New PS5 Beta Firmware Adds a Host of New Improvements

According to a translated Japanese tweet from a Japanese journalist Munechika Nishida, it seems that Sony’s new beta firmware is already available in various regions. Launching with a host of new features as well as a fair amount of Quality of Life improvements, it adds:

• M.2 SSD support.
• UX Improvements
• 3D Audio support for TV Speakers
• A handful of customization options 
• Control Center can be more personalized (rearrange controls etc)
• View/write messages 
• Updated Friends Tab
• PS4/5 game versions are now separated on the home screen/library
• Trophy tracker
  
• New Accolade: Leader
• Auto recording Highlights
• Improved Social features
• New fonts added for editing screenshots
• Improved Notifications

There are additional details that can also be acquired from translating the original tweet, Japanese journalist Munechika Nishida mentioned, “SIE started “PS5 System Software Update Beta Program” in some areas from today. It seems that the winners will be notified by e-mail of their participation.

As of now, this beta firmware is available to select users in various regions including the US, Japan, Canada France, and Germany.

This was also preceded by Sony adding a support page for the PlayStation 5 showing how to add an M.2 SSD and all the requirements for said SSD to work on your PS5, requiring a PCIe Gen4 SSD. Keep in mind that Sony has also said that this feature is only available to Beta users, leaving other users behind for the time being.
In related news, Seagate has also confirmed that their latest FireCuda 530 SSD is supported by the PS5. The prices as stated on Seagate’s website are as follows. 

• 500GB – $149.99
• 1TB – $254.99
• 2TB – $514.99
• 4TB – $999.99

Support for expandable storage has been one of the PS5’s most long-requested features and it appears that players are finally getting it with the support for M.2 SSDs.
There are plenty of additional changes besides just the M.2 Support with a lot of highly requested quality of life improvements that are sure to please plenty of PlayStation 5 users right now.