Sony’s PS5 Pro, a $700 mid-gen upgrade of the PlayStation 5, launches later this week. And ahead of its official launch, Sony has sent over a PS5 Pro for us to play with and poke at. And while I can’t say anything (yet) about how games play or look on the new console, I can at least walk you through opening the box.
The souped-up, more powerful PS5 Pro was announced in September, and quickly set off a firestorm of discourse and debate online. The biggest argument against the pricier machine—which arrives on November 7—was that games didn’t look improved enough for such a high price tag. However, Sony’s argument for the PS5 Pro is that most players prefer higher framerates, and with this new console, we should be able to play games at 60 or 120 FPS without compromising resolution or losing fancy features like raytraced lighting.
Does the PS5 Pro pull that off? I can’t tell you my thoughts on that until later this week. But I can walk you through the process of opening the box and comparing the console to the old PS5. Let’s do that!
The PS5 Pro comes in a fairly large box, similar to the base PS5 and other consoles, but it’s black and says “Pro” on it so you feel very fancy holding it. I included a can of Bubly next to the box for scale.
Spoilers: The first thing you see when you open the PS5 Pro’s fancy box is a simple power cord. I can confirm this is the same power cord included in the base PS5 because I just used that one, which was already plugged into the wall, when swapping out my old console with the Pro.
Also included in the top portion of the box: A new PS5 controller, a fairly long HDMI cable, and a nice USB C charging cable.
I’ve noticed a recent trend with new electronics not including paper manuals and instead hiding that stuff behind a QR code. That’s no fun. Thankfully, Sony is still including paper manuals with its new console.
Finally, after all that other stuff, I popped out the top portion of the box and got my first glimpse of the PS5 Pro. Getting it out proved trickier than expected. I recommend flipping the box upside down, very close to the floor, and gently jostling the box while pulling it out.
After getting the PS5 Pro out of the box and totally not ripping it up in the process, I let it sit on the floor while the PS3 looked on. Grandpa was so proud.
I was able to hold the PS5 Pro in one hand. Now, I do have really big hands, but it’s still impressive how lightweight and small the Pro is compared to the base PS5. It definitely reminds me of a PS5 Slim.
Here’s the PS5 Pro (on the right) and the base PS5 (left) standing next to each other. They are about the same height. And yes, I know the Pro is upside down. But it just stood up better like this. (Shout out to my cat for photobombing.) Oh and what are those clear feet on the PS5 Pro? More on that in a moment.
Please, ignore the dusty shelves. Anyway, the PS5 Pro (bottom) isn’t as gargantuan inside my entertainment stand as the base PS5.
You also might notice that the PS5 Pro seems to be lying flat on the shelf. That’s because I didn’t include the clear plastic legs for this image. Oddly, it sat pretty fine without them, which is nice because I imagine a lot of people won’t even realize the tiny, easy-t0-miss legs are in the PS5 Pro’s big box when they open it.
Here are the legs installed properly on the console. Personally, I prefer these two tiny legs over the base PS5’s annoying cradle that always was a pain to use. (These legs are the same ones found on the PS5 Slim.)
Look, I dusted the shelf! Also, here’s the PS5 Pro fully installed and set up inside my entertainment stand. It’s in the spot where my base PS5 used to reside, hence the huge amount of extra space.
Overall, I’m pretty happy with the actual console’s shape, size, and feel. It seems like a premium piece of hardware and a big improvement over the base PS5. I imagine people who have owned a PS5 Slim for a bit might not be as impressed, but still, it’s nice that the Pro is theoretically the most powerful console out there, while also not taking up more space in my office.
How do games play on this thing? Well, I’ll have more on that later this week.
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