this is the PlayStation 5 Pro, an upgrade to Sony's flagship console that enables higher graphical fidelity and improved ray tracing at much higher and smoother frame rates. It's the most powerful gaming console on the market, but it's also the most expensive. I'm going to break down everything new and exciting here and tell you if it's worth buying or upgrading to. The original PlayStation 5 launched in November of 2020, kicking off the current generation of gaming consoles. Three years later came the 2023 slim model. The performance didn't change, but Sony did slightly increase the storage and introduce us to the external attachable disc drive. Now, a year later, we get the first real step forward in the console gaming space with the PlayStation 5 Pro, an upgraded console in power and performance. The PS5 Pro takes a lot of design cues from last year's slim model. It has the same four-panel design, but unfortunately, the panels are ever so slightly different in size. This means if you bought any of PlayStation's

nice color panels to customize your device. They won't fit on the new one. It also uses the exact same external disc drive. Unlike the last two PS5 models, there is only one version of the pro, the digital-only option. In previous models, you could spend $50 to $100 more for a console that would read discs. Now, if you want your new PS5 Pro to have that functionality, you need the $80 disc drive released last year. However, if you have a slim model and have been using an external disc drive, that same drive will work on your new machine. The PlayStation 5 Pro also gets a bit bigger in size, sitting between the original and slim models. And now it has these racing strip-like fins on the side that do vent a bit of the air. Like the slim, it has two USBC ports on the front and two standard USB ports on the back. It can also be positioned horizontally or vertically. It comes with two little plastic feet to lay it flat, but also like the slim, if you want to stand it upright, you'll need

to purchase that $30 stand separately. You can still install your own SSD, but Sony has doubled the internal storage to 2 TB this time around. It also now supports Wi-Fi 7. There are three main features that power the PlayStation 5 Pro. The first is the upgraded GPU. PlayStation states it includes 67% more compute units and 28% faster memory compared to a standard PS5. These enable it to render games 45% faster. The second feature is advanced ray tracing that allows games to utilize more dynamic reflections and realistic lighting. PlayStation states that it can now cast rays at double and sometimes triple the speed of the current PS5, and we'll get into this more later when we talk about the performance hit the games take now when utilizing these. The last key feature is AI upscaling that Sony calls PlayStation spectral super resolution. This is a machine learning-based technology that provides higher image clarity. Now let's talk about what these mean in practice. On the standard PS5, you usually had two options to choose from.

When it came to the game's visuals, performance mode would lower the resolution often to around 1080p while boosting the frame rate, usually targeting 60 frames per second. This allowed games to run more smoothly and would often result in less dense environments and textures. The other option is resolution, sometimes called Fidelity or Graphics mode, which raises the resolution to around 4K while capping the frame rate at 30. Thanks to the pros' increased power, games that have received an update can now target a full 4K resolution while still reaching 60 frames per second. Your games will look better, areas will be more detailed, and the game will still run as smoothly as possible without the tradeoff. However, this doesn't eliminate the two Graphics options. In fact, all the games I tested still feature a pro performance and pro resolution option. For several of these games, the PS5 Pro was able to increase further than just 4K 60, with some games like EA Sports F124 advertising 8K or 120 frames per second. One quick caveat

is that I don't have an 8K TV, and my capture device caps out at 4K 60, so I was unable to test and show those off. In Horizon Zero Remastered, we can easily see the increased resolution in the environments and textures. There's also denser foliage compared to the standard PS5 performance mode. On PS5 Pro, both Pro modes look very similar, but when slowed down, we can see how much smoother the Pro favor performance mode is while having extremely similar graphical detail. In Spider-Man 2, we see a higher density to NPC shadows between both Fidelity modes compared to their performance counterparts. We also see a much higher density to traffic and NPC population on the Pro model compared to the standard one. And of course, the higher frame rate is present, really making Spidey's web swinging look and feel its best. Ratchet and Clank also features both modes, with the performance Pro option targeting 60 frames per second while keeping the resolution high. The Fidelity mode lowers the frame rate to 30 again but adds in various rate.

tracing effects. Instead, the pro provides a pretty large boost in artifact cleanup and texture density. When we look at this close-up of Rivet, we see this again in this close-up of Ratchet, where the baseline PS5's facial textures almost look matted compared to the pro's. And when we look at scenes with a lot of distance, we see areas further away remain in focus, as well as more particles being introduced, such as the confetti in this scene or the crowds here. EA Sports F1 24 is another good example of how much more detail we see in the scenes on the new Pro. The racetrack texture has far more detail, especially in the quality mode on Pro. We also see more text in focus when looking at background elements. When comparing either console's quality modes against performance, while we are seeing modest improvements to a number of games, the downside is that you won't get this across the board for everything. Simply loading up any game on the PS5 Pro doesn't guarantee that you'll see a bump.

in performance, it's reliant on the developers to go back and patch in the enhancements. For example, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, a game I saw a PS5 Pro demo of last month, had a fantastic-looking update in performance mode. That game looked almost fuzzy with how much it had to lower the resolution. Unfortunately, that patch wasn't available for me to capture when putting this review together. At launch, PlayStation states it will have around 50 titles upgraded and running better on the Pro. Of course, there will be more support going forward, but this is just something to keep in mind if you're thinking of getting a Pro on day one. I'm personally hoping that Final Fantasy 16 and Ghost of Tsushima, which are not on that list, get updates in the future since I never got around to their DLC, and this would be the perfect excuse to load them up again. And it is a little disappointing that we have no new first-party titles coming out around this launch to really get excited about. However, we can look at even older games for another new feature.

for the PS5 Pro, the ability to enhance image quality for PS4 games. This is found in the screen and video settings and must be toggled on. Doing so will enable a system-wide image quality boost for some games. I'm unsure what the full list of supported PS titles are, but I took a look at 2018 Spider-Man. This is a really nice addition for anyone with a backlog of PS4 games. It's something we saw Xbox doing with some of its backwards compatibility efforts, and it's nice to see PlayStation joining in. The PlayStation 5 Pro retails for $700, but remember, if you want to stand it upright and have it read discs, you'll have to shell out another $30 and $80 respectively. This makes it the most expensive console we've seen hit retail, but I wouldn't say it's overpriced. When it comes down to my purchasing recommendation, it really depends on whether or not you already have a PS5. The standard PS5 without a disc drive.

retails for $450. Increasing your storage another 1 TB will probably cost around $100, so it really comes down to the graphics upgrade being worth 150 bucks. But with Black Friday right around the corner, there's a good chance the base PS5 will see some discounts. I highly doubt the pro will. I personally do think the upgrade is worth the price since you'll also be future-proofing yourself for the next handful of years. Anyone buying a PS5 Pro is basically guaranteeing they'll be able to play the next decade of PlayStation games comfortably. Even if we saw a PS6 in around 4 years' time, the install base on PS5 is far too high for them to abandon it. And we still see that now with titles like Call of Duty Black Ops 6 still launching on last-gen consoles like the PS4 last month. If you already have a PS5, then I think you're better off saving your money and not getting the new machine. Even while I was putting this

review together. I was still surprised just how well the base model was keeping up with the pro in a lot of cases. But if you can find a good trade-in deal, or you're thinking of getting your first PS5, then I definitely think the pro is worth it. But I'm curious what you guys think. Are you happy with your base PlayStation 5, or does the pro seem like a good upgrade? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for watching.

PlayStation 5 Pro Review: The Most Advanced Game Console Ever

CNET is the premier destination for explaining and navigating the changing world around us. Through news, product reviews, price comparisons, and more, we’ll tell you what’s new in the parts of modern life that increasingly matter more — from health, home, and money to tech, culture, and climate — and how to get the most out of them.

PlayStation 5 Pro Review: The Most Advanced Game Console Ever

Scripts