With the launch of the PS5 Pro now just one day away, Sony has lifted the embargo on hardware reviews of its new and upgraded console. Below you'll find a selection of verdicts from reputable and trusted outlets, all sharing their thoughts on the PS5 Pro.
The general verdict is positive, with reviewers praising the console's new features like PSSR and how the performance and quality modes of the past feel blended together for the best of both worlds. While the high pricetag is a kicker for a lot of verdicts, there's general agreement that tech enthusiasts will get their money's worth out of the PS5 Pro.
As for our PS5 Pro review here on Push Square, we're set to receive a unit on release day. As such, please look forward to our verdict arriving at some point early next week.
Techradar - 4/5
The PS5 Pro is a superb console and now the best PlayStation 5 machine available. The advancements are glorious and bring a new level of immersion and beauty to games, while also boosting performance levels to offer fluid and smooth frame rates - at the same time - offering a clear advancement over the base PS5, and will be perfect for those enthusiasts yearning for more from the camps of fidelity and performance. The increase to 2TB of storage and the inclusion of Wi-Fi 7 are very welcome and make tangible operational advancements too.
However, the headline graphical upgrades aren’t truly groundbreaking and if you’re not a PlayStation fanatic or graphics obsessive then you can likely skip the Pro. Plus, the exclusion of a disc drive and stand, despite its position as an enthusiast console, is disappointing. But if you have an eye for detail, want to be at the bleeding edge of console tech, and want to get the most out of this PlayStation generation, then the PS5 Pro is the console to get.
IGN - 7/10
The visual quality that the Pro-enhanced performance modes have thus far look fantastic, and it’s all the more enticing because hitting 60fps gives a smooth gameplay experience that’s tough to come back from. I’ve also found performance modes on the base PS5 to be lackluster in some cases, and since the Pro has shown the potential in addressing that shortcoming, I find that the new console can be a worthy investment.
For a lot of people, playing at 30fps isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker, and if you’re happy with that level of performance you might well be happier with a few hundred dollars still in your bank account.
And the Pro is a hard sell for anybody who expects a whole new experience when they unbox a brand-new console. The PS5 Pro doesn’t fundamentally transform how games are played, it just makes them look prettier and run smoother, and if you’re happy with how your games look and play on a base PS5 then it’s absolutely not worth paying a premium to upgrade.
GamesRadar - 7/10
The PS5 Pro only suits its price tag in niche circumstances, but it does deliver on its promise to improve both graphics and framerates. That $699.99 / £699.99 MSRP is still difficult to justify, particularly to those using a standard living room setup with a 50 - 65-inch TV. Those using a large display or a monitor are going to feel the benefits more keenly - especially if you have the funds to stay at the cutting edge of tech.
Polygon - No Score
Considering that the PS5 Pro costs $250 more than the most affordable PS5 slim model (and $300 more than a Sony-refurbished PS5), this isn’t an upgrade to be taken lightly for current owners and newcomers alike. It’s also not an upgrade that will scream “new” to PS5 owners in any way. The UI is exactly the same throughout, and the Pro is too subtle at times with communicating its benefits.
As time goes on, how much better the PS5 Pro is compared to the base PS5 will eventually fade into the background. Instead, how the PS5 Pro stacks up to the always-evolving state of PC graphics in 2025 and beyond will be a much more interesting — and telling — sign of whether it’s worth your money.
The Verge - No Score
The kind of person who should buy a PS5 Pro is the kind of person who doesn’t want to muck around. They’ll want the best console gaming experience money can buy, a large OLED display to go with it, and a plan to park themselves real close to that screen.
Ars Technica - No Score
Back when the PlayStation 2 launched, I distinctly remember thinking that video game graphics had reached a "good enough" plateau, past which future hardware improvements would be mostly superfluous. That memory feels incredibly quaint now from the perspective of nearly two-and-a-half decades of improvements in console graphics and TV displays. Yet the PS5 Pro has me similarly feeling that the original PS5 was something of a graphical plateau, with this next half-step in graphical horsepower struggling to prove its worth.
Maybe I'll look back in two decades and consider that feeling similarly naive, seeing the PS5 Pro as a halting first step toward yet unimagined frontiers of graphical realism. Right now, though, I'm comfortable recommending that the vast majority of console gamers spend their money elsewhere.
GameSpot - No Score
What Mark Cerny and the engineers at Sony proposed to do in the PS5 Pro reveal has been achieved to a degree. The gap between how a fidelity mode looks and the way a performance mode plays and feels is smaller. Having a technology like PSSR and a machine-learning chip in consoles is also impressive. But, for now, all of this is only exciting on paper; it's not enough to recommend over the alternative, cheaper options. And, ultimately, there is still a choice to be made between better visuals and performance, just with a less noticeable trade-off. I hope that one day the PS5 Pro really shows off what it can do to elevate games, but for now, this is a console you should get only if you've got cash to spare and just want to know you have the latest version of the console. For everyone else, a standard PS5 will do just fine.
What do you make of these PS5 Pro reviews so far? Have they convinced you to buy the console or stay away for now? Share your thoughts in the comments below.