This Slim PS5 Looks Great, But There's A Catch

Launched back in November 2020, the incredibly powerful PlayStation 5 wooed gamers everywhere with its impressive specs. However, with great power comes great proportions. The PS5 is notoriously massive and literally towers over every other console on the market, making it a hard fit in almost every cabinet or entertainment center. This is why some people have taken it upon themselves to improve upon Sony's design.

So naturally, many gamers eagerly await a "Slim" model of the console. However, Sony has historically released its Slim consoles around three years into a system's life cycle. If Sony follows this pattern again, gamers will likely need to wait a couple more years before getting their hands on a PS5 Slim. That's also not factoring in the supply chain issues that have limited the number of PS5 units on the market, which still persists almost two years after its release and will most likely plague the PS5 Slim as well.

For one innovative YouTuber, the wait for a PS5 Slim was too much. So instead, they took it upon themselves to build their own custom PS5 Slim model. The results look fantastic and play games perfectly — but there's a catch.

On June 19, YouTuber DIY Perks uploaded a fun video showcasing "the world's first PlayStation 5 Slim." DIY Perks is known for his unique PS5 builds, like his stylish "stealth PS5" from last year, so it comes as no surprise that he could pull off a custom Slim PS5 like this. In the video, DIY Perks outlined his plans to build a .8-inch PS5, a far cry from the console's original width of 4 inches. The YouTuber noted that much of PS5's size comes from its internal cooling systems and power supply. So first, he stripped away the cooling system in favor of a custom water-cooled alternative, freeing up some much-needed space.

Additionally, DIY Perks removed the PS5's enormous power supply to connect it externally. This isn't an entirely unheard-of idea, as both PS1 and PS2 Slim models offloaded power to an external power brick. After getting the system down to the size of a DVD case, the console was up and running. The custom PS5 Slim even performed better than the original console and saw a 45 percent drop in memory temperature.

However, the months of work and the amount of money thrown at this project make it a hard build to replicate. Additionally, the external power supply needs a lot of breathing space away from the PS5 to prevent the console from melting — something DIY Builds learned the hard way. Still, it's cool to see a functional alternative to the clunky oversized PS5, one that looks more like an early 2000s router than a console.

But is it possible that Sony could one day make something like this into a reality?

As soon as the PS5 was announced, the biggest topic of discussion was the fact that it was just way larger than any other PlayStation console to date. Sony explained why when it posted a teardown video in which Yasuhiro Ootori dismantled the system and showed eager fans the PS5's inner workings. As Ootori would go on to explain, the main reason the PS5 is so huge is because of the amount of cooling it needs. The internal fan alone was large enough that it necessitated a bulkier design. 

In other words, although Sony has typically introduced a "slim" model for its consoles after a couple of years on the market, it's unclear if such a thing is possible for the exceedingly powerful (and hot) PlayStation 5. With rumors of a PlayStation 5 Pro still circulating every few weeks, fans are right to wonder if an even more powerful PS5 would have to be even bigger than the base model. This very concept has led to a number of memes over the last couple of years, with fans making their own hilarious mockups of how massive a PS5 Pro would be.

However, there is a bit of hope for gamers holding out for a smaller PS5. Since the console was first released, Sony has continued to tweak the system's overall design. In mid-2021, it was reported that newer PS5 models had a smaller heat sink inside, which had the unfortunate side-effect of making the system run hotter. Hopefully Sony is working on a way to find a happy medium between size and function. Otherwise, DIY Perks might have gotten closest to providing the teensy PlayStation 5 fans are clamoring for.

Then, of course, those fans would just have to figure out how to actually purchase one in stores.