PS5 Gets New Features as Sony’s Reported PS6 Handheld Specs Surface

Sony has had plenty going on across its PlayStation lineup, with a new PS5 and PS5 Pro firmware update arriving alongside announcements for refreshed wireless headsets and reports about what the company could have planned for 2027. 

The latest developments cover everything from improvements to the current PS5 experience to Media Molecule's next project and an alleged new handheld device. Some of this info is directly from Sony, but other information is still based on reports and leaks, so you should bear that in mind when considering what might be coming next.

The latest PS5 and PS5 Pro firmware update is not a massive overhaul, but it does introduce several useful additions for both versions of the console. 

For PS5 Pro users, the enhanced PSSR feature improves the image quality of games that can take advantage of Sony's upscaling technology. The new version is meant to give a cleaner, clearer picture and also let supported games take advantage of the technology automatically. 

Base PS5 owners are also getting a new voice chat feature that makes it easier to see who is speaking during conversations. The indicator appears through the voice chat card in the Control Center, allowing you to identify the person currently talking. You can also move the indicator around the screen, giving you some control over where it appears while you are playing.

The update also introduces a new community activity widget to the Welcome Hub. This widget can show the 10 currently trending multiplayer games or modes or display the 10 most popular games from the previous week. It gives you another way to see what is currently attracting attention across the PlayStation community without having to search through individual games or menus.

One change from the feature's previous beta version is worth mentioning, however. The earlier version reportedly displayed player counts alongside the most-played games, but the current implementation appears to have removed those numbers. You can still see the rankings from one through ten, but there is no longer a visible indication of exactly how many people are playing each game. 

Sony has also included a feature for consoles used during esports events in certain regions.

Users can disable the console's Bluetooth functionality to gain more control over how controllers are paired. This is a specific addition that may not matter to every PS5 owner, but it could be useful in competitive environments with multiple wireless controllers in the same location.

Alongside the system update, Sony has announced a refreshed lineup of wireless PlayStation headsets. The new PlayStation Pulse Wireless Headset and Pulse Edge Wireless Headset are positioned as updated additions to the company's PS5 audio range, following the Pulse Elite that launched in 2024. 

That should be particularly useful in competitive games where directional audio matters. Sounds such as footsteps, reloads, and other gameplay cues are easier to pinpoint when the headset can provide more accurate spatial positioning. Sony has also increased the size of the planar drivers in both new models, with the company promising deeper and fuller bass while retaining the clarity associated with the Pulse Elite.

PlayStation Link connectivity is another major part of the new headsets. The technology enables lossless, low-latency wireless audio and allows the headsets to switch between supported devices, including PS5 consoles, PlayStation Portal, PC, and Mac. The headsets can also connect to supported Bluetooth devices at the same time, allowing players to combine gaming audio with communication from another device.

Both models also include AI-enhanced noise rejection for their integrated microphones, which is designed to filter out background noise during voice chat. Sony has redesigned the overall form factor as well, with rotating ear cups that allow the headsets to sit flat for easier transportation. Both versions will be available in white and midnight black.

The Pulse Edge is positioned as the more premium option, offering additional features over the standard Pulse model. 

It uses planar magnetic drivers with double the magnet volume compared with the PlayStation Pulse, which Sony says allows it to produce deeper bass while maintaining the precision needed to hear smaller audio details. It also includes active noise cancellation, a detachable boom microphone, and a hidden microphone that can be used when the boom is removed.

Sony says the Pulse Edge will also come with a carrying case and use premium materials. The standard PlayStation Pulse Wireless Headset is expected to launch in select markets during the 2026 holiday season, while the Pulse Edge Wireless Headset is scheduled to launch in early 2027. Sony has not yet provided exact release dates or pricing for either model.

The timing of these accessories also raises questions about Sony's longer-term hardware plans. With the company refreshing its headset lineup this far into the PS5 generation, it is reasonable to wonder whether these accessories could eventually remain useful beyond the current console. 

There is also a new report concerning Media Molecule, the studio behind LittleBigPlanet and Dreams. According to MP1st, the British PlayStation studio is still working on an unannounced new IP featuring open-world content. The report claims the project is expected to be revealed and potentially released in 2027, although development can always change before launch.

The reported game is described as a social simulation experience inspired by games such as Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon. Importantly, the report claims that it is not being developed as a traditional game-as-a-service title. There could still be online or live elements included, but the project is reportedly moving in a different direction from Dreams, which relied heavily on user-generated content and continued support.

Dreams came out in 2020, so it's been several years since Media Molecule released another game. 

After three years, Sony finally ended live support for Dreams, a platform that let players create and share various experiences. A new social simulation game could then give the studio a chance to try a different type of experience while still being grounded in its history of creative development.

The most speculative report, though, is about Sony's rumored next-generation handheld, which internally is said to be named Project Canis. The device may be powered by a custom 3nm AMD processor with six Zen 6 cores, including four standard Zen 6C cores and two Zen 6 LP cores for power savings, according to a WCCFTech report citing data from GameGPU. 

Reported graphics hardware is said to be based on AMD’s RDNA 5 architecture with 16 compute units. According to the leak, the handheld could reach around 4.91 teraflops in portable mode at 1.2GHz, while a docked configuration could boost the clock speed to 1.65GHz and achieve about 6.75 teraflops.

The biggest part of the report, however, concerns PSSR 3.0. 

The technology is said to offer more advanced reconstruction and frame generation abilities, which could allow the handheld to produce better quality visuals than its raw hardware specs would imply. The report claims that the device could render games internally at 540p in portable mode before using PSSR 3.0 to upscale the image to its native 1080p display.

The same report makes much larger performance claims when PSSR 3.0 is taken into account, suggesting an effective performance level of around 10 to 11 teraflops in portable mode and up to 14 teraflops when docked. That would put the alleged handheld above the base PS5 in certain measurements and relatively close to the PS5 Pro's reported 16.7-teraflop figure. 

The alleged Project Canis specifications are also said to align with previous information from insider Kepler L2, who claimed the device could outperform the XBOX Series S in rasterization and offer significantly stronger ray-tracing and path-tracing performance. Another claim suggests PSSR 3.0 could eventually compete with Nvidia's DLSS technology in image quality, although there is currently no independent confirmation of those claims.

Sony is aiming for a late 2027 release for Project Canis, according to the report, although whether the handheld would launch alongside the alleged PlayStation 6 is unknown. 

The docked mode that was reported is particularly intriguing because it could mean Sony is trying out a hybrid mode where the handheld would be more powerful when connected to a dock. If accurate, that would give the device a role beyond simply being a portable PlayStation.

For now, Sony's confirmed updates are much closer to home, with PS5 and PS5 Pro receiving new features and the Pulse headset lineup getting refreshed. Beyond that, Media Molecule's reported 2027 project and the leaked Project Canis specifications point toward a potentially busy period for PlayStation hardware and software. 

Until Sony officially reveals its next-generation plans, however, the details surrounding the handheld, its performance, and its relationship with the PlayStation 6 remain unconfirmed. The reported specifications should therefore be treated as early information rather than an indication of what the final hardware will deliver.