PS5 Pro Review: Enhanced Graphics and Performance at a Premium Price

The PS5 Pro, launched by Sony, represents a significant upgrade to the original PlayStation 5, focusing on enhanced graphical performance and smoother gameplay. One of the key benefits of the PS5 Pro is its ability to eliminate the trade-off between Performance mode (favoring framerate) and Fidelity mode (favoring image quality), allowing games to run at 60fps while maintaining the same resolution as the Fidelity mode of the base PS5.

The console leverages Sony’s proprietary PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), an AI-driven upscaling technology that enhances image quality in supported games. This technology is akin to PC upscaling methods like Nvidia’s DLSS and AMD’s FSR, and it helps maintain visual quality without necessarily rendering at 4K. Games such as The Last of Us Part I and Alan Wake 2 showcase this technology by delivering upscaled 4K images with stable 60fps frame rates.

The PS5 Pro also boasts improved ray-tracing capabilities, which are particularly noticeable in games like Hogwarts Legacy and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The console’s increased GPU power, featuring 67% more compute units and 28% faster memory, allows for up to 45% faster gameplay rendering compared to the standard PS5.

In terms of design, the PS5 Pro maintains the aesthetic of the PS5 family but with some notable improvements. It features a sleek, matte-finish design with black fins and a more contained LED lighting system. The console includes two USB-C ports on the front, two USB-A ports on the back, an HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and a power port. However, it lacks a disc drive and a vertical stand, which might be seen as a drawback for a premium product.

The PS5 Pro comes with a 2TB internal hard drive, offering significantly more storage than the base PS5 and PS5 Slim models. This increased storage is a welcome feature for gamers with large game libraries.

Despite its impressive features, the PS5 Pro is priced at $699.99, making it a significant investment. While it offers the best visuals and performance for committed console gamers, it may not be an essential upgrade for more budget-conscious players. The real value of the PS5 Pro will be tested as future games and PC graphics evolve.