PS5 Pro is a powerful, but arguably unnecessary, refresh of the base PS5. It's the best way to experience the console’s library of must-play games, but an eye-watering $699 price tag makes it hard to recommend for most people.

Once I recovered from the shock of its high price, I realised the PS5 Pro is aimed squarely at picture-perfect pixel obsessives like me.

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.

After testing a handful of titles, I can say that the difference is appreciable if less stark than it was between the PS4 and PS4 Pro. Here’s why splurging for the upgrade may or may not make sense for you.

The PS5 Pro does everything Sony promised it would, but is it worth upgrading if you already own a PlayStation 5?

The lines between high-end PCs and video game consoles are blurring, which means the tired console wars are winding down. On the software side, once-exclusive Microsoft and PlayStation games are going cross-platform after a certain amount of time to draw larger audiences.