The difference this gen so far is smaller than it has ever been. PS3 - 360 was a usually a decent gap in performance and IQ, with 360 winning despite being older, cheaper and no Cell. PS4 - Xbox One was a clear advantage to PS4 in about every game since it was almost the same architecture but with more raw power, faster RAM and some other things. PS4 was flat out better. 1X usually beat Pro because 1X was a more recent, more expensive and more powerful system.
The thing is that from the get go we knew the Xbox had a TF advantage and higher clocks. The PS5 did have a better SSD solution and some other neat tricks but the consesus was that the Series X would blow the PS5 out of the water, with some even predicting 2160p native game for Series X would likely be 1440p for PS5. No one expected the PS5 to be this close, let alone win comparisons. And thats what happens right now. The difference is small and probably not even visible to the naked eye (no one on forehand yells PS5 version of certain game looks best, they do it after comparisons for a reason) but its against MS' narrative with the Series X. Which is why I can understand the laughs.