Sony’s newest PS5 beta, which started rolling out Wednesday, provides assist for a brand new “Hey PlayStation!” voice command you should use to open video games, apps, and settings and management films and songs. I’ve been in a position to check the brand new function, and to my shock, it truly works fairly nicely, and I may see it being a genuinely helpful method to navigate the console’s UI.

One factor I used to be completely satisfied to see was that the voice command function was opt-in — if that holds as soon as the software program replace is launched extensively, meaning you’ll must actively select if you need your PS5 to be listening to your voice. After I put in the beta, I needed to dig into the PS5’s settings to a brand new “Voice Command (Preview)” part to show it on.

Whenever you do, your PS5 will present you directions on the right way to immediate the voice command function — simply say “Hey PlayStation” (after ensuring your mic isn’t muted and that your console is related to the web). The directions additionally embrace an inventory of some issues you possibly can ask your PlayStation to do, like open a particular sport or pause music.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

As soon as the function is on, if you say “Hey PlayStation,” a pulsating white dot will seem within the high left nook of your display. Whenever you say your command, it’ll seem as textual content subsequent to the dot. In my testing, if the console understood my command, equivalent to “go to the primary menu” or “open Fortnite,” it might then do the factor.

Once I would make a extra obscure assertion, equivalent to simply the phrase “Persona,” my PS5 as an alternative exhibits video games it thinks are in realm of what I’m searching for. If it discovered only one possibility, I may say “sure” or “no” to opening it. If it discovered just a few, it offered them as a numbered checklist, and I may say the quantity to go to that factor or “see extra” to view a web page of search outcomes.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

In my quick testing, my PS5 precisely translated the overwhelming majority of my phrases, even ones with made up online game phrases like “GreedFall” and “Gungeon” (for Enter the Gungeon). It responded promptly practically each time I mentioned “Hey PlayStation,” although I’m unsure if having my DualSense controller persistently listening for my voice will have an effect on its already middling battery life. (The PS5’s voice instructions additionally work with a DualShock 4 related to an exterior mic, a Pulse 3D wi-fi headset, or the PS5 media distant, based on a Sony assist doc.) And if you happen to’d choose to not have your PS5 listening for you on a regular basis, you possibly can flip that off and use nonetheless voice instructions from a brand new “Voice” possibility that’s obtainable if you faucet the PlayStation button.

Personally, I’m unsure how usually I’ll find yourself utilizing these voice instructions. However I’ve been impressed with what I’ve tried, and I may see how others may choose voice instructions to navigating the PS5’s typically clunky UI. It could be simpler to leap to a sport buried in your sport library simply by asking for it, for instance. And if you happen to say “Hey PlayStation, flip off,” it’ll start to place itself into relaxation mode, which could truly be a better method to flip it off than what we have already got.

For those who do use voice instructions, it’s best to know that Sony will report your voice for for use for evaluation. “Whenever you allow Voice Command (Preview), voice information and interactions will probably be collected and processed solely for operation, evaluation, and enchancment of the function in accordance with our Privateness Coverage,” Sony says in a assist doc. Nonetheless, if you do not need your voice information to be analyzed, you possibly can opt-out in settings.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

The PS5’s voice instructions can be found for folks on the beta launched Wednesday, although the function solely works in English and for customers with accounts registered within the US and the UK. The beta additionally consists of updates to the PS5’s UI, social gathering chat, and extra.