Should you pre-order the PS5 Pro?

While rumors about the PS5 Pro have been a craze all summer, it looked like we had a winner on our hands. There was some excitement in the air, and the promise of a mid-gen refresh hinted at a new phase in the PS5’s lifecycle. Then came Mark Cerny’s presentation.

Since then, there have been talks about the upcoming PS5 Pro They focused on how prohibitively expensive it was, and they were right. Sure, there’s some interest among enthusiasts in PlayStation’s new upscaling technology, but it wasn’t until the announcement of the new 30th anniversary PlayStation collection that I saw anyone vocally excited about the PS5 Pro.

With all this in mind and PS5 Pro pre-orders I found myself in a difficult position when I went live on Thursday. I’ve always been a PlayStation fan, but I don’t know if I’m excited enough to set up camp to get myself a new console on launch day. If you’re in a similar situation and aren’t sure if the PS5 Pro is right for you, I’ll lay out the most important talking points and try to help you decide what to do.

Price

(Image source: PlayStation)

Firstly, we need to consider how much you’ll need to spend on an upgraded PS5. $699.99 / £699.99 is no small sum, especially if you’re an existing PS5 owner who paid $500 or more for a regular PS5 at launch.

Obviously, pre-orders will be dominated by those of us lucky enough to have that kind of money laying around, but I know plenty of PlayStation fans who have the FOMO itch and tell themselves they need to buy the latest and greatest PlayStation. As someone who makes a living reviewing gaming hardware, I see two sides to that $700 coin.

I completely understand and agree that the PS5 Pro is very expensive. Based on previous launches, I think the price jump from the regular PS5 is higher than expected. I’m not sure if the price jump is justified either, especially when that new vertical stand isn’t included!

Let’s not forget that even as PC parts improve, consoles are still meant to be a more affordable and accessible alternative, so anything over $600 seems like a failure in that regard. The PS5 Pro’s price is gaming pc I want to find affordable games and consoles that more people can afford, so I understand the frustration.

(Image credit: Future/Duncan Robertson)

Then there’s the PC gamer in me. While I’ve reviewed PCs and tracked their prices throughout the year, I have to say that your anger at the console market is justified, $700 is pretty cheap for a gaming PC with brand new frame-rendering technology inside. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not sure any PC gamer would be better off selling their hardware to buy a PS5 Pro, but Sony It’s managed to keep the cost of the new Pro model below the $800 mark that I’ve come to expect for entry-level gaming PCs.

Decision: If a bigger GPU and more technical gaming performance are what you’re interested in, I really wouldn’t recommend the PS5 Pro at this price. At $700, I’d suggest you keep saving up, or even save another hundred or two hundred dollars, and check this out: Black Friday gaming PC dealsThis probably makes you equal Better performance for a little more money.

Games

(Image source: Sony Interactive)

I bought the PS5 when it launched, and while I’ve been a PlayStation fan my whole life, this is the first generation where I feel like Sony has truly lost me. It’s not that I don’t like the PS5 or that I think it’s a bad system – it’s, in a way, the best machine the brand has ever made, and I’ve encountered very few technical issues when it comes to the console’s hardware.

The reason I’ve spent more time gaming on PC this generation is because the lifeblood of video game consoles, games, are frighteningly lacking. SleeplessThe Spider-Men games on PS5 were a lot of fun, but they were over too quickly and felt like a minor improvement over the 2018 original. Demon’s Souls isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but it’s one of the many first-party exclusives that are rehashes of something from before the PS5 era. The Last of Us Part 1 and Last of Us Part 2 Remastered, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection may have upgrades, but I didn’t buy the PS5 to be a remaster machine. Even my beloved Ratchet & Clank got a passing remake, something that Mark Cerny promised would be jaw-dropping and flashy with its SSD usage.

God of War Ragnarok and Returnal are the two saving graces that really stand out for me, but arguably Sony Santa Monica Just as Guerrilla Games took a backseat with the cross-gen release of Horizon: Forbidden West.

(Image source: Sony)

First-party exclusives are the reason why the PS4 has so massively outperformed the Xbox One, and why many people are switching to the PS5. Mark Cerny’s PS5 Pro presentation only featured older games, and while I’m not a huge fan of Sony’s first-party output this generation, they all played beautifully on the regular PS5.

Decision: The good news is that there’s a State of Play happening tonight, and with over 30 minutes of content, I’m a little hopeful that the case for the PS5 Pro’s existence will be made that date. If we get updates on some fan-favorite franchises, maybe my opinion will change, I’m just not convinced that the games on the PS5 deserve a more powerful console so far.

Technical upgrades

In terms of raw specs, the PS5 Pro will have more powerful internals than the original model. To throw some percentages at you, the PS5 Pro will offer 45% faster processing, 65% more compute units, and apparently 0% change in CPU power. Apparently, the PS5 Pro will use the same Zen 2 processor that the regular PS5 uses, which is an interesting architectural choice.

Perhaps the reason Mark Cerny’s team didn’t opt to upgrade the console’s processor or RAM is because PSSR will be doing most of the heavy lifting. This is Sony’s new AI upscaling technology that uses machine learning to produce better gaming performance. This includes framerate rendering to improve the fluidity of your experience. We’ve seen the wonders this can produce on a PC or laptop, allowing for lower-end graphics cards. RTX4060 And AMD Radeon RX 7600 It is expected to be much more applicable than entry-level graphics cards.

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PS5 vs PS5 Pro full specs comparison
Features	PS5 Slim	PS5 Pro
Processor	AMD Ryzen Zen 2 (8 cores, 16 threads, 3.5GHz)	AMD Ryzen Zen 2 (8 cores, 16 threads, 3.5GHz)
GPU	AMD Radeon RDNA 2 (10.28 teraflops, ray tracing acceleration)	Unknown
Data warehouse	16GB GDDR6 at 448GB/s	16GB GDDR6 at 448GB/s
To store	825GB SSD (5.5GB/s read)	2TB SSD (5.5GB/s read)
Output	4K 120Hz, HDMI 2.1	4K 120Hz, HDMI 2.1, 8K
Wifi	Wi-Fi 6	Wi-Fi 7
Dimensions	H: 9.6 cm \| W: 35.8 cm	H: 10.4 cm \| W: 35.8 cm
Price	$499.99 / £479.99	$699.99 / £699.99

The other upgrade to mention is storage. While the base model of the PS5 uses a 1TB SSD, the new version will increase that to 2TB. It’s a nice touch for the money, but it’s also worth mentioning that upgrading the regular PS5’s storage with one Best SSDs for PS5 It’s already possible, so it’s not a reason to upgrade.

The problem with all these new features isn’t that they’re not worth the money or impressive enough. I think the reason they haven’t convinced the masses is because we haven’t seen their potential yet. How many frames can PSSR give us? Will the average gamer notice the difference if there’s no Steam-like FPS counter in the corner of the screen? Will there be games in the future that really need this boost in graphical power? There are so many questions that need answers, and if I were to spend $700, I’d want answers first.

Decision: Based on specs, there are some serious advantages to buying a PS5 Pro, especially thanks to PSSR, which can be a game-changer for demanding games. On the other hand, it’s harder to make a purchase decision based on some controlled play demos of games from the last five years that run just fine on a base PS5.

Preparing for the Future

(Image credit: Future/Phil Hayton)

This is the main reason why I think buying a PS5 Pro could actually be viable. More and more video games are being developed Nvidia DLSS or AMD If you have FSR in mind and that’s the case right now, that kind of technology could become a requirement or even a minimum requirement in a few years. I can definitely see the PS5 Pro being supported for longer than the PS5 thanks to that upgradeability. If you’re not planning on buying a PS6 at launch, pre-ordering a Pro might be better for you in the long run.

One personal reason why the PS5 Pro makes sense is because Mark Cerny says the new console will offer a performance boost. PSVR2 It may also be too big for an already excellent VR headset with a 120Hz refresh rate and powerful foveated rendering capabilities. If you’re an enthusiast best VR headsets If you’re like me, this might be a reason to pluck up the courage and get an upgrade.

(Image credit: Future)

I’m not just thinking about future-proofing gaming hardware here, I’m also thinking about displays. More and more gaming televisions and with 120Hz and even 144Hz refresh rates, having a games console that can take full advantage of that will make a huge difference. You may have a display that can go above 60Hz, but if you’re planning on getting one, I can’t tell you how much of a difference higher refresh rate games make.

Decision: Looking ahead, the PS5 Pro could actually make a lot of sense. Its price might be hard to stomach right now, but if you think of it as a long-term investment, it could last you well into the next generation.

Overall, should you buy the PS5 Pro?

(Image source: Sony)

Everyone will have different attitudes towards this launch, and depending on you, your budget, your current setup, and your attitudes to what good gaming performance means, the PS5 Pro could be a rage hit or your next hardware purchase.

There’s definitely value in being prepared for the future. If you don’t want to shell out for a PS6, this could be a viable upgrade for you, especially if your current gaming monitor has a higher refresh rate. Similarly, if you find gaming experiences to be poor on the current PS5 or just want a more powerful internal SSD without the hassle of buying one separately, the PS5 Pro is an option. For VR enthusiasts who like the PSVR 2, there’s value in that larger GPU.

Personally, I’m not sure I’d buy Sony’s upgraded console. It’s expensive and there’s a lot to convince me. How much of a difference will the average user see in terms of frame rates and graphical fidelity? Are there any games coming that would really require upgraded hardware? If the same games come to PC later, should I wait and play them later on an even more powerful machine?

I may need to try out the PS5 Pro myself to give you a more definitive answer, but I won’t be buying one until I know for sure if the performance boost is worth it.