Sony, the Professional
Consoles have always been different from PCs, meaning they never really had the options for upgrades. Sure, we had add-ons in the past such as CD drives for the Genesis and TurboGrafx 16, as well as the ill-fated 32X, but until last gen, it was not commonplace. So, when the Series X/S and PS5 were launched, a lot of people assumed this would happen again. Well Sony was the only one that decided to once again offer up a pro version of their current console with the PS5 Pro, and today I am gonna take a look at this beefed-up PlayStation. It comes four years into the lifecycle of the PS5, which has already been a weird generation, but I hope to answer the burning question of, is it worth your hard-earned dollars.
Hard to believe it, but this generation is nearing its five-year birthday. This generation is weird. The cross-gen stuff really threw it into a weird place. Almost like it is just getting started, so seeing a Pro console is definitely weird. Still, my launch PS5 was definitely getting louder as time went on, so upgrading was very nice. The new design is similar to the slim model with an extra slot on the side, making it a bit taller. It is worth noting that the base console does not have a disc drive. It feels more and more like we are moving away from physical media for games, at least with PlayStation and Xbox, Nintendo will always have physical carts I believe. The add-on isn’t cheap either, or easy to find. You are looking at around an extra $100 to add a disc drive, bringing the total cost to right around $800.
MSRP: $699.99
Price I’d Pay: $599.99
That is no small chunk of change for sure. Another thing that makes this generation interesting is that even though we are nearing five years in, there have been no price cuts for these consoles. They are still the same price as they were when they launched.
First let’s discuss the design of the console. The original PS5 was a beast in size and the angles made it really unattractive in a typical entertainment center. The Pro borrows more from the sleeker, and a more streamlined slim console, just a touch taller with extra wings on the side. It looks much better laying horizontally, which you will have to do unless you shell out for the vertical stand. The USB ports on the front of the console have also been changed from a USB C and regular USB, to just two USB C ports. Not a huge change, but one to note if you use the console to charge your controller and have purchased a cable using the old USB standard.
Alright let’s move onto what is different from the original PlayStation 5 and the Pro, what makes it so professional? First up the hard drive has been upgraded from the (kinda) 1TB in the original console to a 2TB, which is a stellar upgrade. Games are getting way too big these days, and 1TB is simply not enough if I want to have multiple new games installed. I was also able to add my 4TB SSD to the system with little effort. The Pro is much easier to remove the panels on than the OG PS5, making adding an extra SSD drive even easier than it was before. Sadly, any custom panels one might have from the slim model, do not fit, so if you want a different color, new panels will have to be purchased.
Next, let’s talk about technology. Sony promised around 67% more power than the base model. This brings the system to around 16 teraflops, which honestly is not the best way to judge power for anything. They are simply numbers used in marketing and really don’t tell the whole story. One of the things I was concerned with out of the box was that the Pro uses the same CPU as the original, so a lot of that power would have to be adjusted with patches. This is where PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) comes into play.
PSSR is Son’y answer to things like FSR and DLSS, which uses an algorithm to upscale a lower resolution image and make it look like a 4K image without using the computing power of the hardware. It is technological wizardry that I don’t even begin to understand, but a crisper image is something we can all notice. So far, the results have been mixed. I tested a healthy amount of games and some of them take greater advantage of them than others, while some games outright look worse after their patches. This is new tech, so it is going to take some time to master, but the results so far are all over the place.
Starting with Sony’s first-party offerings is where I could notice a huge difference. Games like Astro Bot and Spider-Man are doing wonders with the tech. No surprise as those teams have likely had access longer. Last of Us 2 looks incredible and almost every first party game has had an upgrade whether it was more ray tracing effects at a better frame rate, or just a crisper image. Third party games maybe haven’t fared as well. I tested Dragon Age Veilguard and didn’t notice a huge jump from the base console. Same with both Star Wars titles Jedi Survivor and Outlaws. In fact, Outlaws looked worse in the first patch.
A more recent game that had support at launch was Monster Hunter Wilds, and it definitely took advantage of the Pro. Sadly this game is not optimized well for previous consoles, so the Pro version feels like the one we SHOULD have gotten by default. That is not to say the Pro version doesn’t impress. It is easily the best console version of the game by far, so if you have a Pro, that is the one to get. Probably the most impressive game I tested though was FF7 Rebirth. The original game on PS5 was extremely blurry in performance mode. The Pro finally fixes this and the game is visually stunning. I was hoping all games would receive this treatment with this much higher-priced console.
One of the things the Pro has introduced is more modes to choose from in games. This is frustrating for users that are not technically savvy. For example, Stellar Blade, one of my favorite games from 2024 has two new added modes, and their wording is not ideal. I had no clue what each one truly did until I had a Digital Foundry video explain it to me, and I am technically savvy. I cannot imagine a regular consumer knowing what to choose from these menus. Sony should really set a standard naming convention for these modes to give users the best options upfront and perhaps hide the standard PS5 modes entirely to not confuse with too much choice.
The Pro offers a lot of options when it comes to upgrading your existing library of games. It also has a toggle for PS4 upgrades that can enhance their visual fidelity using PSSR. It has actually been fairly impressive on the titles I tested. It definitely needs some work, but it reminds me of the upgrades Xbox did with some of its backward compatible titles. The games feel fresh, while remaining the same.
The PS5 Pro is an interesting beast. The price is daunting, the lack of a disc drive will turn off a lot of consumers, and some of the upgrades are just not ready for primetime. However, if you are someone who has to have the best of the best when it comes to console hardware, the PS5 Pro is it. This system will be far and away the most powerful console on the market until the next generation, and I can see developers taking more advantage of it as time goes on. There is a ton of potential here, just be expecting a premium price to go along with it.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
