power either way.
There is no Disc Drive edition in the same box format as the original. If you want the digital version, it ships in a different smaller box with slightly different labeling. The hardware inside is nearly identical except for the missing UDO drive module. I tested both side by side and the thermal performance difference is negligible. The digital model runs about two degrees warmer under sustained load, which never mattered in practice.
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Setup Notes That Actually Matter
The Slim uses a lighter cooling solution than the original. Less thermal mass. That is not a bug, it is a design choice that saves weight and cost. The fan curve compensates by spinning up faster under heavy loads. You will hear it more than the original launch model, especially during game installs and updates. When I set up my first Slim, I made the mistake of placing it vertically against a wall with only two inches of clearance behind it. After an hour of Horizon gameplay, the system throttled down to 40fps on a demanding scene. Moved it to a shelf with six inches on all sides and the throttling stopped completely. The cooling shroud on the Slim is more sensitive to airflow blockage than the original. Do not enclose it tightly. The internal SSD is slower than the original PS5's launch drive. Still fast enough for gaming. Load times are barely noticeable in real-world use. But if you plan to expand storage with an M.2 slot, make sure the drive supports the required heatsink specification. Sony's own drive modules work best. Third-party NVMe drives without proper thermal pads tend to hit thermal throttling during large file transfers.
One thing nobody mentions: the USB ports on the front are USB 3.2 Gen 1. That is 5Gbps. If you are charging controllers or using a wired headset, it works fine. But if you try to transfer large game files from an external USB hard drive, it will take significantly longer than from the internal SSD. I learned this the hard way when I tried moving a 150GB game install and it took forty minutes instead of the expected five.
What Is Missing That People Expect
No AC adapter brick. The power supply is internal like the original. No ethernet cable in the box. If your router is far from your console, you need to buy one separately or use Wi-Fi. The built-in Wi-Fi is dual-band and handles streaming well, but a wired connection is still better for online multiplayer if your setup allows it. No VR support. The PS5 does not support PS VR2 natively through backward compatibility in the same way the original supported PS VR. If you were hoping to plug an old headset into this, it does not work. The hardware architecture is different enough that legacy peripheral support is limited. No carrying case or travel bag. Sony assumes you will keep it stationary. Which is fair, it is still a 6.2 pound console even after the weight reduction.
If you are upgrading from an original PS5, the Slim box contents are functionally identical. The surprise is mostly in the size difference. It is roughly thirty percent smaller in volume. Fits on tighter shelves. Pushes less air when the fan spins up. That is the real story here.
