Sony recently caught everyone off guard by releasing the long-awaited PS5 Pro. While most of the reveal was expected, there was one big shock: the price. For $700, if you want to add a stand that is sold separately, this upgrade is almost double the price of the original PS5.
But here is what I think. Although I’m disappointed with the price and would like gaming to be inclusive, should we be surprised? On the same note, when the prices are inflated, it is not the most expensive console that Sony has produced. And with relatively little competition in the gaming GPU and console market, this seems rather inevitable.
What Can You Get Instead of a PS5 Pro?
So before you go ahead and buy a $700 PS5 Pro, let’s discuss some of the options you have. You could upgrade your PC with the excellent Radeon 7900 XT for the same price! If you do not have a PC, you can create a good second-hand rig with a new 7800 XT for $700. Consoles used to be the king of gaming value, but now, the PS5 Pro’s price makes that comparison harder.
To charge this much for the PS5 Pro, there must be significant performance improvements.
PS5 Pro Specs: What’s New?
What does the PS5 Pro bring? Sony highlighted three main upgrades:
1. More Graphics Power: The new GPU of the Pro model has 60 CUs against 36 in the base model of the PS5. Sony says it will deliver 45% more performance, which would place the PS5 Pro on par with current-gen gaming GPUs.
2. Improved Ray Tracing: This is where it gets interesting. Sony claims that the PS5 Pro will be two to three times better in ray tracing performance due to a new engine from AMD which is yet to be incorporated into their own GPUs.
3. PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution: This new machine learning upscaling tech is aimed at increasing the frame rates by running games at lower resolution and then upscaling them like Nvidia’s DLSS. It could work well on a system like the PS5 Pro, because the hardware is consistent across the board.
What Sony Didn’t Tell Us
However, these upgrades are encouraging, but Sony did not give much information regarding the same. Their presentation was much shorter than the highly detailed technical breakdown we received when the PS5 was first released. In 10 minutes Sony went through the new features of the PS5 Pro while not mentioning a single new game to explain why the new hardware is needed. And that is the problem, or the main problem as I would like to call it.
Players do not purchase gaming devices to get the hardware; they purchase the devices for the games. With no new games to show, the PS5 Pro is just a hardware iteration without a proper purpose to own it.
Why Is the PS5 Pro $700?
The PS5 Pro is expensive, and this is a problem that we have to accept in today’s world. Sony’s production costs have declined, but not to the degree that we would have anticipated. Add to that the fact that there is no serious contender in the form of Microsoft or Nintendo and Sony is in no hurry to lower prices. However, the PS5 Pro brings approximately $250 of improvements (bigger SSD, better GPU) for approximately $250 extra.
Should You Buy the PS5 Pro?
If you can’t distinguish between the base PS5 and the Pro, you are not the only one. The changes to the visuals are not very dramatic. If those do not concern you at all, then go for the base PS5. Even today, it remains a good deal if you look at it four years after its release and at $400, it is a bargain compared to the Pro.
If you are a professional gamer using a 4K display and you are willing to get the best performance out of your console, then the PS5 Pro will be ideal for you. However, for the majority of the gamers, the standard PS5 remains the more recommended product.
Final Verdict: Is the PS5 Pro Worth the Upgrade?
The PS5 Pro has some nice enhancements, but $700 is a tough pill to swallow when there are no games that can take advantage of the hardware. Although the Pro has superior graphics, ray tracing, and upscaling, the standard PS5 is still a good value for most players. If you do not have to have the newest and the best, then you are better off not spending your cash.
