PS5 vs. PS5 Slim vs. PS5 Pro: What's the Difference, and Which ...

The PlayStation 5 was arguably one of Sony’s most controversial designs. After a few years, I have to admit it’s growing on me. The only downside is its gargantuan size, which made the PS5 Slim a welcome redesign. The upcoming PS5 Pro further iterates on the design, adding some welcome hardware upgrades. If you're unsure which model is for you, we have some insight.

Unlike past midcycle refreshes like the PS4 Pro, the PS5 Slim is more of a replacement than an addition to the lineup. When inventory of the original sells out, you'll only be able to find the Slim. The Slim model doesn’t upgrade any of the core specs like processor or RAM, though it does come with a bit of extra storage; the original PS5 came with 825 GB of internal storage, while the PS5 Slim bumps that to a full 1 TB.

Meanwhile, the PS5 Pro is more in line with what we expect from a midcycle refresh. It features significant processing upgrades, a relatively large 2 TB of internal storage right out of the gate, and a price to match. At $700, the sticker shock is real. Let's dive into the details.

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PS5 Slim: A Space Saving Successor

The biggest difference between the PS5 and the PS5 Slim is the size. The original PS5 was an absolute unit, easily one of the biggest consoles ever. The PS5 Slim is about 30 percent smaller by volume than its big brother, and like the original, the discless versions take up even less space. Here are the dimensions of all four models:

You can see a comparison of all four sizes here and rotate the models around in 3D space to get a sense of the difference. The drop in size is significant, and your entertainment unit will appreciate the extra space, though it’s worth pointing out that even the Slim models are still substantially bigger than, say, the Xbox Series X/S consoles.

Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft

The smallest difference between the PS5 and the PS5 Slim is the price. The disc models of both cost $500, so there’s no difference. Meanwhile, the discless Digital Edition is more expensive at $450 compared to the $400 for the comparable PS5 model.

If you think you might ever want to have a disc drive on your PS5, though, it’s worth it to get one upfront. The PS5 Slim has a detachable drive design, and you can buy the disc drive separately, but it sells for $80 new, so unless you score a used one for less than $50, it’s more cost-effective to just spring for the disc version.

That disc drive makes the PS5 Slim even more lopsided than the original, which means it won’t sit horizontally on its own without support. That support comes in the form of two clear, plastic feet that slot into the slash between the cover panels on the bottom of the console. The vertical stand is now a separate purchase for $30, which is annoying, but it's possible to stand it upright without the stand. It'll just be easier to knock over, so maybe grab the stand if you have cats.

PS5 Pro: More Money, More Power

Photograph: Walmart

The PS5 Pro officially launches on November 7, 2024, which might be enough time to scrape together all the pennies you'll need for this monster. Preorders begin on the PS Direct site on September 26, with Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers starting on October 10.

The $700 price for the PS5 Pro nets you the discless version of the console. If you want the disc drive, you'll have to buy it separately for $80. Unlike the new Slim model, there's no option to buy a console with a disc drive included to save money.

In exchange for the lofty price and lack of disc drive, you're getting a sizable boost to the console's power. Sony has focused on three major areas of upgrade:

A more powerful GPU. According to Sony, the new graphics processing unit has 67 percent more compute units (basically, discrete computing cores inside the GPU) and 28 percent faster memory. This means that rendering frames of your games should happen significantly faster.Better ray-tracing capabilities. Real-time ray tracing is sort of the holy grail of graphical fidelity. It means games can simulate how real light rays work for perfectly accurate lighting, reflections, and shadows. It's also computationally expensive, which is why your PS5 occasionally heats up like an oven. The PS5 Pro relies on newer AMD ray-tracing-specific features that haven't even hit most AMD graphics cards yet to cast rays at two to three times the speed of the original PS5.AI-powered upscaling. Calculating every single pixel of every frame of a game is computationally intensive, but AI upscaling can cut down that cost. The PS5 Pro features the new PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution that lets the game engine calculate lower-resolution versions of frames, and then apply the upscaling technique to make the images sharper and clearer without a ton of extra processing.

All of these upgrades are in service of one particular goal Sony had in mind for the PS5 Pro: to no longer force players to choose between higher-quality graphics and higher frame rates.

Many high-end games today can use Fidelity mode—which prioritizes sharper, more detailed graphics—or Performance mode, which prioritizes higher frame rates and smoother gameplay. The PS5 Pro, Sony claims, will let players skip making that choice and get the best of both worlds. Highly detailed graphics, with all the frames your display can handle.

Physically, the PS5 Pro is a middle ground between the original PS5 and the Slim. It's just as tall as the original PS5—or just as wide if you plan to lay it on its side—while its width is a little smaller, about the same as the PS5 Slim. It also has a 2-TB storage drive versus the 1-TB solid state drive in the PS5 Slim.

Which PS5 Is Right for You?

When there was just one model of PS5, the only deciding factor was whether you wanted to play the games that were exclusive to the console. Even the PS5 Slim didn't complicate that choice, because there was no reason to upgrade from the existing model and very little reason (or opportunity) to buy the original once the Slim hit. With the advent of the PS5 Pro, the choice gets murkier.

Photograph: Eric Ravenscraft

If you already own an original PS5 or PS5 Slim, there's very little reason to upgrade unless you're the type of person who likes squeezing absolutely every pixel you can out of your console. It might sound appealing to get all the benefits of Fidelity and Performance mode at once, but most games do fine with either better graphics or higher frame rates. We haven't tested the PS5 Pro yet, but I've played enough games on the PS5 to know that it's already a great experience.

However, if you don't already own a PS5, you're going to be looking at spending around $500 to get a console, no matter what. An extra $200 is still a pretty pricey markup, but it might give you some nice future-proofing. Sony has confirmed that the PS5 lineup is in the “latter stage of its life cycle.” Given the past timeline of Sony consoles, we could see the PlayStation 6 arrive by 2027 or 2028. From that perspective, paying a couple hundred extra dollars to avoid saddling yourself with a console that launched in 2020 might be worth it.