Should I buy a PS4 Pro?

Sony’s PS4 Pro launches on November 10 and marks a first for the video game industry: a mid-generation console refresh that offers a significant performance upgrade rather than just a size reduction and functionality tweaks. The Pro offers approximately twice as much power as the original PS4, but with an emphasis on 4K gaming, is it a console for everyone?

Should I buy a PS4 Pro if I game on a 4K TV?

The short answer is yes. PS4 Pro Enhanced games (there are going to be about 50 by the end of the year) currently offer a variety of improvements over standard PS4 versions, but most include 4K support. This comes in native 4K or upscaled, and even the upscaling method varies from game to game. The good news is that native 4K games (such as Skyrim: Special Edition) look ultra sharp, while the upscaled games aren’t far behind. Some are better than others (to my eyes Titanfall 2 doesn’t look as sharp as Rise of the Tomb Raider, for example), but generally the image quality is pretty good.

If you’re already gaming on a 4K TV and coming from a 1080p or lower resolution offered by your PS4 or Xbox One, the leap to 4K (upscaled or native) will likely be a “wow” moment. The leap in image quality is obvious. Add in HDR (if supported by the game and your TV – be warned that many HDR TVs aren’t really up to spec, offering below the 10-bit colour you really need) and your gaming will get a whole lot prettier.

So yes, if you’ve got a 4K TV a PS4 Pro should be on your shopping list.

Should I buy a PS4 Pro if I game on a 1080p TV?

The short answer is: Hmmmmmm. The long answer is: Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

In some games (notably Rise of the Tomb Raider and inFamous Second Son/First Light) the devs have added modes specifically for 1080p displays. These modes include additional graphical features or a faster frame rate over the game running on a standard PS4, although this isn’t currently the norm. For games that have focused on rendering at a higher resolution (either at native or upscaled 4K), playing on a 1080p display will give you a cleaner image. This isn’t nearly as pronounced as the leap to seeing games in 4K on a 4K TV, but it’s a nice boost to clarity and can still look very impressive (Ratchet and Clank looks great, for example). In some instances (Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare being one), the additional power of PS4 Pro can help the game hit its target frame rate more often, in addition to offering 4K, so 1080p TV users will get that benefit too.

Should I buy a 4K TV and a PS4 Pro?

Well, this is the big question really. It’s one thing to say, “Yeah, go spend £350,” but quite another to recommend spending over £1000. If you’re in the market for a new TV it obviously makes sense to put money into something that is built for the future, but just make sure you’re not buying into a false economy. Cheaper 4K TVs (we’re talking 49 inch + at under £600 new) are unlikely to properly support HDR. You really want to be buying a set that offers 10-bit colour, as without that you’re not going to get the real benefit from HDR gaming. And it is a big benefit, with the improvements to colour, vibrancy, and detail being just as dramatic as the shift to the crisp 4K resolution. The Samsung KS7000 in the UK (KS8000 in the US, for some reason) is an excellent performer, offering 10-bit colour for HDR and coming in new at 55 inches for about £1000 (at time of writing). That’s not cheap, but it will offer you a significantly better image than the bargain-priced sets. Refurbished models with 12-month warranties can also be bought on eBay for around £750.

If you’re happy with your 1080p TV, it makes good sense to wait a while. While the KS7000 is a great set, chances are that better models at similar prices will be available next year. 2017 will also bring more 4K gaming options thanks to Xbox Scorpio. The safe bet is to hold firm on a purchase of any kind until the picture is clearer about how 1080p will be supported on both the PS4 Pro and Scorpio. But that’s easier said than done. I don’t own a 4K TV at home, yet I bought a Pro. So if I can’t even take my own advice how can I expect you to?

Should I buy a PS4 Pro if I game on PlayStation VR?

There is a group of people that believe Sony only made the PS4 Pro because the standard PS4 isn’t really up to the task of VR. I don’t think that’s true (the original PS4 does a damn fine job considering its price), but talk of PS4 Pro upgrades to PS VR games did sound promising. After testing a decent selection of titles, the results are good if not world changing.

While nothing can be done about the resolution of the PlayStation VR displays inside the headset, a number of VR games are rendering at a higher resolution and then being downsampled to give a clearer image when you look through the lenses. PlayStation VR Worlds displays dramatically better image quality when played via a PS4 Pro, for example. It’s similar to the upgrade you get when playing PS4 Pro enhanced games on a 1080p display. Certain games also benefit from improved lighting, one such title being Battlezone. Robinson: The Journey also benefits significantly from the Pro, turning a decent looking PS VR game into a great looking game.

One game which I’d hope would benefit a lot from PS4 Pro is Driveclub VR. Running on the standard PS4 the game is one of the roughest looking, clearly operating at a resolution beneath that of many other titles. Without a multi-unit, multi-game setup to compare games running across the two consoles it’s hard to say definitively that the Pro version looks better, but it does appear to be a slight upgrade – which is nice, but not the leap I’d hoped for. Given that the dev team is now at Codemasters, this is perhaps down to resources allocated to the Pro version.

So, yeah, as long as you’re not expecting the PS VR to suddenly look as crisp as a 4K (or even 1080p) display, the PS4 Pro will provide a nice image boost to many titles and this will undoubtedly improve in the months and years to come.

So there you have it, sort of. It’s still early days for PS4 Pro and the idea of a mid-gen console upgrade. The first round of releases, mostly given updates long after each game’s original release, are unlikely to truly show off what the machine is capable of. So, if none of this advice has helped, keep an eye on how things develop as we see more games created with the Pro in mind from a much earlier stage of development.