PlayStation 5 update adds long-awaited feature that fans have been asking for since launch

One major PlayStation 5 feature has proven pretty divisive: the big lightstrip that wrapped around the console.

It definitely looks cool, glowing blue when the console's on and orange when it's in rest mode, but for a long time it's annoyed some people because of how bright it is.

In fact, we fitted an adhesive strip from Dbrand to our PS5 just to block out the light, since it was distracting when watching movies or playing atmospheric games.

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At long last, though, Sony is apparently planning to add a new setting that will let users control this aspect of their PS5.

In a forthcoming software update, one that beta testers actually already have access to, you'll be able to control the brightness of your light bar in the PS5's settings.

There will be three options - dim, medium and bright, with bright being what the PS5 defaults to, so this should let you reduce the light it gives off by quite a bit.

The setting will be under the 'System' branch of the Settings menu, in the same location as another very helpful option - which lets you make the beep that the PS5 emits when you turn it on way quieter, something we were super grateful for when it arrived.

The software update will bring some other nice boosts, too, in particular paying attention to the already-excellent DualSense controller that comes with your console.

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It looks like the onboard speakers will be getting an upgrade to let them get louder, and the onboard microphone could also getting better noise-cancelling to hopefully make it more useful for speaking into - all without any hardware changes required.

After all, many PS5 players have been resorting to to auto-muting themselves to avoid accidentally sounding terrible in gaming lobbies, so this could make things a little better on that front.

There's no clear ETA for when the software update will move from its beta phase into a wide release, but these things don't tend to take longer than a month or two, so this setting should arrive on your PS5 very soon.