PS5 prices to beat

PS5 Black Friday deals for 2026 have not been announced, but the price to beat is clear: the PlayStation 5 costs £569.00 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026), and Sony took £90 off it for Black Friday 2025. A matching cut would bring the standard PS5 to £479.00. The standard PS5 is the best Black Friday buy for most people, because it includes a disc drive and a 1 TB SSD for £220.99 less than the PS5 Pro RRP.

Two dates frame the decision. Grand Theft Auto VI launches on Thursday 19 November 2026, and Black Friday falls eight days later on Friday 27 November. Sony raised every PS5 price by £90 on 2 April 2026, so this year's deals start from the highest PS5 prices the UK has seen.

Where's the best Black Friday deal for PS5?

The best PS5 Black Friday deal in 2025 came from Sony itself, and it ran at PlayStation Direct and at retailers including Amazon, Argos, Currys, EE and Very. From 21 November 2025, Sony took £90 off the PS5 and PS5 Pro and £135 off the PS5 Digital Edition. Because the offer applied across retailers, the best deal was usually the same price in several places.

Compare Electronic's PS5 prices to beat repeat those 2025 cut sizes against today's prices. They are thresholds for a deal worth taking, not forecasts of Sony's 2026 offer:

The PS5 Pro and PS5 Digital Edition rows use Sony's UK RRPs. Watch for bundles too: a PS5 with a game can beat a straight cut if the included game is one you would buy anyway. The wider Amazon picture is in Amazon Black Friday deals 2026.

When do PS5 Black Friday deals start?

PS5 Black Friday deals started on Friday 21 November 2025, one week before Black Friday, and ran through Cyber Monday on 1 December 2025. If Sony follows the same pattern, 2026 deals would start around Friday 20 November, with Black Friday on 27 November and Cyber Monday on 30 November. Sony has not confirmed any 2026 dates.

• 6 to 7 October 2026: Prime Big Deal Days on Amazon, for Prime members only.
• 19 November 2026: Grand Theft Auto VI launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
• 27 November 2026: Black Friday.
• 30 November 2026: Cyber Monday.

How much have PS5 prices risen by 2026?

The PlayStation 5 costs £120.00 more at RRP than it did at launch, and the PS5 Digital Edition costs £160.00 more. Compare Electronic's PS5 price timeline tracks every UK RRP change from the November 2020 launch to the April 2026 rise, which Sony attributed to continued pressures in the global economic landscape.

In percentage terms, the disc PS5 is up 26.7% on its launch price, the Digital Edition is up 44.4% and the PS5 Pro is up 12.9%. The timeline also shows why Black Friday 2025 mattered: the £389.99 promotional PS5 was £180 below today's RRP. Buyers weighing a cheaper renewed console can compare the trade-offs in new vs renewed vs refurbished tech in the UK.

Is the PS5 Slim or PS5 Pro the better Black Friday buy?

The standard PS5, the Slim-generation model, is the better Black Friday buy for most people. The PS5 Pro is the better buy only for owners of a 4K TV with a 120 Hz input who want the sharpest image. What the extra £220.99 for the PS5 Pro buys, line by line, at today's prices:

• GPU: 16.7 teraflops against 10.28, a 62% increase in rated compute.
• Storage: a 2 TB SSD against 1 TB.
• Upscaling:PSSR, Sony's machine-learning upscaler, in supported games.
• Wireless: Wi-Fi 7 against Wi-Fi 6.
• Loses: the disc drive. Sony cut the add-on disc drive to £69.99 in April 2025, but Amazon UK lists it at £109.99 at the time of writing, which would take the real gap to £330.98.

The TV decides whether the PS5 Pro is worth it, and best TV for PS5 and Xbox Series X lists the sets that make the most of either console.

1. Sony PlayStation 5 (1 TB) - best Black Friday buy

The PlayStation 5 costs £569.00 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026), 99p under Sony's £569.99 RRP. Sony rates the PS5 GPU at 10.28 teraflops, and the current model ships with a 1 TB SSD and an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive. The disc drive keeps physical games, which can be bought used or resold, on the table.

2. Sony PlayStation 5 Pro - most powerful

The PS5 Pro has a UK RRP of £789.99 after Sony's April 2026 rise. Sony rates the PS5 Pro GPU at around 16.7 teraflops, with a 2 TB SSD, Wi-Fi 7 and PSSR upscaling. The PS5 Pro had its best UK sales week since launch during Black Friday 2025, according to VGC, when Sony's £90 cut brought it to £609.99.

3. Sony PS5 Digital Edition - cheapest way in

The PS5 Digital Edition has a UK RRP of £519.99 and showed no live Amazon UK price on 23 September 2026. The Digital Edition has the same 10.28 teraflop GPU as the standard PS5 but an 825 GB SSD with 667 GB usable, and no disc drive. Sony gave the Digital Edition the deepest cut in 2025, £135, which is why its price to beat is £384.99. Digital buyers should note that the Grand Theft Auto VI PS5 edition on Amazon UK is a code in a box, so it works on a console without a disc drive.

What does a PS5 really cost to play?

A PS5 set up for two players with Grand Theft Auto VI and a wireless headset costs from £766.89 to £1,146.88 at today's prices. Compare Electronic's total-cost-to-play table adds the extras most buyers need to the console price, so a Black Friday console cut can be judged against the full bill.

Columns are cumulative. Accessory and game prices are Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026); GTA 6 is the PS5 Standard Edition pre-order. The PS5 Pro + disc drive row uses the £109.99 Amazon UK disc drive listing. PlayStation Plus, required for online multiplayer, is not included.

The table puts the Black Friday console discount in proportion. Sony's 2025 cut of £90 would take 11.0% off the £815.90 total for a fully kitted standard PS5, which is a meaningful saving, but a £20 discount on a DualSense, as Sony offered in 2025, is worth less than a third of that.

Are PS5 games cheaper on Black Friday?

Older PS5 games are usually cheaper on Black Friday, but new releases are not. The PlayStation Store ran a Black Friday sale in 2025 alongside the console offers, with extra PlayStation Plus deals for new and upgrading members, and retailers cut prices on back-catalogue physical games.

Grand Theft Auto VI is the exception that matters in 2026. Rockstar set a £69.99 UK price for the Standard Edition and £89.99 for the Ultimate Edition, and the game launches on 19 November, eight days before Black Friday. The Grand Theft Auto VI PS5 Standard Edition is £67.95 to pre-order on Amazon UK at the time of writing, £2.04 below RRP. A game launching that close to Black Friday rarely gets a deep cut, so the pre-order price is the realistic benchmark.

Should you buy a PS5 before GTA 6?

Buyers who want Grand Theft Auto VI on day one need a PS5 before 19 November 2026, which is eight days before Black Friday. Buyers who can wait a week should hold off: if Sony repeats its 2025 promotion, the standard PS5 could drop by £90, which is more than the cost of GTA 6 itself. Sony has not announced a 2026 promotion, so waiting is a bet, not a certainty.

A middle route exists. Sony's 2025 promotion started on 21 November, and a 2026 promotion on the same pattern would begin around 20 November, one day after GTA 6 launches. Prime Big Deal Days on 6 and 7 October is the other early chance to beat £569.00. Which console runs GTA 6 best is covered in best console for GTA 6.

Which PS5 controller and headset are worth buying?

Sony DualSense Wireless Controller

The DualSense Wireless Controller in Midnight Black costs £59.95 on Amazon UK at the time of writing (September 2026). The DualSense adds haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, a built-in microphone and a 3.5 mm headphone jack, and weighs around 280 g. Sony took £20 off DualSense controllers for Black Friday 2025, so £39.95 is the price to beat for a second pad.

Sony INZONE H5

The Sony INZONE H5 costs £119.00 on Amazon UK at the time of writing. Sony rates the INZONE H5 at up to 28 hours of battery and around 260 g, and it connects to a PS5 through a USB-C 2.4 GHz dongle, with a 3.5 mm cable as a backup. More options sit in best gaming headset UK 2026.

Verdict

The PlayStation 5 is the PS5 to target this Black Friday: £569.00 on Amazon UK today, with a price to beat of £479.00 if Sony repeats its 2025 cut. The PS5 Pro is worth it at £699.99 or less for 4K TV owners, and the PS5 Digital Edition only makes sense at £384.99 or less. Buyers still deciding between consoles can compare the Nintendo side in Nintendo Switch 2 Black Friday deals.