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The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S both use significantly more electricity than their predecessors to play games designed for the new consoles, according to a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group. However, the NRDC found that newer consoles consume less power than previous generation systems when playing backward compatible games and when using streaming video applications.
NRDC’s analysis – which it also performed in 2013 when the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launched – praised the low-power modes offered by the new Sony and Microsoft consoles. Power saving modes allow users to resume full operation in 10 to 15 seconds while consuming less than 1 watt of standby power. However, the NRDC criticized Microsoft and Sony for choosing not to make this the default power setting – the same fees the organization levied on the PS4 and Xbox One.
The new Xbox’s “Instant-on” mode still consumes 10 watts in standby, the NRDC said. The report extrapolated this additional use to 2025 and calculated that it could total 4 billion kilowatt-hours of additional energy – the equivalent of the annual electricity production of a single large coal-fired power plant.
The NRDC scan used a PlayStation 5 and an Xbox Series S, which have less processing power than an Xbox Series X, and also don’t have an optical disc drive. The group said it was unable to get an X-Series for full testing, but expected the more rugged console to use more power than an S-Series. Microsoft did not provide figures. official power consumption for one or the other console; Hardware specs listed by Sony state that the standard PS5 is rated at 350 watts, while the PS5 Digital Edition is slightly lower at 340 watts.
Sony’s new console was applauded by the NRDC for its sleep mode, which consumed 1 watt or less and was able to boot in 10 to 15 seconds. It pulled “a few extra watts” of power during the first three hours of standby in order to charge devices with its USB ports. But the PS5’s rechargeable DualSense controller was an environmentally preferable choice for the NRDC over the new Xbox gamepad, which comes with disposable batteries. (A rechargeable power supply for the controller is sold separately.)
Standard PS5 power settings turn off the console after one hour of inactivity for games and after four hours for streaming content (both settings can be changed by users). This means that the PlayStation 5 continues to draw around 70 watts of power if a user leaves it on after, for example, watching Netflix.
Even so, power consumption when using streaming apps, for the PS5 and Xbox Series S, is lower than that of their predecessors – although the NRDC said dedicated streaming devices still use less energy for the same task. The PS4, according to the NRDC’s 2013 analysis, used 90 watts while streaming Netflix on the Xbox One’s 74 watts. The S series used 31 watts to stream Netflix (and, inexplicably, 41 watts for Amazon Video), while the PS5 consumed 68 to 70 watts to stream from both services.
Overall, however, the expected consumption of 160 to 200 watts for playing PS5 titles, or games optimized for the Xbox Series X, is more power than a 60-inch TV draws, said. the NRDC.
In 2013, the NRDC warned that the PS4 and Xbox One could be responsible for three times more power consumption than previous generations of PS3 and Xbox 360. In 2015, the organization said the Xbox One could be responsible. of up to $ 250 million in additional annual electricity costs for US households. Latest NRDC Analysis Warns Xbox Series S or Series X owners in the US could pay up to $ 1 billion, combined, over the next five years for the extra power these consoles use in their mode “Instant-on” compared to “Power saving mode”.
In 2015, after the NRDC strongly criticized the power consumption of the Xbox One launch, Microsoft added an optional power saving mode when new Xbox One users first set up their consoles. . At the time, Microsoft said that the difference in power consumption between these two modes would save customers between $ 6 and $ 15 on their annual electricity bill. And the company released a software update in late November that would have reduced Instant-on mode power consumption by up to 61% for the Xbox Series X.
Polygon has reached out to representatives from Microsoft and Sony for further comment.
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