The design of the PlayStation 5 caused a lot of controversy at release. A YouTuber is now fixing what he considers to be “the biggest design flaw” Sony has ever made.
When the PlayStation 5 was first shown to the public a little over four and a half years ago, a huge discussion broke out for Sony. The bone of contention: the white, curved design of the PS5, which departed from the tried and tested look of its predecessors.
Few consoles have polarized so much based on their appearance. In the wake of the mid-gen upgrade to the PlayStation 5 Pro, Sony saw no reason to change the console’s look (and incidentally, started a pricing discussion).
At least in terms of looks, hardware modder Devyn Johnston was able to lend a hand. In a short YouTube video, Johnston shows how he fixes what he considers to be “the biggest design flaw of the PS5 Pro”:
According to Johnston, the criticized design flaw of the PS5 (Pro) is most easily observed when the console is placed horizontally. The console is asymmetrical and, according to the YouTuber, neither looks nice nor can it be placed in this orientation.
To fix this problem, Johnston used a mechanism provided by Sony: the covers of the PlayStation 5 are removable. This “back panel” was redesigned from scratch by the YouTuber to fix the perceived design flaw.
The development process involved several steps:
- Johnston used what he claims is a high-precision 3D scanner (Creality CR-Scan Raptor) to capture the exact geometry of the PS5. This allowed him to determine the exact locations of the mounting clips.
- It took several attempts to get the clip positions perfect and ensure that the new panels would fit without gaps or offset.
- After that, it was time to print the prototypes of the new panels, which at least provided the desired design adjustment.
The final design combines elements of the PS4 and Xbox One S. The sandwich-like structure encloses the console at the top and bottom, while the glossy black panel with the USB ports at the front remains visible.
The ventilation pattern, meanwhile, was inspired by the aforementioned Xbox One S to ensure improved heat dissipation. At this point, Johnston also explains that this pattern would have to be revised before the project could be commercialized in order to avoid possible legal issues with Microsoft.
On the website “DevynPC”, interested parties can pre-order their own copy of the “BoxPlates”. Johnston sets the price for this at 85 US dollars (around 82 euros), regardless of the color chosen or the PlayStation console it is based on. However, the YouTuber does not provide instructions for building it.
