Midcycle refreshes are more often a miss than a hit, but the PS5 Pro is making a good case for itself. Comparing the PS5 vs the PS5 Pro, the newer console is considerably more efficient at guaranteeing a top-tier gaming experience, although it’s not without flaws. At $699.99, the console has most gamers hesitating over the purchase, especially when you consider the lack of a built-in disc drive.
Sure, you can purchase an attachable drive for $79.99, but does the PS5 Pro make sufficient hardware improvements for it to be worth your money? Especially if you were among those who invested in the PS5 Slim, it feels too soon to consider an upgrade.
If you’re looking for a review of what makes the PS5 Pro better than the original PS5, then we’ve got some comparisons in store for you.
Image: The PS5 Pro
PS5 vs PS5 Pro: Which Console is Right for You?
Breaking down the PS5 model comparison, we have a few different categories to consider. For a buyer, the two primary considerations are price and performance. If you want to invest in PS5 Pro, the $699.99 is a tough ask for many gamers, especially those who enjoy purchasing and playing via physical media. The lack of a disc drive was one of the key flaws of the PS5 Slim, and that design element continues with this model as well. Want a stand to mount it vertically? That costs another $30.
If you want to save your money to spend on games instead of the console itself, then the $499.99 PS5 is a decent console for you to purchase. The console will not become entirely redundant anytime soon, but you do have to be open to inferior graphics quality, especially considering the AI-based advanced processing that newer games will embrace.
For the PS5 Pro to be worth your money, its hardware improvements and advanced graphics need to be noteworthy, and much to Sony’s credit, the device is actually impressive.
The PS5 Pro Differences Start From the Storage
Yes, the PS5 Pro lacks a disc drive but it does a pretty good job of expanding its storage capacity to handle your digital library of games. The console boasts a 2TB SSD that can support the download of extremely large game files quite easily, and it is also paired with support for M2 SSDs.
Even with multiple large-sized games coupled together, you should have sufficient space to keep playing with no worries over impaired quality. With the original PS5, you would have had to resort to purchasing an external SSD pretty early on, so the storage of the PS5 Pro is a good step up.
The PS5 Pro Hardware Improvements Make the Console Impressive
The PS5 Pro has a new GPU with 67% more compute units and 28% faster memory, which leaves us with 25% faster rendering. The CPU hasn’t been tampered with but there are other AI-boosted tools to look forward to. With the PS5 Pro, you get a standard 4K resolution 60fps gaming, but the console also supports 8K gaming.
Granted you would require a monitor or TV that is able to guarantee such high-spec visual quality, so not everyone will be in a position to experience its full potential. You would have to be extremely serious about your gaming setup in order to consider the 8K TV a worthwhile investment.
The console also has support for Wi-Fi 7 as opposed to the Wi-Fi 6 on the PS5. This will mean that you can download big game files much quicker. Again, this would require you to upgrade your home network first, before you can make the most of its capabilities.
AI Upscaling Gives the PS5 Pro A Leg-Up
The PS5 has support for ray tracing, but the Pro tag comes with “advanced” ray tracing that guarantees better visuals for all your games. This means better lighting and shadows in your games, with an enhanced depth to them that you may not have seen before.
This feature is supported by the PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaler, which is designed to bolster the frame rates without any dip in quality. Using the mystical powers of machine learning, the AI tool should be able to clear up the details on your screen and enhance it for a crisp output every single time you boot up your console.
The console is designed so gamers don’t have to choose between Performance mode and Fidelity mode and can instead enjoy the best of both worlds.
From most demos of the PS5 vs PS5 Pro, the differences have been hard to tell in terms of graphic quality, but Sony is insisting that you’ll appreciate the differences more when we get more games specifically designed to optimize the perks of the new console.
The PS5 Pro Game Boost also promises enhanced performance of over 8,500 backwards-compatible PS4 games even without developer patches, so you can return to your former favorites and find yourself pleasantly surprised.
PS5 Pro vs the Original PS5—Final Thoughts
When you compare the PS5 vs the PS5 Pro, the primary reason to upgrade would be to support future games and make the most of long-term changes to the gaming industry. If you already have a PS5 console, the more compact size of the PS5 Pro may be appealing, but the trade-off is the console’s more segmented, unappealing design.
The PS5 Pro guarantees a phenomenal visual experience on occasion and while you may not be able to tell the difference as you compare them on the go, the ability to maintain the graphics without a drop in frame rates midgame can be invaluable.