I just pre-ordered the PS5 Pro and I already regret it — here’s why

PS5 Pro against a shadowy background
(Image credit: Sony)

Welp, I only went ahead and did it, didn’t I? Despite the fact I recently wrote that I was struggling to get excited for the PS5 Pro, a month later I’ve literally just pre-ordered Sony’s supercharged console. 

My seesawing takes/mood shifts are giving me whiplash at this point. So appropriately, even though I’ve now committed to buying the most powerful PlayStation ever, just 24 hours after placing my pre-order, it’s entirely on brand for me that I’m already semi lamenting the decision. 

Right now, I can probably imagine what you’re currently screaming at your screen: “Just cancel your pre-order then, you damn fool!” And that’s an entirely reasonable argument to throw back at me. 

Yet as someone who really likes buying the latest gaming tech, even when he’s seemingly not massively excited for said tech in this case, I can’t deny part of me does want a PS5 Pro. Although a larger part of me worries I won't use it that much seeing as I own a gaming rig with an RTX 4090 in it. 

I should probably be thankful I managed to secure a pre-order in the first place"

In all honesty, I should probably be thankful I managed to secure a pre-order in the first place. If you were following my colleague Rory Mellon’s excellent PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection pre-order live blog a few days ago, you’ll know trying to snatch up even the “bog standard” Pro was a huge challenge. (If you're still searching for one, be sure to bookmark our PS5 Pro preorders page). 

Here in my native U.K. Sony’s beefed up 4K console sold out within four hours. Although technically, it’s actually an 8K machine. Codemasters is aiming to use the console's "PSSR" upsampling wizardry to deliver a barely believable 8K/60 fps mode in F1 2024 (thanks, Games Rant).

PS5 Pro: $699 @ PlayStation Direct
Preorders now live:

PS5 Pro: $699 @ PlayStation Direct
Preorders now live:
The PS5 Pro is the most powerful PlayStation console ever made and will boost loads of the best PS5 games to make them look and perform better than ever. The PS5 Pro and will be available to pre-order exclusively at PlayStation Direct starting September 26 ahead of its November 7 release date. 

Unhappy Anniversary

Image of the PS5 30th Anniversary colletion of consoles and accessories

(Image credit: Sony)

The demand for the regular PS5 Pro has nothing on the next level, global scale of thirsting aimed towards the 12,300 PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Edition Bundles Sony has manufactured, though. 

The collection includes a limited edition PS5 Pro, DualSense controller, DualSense Edge, disc drive cover (though not the optional disc drive itself) and a gamepad charging dock. 

The entire range has been designed to mimic the now iconic style of the classic PS1, which first launched in ye olden times of December 1994 in Japan. Now while I think this retro-themed collection looks the absolute business, I have more chance of being elected president of Mars before I ever nab one. 

Pre-orders for the $999 / £959 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle sold out so fast, The Flash couldn’t have landed one... even if he was switching between a million laptops all logged onto the PlayStation Direct page at the speed of sound.

After all, what does gravity-defying speed matter when scalpers are gonna scalp, right?

Scandalous scalping 

eBay listing for PS5 Pro Anniversary Edition Bundle

(Image credit: eBay)

Just look at that utterly shameful screenshot above. Yes, that really is a disgusting eBay scalper trying to sell a limited edition PS5 Pro with a couple of pads for £10,000. 

Ten. Thousand. Actual. British. Pounds.

And worse, it looks like at the time I took a screengrab of that auction on my PC, two people were seriously considering paying ten times what the bundle is actually worth. That’s wrong on a multitude of levels.

You know one of the main reasons I pre-ordered the PS5 Pro? To deny at least one scalper getting their predatory hands on one, before they suckered in some lifelong PlayStation fan to massively overspend on it.

I’ll admit I paid £150 over the PS5’s MSRP (or “RRP”, as we call it on my frigid British shores) back in late 2020 to get Sony’s console on launch day. It’s not something I’m proud of, let me be clear. 

Yet the world was in lockdown, I had a bit of disposable cash, a lot of government-enforced freetime in the evenings to spend on my lonesome, and I really wanted to play Bluepoint Games’ masterful Demon’s Souls remake. 

The Pro problem

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart on PS5 vs Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on PS5 Pro

Spotting the differences between the PS5 and PS5 Pro versions of a game is likely only something we'll be able to appreciate in the flesh.  (Image credit: PlayStation/Insomniac Games)

If I do decide to keep my PS5 Pro — and there’s a reasonable chance I will — there are at least a couple of factors I can take comfort in. The first is that my obsessive eyes will relish replaying bonafide classics, like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Resident Evil 4 remake and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart at higher resolutions and frame rates than the unshapely white box that’s currently sitting under my TV isn’t capable of. 

For context, those trio of gems make up but a fraction of the 54 “PS5 Pro Enhanced” games that have already been confirmed by Sony.

And secondly, at least I can hopefully sell my PS5 for somewhere in the region of at least $250-$300 to claw back some of that eye-watering $699 / £699 outlay. A console, may I add, which is in such obsessively immaculate condition, you’d think I was a long lost descendant of Howard Hughes it’s so spotless. Yeah, I might be a smidge too obsessive about cleaning nearly every piece of technology I own with my armada of microfiber cloths.  

But what about the scenario where I do a double take and decide buying a PS5 Pro was a slightly rash move, espeically considering I own one of the best gaming PCs? In that case, when it turns up on my doorstep on November 7, I simply won't open it. 

Seeing as I have a friend who couldn't manage to nail down a pre-order last Thursday, I'll just sell it to him for, y'know, its actual retail price. Although that said, my pal will get another chance to buy the prosumer PlayStation online when Sony makes a second batch of PS5 Pro pre-orders available on October 10.

Either way, screw scalpers. Whether I keep my PS5 Pro or not — and I do fear my amazing Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2014) may stunt how much time I play on Sony's latest console — one thing is for damn sure. If I sell my Pro, it will be to someone I know for exactly £699 and not a penny more. 

Victrix Pro BFG Controller (PlayStation Edition): was $180 now $148 @ Amazon
Killer PS5 Deal

Victrix Pro BFG Controller (PlayStation Edition): was $180 now $148 @ Amazon
The Victrix Pro BFG is a modular, pro controller that works with PS5, PS4 and PC. It has four remappable back buttons and trigger stops. You can reverse its left module depending on whether you want symmetrical or asymmetrical analog sticks.

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Dave Meikleham
UK Computing Editor

Dave is a computing editor at Tom’s Guide and covers everything from cutting edge laptops to ultrawide monitors. When he’s not worrying about dead pixels, Dave enjoys regularly rebuilding his PC for absolutely no reason at all. In a previous life, he worked as a video game journalist for 15 years, with bylines across GamesRadar+, PC Gamer and TechRadar. Despite owning a graphics card that costs roughly the same as your average used car, he still enjoys gaming on the go and is regularly glued to his Switch. Away from tech, most of Dave’s time is taken up by walking his husky, buying new TVs at an embarrassing rate and obsessing over his beloved Arsenal. 

  • Lask6785
    Dave,
    I know exactly how you feel. I was online at 0500 (California time) and figured I had a great chance to get a 30th Anni edition. Then at approx. 0630 (Cali time) I was so ehow kicked out and put back in-line. So, when I got back "inside" at 0930 (Cali time) the only items still in stock were the 30th Anni PS Portal & Reg. PS5 Pro. I forgot to add that the ONLY Item I originally wanted was the 30th Anni DualSense Edge. Of course that was sold out. As I was following the live updates I saw what scalpers were doing, so I decided to get the PS5 Pro just for the simple fact that this console will be ONE LESS THAT THOSE SCUM SCALPERS CAN'T HAVE. I instantly regretted it, but I know that I will either sell it for REGULAR Price or I'll raffle it off for FREE. Either way, in my puny little mind it'll make me somehow think I'm somehow in some small way screwing over the SCUM SCALPERS!
    Reply
  • Exile1987
    I did manage to pick up the 30th edition PS5 pro and Portal, and I am estatic. However now looking at my young family and the eBay prices I am torn.... if someone is willing to pay x10 the price would I be stupid not to?
    Reply
  • Jonathan White UK
    Firstly, "Here in my native U.K. Sony’s beefed up 4K console sold out within four hours." is incorrect. The PS5 Pro is still available on the UK PlayStation Direct Store and that has not changed since the pre-orders went live. I doubt the anniversary edition took 4 hours to sell out - more like 40 seconds.

    Secondly if Sony had run out of the standard preorder PS5 Pros (which they didn't at any point), the people who ordered one just for the sake of it are also part of the problem: blocking someone who genuinely wanted to preorder a unit. Scalpers still are the worst of the bunch though, but I'd have been miffed had I not been able to secure an order just because someone ordered one for the sake of it and are debating whether to keep it or flog it on.
    Reply
  • patrick1987park
    I had a bad experience myself. I woke up super early like 2 hrs before and was halted in line, got kicked out like twice and when i finally made it in after 1 hr i saw it unavailable which broke my heart. I logged in 2 hrs before everyone but they put me dead last fk sony. Sony didnt even put the anti scalper captcha puzzles so i think sony is a scumbag company that doesnt mind scalping the normal consumer and lets some middleman scalp us even further. I dont want to support a crap company but ill get a pro nonetheless. I just wont buy their overpriced games til its cheap
    Reply
  • Lask6785
    Jonathan White UK said:
    Firstly, "Here in my native U.K. Sony’s beefed up 4K console sold out within four hours." is incorrect. The PS5 Pro is still available on the UK PlayStation Direct Store and that has not changed since the pre-orders went live. I doubt the anniversary edition took 4 hours to sell out - more like 40 seconds.

    Secondly if Sony had run out of the standard preorder PS5 Pros (which they didn't at any point), the people who ordered one just for the sake of it are also part of the problem: blocking someone who genuinely wanted to preorder a unit. Scalpers still are the worst of the bunch though, but I'd have been miffed had I not been able to secure an order just because someone ordered one for the sake of it and are debating whether to keep it or flog it on.
    I can understand what your point is, but not so much your def of "just for the sake of it". Ordering a Ps5 Prp, then regretting it, is that in the category of "just for the heck of it?
    When you're online during the Pre-order, no matter your motivation, you WILL ALWAYS be blocking someone who genuinely wanted to Pre-order one. I don't think I'm on the same level, per your line of thinking, of scalpers just because I'm now regretting my purchase.
    Either way there will always someone who doesn't get what they want and will always look for someone or something to blame. Whom you decide to have your cheese & "whine" with is obviously your choice, but the ultimate blame shouldn't be on someone who was just lucky enough to be in line in front of you!
    Reply
  • tactictaylor
    The scal
    admin said:
    Did I pre-order a PS5 Pro just to deny a would-be scalper one? Perhaps.

    I just pre-ordered the PS5 Pro and I already regret it — here’s why : Read more
    The original PS5 due to pandemic had it's fair share of scalpers all trying to vend a machine at highly inflated prices. Oddly, many actually advertised the item at massively inflated prices, but didn't own one! Their intention was to buy from another scalper, who in turn may not have owned one but was lower down the 'food chain' price wise, and had arranged again a purchase at lower price. You can ask what you want for an item but it doesn't mean it will sell at that price, or the vendor owns the item. Me, I owned an Xbox X, and original PS5 disc version. Hated the bulkiness, sold both, and got a digital PS5 slim and Xbox S, happier with both, small is beautiful 😍
    Reply
  • Jonathan White UK
    Lask6785 said:
    I can understand what your point is, but not so much your def of "just for the sake of it". Ordering a Ps5 Prp, then regretting it, is that in the category of "just for the heck of it?
    When you're online during the Pre-order, no matter your motivation, you WILL ALWAYS be blocking someone who genuinely wanted to Pre-order one. I don't think I'm on the same level, per your line of thinking, of scalpers just because I'm now regretting my purchase.
    Either way there will always someone who doesn't get what they want and will always look for someone or something to blame. Whom you decide to have your cheese & "whine" with is obviously your choice, but the ultimate blame shouldn't be on someone who was just lucky enough to be in line in front of you!
    Reply
  • Jonathan White UK
    I think the point is, if you made the effort to get in a queue and are not genuinely after the item purchased (and it sells out), it just takes a product away from someone that actually wanted it - it's a bit selfish ultimately. This probably refers more to the anniversary edition - someone snaps one up, only to sell it on for an extortionate amount of money. PS5 Pros won't sell out in a hurry - that's apparent as they were still available when I last checked yesterday.

    For the record, I don't think "just for the heck of it" is the same as regretting buying something for £700 and then writing an article about it - but it's got people debating, which is the ultimate goal right?

    I've regretted buying things but not at £700. Nor have I waited in queue for over an hour with any doubts in my mind about the purchase I hopefully I can make. I guess you were easily sucked into the hype, so great marketing from Sony to make you buy something for £700 (or whatever equivalent currency you paid in) and regret it afterwards.

    And it's perfectly fine to disagree with my points or have a different perspective - they are just my opinions, whether they're right or wrong.
    Reply
  • colossusrageblack
    As someone who owns two PS5s, but primarily games on PC, I don't really see any need to purchase a PS5 Pro. About the only reason I could see it being useful is if it somehow could use PSSR to improve the visual fidelity in something like Shadow of the Colossus which is locked to 30 fps in fidelity mode, but runs at like 1080p in 60fps mode. If I could get 60 fps with the clarity of fidelity mode, I would consider it. However, $700 just to improve a handful of games is out of the question, especially considering that the games are coming to PC where they can be played at full native resolution at much higher performance with higher quality settings. The PS5 may be my last console and I'll just go all in on PC in the future.
    Reply