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The PlayStation 5 Pro is now $899 in the US, or at least it’s supposed to be. Actually finding the upgraded version of the PlayStation 5 at that price is nearly impossible, and used ones are being sold for nearly twice as much. It is more powerful than the two base PS5 models (currently $599 for the digital-only PS5 Slim and $649 for the one with a disc drive), with superior AI upscaling, better ray tracing, and a faster Wi-Fi chip. The PS5 Pro offers noticeably better performance on many PS5 games, and with Grand Theft Auto 6 coming out soon, you might be considering it for the best possible experience. I reviewed both PlayStation 5 consoles and am here to tell you what to expect from each model before you spend big bucks. Is the PS5 Pro really worth more than an Editors’ Choice gaming laptop?
Okay, I won’t even be coy here: No, of course not. In no way is the PS5 Pro worth $1,400 used (GameStop’s current official price). For that amount, you can get two PS5 Slims and a PlayStation Portal. Or a PS5 Slim, a Nintendo Switch 4, and an Editors’ Choice 65-inch TV. Still, keep reading for the differences between the two systems because they’re interesting, and because the PS5 Pro really does have better performance. But a slightly nicer-looking GTA 6 isn’t remotely worth that kind of cash outlay.
PlayStation 5 Pro (Credit: Will Greenwald)
Price: The $250 Difference
Neither PlayStation 5 console was cheap to begin with, and they’ve each gotten more expensive over the years, but one has gone much further than the other. The PS5 Pro would be the most expensive console at its $899 retail price. You probably won’t see it for that “little,” though, because it’s currently only available second-hand at a massive markup. If you want a PS5 Pro right now, get ready to spend between $1,200 and $1,700.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Credit: Sony/PCMag)
Ray Tracing: Which System Does It Better?
The PS5 has the necessary muscle to bring ray tracing to its game library, but the PS5 Pro is even better at it—with optimized titles. Ray tracing is a 3D rendering technology that simulates the behavior of light to produce realistic reflections and lighting effects. The PS5 Pro features a more advanced version of the PS5’s ray tracing tech, resulting in more realistic lighting and reflections (Alan Wake II and Doom: The Dark Ages are standout titles). However, the effects appear only in select titles specifically enhanced for the PS5 Pro, and not every game on that limited list uses them.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Credit: Sony/PCMag)
AI Upscaling: Giving Games a 4K Boost
The PS5 Pro introduces PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). Sony refers to it as “AI-enhanced resolution,” which enhances games to 4K while maintaining a high frame rate. It wasn’t entirely clear when PSSR was active during testing, but the PS5 Pro consistently produced higher frame rates and a sharper 4K picture than the PS5 under the same conditions. As with ray tracing, games must be PS5 Pro Enhanced to use PSSR.
Game Performance: Will Your Favorite Titles Run Faster?
Games on the PS5 Pro Enhanced list see better performance and visual fidelity. The problem? Of the hundreds of titles in the PS5’s library, only 50+ releases benefit from the extra power. If the game you want to play isn’t one of them, it won’t see much, if any, improvement in frame rate or graphics. So, most games will play roughly the same on both systems.
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Wi-Fi: Version 6 vs. Version 7
The PS5 Pro has an upgrade worth highlighting: support for the newer Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) wireless standard. The PS5 only supports Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), which is very fast but not exactly future-proof.
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Storage: Which Console Has the Space to Hold Your Games?
The PS5 Pro features a 2TB SSD, which offers significantly more storage capacity than the PS5 Slim (1TB SSD) and the original PS5 (825GB). More storage is better, especially if you plan to go digital-only or play incredibly large games, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, which weighs in at over 300GB with all its content installed.
The standard PS5 has an optical drive (Credit: Will Greenwald)
Optical Drive: Do You Need One?
This is where the PS5 Pro represents a step down from the base model. The $649.99 PS5 Slim features an optical drive, whereas the $899.99 PS5 Pro does not. Instead, you must pony up an extra $79.99 for the Sony Disc Drive if you want physical game support with the Pro. That’s just shy of $980 in total!
And The Winner Is…
Sony PlayStation 5
The PS5 Pro is unquestionably the more powerful of the two consoles. It’s also, at current market rates, at least twice as expensive as the PS5. The standard PS5 still packs plenty of punch, with great performance and graphics, even if it doesn’t have quite as many fancy processing tricks. You can also still find it, new, for the price Sony set it at. That’s $649 for a really good console that’ll run GTA 6 or any other game you throw at it just fine, versus about $1,400 for an even better one that’ll maybe make those games look a bit nicer and run a bit smoother.
This would be more of a debate if you could find the PS5 Pro for $899 like Sony says it should be, but right now? No shot.
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