Top 10 Gaming Consoles in the world

Sony PlayStation 4 Pro review
Got a whizz-bang, 4K HDR TV? The PS4 Pro is the console you need - even without 4K Blu-
Previous
Next




Let’s face it - the PS4 is basically a gaming PC inside a console-sized box.

And as anyone with a gaming PC will tell you, the creeping urge to update grows stronger over time until there’s nothing else to do but upgrade. It’ll happen to Microsoft next year with Project Scorpio, but Sony’s already there - and the PS4 Pro is that upgrade.

Substantial hardware updates under the hood include a faster CPU, more powerful graphics chip and extra memory for game developers to play with. It means the PS4 Pro is much more powerful than the standard console, outputting games at higher resolutions, at faster framerates, and with more detail than before.

Dual Living with ASUS ZenBook Duo: Work like a pro

video playing
Dual Living with the ASUS ZenBook Duo: Time to relax
24/03/21
Dual Living with the ASUS ZenBook Duo: What's...
24/03/21
Sony a7C video sample footage 2 (4K at 24fps)
19/11/20
Panasonic Lumix G100 Video Footage 1080p vlog
06/07/20
Panasonic Lumix G100 Video Footage 4K vlog
06/07/20
Video Smart Player invented by Digiteka
Whether you need all this extra power really comes down to what sort of TV you’ve got. Still stuck at 1080p? Then stay with your OG PS4 - or bag a PS4 Slim if you’ve managed to hold out this long.

Sure, the PS4 Pro hits higher frame rates and squeezes more detail out of some 1080p games such as the excellent Rise of the Tomb Raider. But this console is really meant for 4K TV owners looking to make the most of their pixel-packed screens.

Is that you? Time to make some room under the TV - your games will look sharper, with more detailed textures and more stable frame rates. What’s not to like?



SONY PLAYSTATION 4 PRO DESIGN: PRO EVO


There’s not much in it between the PS4 Pro and original PS4. The new console is a few centimeters bigger in every direction, but it’ll still slot into the space left by your old PS4 if you’re upgrading.

That all-over matte finish might look slick, but like a lot of mid-cycle console upgrades, the whole thing is made from more plastic this time around. Expensive touch-sensitive buttons have been ditched for physical ones, too - they’re tactile, so easier to tell when you’ve actually pressed them, but they do feel a bit cheap and plasticky.

It’s a similar story around the back, with the same HDMI, Ethernet, digital optical audio and PlayStation Camera ports. The HDMI port does get a boost to support 4K, and the figure-of-eight power loop has been replaced with a kettle-lead though.

The WiFi chipset has also been boosted to 802.11ac, so you’ll get better wireless speed and range if your router can handle it.

New to PS4 Pro is a third USB3.0 port and more obvious hard drive access, if you want to replace the 1TB drive.

You get a power cable, a wired headset for online chat, a new HDMI 2.0 cable that conforms to 4K standards, and a USB cable to charge the controller in the box - so pretty much the same as the original console.

That controller is of course the slightly tweaked model we first saw bundled with the PS4 Slim. Light now emits from the top of the controller, and the buttons are grey instead of black.

Personally, I prefer the Xbox One controller (particularly in its Elite form), but then I’m weird like that. I know plenty of people who prefer the PlayStation model, but if you’re like me, check out our guide to using an Xbox controller on your PS4.

READ MORE
8 things you need to know about the PlayStation 4 Pro
UHD BETTER BELIEVE IT


Setup on a 4K TV is a bit more fiddly than on a 1080p screen, as not all TVs support 4K HDR on all HDMI inputs. If the bundled 3ft cable isn’t long enough either, make sure to pick up an HDMI 2.0-compatible one.

We tested the PS4 Pro on Samsung’s UE65KS9500 and the Philips 65PUS7601, but neither TV supported HDR out of the box - we had to dig around in the settings menus to enable it.

After that, though, getting it all running was a breeze. Sony lets you transfer data from another PS4 locally using a network cable, or you can sign into PSN to download your games (and save files if you’re a PS Plus subscriber).

1TB should be enough for most people to store their digital library, but with many games coming in at 50GB (and over), that soon starts filling up. Thinking of an upgrade? No problem.

It was far easier to upgrade the PS4’s internal hard disk than the Xbox One’s, and that’s still true on PS4 Pro. In fact, it’s even easier than before: Sony has made it really obvious where the drive is, rather than covering it up.

Switching the interface from SATA2 to SATA3 effectively doubles data transfer speeds, too. Go crazy and install an SSD, and you can expect faster load times in games. It’s not a cheap upgrade, though.

But hey, performance never comes cheap.

SHOULD YOU UPGRADE?
Sony PlayStation 4 Pro vs PlayStation 4
SONY PLAYSTATION 4 PRO OUTPUT: HI-RES LOVELINESS