As soon as the PS4 Pro was released I just knew that I had to have one. I purchased the new upgraded console and kept the original. Now a couple of months later it is time to draw some conclusions, is the PS4 pro worth it?
Facts
PS4 PRo vs PS4
Benefits
Smoother Frames
The PS4 Pro has a faster CPU (processor) and GPU (Graphics chip) which give the PS4 Pro slightly more muscle. The extra power results in smoother and crisper graphics.Turbo mode
All this power is wasted if it isn't used by the games, some games are modified to make use of the extra power of the PS4 Pro and Sony has even added a turbo mode for those games that don't have native support to take advantage of the extra horse power of the system.4K
Perhaps the most mentioned difference between the "normal" PS4 and the Pro version is the 4K option. With the PS4 Pro it is possible to play games in Ultra High Definition a.ka. 4K. 4K boasts sharper and more colorful graphics compared to 1080p HD.
It maybe pointing out the obvious but to get the most out of 4K you actually need 4K television or monitor
HDR
High Dynamic Range or HDR is a mode where you get better contrast and wider range of color and brightness, the result is more realistic and immersive graphics.1TB drive
This only applies if your current PS4 has a 500 GB drive. With the increased storage size you can for example take advantage of more digital downloads. No more swapping discs, just download and start gaming.
Practice what you preach
So what do these extras really add up to?
Smoother graphics
Optimization on console has always been good, I have not seen many games where you notice frame drops while playing. Game developers take care to make the gameplay as smooth as possible for consoles. Because the hardware is uniform it is easy to tweak the gameplay and frame-rates to perfection. That's why the smoothness of the improved frame-rates is barely noticeable on the PS4 Pro. To be honest the biggest difference I saw was scrolling through the Playstation menus. On the PS4 Pro navigating through the menu is faster and smoother compared to the standard PS4.Better Frame-rates
There is also the discussion about the 60 frames vs 30 frames per second. The PS4 pro could in theory produce 4K graphics @60 FPS, this is something that the PS4 is not able to do. However Sony and their developers will never allow that multiplayer games on the PS4 pro and the PS4 have different frame-rates because this will give the PS4 pro owners an unfair advantage over the standard PS4 owners.
This means that single player games will be the only ones to benefit from the extra smooth frame-rate.Turbo mode
Sounds like a great feature, from a marketing standpoint it probably is but to be honest I can not tell the difference.4K
4K definitely adds some extra to the gaming experience. Games that support 4K look just amazing. Even if you don't own a 4K TV you will notice the difference.HDR
This feature might be even better than 4K, colors really "pop" and the graphics are more detailed. Light effects become more pronounced. Overall turning on HDR makes the game more beautiful. To enable HDR you must have a monitor or TV with HDR support, the same goes for the game. For example game by Naughty dog like Last of Us and Uncharted both have a HDR feature.
It is good to check if enabling HDR on your TV does not cancel out the Gaming/PC mode. I noticed on my TV set that I can not get HDR in Gaming/PC mode. Samsung on the other hand does support HDR in gaming mode.
Conclusion
You can buy a PS4 Pro for $399 and the PS4 slim (1TB) for $299, that's a $100 price difference. If you already own a PS4 you can probably get around $100 -$150 for it if you decide to sell it or trade it in.
So the question is if the PS4 is worth the $100 price difference?
The only noticeable difference between the PS4 and PS4 pro are the 4K and HDR features. And you will only to be able to get something out of these additions if you have a 4K TV and games that have 4K/HDR support.
Having good graphics is nice but if you are really about the eye candy than my advise would be to go for a mid- or high-end gaming PC instead.
The graphics don't improve the gameplay and you will not notice the improvements when you are immersed in your game.
If you buy a PS4 pro than you have some bragging rights, so much is true, the console is more powerful than the standard PS4 and is able to produce better graphics. In practice however the difference will be barely noticeable (with the exception of single player games optimized for the PS4 pro). But does this warrant the $100 price difference? I am of the opinion that it does not.
If only
I wish that Sony had beefed up the PS4 a little more so that the extra horse power would be more noticeable. The slightly improved graphics are nice but it simply is not that impressive. Then there is also the problem with the frame-rates. The PS4 Pro is deliberately held back because Sony does not want PS4 pro owners to have an unfair advantage over PS4 owners when gaming online. So what then exactly is the point of upgrading your console in the first place? In a time when almost every game is played online, how could Sony not have foreseen this issue?
I can also imagine that Sony will not endorse PS4 pro only games because this will not go over well with the owners of the standard PS4.
Sony should have added more features to the PS4 pro to make it really stand out. More memory, a more powerful CPU and GPU, a bigger hard drive but more importantly some extra software features and exclusive
games.
As it is now there is no reason to pick a PS4 pro over a standard PS4 with the exception of 4K/HDR support.
What do you think, PS4 pro or PS4? Let me know in the comment section
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