1. The PlayStation 4 has a larger library of games. There are about 1,800 PlayStation 4 games you can buy, compared to around 1,200 Nintendo Switch games.
2. You can buy a PlayStation 4 — the PS4 Pro — that supports visuals for your 4K HDR TV. The Nintendo Switch only supports visuals up to 1080p HD.
3. Both consoles have incredible exclusive games, but the PlayStation 4 has more of them.
But the PlayStation 4 benefits by having been around longer, and has built up a larger library of incredible exclusive titles, including “God of War,” “Bloodborne,” “Horizon Zero Dawn,” “Uncharted 4,” “Shadow of the Colossus,” “The Last of Us,” and the “MLB: The Show” series, among others.
As it stands right now, the PlayStation 4 has roughly double the number of exclusive games compared to the Nintendo Switch.
The Nintendo Switch has plenty of great-looking exclusives on the way, like “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” “Metroid Prime 4,” and a bevy of new Pokémon games, but the PlayStation 4 also has the exclusive Spider-Man game coming out soon, the next game from Hideo Kojima called “Death Stranding,” and plenty of other great-looking exclusives like “The Last of Us Part II” and “Ghost of Tsushima.”
4. Games are generally more affordable on the PlayStation 4, and you’ll find sales — through Sony and other vendors — more often.
Nintendo does sell many games that cost $10, $15, and $20, but so does Sony — and aside from all the deals and discounts you’ll find, particularly if you’re a PlayStation Plus member (you get free games every month with that subscription), the new PlayStation 4 Hits collection includes must-have games like “Bloodborne” and “Uncharted 4” for just $20.
5. The PlayStation 4 has every major streaming service, including Netflix, Hulu, HBO, Spotify, Twitch, Amazon Video, and more. It even has PlayStation Vue, its own over-the-top subscription TV service. In contrast, the Nintendo Switch only has Hulu among its supported streaming offerings right now.
6. The PlayStation 4 has a built-in way to listen to music while you play games. The Nintendo Switch doesn’t.
It’s easy to play, pause, and skip around to various playlists and artists thanks to the built-in music widget for PS4, which you can summon by holding the central power button on your controller.
If you have other music outside of Spotify, the PlayStation 4 also lets you connect any hard drive with media files via the USB port. Just go to the Media Center app and press play.
The PlayStation 4 itself is very friendly with music in general; you can hook up wireless headphones via USB, or plug a pair of wired headphones directly into the bottom of the controller to listen. The Nintendo Switch has a headphone jack for when you’re on the go, but no way to privately listen via headphones if you’re playing on the TV — at least for now.
7. The PlayStation 4 can play DVDs and Blu-ray discs. The Nintendo Switch cannot.
The Nintendo Switch only takes its own proprietary cartridges, so you can’t play any other kinds of media from it.
