Hey guys, this is Austin.
Is the PS4 Pro worth it?
What we're getting is kind of like a half generation bump,
so unlike something like a PS5,
which I'm sure will be a much bigger upgrade...
(coughs)
Sorry, I couldn't get the PS5 out without choking.
All right.
To start with, we of course have our Quick Start guide.
You know what we do with Quick Start guides, right?
That's right.
Moving on.
Looks like some accessories here.
So we have the power cable.
So just like every other PS4,
we have an internal power supply,
so this is all we have to worry about.
I also have a MicroUSB cable to charge the controller.
The same kind of terrible mono headset for the PS4.
We also have the slightly redesigned PS4 controller.
So it's just like what you get in the box with the Slim.
It's basically the same thing,
but there are a couple little tweaks.
Like, for example, the light bar has now been changed,
there's a little strip on the touch pad,
but basically the same controller.
And we also get an HDMI cable in the box.
Now comes the fun part.
This, oh, it's big. (laughs)
This is the PS4 Pro.
So unlike the PS4 Slim,
which is legitimately a lot smaller than the original PS4,
this guy is a little beefy.
(laughs)
So, the design.
The PS4 Pro is kinda rockin' that sorta like
triple stack Oreo look.
So, for comparison's sake, this is the PS4 Slim.
And yeah, that's a lot smaller.
This looks kind of ridiculous.
This is...
I don't know about this.
So, taking a closer look at the PS4 Pro,
not only do we have these giant power and eject buttons,
which are just kind of...
They just feel nice.
Wait, it's got a whole LED strip.
That's actually kinda cool!
Up front, we still have the two USB 3.0 ports
as well as the Blu-ray drive.
So, unlike the Xbox One S,
which supports Ultra HD Blu-rays,
this still has to make do with standard HD Blu-ray.
Which is kinda weird because, you know,
Sony made Blu-ray, so...
And around back, we have the power cable, HDMI.
We have the port for the PlayStation camera.
As well as, we have optical audio out.
Something you won't find in the PS4 Slim.
The third USB 3 port, and the ethernet jack.
So now comes the fun part.
How do I tear into this?
So basically, all PS3s, and PS4s, for that matter,
have had a removable hard drive.
Oh, wait.
That looks like a screw.
(clanks) Hey, there we go!
So, you actually don't unscrew this part.
You pull it out, and now we have our hard drive.
This is still 5400 RPM,
so it shouldn't be any faster or slower
than the regular PS4.
However, just like every other PS4 out there,
you could swap this out with an SSD.
The PS4 Pro is the first PlayStation to support SATA 3,
which actually should make a noticeable difference
if you do decide to upgrade it with an SSD.
So what is exactly is the point of the PS4 Pro?
For a hundred dollars more than the Slim,
you're getting a one terabyte hard drive
versus 500 gigabytes.
However, the bigger upgrade is in the spec department.
While it has a little bit of a faster CPU,
on the graphics side,
this thing is rocking 2.3 times the power.
What you can do with that is game at 4K.
In theory.
So, while the PS4 is definitely targeting 1080p
for the most part,
this guy can handle resolutions
all the way up to 4K.
It definitely depends on the game.
So some games are running at native 4K,
and we're gonna take a look at that in a second.
But some are somewhere between 1080 and 4K and upscaling.
And still other games have a specific 1080p mode.
So for example, you might be getting
higher frame rates here, better graphics.
There's a lot that the PS4 Pro can actually do.
One important thing to know about the PS4 Pro
is that all PS4 games will work on the Pro,
and all of future games will still work on the standard PS4.
The way those games work
is that they will have multiple modes.
So if you put the game into a PS4,
it'll run at normal 1080p.
However, if you jump over to the Pro,
you will get additional options.
But you don't have to worry about your PS4
being obsolete anytime soon.
Oh, that was nice!
That was cool, that was cool.
All right.
So, we have Titanfall 2.
Now, this is actually not a native 4K game.
So right now, we're playing at 1440p,
which is being upscaled.
Oh, hello.
It sure looks nice.
You can definitely notice the extra detail over--
Oh, I got this, I got this, I got--
(laughs)
You can notice the extra detail over something like 1080p.
It's not a massive difference.
However, it is noticeable for sure.
Next, we have Rise of the Tomb Raider.
And this was already a great-looking game,
even going all the way back to the Xbox 360.
However, it has been updated with support for the PS4 Pro.
So one of the options is,
you can actually select different graphics settings.
So here, we have it on high frame rate,
which is going to stay at 1080,
but give you a uncapped frame rate around 60.
However, you can also switch to 1080p 30 on higher settings.
Or, you can go all the way up to 4K.
This is actually really cool.
You usually don't get any kind
of graphics options on a console.
However, here, if you have a 1080p TV,
you can choose between unlocked frame rates
and higher graphics, or if you have a 4K TV,
you can also throw in a higher resolution in the mix.
It's actually really cool.
Next up, we have The Last of Us Remastered.
This is a game that originally came out on the PS3.
However, it's been updated not only for the PS4,
but also for the PS4 Pro.
So we have support for HDR,
as well as different graphic settings.
So, just like Rise of the Tomb Raider,
if you jump into the settings,
you can not only enable a full 4K output,
which is actually fairly rare.
Most games are upscaling at least a little bit.
But on top of that, you can also enable
a 60 frames per second option.
So, depending on how you want to play the game,
if you want the absolute best graphics you can do that.
Or, if you want a smoother frame rate,
you can switch between that, too.
The extra power of the PS4 Pro also comes in handy
when it comes to virtual reality.
So while the normal PS4
actually does a surprisingly solid job of handling PSVR,
the extra power here should, in theory, help a lot.
Especially because the PS4 Pro is much closer
to something like a gaming PC,
as far as performance goes.
Now, the main issue is that most PSVR games,
such as Drive Club here,
aren't really optimized that well for the PS4 Pro.
Now, it definitely does support it, and it works fine.
However, I really can't tell any kind of major difference
at all between this and a normal PS4.
However, that extra power is definitely going to enable
some much higher resolution experiences,
which is pretty much exactly what PSVR needs.
Now with all that horsepower, the PS4 Pro
does get a little bit warm.
The top can get as hot as 45 degrees Celsius under load,
and the exhaust is over 50 degrees.
It's not going to be the end of the world,
but you definitely want to make sure the PS4
has plenty of access to cool air.
Something actually impressive is that the PS4 Pro,
even though it is over twice as powerful
as the launch PS4,
only requires about the same amount of power.
Now, mind you, if you compare it to the Slim,
sure, this is gonna be a little bit harder
on your electricity bill.
However, the PS4 Pro is surprisingly efficient.
One thing you will notice is that the PS4 Pro
can actually a little bit loud under gameplay.
Now mind you, it is very similar to the original PS4.
However, it's going to be louder
than something like the PS4 Slim,
and especially the Xbox One.
So, is the PS4 Pro worth it?
It kind of is, actually.
For $400, you are not going to find
a more powerful system out there for the same money.
If you already have a PS4,
this isn't a must-have update.
However, if you have a 4K TV,
you really will be able to notice the difference.
And if you don't already have a PS4 at all,
this is a serious upgrade in performance
for only $100 more.
As always, if you guys want to check out the PS4 Pro,
I'll have a link in the description.
You can also check out
some of the other Is It Worth It episodes,
including on the PS4 Slim and PlayStation VR.
Anyway, guys, thank you so much for watching,
and I will catch you in the next one.