PS4 Pro Black Friday 2016 deals do exist, as suggested by our sale recap last week, but it may be wiser to avoid buying Sony’s high-spec PlayStation during the holiday season. While not writing off the console’s merits in the future, here’s why a little patience might go a long way.
1) The Deals Aren’t Super To Begin With: The PlayStation 4 Pro has only been on the market for a few weeks, which means Sony isn’t quite as willing to let mainstream retailers drop its baseline price for Black Friday. There are a few bullish sellers on eBay and the occasional lightning deal on Amazon that shave off a few Hamiltons, but you’re not going to find many night-and-day discounts in 2016.
If a deal is truly all you’re after, the best savings come from promotions that involve the standard PS4 or Xbox One S. Many of those include free games, and games are why anyone buys a console in the first place. At best, PS4 Pro deals mandate the purchase of a 4K TV, extra controller or a low-value gift card. None of those are truly necessary for current-gen hardware, and, in the case of 4K TVs, it can get a little pricey.
2) The Console Still Has Known Issues With Certain TVs: Every console launches with a few quirks, and the PS4 Pro is no exception. Hours after the product became available, reports claimed the system’s advertised 4K and HDR features weren’t working on some capable displays. A few fixes and workarounds have been discovered since, but the compatibility problem hasn’t been totally ironed out yet.
Some TV makers still need to issue a firmware update to support the Pro, and that could take time. Larger manufacturers like LG are promising a fix by the end of November, but it’s not unreasonable to think smaller companies could take longer to address it. Unless you can find out that your TV absolutely works with the Pro, it may pay dividends to wait beyond Black Friday.
3) Game Performance Hiccups: Even though the higher specs of the PlayStation 4 Pro should theoretically correlate to improved visuals and performance across the board for supported titles, that doesn’t appear to be the case in the weeks after launch. Digital Foundry popularly reported that several top-tier titles like Skyrim Special Edition, The Last Of Us: Remastered, Watch Dogs 2 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided actually run a bit worse on the new sku.
Even if the performance differences are small, those especially hooking up the Pro to a 1080p TV shouldn’t make the sacrifice to put up with them. Odds are these kinks will be addressed over time, but it may be best to wait just in case the situation doesn’t improve. Some 4K owners may not mind the small hit, but everyone else should practice a little restraint.
4) The Pro’s Best Games Are Multi-Platform: PS4 Pro’s best games include a bevy of triple-A heavy-hitters like Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2 and Rise Of The Tomb Raider that all perform well on the augmented console, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t remind our readers that every single one of those experiences can be purchased on other platforms outside the PlayStation ecosystem. More specifically, there are very capable PC versions of those titles.
While not everyone has a gaming PC capable of playing them, we suspect that many of our readers do. In that case, purchasing the Pro iteration is a bit irrelevant right now. You can get very similar performance and visual boosts on PC with decent hardware. The implementation may not be as plug-and-play, but the end results are comparable nonetheless. There isn’t much of a unique reason to go Pro at the moment.
5) Support Will Likely Get Better In 2017: PlayStation 4 Pro support is something of a mixed bag in 2016, but we have little doubt that its prospects will improve to some degree in the coming months. As developing Sony exclusives like Horizon: Zero Dawn, God Of War and Detroit: Become Human inch closer to release, the reason to invest in a Pro will likely become clearer for some tech enthusiasts.
Sure you could save a few bucks with Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals now, but do you need to? Better savings and software are likely coming in 2017.
PlayStation 4 Pro is available now for the MSRP of $399. Don’t forget to check our page for Black Friday deals if you still want one. We also have shopping guides for 4K TVs, games and smartphones too.
Do you plan on buying a PS4 Pro on Black Friday? Is waiting a better option? Tell us in the comments section!
