The Playstation 5 has been on sale for almost four years. Now Sony is adding an “intermediate console”. How good is the Playstation 5 Pro?
The Playstation 5 was released on November 19, 2020 – and did many things better than its predecessors: Faster, more powerful – prettier? At least the latter was in the eye of the beholder. Four years later, Sony is now launching the Playstation 5 Pro.
Similar to the Playstation 4, which was also followed by a Pro variant, this mid-gen console is intended to achieve two goals:
Firstly, the console's hardware should be brought up to date. In contrast to PCs, consoles cannot be expanded or can only be expanded to a very limited extent. On PCs, graphics cards or CPUs can be replaced regularly to meet the ever-growing hardware appetite for new games.
Secondly, the Pro variant is the bridge between the Current Gen (as the current generation of consoles) and the Next Gen (i.e. a possible Playstation 6).
Of course, this brings with it challenges: The Pro version doesn't want to be the real next step, but it is attractive enough that one or two players dare to switch from the Playstation 5. And that had better be a good reason, because Sony charges an impressive 799.99 euros for the Pro version – at least 300 euros more than the Playstation 5 when it went on sale.
Playstation 5 Pro: The features
As soon as you unpack it, you notice: The design of the Playstation 5 Pro is based on the slim version of the Playstation 5. Three stripes give the console a sleek look, and the matt outer shells look elegant. A console that can be seen in the living room.
Included in delivery are:
- DualSense controller (the already known version. Still a very good controller)
- Power cable, HDMI cable, USB-C cable for charging the controller or other infrastructure such as headset etc.
- Small plastic clips needed for horizontal placement.
Not included:
- A drive for discs (costs around 120 euros, but is often out of stock) – in the shop version, the Playstation 5 Pro can only load games that have been downloaded via the Playstation Store.
- A stand (approx. 30 euros) to be able to set up the Playstation 5 Pro vertically.
- If you want the whole package, the Playstation 5 Pro costs 950 euros. We have not been able to discover any bundles yet.
Playstation 5 Pro: The technology
Now let's get to the inner values of the console:
- Faster processor with boost mode: The PS5 Pro relies on an AMD Zen 2 processor with eight cores and 16 threads. What's new is the boost mode, which increases the clock speed from the previous 3.5 to up to 3.8 gigahertz.
- More graphics performance: The new graphics unit is based on AMD's RDNA architecture and achieves up to 16.7 teraflops. For comparison: PS5 and PS5 Slim only have around 10 teraflops – this means that the PS5 Pro can display complex games and graphics more smoothly.
- More memory for more speed: With 16 gigabytes of GDDR6 memory for the graphics and 2 gigabytes of GDDR5 for the operating system, the PS5 Pro ensures noticeably faster processes, especially when starting games and waking up from standby.
- More storage space: An SSD hard drive with 2TB of storage offers space for many games at the same time.
- Faster loading times: Waking up from standby takes about half as long as the PS5. We also noticed significantly faster loading times when playing, for example in “Dragon's Dogma 2”.
The PS5 Pro offers a significant increase in performance, especially for fans of high-resolution and demanding games. If you value speed and graphics, you'll find what you're looking for here – a solid upgrade to the standard PS5.
For example, reflections and lighting (such as ray tracing) are displayed much better than in the standard version. Games also appear smoother because more images can be displayed per second. In principle, 8K gaming is also possible with HDMI 2.1 support, but we are still talking about the future of video games – this will currently only appeal to a few players.
Playstation 5 Pro: Gaming
First of all, you'll notice that some games like “Marvel's Spider-Man 2” or “Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered” offer the option to activate graphics improvements in the menu. This also applies to select PS4 games, which offer better picture quality on the Pro. The most important graphic element in newer games like “Hogwarts Legacy” is certainly ray tracing. Players who value better graphics will see new reflections and lighting effects, for example. Another example is that the higher performance allows us to activate more fps in the games – this makes the games immediately appear smoother and more pleasant to play.
Playstation 5 Pro: The conclusion
The Playstation 5 Pro is a gimmick – in the truest sense of the word. Because owners of the Playstation 5 can actually be relatively relaxed: the current graphics and performance increase that the Pro version offers at the proud price of just under 800 euros is luxury. The standard version of the Playstation 5 is a very good console that, in many ways, still offers everything console gamers currently need.
At the same time, we also see where the Pro version is headed: more performance, nicer graphics, higher speed – and the future of 8K gaming. All in all, we're still talking about unnecessary, but certainly attractive updates. Gamers who have extra performance and the necessary change should definitely look around to see where they can get a Pro, because there's nothing wrong with an update.
