Ask a dozen people, and 11 of them will tell you that the PlayStation 5 is not an attractive console. It's huge, awkward, and looks like a humidifier. One cool feature of the console's design, however, is the changeable cover. Replacing the shell in order to customize the console's appearance is surprisingly easy. One affordable replacement option is the Powerextra Pro PlayStation 5 Faceplate. For less than thirty bucks, you can make your PlayStation 5 (disc version) as black as night. Nobody will see it coming!
The Powerextra Pro PlayStation 5 Faceplate consists of two pieces that ship in a thin brown box. Instructions are also included, but they're tiny, light on text, and the illustrations of the console depict it in an incorrect mirrored orientation. Thankfully, Sony's official guide for changing the console's cover is quite helpful and easy to find online.
The guide recommends that the user replace one half of the cover before replacing the other half. Since both halves are separate, you could mix and match colors if you wanted. Snapping off each half is relatively easy - just pull on the designated corner of the console in a certain way, and that cover will slide right off. Snapping the new cover back on takes a little bit of aligning, but it's also simple enough. No tools are required.
The Powerextra Pro PlayStation 5 Faceplate looks quite fetching when installed. Whether you prefer this black shell to the original white one is a matter of preference, but it's nice to have a console that looks a little different from the rest. The PlayStation logo is, of course, absent from this third party accessory. Both halves of the cover feature a large vent that is not present in the original cover. I'm no engineer, but it seems that these extra vents could potentially reduce the chance of the console overheating.
The only minor negative to the Powerextra Pro faceplate's design is that the cover does not have any markings for the alignment of the console stand. Thus, snapping the stand onto the PlayStation 5 in the correct position will take a few tries - or you could look at the original shell's markings for guidance. It's not a big deal.
The Powerextra Pro PlayStation 5 Faceplate sells for $29.99 on Amazon, $25 less than Sony's official black cover. If black is the color you want for your PlayStation 5 (disc version) console, this accessory offers a much better value than Sony's.
A product sample was provided by the manufacturer for this review.