The PS5 Pro Is Powerful as Hell, but Is It Worth It?
When the PlayStation 5 debuted in late 2020, most people who wanted one couldn't buy one. Supply constraints and high demand in a time where there was nothing to do but play video games led to a console that wouldn't be consistently available on store shelves until a year past its release. By the time everyone who wanted a PS5 got one, Sony turned around and announced it's mid-generation upgrade.
From day one of the PS5 Pro, it has remained in stock, readily available, and retailed for $700. A few months on, it's clear there are still many PS5 owners out there holding off on the Pro, or just thinking about skipping it all together. After spending a few weeks with the PlayStation 5 Pro, I can tell you exactly what kind of gamer this premium console is meant for, and what it means for the future of console gaming. But if you want my TL;DR, my advice is to only buy the PS5 Pro if you're really snobby about graphics and performance. Otherwise, stick out the generation with a PS5 Slim.
PlayStation 5 Pro
My first impressions.
I remove my slim PS5 from the console table beneath my TV and replace it with a near identical replica. The Pro is taller, slightly, and less bulky due to it's lack of a disc drive. The additional defined black space between its two white halves scream puffer jacket. Like all PS5s before it, the Pro is a behemoth. Perhaps even more so.
It's not the prettiest console. I think it looked better without the puffer jacket cutout. More monolithic, less crude. The games that ran on it, though, those were (mostly) gorgeous. Spider-Man 2 has been a highlight. Every time I'm swinging and see the horizon past the city skyline, it takes my breath away for a millisecond. And running at an unimpeachably steady 60 fps, the swinging feels better than it has in either of Insomniac's games before it.
In the case of a title like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the PS5 Pro's added graphics mode is the way to play. The game's Versatility Mode gives you the visual fidelity of Graphics mode and Performance mode frame rate. At launch, PS5 players had to choose between the two. Dragon's Dogma 2 is another title that was quite technically compromised on PS5 when it came out. It's no technical powerhouse on the Pro, but it is marginally more playable now.
These were some of the games I spent the most time with. And while the list of PS5 Pro enhanced titles numbers more than 80, a number that's considerably less impressive when you are reminded it includes a number of PS4 remasters, free-to-play titles, and a few games that aren't out yet. With the slate of big games on the horizon looking promising yet hazy, my biggest concern about telling people to get a PS5 Pro is not knowing how many titles will ultimately end up taking advantage of the its power before the next generation of consoles hits.
It's a more PC-like console that offers more choices.
The promise of the PS5 Pro—frankly the same promise as the PS4 Pro—was to bridge the gap between graphics and performance modes. No more choosing between 4K and 60fps, you can do it both, right? In theory, that's what this console should be. In practice, it's another step towards game consoles becoming like PCs.
You can't pull up a frame rate counter or see how much your gaming is stressing the GPU, it's not a PC in that way, but instead of streamlining the console gaming experience the PS5 Pro offers more choices. If a game is enhanced for the Pro, this will often mean one more graphics option to choose from a menu—often the differences are not entirely clear. The PSSR upscaling (which can work wonders) and improvements to Ray Tracing add more toggles, sliders, and the like. It's often true there are optimal settings, but you have to navigate menus to really know for sure.
It doesn't surprise me, and it won't surprise me if the next generation of consoles continues to move in this direction, while executives tell consumers the opposite is happening. I'm all for more choices if this is where we've landed, but it's pretty far afield from the original intent of gaming on a dedicated console instead of a computer.
My final verdict: The PS5 Slim is the everyman console.
If recent rumours of a 2027 release date for the PS6 are close to true, we are nearing the end of a generation. A strange generation, at that. For the PS5 Pro to be really worth your money, you have to care about how your games run. You have to care about the nerdy shit like frame rate and Ray Tracing. You probably need to own a 120 Hz TV and scoff at the notion of 60 fps being good.
What I'm trying to say is you have to be a gaming snob. I'm not, although I may be getting there. Did I notice the difference between performance on PS5 and PS5 Pro? Certainly. It's a noticeable improvement, but once again you have to be actively dissatisfied with your current PS5 to even begin considering purchasing this one. It's still a hard sell, even after seeing it work its magic.
My biggest gripe, though, is still the lack of a disc drive. At this price, it's simply a bummer. It's always nice for Blu-Rays, sure, but I'm still actively playing PS4 games on disc and I know I'm not alone. Plenty of PS4 disc games can be upgraded to the next-gen version for free or cheap. When it comes down to it, I know the PS5 Pro is a beefier machine, but I would rather hold on to my slim PS5 with a disc drive. If only to finish Death Stranding.
PlayStation 5 Pro
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