At its core, Sony's PS4 Pro is an upgraded version of the original PlayStation 4 ($799.95 at Amazon) . It's more powerful, with a larger 1TB hard drive and support for both 4K and HDR video. But it's pricier than the standard (and now slimmer) PS4 at $399.99, lacks Ultra HD Blu-ray support, and all that extra power doesn't add much unless your favorite games are updated to use it. There are definitely benefits to be had with certain games and certain TVs for new buyers, but only the most dedicated PS4 fanatics should consider an upgrade.
Design
The PS4 Pro ($369.99 at GameStop) is completely matte black rather than the part-matte, part-glossy finish of the original PS4. The large top panel makes the system look huge, but at 2.4 by 11.6 by 12.5 inches (HWD), it's only slightly wider and thicker than its predecessor (2.1 by 10.8 by 12 inches). The three-tiered face of the PS4 Pro adds to the illusion of size, making it appear taller and more complex than the two-tiered front of the PS4.
Since there's no band running down the middle to provide space for buttons, all controls and lights on the PS4 Pro are arranged horizontally, just under the lip of the second tier. The far left holds a power button and indicator light that glows blue when starting, white when powered, and orange when resting. An eject button sits just right of the center, with two USB ports to the right of that. The slot-loading optical drive sits right below the third tier, getting its own shelf on the face of the PS4 Pro. The back holds an HDMI port, a USB port, an Ethernet port, a dedicated aux port for the PlayStation Camera ($57.31 at Walmart) , and the power cable connector.
Similar Products
Sony PlayStation 4 (PS4)
Microsoft Xbox One S
Nintendo Wii U
Microsoft Xbox One
Nvidia Shield Android TV (2015)
New Nintendo 3DS
New Nintendo 3DS XL
Redesigned DualShock 4
The DualShock 4 gamepad has gotten a tweak as well. The new controller included with the PS4 Pro features a light strip just above the trackpad in the middle. The light's color matches the light bar on the front of the controller, letting players see the status of their gamepad at a glance without flipping it up or turning it around. It's a small but helpful addition to an already excellent gamepad.
Besides the light strip, the new DualShock 4 is effectively identical to the original. It has the exact same dual analog configuration, with both sticks parallel to each other, and the direction pad and face buttons sitting above them. It has the same seldom-used touchpad in the middle, just above a small speaker. The shoulder buttons even have the same matte texture and springiness. The lack of change isn't a problem at all; the DualShock 4 is already an excellent gamepad, and not in need of a redesign.
More Power
The biggest change in the PS4 Pro's hardware is a new AMD Radeon GPU that can handle 4.2TFLOPS, over twice as much as the PS4's GPU (1.8 TFLOPS). The CPU has gotten a clock speed boost, though Sony hasn't stated exactly by how much. It has the same 8GB of GDDR5 RAM as the PS4.
Sony promises the PS4 Pro delivers many graphical and performance upgrades, but they're very difficult to pin down and evaluate. The most obvious benefit is the system's ability to output at 4K (3,840 by 2,160) resolution, but even that doesn't tell us much. Even if the PS4 Pro sends a 4K signal to your TV, that doesn't mean it's rendering games in 4K. In fact, the vast majority of games patched or optimized to take advantage of the PS4 Pro's more powerful hardware are actually rendered in lower resolutions and upconverted to 4K. Upconverted video never looks as good as video mastered or rendered at the native resolution of the display.
There's more to graphics than resolution, though. While games might not render at 4K, the extra power of the PS4 Pro might let them use additional lighting and atmospheric effects to look better, or keep the frame rate reliably around 60fps. In fact, a steady 60fps is preferable to higher resolution for many action games where dealing with fast movements is vital. Some games patched for the PS4 Pro let you choose exactly how they handle that decision based on your preferences, while others might prioritize one benefit or another without offering multiple options.
Upgraded Games
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor is one of the few games currently patched to look better on the PS4 Pro, and it demonstrates exactly how wildly improvements can vary. The patched version of the game has extra graphics options when played on a PS4 Pro: Favor Resolution or Favor Graphics.
Favor Resolution lets the game scale its rendering resolution dynamically up to 4K, though exactly what resolution it's rendering at any given time is a mystery dependent on just how much is happening on the screen. Playing the game in this setting occasionally offered some improved detail and crispness along the edges of objects, but telltale upconversion artifacts indicated that it wasn't coming close to 4K resolution the vast majority of the time I was playing. Favor Graphics locks the resolution to 1080p (upconverted by the PS4 Pro and output in 4K for 4K TVs), but offers additional, unspecified graphical benefits. I didn't notice any significant lighting or particle tricks in this mode, and the framerate seldom hit a steady 60fps, but the animation was a bit smoother than in the Favor Resolution mode.
Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration ($39.99 at Target) offers three enhanced graphics modes with the PS4 Pro: 4K Resolution, Enriched Visuals, and High Framerate. 4K Resolution displays the game in 30fps, but the term "displays" isn't the same as rendering, and from what I saw in this mode it looks like the game employs a similar scaled rendering function as Shadow of Mordor. Enriched Visuals offers improved graphical features like lighting enhancements by rendering the game in 1080p at 30fps.
While these two settings offer dubious benefits depending on your TV, High Framerate mode really makes Rise of the Tomb Raider shine. In this mode, the PS4 Pro renders the game at 1080p at a pretty consistent 60fps, or at least close enough to look markedly smoother than the alternative options. Because frame rates are separate from resolution and all HDTVs have refresh rates of at least 60Hz (showing 60 images a second), you don't even need a 4K TV to enjoy the smoother action.
Don't expect performance boosts for all of your old games, though. I loaded Bloodborne on the PS4 Pro and it plays exactly the same as it does on the regular PS4. The system upconverts the picture to 4K when connected to a 4K TV, but this doesn't result in any visual improvement. In fact, the slight fuzziness of the system upconverting the UI elements like menu text looks slightly worse than it does when output at 1080p.
All first-party Sony games released in 2017 and after will take advantage of the PS4 Pro and support 4K. Sony says more than 45 games will be optimized by the end of the year including Battlefield 1, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered, FIFA 17, inFAMOUS First Light, and inFAMOUS Second Son. Upcoming third-party games to support the PS4 Pro include Days Gone, Detroid, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Spider-Man.
Virtual Reality
Sony has been relatively quiet on the benefits the PS4 Pro offers with the PlayStation VR ($179.94 at Amazon) , likely to assure gamers that the virtual reality headset works just fine on the standard PS4 (and it does). I played a selection of PS VR games on the PS4 Pro, and while they ran perfectly well, I didn't notice any real improvement in graphics or performance.
While Microsoft has announced partnerships with various electronics manufacturers to release VR headsets for Windows 10, the Xbox One ($200.00 at eBay) currently has no VR system like the PS VR.
Media Features
The PS4 Pro has some expanded media capabilities thanks to its ability to output 4K HDR content. Netflix and YouTube have both been updated to support 4K HDR video playback on the PS4 Pro, and other apps and services will hopefully get similar patches in the future.
However, there's a big disc-shaped hole in the PS4 Pro's media skill set, and I don't mean the disc drive. Blu-ray playback works just like it did on the regular PS4, so you can watch discs in 1080p upconverted to 4K. Ultra HD Blu-ray, on the other hand, is completely absent from the PS4 Pro. Ultra HD Blu-ray is a completely different optical disc format from standard Blu-ray, and you need an Ultra HD Blu-ray-specific player to play it.
It's a puzzling omission for several reasons. First, the Microsoft Xbox One S plays Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. Second, Sony has been touting the advantages of 4K HDR video, and Ultra HD Blu-ray is the most consistent, high-quality medium available to deliver this type of video. Third, the PlayStation has consistently been the pioneer of high-end media playback for generations, with the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 standing as many users' first DVD and Blu-ray players, respectively. We simply don't understand why Sony would leave out Ultra HD Blu-ray playback on the PS4 Pro.
Worth the Upgrade?
The PS4 Pro is undeniably an upgrade over the PS4. It's more powerful, and games optimized to use that power definitely benefit from it. However, there isn't much improvement with unpatched games, and even PS4 Pro-ready games often require you to choose between mutually exclusive advantages like smoother frame rate or 4K rendering. And the lack of Ultra HD Blu-ray playback is disappointing.
If you haven't jumped up to 4K yet and you still have a PS4, you don't need to even consider upgrading to the PS4 Pro. If you don't own a current game system and have a 4K TV, especially one capable of HDR, you should consider the PS4 Pro. It offers all of the benefits of the PS4, plus advantages you will only notice on a 4K TV. This is an incremental upgrade that fanatics will appreciate, but everyone else will find relatively minor.
The Sony PS4 Pro is an upgraded, more powerful version of the PlayStation 4 game system, but it's only worth the extra cost for fanatics and certain new buyers.
Like What You're Reading?
Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
Sign up for other newsletters
