Sony PS5 Pro review: We test the world’s most powerful (and expensive) console

It’s arduous to not begin this evaluate with out speaking in regards to the value of Sony’s upgraded PlayStation 5. It’s a whopping £699/$699 which means it’s not a easy buy and may have many questioning ‘is the PS5 Professional value it?’.

By way of dimension, efficiency, energy consumption and ease of use, nevertheless, it’s arduous to discover a higher choice. The PlayStation 5 Professional merely gives quite a lot of efficiency for the cash and is by far essentially the most highly effective console in the meanwhile.

However is it sufficient? Is it value its value, or will a daily PlayStation 5 do?

Don’t overlook the TV!

Earlier than I get into the console itself, although, I want to deal with the display screen it plugs into.

To get essentially the most out of the PlayStation 5 Professional, a fairly sized TV (50″ and up) with HDMI 2.1 ports, and options like variable refresh fee (VRR) and 120Hz are really helpful.

These options assist even the usual PlayStation 5 ship a smoother and higher image.

Design & Construct

The PlayStation 5 Professional is an unexpectedly slim console, comparatively talking. It’s barely longer than the PlayStation 5 Slim, however smaller and clearly lighter than the unique PlayStation 5 mannequin. Construct high quality is nice, and the noise degree non-existent – besides when video games are performed from a disc.

On the entrance of the console, you’ll discover two USB-C ports, for instance for PS VR2 and charging cable. On the again, there are two USB-A ports, an ethernet port and an HDMI 2.1 output. On the within, there may be house for an additional M2 SSD drive for extra storage, like the opposite PlayStation 5 fashions.

The PlayStation 5 Professional is just bought with no disc reader, however it may be purchased individually and may be very simple to put in. The disc drive works, and sounds, the identical as within the unique mannequin of the console.

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Specs & Options

On paper, the PlayStation 5 Professional could appear like a comparatively restrained replace. The processor is marginally improved, whereas the graphics circuit has been beefed up with 67% extra GPU cores. It may be in comparison with the distinction between PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Professional.

One other enchancment is the addition of 2GB of DDR5 reminiscence. This reminiscence is slower than the usual reminiscence within the PlayStation 5, however is used solely for the working system. This frees up all 16GB of GDDR6 reminiscence for video games, giving roughly 2.5GB extra graphics reminiscence than the usual PlayStation 5 has entry to.

As well as, the interior arduous drive is now 2TB in dimension, i.e. about 1.2TB greater than the unique PlayStation 5.

EA Sports activities

AI Upscaling & Ray Tracing

The entire video games are affected by the above enhancements, whether or not they’re tailored to PlayStation 5 Professional or not. However that’s additionally solely half of what makes the Professional stronger than the unique console.

The largest enhancements, typically talking anyway, are discovered within the video games marked with a particular PS5 Professional Enhanced brand on their web page on the PlayStation Retailer (and presumably on the again of recreation circumstances going ahead). It is because solely these can profit from the complete efficiency of the PlayStation 5 Professional.

If video games are developed with Professional in thoughts, they’ve entry to an AI-powered customized {hardware} upscaler known as PSSR – PlayStation Tremendous Decision. This permits comparatively low decision to be scaled as much as considerably sharper graphics – with out the picture high quality taking an excessive amount of of successful.

This manner, the efficiency can be utilized to color extra detailed worlds, higher results and better picture refresh charges – as a substitute of simply squeezing out numerous pixels.

Within the PC world, that is nothing new and is extensively used, primarily within the type of Nvidia’s DLSS, whereas consoles have beforehand needed to make do with way more restricted upscalers that often resulted in a blurry picture stuffed with artefacts.

Treatment

Along with PSSR, the PlayStation 5 Professional additionally has devoted {hardware} for ray tracing. This graphical impact permits, for instance, reflections and light-weight sources to bounce across the recreation world and illuminate it in a sensible method. It might not sound like a lot, however it provides rather a lot to the expertise when applied appropriately.

Nevertheless, the know-how may be very efficiency intensive, with Alan Wake II and Spider-Man 2, for instance, solely operating at 30 frames per second if the Ray Tracing is about to most.

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Different Graphics Choices

That is additionally the place the foremost downside of the PlayStation 5 Professional is discovered: it isn’t completely simple to know how the video games are literally improved.

Not least as a result of the variations differ so extensively from recreation to recreation. Put merely, the PlayStation 5 Professional delivers the “graphics mode” in PlayStation 5 video games at 60 frames per second as a substitute of 30, which in some video games is a giant enchancment – in others barely noticeable.

A number of of the video games tailored to the PlayStation 5 Professional even have a handful of kind of obscure graphics choices.

These embody extra detailed environments, extra vehicles on the streets, or higher results – on the expense of decision or picture refresh. It’s nowhere close to as superior because the customisation choices in PC video games however nonetheless requires a good grasp of some technical lingo.

Insomniac Video games

In the case of video games that don’t have particular Professional customisation, there could be a large distinction in how they’re improved. For instance, video games with a predetermined decision and body fee on the PlayStation 5 look precisely the identical on the upgraded console. This consists of, on the time of writing, NHL 25, Future 2 and a number of indie video games.

Luckily, dynamic decision and unlocked picture refresh is one thing that’s getting used extensively this era, and may be present in titles corresponding to Elden Ring, Armored Core VI, RoboCop: Rogue Metropolis and Immortals of Aveum.

These are video games that on a daily PlayStation 5 have main points with blurry graphics or uneven picture refresh, however now run way more easily – with none particular updates to utilise the complete energy of the PS5 Professional.

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Do you have to purchase the Sony PS5 Professional?

The PlayStation 5 Professional is solely a console that makes most of your PlayStation 5 video games higher.

How a lot better, nevertheless, varies from recreation to recreation, however it additionally is dependent upon how a lot you care about issues like element in environments, sharp graphics and secure picture refresh.

The graphical enhance in some video games is large, and when video games are developed with Professional in thoughts from the bottom up, the variations will probably be even higher. The truth that some video games that had been infamous for technical shortcomings now run easily with out vital issues is one other large plus.

Welcome and apparent enhancements, however not a large leap in comparison with the unique console. Particularly not for anybody who simply needs to play for enjoyable.

When you don’t care whether or not a recreation runs at 25, 30 or 60 frames per second, don’t have any drawback with comparatively blurry photographs with vague particulars, or can’t be bothered to spend a second evaluating graphics modes, then the common PlayStation 5 will do exactly fantastic.

If, alternatively, you play rather a lot on console, need the very best gaming expertise, don’t need to select between sharp graphics or good picture refresh – and have a fairly fashionable TV with the correct options – then the PlayStation 5 Professional is nicely value its value.

If that’s the case, you should buy it from the likes of Amazon, Currys, John Lewis and Argos within the UK and Amazon, BestBuy and Walmart within the US.

Specs

• Producer: Sony
• Product kind: Recreation console
• Processor: AMD Zen 2
• Graphics: RDNA GPU, as much as 16.7 teraflops, further {hardware} for upscaling and ray tracing
• Reminiscence: 16GB gddr6, 2GB ddr5
• Storage: 2 tb NVMe SSD
• Video modes: As much as 8k, 120hz
• Optical drive: Extremely HD Blu-ray
• Connections: Wi-Fi 7, 2 USB-A, 2 USB-C, ethernet port, HDMI 2.1 out, M.2 NVMe SSD slot
• Dimension: 39 x 8.9 x 21.6cm
• Weight: 3.1kg