The base PlayStation 5 has 825 GB of internal storage. Sony built the original PS5 around a custom solid-state drive with 825 GB of capacity, designed to deliver very fast loading and data streaming for next-generation games.
That figure describes total installed capacity, not the space available for games. System software and other reserved data use part of the drive, leaving roughly 667 GB available to users on the launch model. This is why a new PS5 does not show the full 825 GB as free storage.
The 825 GB figure is also easy to confuse with later PS5 models. The PS5 Slim launched with a 1 TB drive in both disc and digital configurations, although some newer digital Slim revisions have returned to 825 GB. The PS5 Pro uses a different storage configuration. External USB drives can store PS5 games, but PS5 titles must be copied back to internal or compatible M.2 SSD storage before they can be played.