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Determining the place of the $700 PlayStation 5 Pro—Sony’s enhanced, ultra-expensive gaming console—can be challenging in a market where Sony has nearly sold a quantity of PS5s equivalent to the population of France. Does the Pro serve as a more affordable gaming alternative to a PC? Is it an enhancement for current PS5 owners? Or is it an unforeseen pinnacle of gaming console brilliance that should be coveted by any modern gamer? Our PlayStation 5 Pro review exists to address these significant inquiries.
Regarding the first question: no. That’s perfectly acceptable since a console is not meant to be a PC. Whether the second question applies depends on your appreciation for graphical details and elevated framerates. Instead, it’s more beneficial to view the PS5 Pro as the ultimate method to experience the $500 PlayStation 5’s offerings. Many games that flaunt the “Enhanced” label operate at superior framerates, even with supplementary ray tracing enhancements. Certain titles gain advantages more than others.
PlayStation 5 Pro
The PlayStation 5 Pro signifies a considerable improvement in performance over the PS5, but the importance of this enhancement depends on the game being played.
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Advantages
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Appealing aesthetics, particularly when placed on its vertical stand -
Games with unlocked frame rates perform superiorly on PS5 -
Certain titles offer the best experience on PS5 Pro
Disadvantages
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Absence of a disc drive will likely raise expenses -
PS4 titles don’t receive a noticeable enhancement -
Non-upgraded games might not exhibit significant performance gain, depending on configurations
However, the PS5 Pro remains superior. The significance of that $200 price difference lies with each person, yet I can assert that the typical PS5 player isn’t forgoing anything notably crucial by not opting for the Pro. There’s a total of 2 TB of SSD storage, as opposed to the slim edition’s 1 TB, providing a notable upgrade. Nevertheless, if you possess numerous game discs, acquiring an additional $80 disc drive is necessary as it’s not included. Essentially, for a PlayStation devotee, this $700 console transforms into a $780 setup.
If financial constraints are absent, then undoubtedly the PS5 Pro stands as the superior console. The performance upgrade in certain games like God of War: Ragnarök holds significance to those invested. It’s merely that, unlike the transition from PS4 Pro to PS4, the latest Pro variant doesn’t leave its elder, less advanced sibling in a separate category. The PlayStation 5 Pro comes equipped with an improved GPU featuring a built-in AI upscaler, enabling more games to maintain superior frame rates. I’ve played and completed those titles on the PlayStation 5, and I don’t perceive the graphical enhancements as transformative enough to necessitate replaying them.
There’s good news to enjoy before Thanksgiving. With the PS5 Pro’s arrival, the slim PS5 will become more affordable on platforms like eBay or from other sellers. It’s already being offered at a discount prior to Black Friday. You’ll be pleased with the PS5 Pro, especially if you seek the finest in-game visuals on the console/PC divide. Similarly, you’ll be content with the standard PlayStation 5, especially if it’s acquired at a lower-than-usual cost.
PlayStation 5 Pro Review: Design
The PlayStation 5 always stood out with its prominent whale fin covers. Before the slim edition emerged, the PS5 was notably large, particularly with the integrated disc drive. The slim version significantly reduced its proportion both in length and height; the new PS5 Pro almost matches the height of the original console.
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I’ve developed a fondness for the design of the PS5 and PS5 Pro. With the additional slits traversing the center, one might picture the console as a white shark. It’s a serene sea creature, indeed. Without the disc drive spinning, the console’s fans emit a gentle murmur that’s undetectable over the TV’s audio.
The Pro’s setup is equally straightforward as the usual PS5 model. Upon connection, most contemporary TVs will identify your PS5, configuring the appropriate HDR settings. Despite possibly being habitual, I find the PS5 menu quite user-friendly for browsing your installed games, especially for quickly locating your collected trophies.
The absence of a disc drive starkly exposes the PS5 Pro’s substantial cost. While our test unit lacked one, our PS5 Slim was available for use. With slight manual adjustments, we affixed it to the fresh model. However, that alone is insufficient. You also need to register the disc drive with the new unit, inevitably necessitating internet access. During the review process, our connection was intermittently unstable, leading to several attempts to successfully register the drive.
Excessive effort is required to enjoy the physical copies of games you nominally possess. Sony’s stance against allowing third-party modifications or designs for custom drives makes spending $80 to obtain a separate drive even more frustrating. As noted by Digital Foundry, lacking a disc drive compels gamers to purchase games, new or old, at inflated costs via the PlayStation Store, as opposed to locating physical discs at more competitive prices via other vendors or online. It represents a strategic move that we hope Sony reconsiders in the long run.
The absence of distinguishing features compared to the standard PlayStation 5 is notable, with no recognition in the game, menus, or even the TV’s input identifying the $700 system as a PS5 Pro. Occasionally, certain games might refer to “Pro Enhanced” graphics within their setups. Without such references, it’s nearly undetectable that you’re operating a more costly machine.
Revisión de PlayStation 5 Pro: Juegos Disponibles
Sony mentioned that the PS5 Pro debuted with 55 games featuring enhanced editions. By the close of November, the store page for Sony has essentially confirmed over 100 titles will have improved graphics in the ensuing months, including upcoming releases like Kingdom Come Deliverance II. There are more than 700 games presently accessible on PS5, though Sony successfully snagged a few major titles for the initial collection. Among them are God of War: Ragnarök, Baldur’s Gate III, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and additional renowned titles.
Among the catalog, Astro Bot, an exclusive title for PlayStation, is conspicuously absent. Despite the straightforward nature of the platformer, which likely didn’t necessitate an upgrade, its absence is notable as one of the few exclusives launching on PS5 in 2024. The PS5 Pro boasts significant advancements such as improved ray tracing in select titles while aiming for increased framerates. Additionally, PlayStation Super Resolution, PSSR, allows for enhanced anti-aliasing and increased framerate settings in games. Despite these advances, one might find unchanged graphical options upon launching an “Enhanced” game; however, their appearance and performance improve dramatically with those same settings.
Does the PlayStation 5 Pro’s hardware benefit games lacking an “Enhanced” icon? Affirmative, albeit the extent hinges on the specific game in question. A prime illustration is Elden Ring which shows enhanced performance on Quality mode on the PS5 Pro by approximately 10 FPS, though it doesn’t quite reach 60 FPS. One could speculate that FromSoftware’s current release might receive enhancement treatment before 2025 concludes. Concerning other games potentially missing out on Sony’s enhancements, there remains a question.
My test included the PS5 adaptation of Deathloop. The game habitually stabilizes at 60 FPS in the default “Performance” mode. Although the “Ray Tracing” mode on PS5 Pro drags the game’s pace, there’s a reduction in gameplay disruptions compared to experiences on the original PS5.
Titles benefiting from the Pro upgrade, The Last of Us Part II: Remastered was pointed out by Sony. Equipped with AI upscaling and enhanced graphic capacities, the game delivers 60 FPS at 4K without a loss in visual detail. Having played it at launch on PS4, the transition to PS5 signified a notable leap in graphic excellence.
Anticipating whether games will experience remarkable improvements on the Pro compared to the PS5 remains to be seen. However, no games are expected to make claims of resolutions surpassing 4K. Earlier this year, Sony eliminated all “8K” branding from its packaging. Now, the new PS5 Pro box declares 4K performance at 120 Hz with HDR, consistent with the standard PS5. At least we can stop pretending there’s a rush to purchase an 8K TV.
PlayStation 5 Pro Review: PS4 Games on PS5 Pro
Options to augment PlayStation 4 games’ image quality do exist, but Sony disables this by default. Access Settings, then proceed to the Screen and Video menu to activate it for improved quality. The console clarifies this only applies to “certain games.” Sony remains vague on which titles gain the most. Our assessments showed a marginal quality uptick compared to a regular PS5.
While testing several PS4 titles, differences were elusive unless viewed at close proximity. Comparisons between Pro and non-Pro PS5 with The Last Guardian and the PS4 variant of Titanfall 2 revealed no profound distinction. Although edges appeared sharper on the newer console, the variation was slight. Sony highlighted potential graphical glitches due to the “Enhance Image Quality” setting, though none were observed in our limited tests.
PlayStation 5 Pro Review: Performance
Those possessing a substantial collection of PS5 games already will note the variance in performance gains contingent on the game. With Sony focusing solely on boosting GPU capabilities and leaving the PS5’s CPU unchanged, titles relying heavily on GPU see more substantial benefits. Many games, even those enhanced, resemble their PS5 counterparts closely. The principal elevation is the superior framerates attributable to the enhanced hardware.
In God of War: Ragnarök, the FPS increase is discernible when transitioning from PS5 to PS5 Pro. The enhanced experience orchestrates a fluidity comparable to a robust PC. The PSSR, combined with the refreshed hardware, yielded upwards of 80 FPS in several territories, dropping to 70 FPS amid more intricate scenes. The game already amazed on a standard PS5, designed from the start to complement Sony’s hardware. While the overall experience isn’t entirely transformed, those prioritizing gameplay beyond 60 FPS will find ample satisfaction.
For evaluators, the amusing facet is disabling PSSR in favor of the PS5’s initial Temporal Anti-Aliasing to determine the influence upscaling exhibits on PS5 Pro. Abstaining from PSSR anti-aliasing produced a 10 to 15 FPS uplift in analyzed sequences. The preference between TAA’s elevated framerates and PSSR’s aesthetic remains personal, yet I’ll likely adhere to default configurations.
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InStar Wars: Jedi Survivor, el juego no incluye opciones especiales para PS5 Pro, aunque puedes notar la diferencia con el límite de 60 FPS en el modo de gráficos de calidad. No es que un FPS más alto facilitaría acertar en esas ventanas de parry apretadas, pero el juego se siente simplemente más fluido. En una PS5 estándar, el modo “Rendimiento” de Jedi Survivor se ve dentado y horrible en comparación. Nuestro héroe Jedi Cal Kestis corre tan rápido como un pollo sin cabeza y también luce así. En pocas palabras, el modo de calidad es la mejor forma de jugar ese juego según cualquier criterio, y funciona mejor en la Pro.
Pusimos a prueba varios otros títulos mejorados, como Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, donde las versiones de PS5 y PS5 Pro se veían y jugaban prácticamente igual. En las primeras misiones de la campaña, el juego alcanzó de 80 a 100 FPS fuera del modo de 120 Hz. La campaña en una PS5 normal está limitada a 60 FPS.
Debo señalar que la tasa de frames aquí no es tan crucial en un jugador único como en multijugador, razón por la cual Sony se aseguró que Black Ops fuera uno de los primeros títulos en recibir el tratamiento mejorado. Es una experiencia menos entrecortada que en la PS5, aunque de forma mínima que solo los jugadores más dedicados comprenderán. La mejor experiencia que tuve fue con Horizon: Forbidden West, un juego que se ve tan bien en PS5 Pro que podría motivar a los jugadores a completarlo.
He jugado Horizon: Forbidden West en la PS5 original y en PC, todo con el propósito de realizar pruebas comparativas. Si tuviera que elegir un dispositivo para jugarlo, sería la PS5 Pro. Forbidden West se veía genial en PS5, pero la edición mejorada tiene varios extras que la destacan. El modo nuevo “Favor Resolution Pro” limita la tasa de frames a 30 FPS y establece la TV a una frecuencia de actualización de 60 Hz, mientras que el modo predeterminado “Favor Performance Pro” deja sin límite la tasa de frames hasta frecuencias de actualización de 120 Hz. Preferí el último por su jugabilidad mucho más suave, y la diferencia era tan mínima que no pude notarla. En este modo, el juego oscilaba entre 58 y 70 FPS.
Evaluación de la PlayStation 5 Pro: Veredicto
El PlayStation 5 Pro es el mejor dispositivo que Sony ofrece actualmente. No cabe duda en esa área. Las mejoras de rendimiento en ciertos juegos son notables y, en algunos casos, realmente se ven mejor en la consola nueva en comparación con la antigua. Sin embargo, esta actualización de ciclo intermedio no significa una mejora necesaria para cualquier dueño actual de una PS5, especialmente para quienes no requieren el máximo FPS en Call of Duty para competir de forma seria.
He leído algunas opiniones que equiparan la PS5 Pro con un PC para juegos. El rendimiento en la Pro es sorprendente y algo mejor que una PS5 básica, pero, no, esto no es competencia para una PC. Solo desde una perspectiva visual, la Pro podría rivalizar en igualdad de condiciones en algunos juegos, pero las desventajas reales son la personalización. Los títulos con la etiqueta “Mejorados” aún alternan entre muy pocas opciones gráficas, y en la mayoría de los casos, la opción predeterminada es la más apropiada. Los juegos más antiguos que no recibirán tratamiento especial por parte de Sony, incluidos los de PS4 y algunos de PS5, se juegan de forma efectiva tan bien como antes.
La gran diferencia entre un PC para juegos y la PS5 Pro es el costo. Si pudiera conseguir una configuración de juego de gama media nueva en caja por $700, sería la persona más afortunada del mundo. Por otro lado, si gasto $800 más para un escritorio o portátil de juegos, también tendría una PC y una gama mucho más amplia de juegos disponibles. La PS5 Pro sigue siendo solo una consola, una que está sujeta al ecosistema de Sony.
Pero en general, es una mejora. El extra de 1 TB de almacenamiento SSD salva a los usuarios de tener que salir y comprar opciones de almacenamiento adicionales por más de $100, así que podrías considerar que la consola incluye $100 en mejoras gráficas. La falta de unidad de discos empaña esa sensación de trato ventajoso, pero el precio de $700 parece adecuado para lo que se obtiene.
Lo que también prueba es que la versión estándar y delgada del PlayStation 5 sigue siendo una consola de calidad. Jugando en la PS5 Pro, concluí que puedo vivir sin todas las capacidades gráficas adicionales.
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