Sorry, PS5’s Best New Feature Is Only Available On Certain Models

Summary Adaptive charging is only available for Slim PS5 consoles, with original models not receiving the beta feature.

Adaptive charging can save on power and potentially improve controller battery health.

The PS5 software beta also introduces personalized 3D audio profiles and Remote Play settings for users.

A new PlayStation 5 update is adding some useful features to the system, but one of the best additions won't be available on a lot of consoles. Although the PS5 hasn't yet received a Pro upgrade, it's gone through some basic hardware iterations. The biggest change is a Slim model that downsizes the bulky system, and both the original PS5 and the Slim come in variants with and without disc drives.

This year has already seen some exciting updates for PlayStation consoles, from a long-overdue brightness toggle for the gigantic power indicator light to sound software improvements for controllers. The most exciting thing for a lot of users is improved Discord integration, making social gaming a lot easier on PS5 than ever before. Updates also tend to come with background tweaks like performance improvement and stability fixes, although it can be hard to get as excited about less obvious changes.

Related PS5 Pro May Have Accidentally Been Confirmed In The Most Unlucky Way Possible After months of speculation, a No Man's Sky dataminer shares what may be confirmation that Sony is currently working on a PlayStation 5 Pro.

Adaptive Charging Is Only For Slim PS5 Consoles

Older Models Aren't Getting The Feature

Custom Image by Katarina Cimbaljevic

As announced on the official PlayStation Blog, the newest PS5 beta adds adaptive charging, but the feature is only available to test on the PS5 Slim. Adaptive charging tweaks how the PS5 supplies power to its USB ports while in Rest Mode, taking a connected DualSense controller's battery level into account to determine how long it will be charged. Implemented correctly, adaptive charging can both save on power draw and help the battery health of the device being charged.

Adaptive Charging Is A Useful PlayStation 5 Feature

The DualSense Can Require A Lot Of Juice

Charging controllers while the PS5 is in rest mode is generally the easiest way to keep them juiced up, and considering how mediocre the DualSense battery life is compared to Xbox's and Nintendo's competing controllers, this can be pretty critical. It's certainly a great gamepad with a lot of cool features, but considering how much of a hit the battery can take because of that, it's a shame that adaptive charging is only coming to a selection of PlayStation 5 consoles.

Adaptive charging isn't the only interesting inclusion in the PS5 software beta, and the others are fortunately less exclusive. A new personalized 3D audio profile option provides a tool for users to customize spatial audio for headphones or earbuds, which should theoretically assist in a more immersive gaming experience. The beta also adds Remote Play settings for each user, making it possible to have multiple people signed in on the same console without giving everyone access to Remote Play.

Related 10 Games Still Desperately In Need Of A PS5/Xbox Series X Upgrade A lot of great games have received next-generation updates, but there are some excellent titles that could still really use these upgrades.

The PlayStation Blog post doesn't clarify why adaptive charging is restricted to newer models, so it's always possible that the feature could eventually be added to the original version of the PS5. It's probably better not to cling to any false hope, however, as there might be a fundamental technical restriction or simply a development decision that Sony is committed to. Regardless, this is one point in favor of the slimmer PlayStation 5 models, as adaptive charging is definitely a useful feature to have.

Source: PlayStation Blog