PS4 Pro vs PS4: what's the difference?

It's the big question for would-be console buyers: PS4 or PS4 Pro? If you're looking to install some extra gaming hardware at home, then Sony's PlayStation 4 models are sure to be on your shortlist, and those three extra letters make a big difference to your buying choices.

When sales spectaculars like Black Friday hit, it literally pays to know the difference between these two high-class gaming machines – you need to know what features and specs each one offers, and how much you should be paying.

Both these PS4 models play the same games, support the same peripherals, and give you access to the same PlayStation Store – but when it comes to the look and feel of the games you actually play, that's when picking one console or the other really matters.

The PS4 Pro, the newer of the two consoles, is Sony's premium offering. It plays games in a higher resolution (up to 4K) and often in High Dynamic Range (HDR). It's a little more expensive, but that's because it uses slightly improved hardware to get better results in terms of performance – it's not the PS5, but it's closer.

The older Sony PS4 (Slim) is the standard version of Sony's fourth major home console (not counting the short-lived PlayStation TV). It's a huge step up from the PS3, with a whole new set of games, and is largely considered to be the winner in the current console wars with the Xbox One.

Here we'll delve into the price, internals, graphics, VR performance and the rest to help you make your choice between the PS4 and PS4 Pro. If you are shopping this holiday season, check out our top Black Friday PS4 deals page for the biggest discounts on the web.

PS4 vs PS4 Pro price comparison

The Pro offers some rather obvious advantages over the original PS4, but there are still several reasons to go for the latter, not least the lower price. Take a look at the list of current deals below, plucked from the web's top retailers.

Of course, if you decide that a PS4 Pro is more up your alley, you're in for a treat –especially if you have a new 4K HDR television to play it on. You'll find the lowest prices on Sony's PlayStation 4 Pro further down below.

Knowing the difference between the two PS4 models can make all the difference during sales, as you'll be able to spot a genuine bargain much more easily.

PS4 vs PS4 Pro key differences

One of the main differences when it comes to the PS4 vs PS4 Pro question is resolution: whereas the original PS4 is limited to 1080p, the newer PS4 Pro can go as high as 2160p – or 4K, as it's more commonly known. However, games need to have been specifically updated to take advantage of the 4K on the PS4 Pro – you can see a comprehensive list of older games that have been updated here.

Ultimately it's up to game developers themselves to issue those patches and make the most of the more powerful hardware that the PS4 Pro offers. If there's no PS4 Pro mode in the game, then you can't get true 4K resolutions.

The good news is that, going forward, all new PS4 games have to include a 'Pro Mode', enabling them to make the most of the Pro's enhanced hardware. It's also worth bearing in mind that even if an older game hasn't had the PS4 Pro patch, it's still probably going to look better on the more expensive console.

Don't forget that in order to see 4K HDR graphics in all their glory on your PlayStation 4 Pro, you're going to need a 4K HDR TV to match – an older 1080p screen won't see much of a benefit, apart from a few extra frames here and there.

Should you buy a PS4 Pro and have a 4K TV on hand, however, you should prepare yourself for a feast for the eyes– games look great on the PS4 Pro. Textures in Spider-Man on PS4 Pro are significantly clearer than they are on the regular PS4, for example – Insomniac (the game's developer) has done a great job optimizing the game for PS4, but playing it on a Pro is the far superior experience (check out the video we've embedded above).

For a more recent example, check out the Death Stranding PS4 vs PS4 Pro comparison on YouTube below.

PS4 vs PS4 Pro appearance

• PS4 Pro is bigger, but not by much
• Sleeker finish on top of the Pro console

As far as physical looks go, the most obvious difference between the original PS4 and the PS4 Pro is the addition of an extra layer on top of the console.

While the original PS4 has two layers separated by a gap for the disc drive and two USB ports, the PS4 Pro has three layers.

Thankfully this hasn't lead to too much of an increase in its dimensions. The original PS4 measures 275.1 x 305.1 x 53.1 mm, while the Pro measures 295 x 327 x 55 mm. That means it's slightly bigger, it's 2 cm deeper and 2 cm wider, but interestingly it's more or less the same height.

It's also half a kilogram heavier, or just over a pound, though that shouldn't bother you too much unless you're lugging it from one room to the next.

PS4 vs PS4 Pro connections

• PS4 Pro has an extra USB port
• PS4 Pro also has an optical audio port
• Original PS4 uses HDMI 1.4, Pro uses HDMI 2.0a

In terms of rear connectors, the PS4 Pro is nearly identical to the standard PS4, aside from the addition of an extra USB 3.0 port – which should be pretty useful if you're planning on hooking up a PlayStation VR, since the headset takes up a USB port when it's plugged in. 

An extra USB port is an excellent inclusion, since the PSVR brings back the Move Controllers which each need a USB port to charge. If you're planning a jump into virtual reality, then the PS4 Pro might be the way to go.

Unlike the slimmer PS4 currently on sale, the PS4 Pro does include an optical audio output on its rear, just like the original launch PS4 from 2013.

The final difference between the ports on the back of the console is the HDMI port. While the standard PS4 has an HDMI 1.4 port, the PS4 Pro has an HDMI 2.0 port to allow it to output at 4K resolutions (more on that later).

It's important to note that you don't need to upgrade your HDMI cable to take advantage of 4K, despite what Sony is claiming on its official FAQ. Any HDMI cable that can handle 1080p can do 4K just fine. 

PS4 vs PS4 Pro optical drive

• Both systems have Blu-ray drives
• Neither are capable of 4K Blu-ray playback

This is a particularly sore spot for Sony's latest system. Despite initial speculation to the contrary, the PS4 Pro does not include an Ultra HD Blu-ray player – it can play Full HD 1080p Blu-ray discs just the same as the original PS4.

Sony's decision to omit a Ultra-HD Blu-ray drive from the system is puzzling, considering that Blu-ray support was one of the major boons of the PS3. Now, Sony might be saving that for another console down the road... but considering that Microsoft's Xbox One S already has the high-end disc drive, it would've benefitted Sony to launch the Pro with one as well.

PS4 vs PS4 Pro internals

• PS4 Pro has better GPU performance (4.2 TFLOP vs 1.84)
• PS4 Pro has 802.11ac Wi-Fi antenna and Bluetooth 4.0
• PS4 Pro has an additional 1GB of DDR3 RAM

The internals are where we see some of the key differences between these two PS4 models.

Both consoles share an AMD Jaguar x86-64 8-core CPU, which has seen a 30% boost in clock-speed from 1.6GHz to 2.1GHz based on its predecessor.

Meanwhile the GPU has seen a much bigger performance increase. Its power has been doubled, and its clock-speed has been boosted from 800MHz to 911MHz.

In total the GPU has jumped from 1.84 TFLOP in the launch PS4 to 4.2 TFLOP in the Pro. This bump is in order to accommodate the new 4K functionality.

The Wi-Fi of the Pro has also seen an upgrade to include 802.11ac and a Bluetooth bump to v2.1 to v4.0. Both of these upgrades were also seen in the new slim PS4.

The Pro also has an additional 1GB of DDR3 RAM, which will be used for non-gaming apps to free up the faster GDDR5 RAM for gaming performance. 

PS4 vs PS4 Pro: 4K TV performance

• PS4 Pro supports 4K/HDR
• Original PS4 just supports HDR
• Developers decide how to use the extra power

This is the big one – the main reason it's worth making the jump from the original hardware to the PS4 Pro. The PS4 Pro supports 4K output, as opposed to the standard PS4's Full HD 1080p resolution.

When it comes to streaming services such as Netflix this means that the console is able to play movies and TV shows in their maximum resolution – but unfortunately the lack of an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive means that the console will not be able to play physical 4K media.

The PS4 Pro supports 4K output, as opposed to the standard PS4's Full HD 1080p resolution

Games are slightly more complicated because it's up to developers to decide how they want to use the PS4 Pro's extra muscle. We're seeing it bear more fruit now the jacked-up console has been on the market for a while.

In our review of God of War, for example, we found the PS4 Pro version came with two separate graphics modes: one which favors resolution, displaying the game at checkerboard 2160p (or 4K), and another which favors performance, lowering the resolution to 1080p but displaying at a framerate that's closer to 60fps (but never actually locking at it).

The one you choose will obviously come down to your personal preference. Camera movement is much, much smoother in performance mode, though the drop in visual detail is noticeable — especially in game, where the level of detail seen at 4K is so high.

Of course, HDR is also available for those with TVs that support the format, and we can say that it definitely adds to the experience, particularly when it comes to lighting and shadows.

God of War (PS4)

Other games such as Days Gone are upscaled to achieve a 4K output, but reports indicate that the upscaling process used is more clever than simply stretching the image over a larger number of pixels. Meanwhile, other games such as Deus Ex: Mankind Divided are said to upscale much less successfully.

The takeaway seems to be that achieving good 4K performance will need developers to be clever about the balance they strike between native rendering resolution and the upscaling technologies used.

On something like Horizon Zero Dawn, the 4K HDR quality really stands out on the PS4 Pro – that's worth bearing in mind if you're picking between these two consoles during the holiday sales (or indeed at any other time of year).

Developers to be clever about the balance they strike between native rendering resolution and upscaling technologies used

In summary: the PS4 Pro is not powerful enough to run a game at 4K with all the graphical bells and whistles turned on, but with some compromises the results can be impressive.

Although HDR support is new with the PS4 Pro, this same functionality has arrived on launch PS4s via a firmware update. Check out our full guide to HDR for exactly what that means for how your games will look.

In terms of loading times, the PS4 Pro offers a small improvement over the stock PS4, but if you're looking for a boost in loading times, then you'll see more of an improvement if you upgrade your launch PS4 with an SSD. 

PS4 vs PS4 Pro: 1080p TV Performance

• Some games play at higher framerates on PS4 Pro

Although the PS4 Pro is meant mainly as an accompaniment to 4K televisions, the console will also give a graphical boost if you're playing on a 1080p screen. 

But while some of these enhancements are intentional, such as using supersampling to enhance the amount of detail in a given scene, others are not. 

PS4 Pro will also give a graphical boost if you're playing on a 1080p screen

The Last Guardian, the much-delayed game from Team Ico, finally launched with numerous framerate issues that were present on both the PS4 at 1080p, and the PS4 Pro at 4K. 

But a performance analysis revealed that these issues almost completely disappear if you force the game to run in 1080p mode on a PS4 Pro by changing the system settings. 

We don't think this is an intentional feature of the Pro, but if this trend continues in the future it might make the Pro a much more necessary upgrade for 1080p TV owners. 

The Last Guardian (PS4)

PS4 vs PS4 Pro 'boost mode'

• Frame-rate increases can now also be seen in games that haven't received a Pro patch.

Introduced in PS4 firmware 4.50, 'boost mode' is a feature that allows PS4 games that haven't received a PS4 Pro patch to receive a performance boost when played on the new console. While the exact improvements aren't fully understood, a Digital Foundry analysis has unearthed performance boosts of as much as 38%. 

Titles tested included Assassin's Creed: Unity, Battlefield 4, and Project Cars, all of which saw substantial performance increases when running on the Pro, despite not having a Pro patch available. 

Check out the video below for a more in-depth outline of the benefits. 

PS4 vs PS4 Pro: PlayStation VR

• PS4 Pro offers improved PSVR experience
• ...but it's not a major difference

Although prior to the PlayStation VR's release there were rumors circulating that the headset's performance on launch consoles was going to be 'terrible', now that the hardware is out the distinction appears to be much more subtle. 

In fact a recent analysis by Digital Foundry suggests that in some games the difference between PS4 and the PS4 Pro can be a struggle to find. Having the cheaper console doesn't mean you're locked out of virtual reality.

Other games appear sharper on the Pro because of how the developers have enabled super-sampling techniques, effectively rendering games at a higher resolution in order to enhance detail levels. 

The differences between the two consoles are too slight to conclusively recommend the Pro on the basis of VR performance alone

In Robinson: The Journey for example, details are much crisper, and textures benefit from a higher level of texture filtering. 

The bottom line with the PlayStation VR is that the differences between the two consoles are too slight to conclusively recommend the Pro on the basis of VR performance alone. 

If this changes in the future as developers get better acquainted with the PS4 Pro then this may change, and we'll update our thoughts accordingly. 

Conclusion: a substantial upgrade short of a generational leap

The PS4 Pro is undoubtedly a substantial step up from the PS4, but 'true' 4K gaming is difficult for it to achieve without compromise.

The biggest physical difference between it and the standard PS4 visually is the addition of an extra layer, but the internals have also been beefed up considerably. The GPU is a great deal faster, and although the CPU is architecturally similar it's been clocked at a faster speed.

So should you make the upgrade from your existing PS4? The answer largely depends on if you have a 4K TV or plan on upgrading to one. If you are, then the PS4 Pro will present numerous visual benefits. If you aren't, well, there's likel isn't anything on the PS4 Pro that will be worth the extra money, at least not yet.

With the PlayStation 5 on course to land before 2020 is out, you might want to wait for that console to arrive instead. In the meantime, you should be able to nab some excellent prices on the PS4 and the PS4 Pro.

• Look to the future with the latest PS5 rumors
• Or check out the competition in our Xbox One X review