Sony’s annual PlayStation sale has been going on for nearly a month now, offering discounts on everything from the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition and PlayStation Portal to Sony’s standard DualSense controller. However, the end of the sale is quickly approaching, with Sony’s website showing that some deals are set to expire as soon as Friday, December 19th, while others have a little more runway through December 28th. That means you don’t have much longer to sneak in a last-minute gift for yourself or someone you love.
Now through December 25th, the PS5 Digital Edition is on sale for $399 ($100 off) — its lowest price of the year — at Amazon, Walmart, and Sony’s PlayStation Direct storefront. While this version is the least expensive console in Sony’s lineup, it lacks a disc drive, so games have to be downloaded. With modern titles often topping 50GB, a fast, consistent internet connection is a must. That said, you can pick up an external disc drive designed to work with the system for $79.99 if you later decide you’d rather go the physical media route.
The standard PlayStation 5 slim is also on sale at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy through December 25th, matching its lowest price of the year at $449 ($100 off). It’s similar to the Digital Edition and supports all of the same games, but it features a built-in disc drive, allowing you to play your stack of older PlayStation titles, the latest PS5 games, and Blu-rays right out of the box. If you prefer physical media, the PS5 is the way to go, as it’s ultimately more affordable than the combined price of a PS5 Digital Edition and Sony’s external drive.
If you want a little more oomph, you can also save on the more powerful PlayStation 5 Pro through December 25th, which is currently matching its all-time low of around $649 ($101 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and PlayStation Direct. The PS5 Pro features a bigger GPU, faster memory, improved ray tracing, Wi-Fi 7 support, and AI-based upscaling. The upgraded internals let you play “PS5 Pro Enhanced” titles at higher resolutions or frame rates than on a standard PS5; however, there are no PS5 Pro-exclusive games. While we did notice some slight graphical improvements when playing games on the more powerful console, the differences were only apparent when sitting closer than 10 feet away from the TV.
The PlayStation Portal is currently down to its all-time low of $178.99 ($21 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy through December 25th. When the handheld remote player originally launched in 2023, its sole function was to remotely stream games from the PS5 via Wi-Fi. The Portal has improved since then, with Sony introducing a new cloud streaming feature that allows PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers to stream select PS5 games, including Astro Bot and Resident Evil 4, directly from the cloud instead of from their console over Wi-Fi. Portal users can also stream select titles from their own library without needing to connect to their PS5 console at all, making the 8-inch device a little more versatile than it was at launch.
Now through December 19th, you can snag Sony’s DualSense Wireless Controller in select colors starting at $54 (about $21 off) at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. The PS5 gamepad helps enhance the gaming experience with haptic vibrations and rear triggers with variable tension. The wireless controller also features a built-in speaker, gyroscope, accelerometer, and a touchpad, and it’s compatible with both macOS and Windows if you like to game on other platforms. Whereas the PS5 and Portal may not arrive in time for Christmas, Amazon says the DualSense will be ready to unwrap on the big day.
Finally, the Pulse Explore wireless earbuds have returned to around $169 ($31 off), their best price to date, at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy. The wireless earbuds are tailor-made for Sony’s consoles, allowing you to take advantage of lossless, ultra-low-latency audio when using the PlayStation Link protocol. In our testing, the planar magnetic drivers delivered an audio experience that offered great clarity and separation, making it easy to distinguish small details and individual sound effects. When you’re done gaming with them, you can even pair the Pulse Explore to your phone and other Bluetooth devices, making it easy to use them as plain ol’ earbuds.
