Like many PlayStation players, I eagerly tuned into this week’s PlayStation Techincal Showcase to see the full reveal of the PS5 Pro. And like many viewers, when the presentation ended and it was confirmed the suped-up PS5 console would cost an eyewatering $699 (make that £699 for Brits like me), my eyes widened in shock.
While I had expected the PS5 Pro to carry a premium price, $699 was certainly well above the MSRP I had predicted it would land upon (I had thought $599 would be the limit). However, unlike several of my colleagues, and mutual followers on social media, this hefty price tag has not dissuaded me from a purchase come November.
I won’t try to deny the commonly held opinion across the internet that the PS5 Pro is overpriced, especially in the face of a global economic landscape that is putting the squeeze on pretty much everybody. Nevertheless, here’s why I’m still buying one.
Playing the long game
There is no escaping the fact that coughing up $699 for a PS5 Pro is going to sting any purchasers this November. Unless you are very fortunate (or perhaps you recently won the lottery), that amount of money will take a significant chunk out of your budget.
When I’m making an extravagant luxury purchase like the PS5 Pro — and let’s be clear, this console is the very definition of a luxury purchase — I try to answer a simple question: How much will I use it? It’s the same way I justified upgrading to AirPods Pro when I had perfectly good AirPods 2 already, and when measured against this metric the PS5 Pro is worth the cost.
I’m a console gamer (Sorry to all the PCMR readers this statement offends). And primarily a PS5 player at that. I use my launch PS5 console pretty much every single day. If my console isn’t switched on within a 24-hour period, it’s almost certainly because I’m away from home and physically unable to game. Even then, thanks to the PlayStation Portal, my PS5 often gets used even when I’m in another zip code.
If I purchase a PS5 Pro this November, and we assume the PS6 won’t be released before 2027, by the time I’m faced with upgrading again, I will have used the PS5 Pro for hundreds, likely thousands, of hours. Yes, paying $699 will sting in the short term, but in the long term, the dollar-per-hour-of-entertainment ratio makes it a reasonable investment.
Small but significant upgrades
There’s no denying that the PS5 Pro’s upgrades over the base PS5 are not game-changing. Granted, this is largely because we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns in the console space. The leap from PS2 to PS3, or even PS3 to PS4 can't be replicated, and graphical fidelity has reached a level where incremental improvements are the name of the game.
I’ve seen many popular social media accounts attempting to dunk on PS5 Pro by suggesting that comparison footage that shows games like The Last of Us Part II Remastered and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart running on a regular PS5 and Pro side-by-side are indistinguishable. However, these attempts at downplaying the Pro are a bit disingenuous and seem to be glossing over the core objective of the console.
As the console’s Lead Architect, Mark Cerny, explains in the aforementioned showcase (which is linked above, if you missed it), one of the biggest goals of PS5 Pro is to eliminate the need to pick between a “Performance” and “Fidelity” mode as has become common with many of the best PS5 games. So, those who decide to upgrade to the PS5 Pro can look forward to getting the best of both worlds.
As somebody who plays exclusively in Performance mode (I value a high framerate above all else), the prospect of no longer having to sacrifice resolution and image clarity to enjoy games at 60 fps is greatly appealing to me.
Frankly, even playing in Performance mode I think games like Horizon Forbidden West and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 look stunning, so I can’t wait to see how they look with the added enhancements of the Fidelity mode.
I would also argue that the PS5 Pro’s 2TB SSD is being overlooked. The stock PS5 comes with just 825GB of storage (and only roughly 600GB of that is useable), and even the PS5 Slim comes with just 1TB (around 850GB useable). Now that my PS5 game library has swelled over the years, more room to play with is welcome.
Plus, my WD_Black SN850 SSD should be compatible too, so I can boost my storage to just shy of 3TBs total, which will be more than enough for the rest of the generation.
This part does sting
Perhaps the one aspect of the PS5 Pro that has me disgruntled is the lack of a disc drive. Yes, you can spend an additional $79 (or £99!!!) for an attachable drive, but when you’re paying $699, you should get a console that can play physical discs.
The PS5 Pro is being pitched as the ultimate PlayStation 5 experience, and when you talk about a premium product, it should come with all the bells and whistles. Imagine if Apple announced the base iPhone 16 would include the new Camera Control button, but the iPhone 16 Pro wouldn’t. That’s sort of the case with the PS5 Pro. For $499 you can get a PS5 console with a disc drive, yet this key feature comes with an extra charge on PS5 Pro.
I’ve seen similar consternation in some corners of the internet because the PS5 Pro doesn’t include a vertical stand. This is a separate $25 purchase. But to be honest, I’m not especially bothered. Granted, I’ve had my PS5 in a horizontal position since I got it on launch, but a vertical stand being a separate accessory is the historic normal with PlayStation consoles.
The PS2, PS3 and PS4 didn’t ship with a stand, with Sony releasing official vertical stands for each that retailed for a roughly similar cost as the PS5's stand. The launch PS5 model including a stand that can be used vertically and horizontally was a break from this norm. So, while it would be nice to have a stand in the box, its absence is par for the course for long-time PlayStation consumers. And frankly, the PS5 has always looked better lying on its side, so I’m happy for my PS5 Pro to sit horizontally.
PS5 Pro is a niche product and that’s okay
There seems to be an overwhelming amount of online vitriol surrounding the PS5 Pro with many people seemingly taking its hefty price tag as something of a personal insult. I’ve even seen many popular gaming accounts pushing the false narrative that you can build an equivalently powered gaming PC for $699 (you can’t).
But here’s the truth about the PS5 Pro, it’s a niche product designed for the most engaged (and financially fortunate) PlayStation players. If you don’t fall into that category, or believe it doesn’t offer enough value to justify a purchase, you can vote with your wallet and simply not buy it. Case in point, I didn’t get PS4 Pro until the launch of Marvel’s Spider-Man in 2018, as upon the console's launch in November 2016, my finances were tight and I didn’t feel it offered a significant enough improvement on the base PS4 to be worth draining my bank balance to buy one.
In all the discussion surrounding the pros and cons of the PS5 Pro (pun intended), it shouldn’t be forgotten that the PS5 remains a fantastic console worth owning. So while I’m personally planning to upgrade, it’s certainly a luxury purchase, and anybody who opts to stick with the base PS5 will still get a fantastic gaming experience and can enjoy all the same upcoming games without missing out.
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