Why I Canceled My PS4 Pro and Bought an Xbox One S

The PS4 Pro launches tomorrow, November 10th, and while a large amount of gamers are excited for the more powerful console, I have been pretty reticent about it. The initial announcement was full of half truths, whole lies, and a lot of very odd showmanship that didn’t sell me on the thing all that much. Still, as a dedicated gamer, I put in my preorder. As time wore on though, it kept weighing on me, forcing me to cancel just a few days ago, deciding instead to buy an Xbox One S. This is totally personal, but I felt like my story was worth sharing. Here’s why I canceled my PS4 Pro and bought an Xbox One S.

The short answer is the 4K Blu-ray player.

The short answer is the 4K Blu-ray player. Honestly, it is simply baffling that Sony did not include one of these in the PS4 Pro. The thing was essentially built around 4K and HDR, both features that are available with UHD Blu-rays. As I just upgraded to a 4K HDR TV, and being a big movie fan, the prospect of having my favorite films in crisp 4K was just too much to pass up.

If the PS4 Pro could play them, I would have stuck with it. The math would have worked out in the PS4 Pro’s favor, as it would have offered more improved gaming experiences than the Xbox One S, along with the 4K Blu-rays. But since it doesn’t play them, it really hurt its value to me. In fact, the PS3 having a Blu-ray player was one of the main reasons I bought it. Sony understood then that having this available is a big benefit to owners, so it’s odd that they skipped it this time.

Along with this, I was recently able to see the PS4 Pro in action. I played Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare on a regular PS4 most of the time, but at the review event they had some PS4 Pros that we were able to check out for a little while. As we did this, it was interesting to hear all the game journalists argue over what minor improvements they could spot.

I’m sure the PS4 Pro makes games look and run better, but without it being right beside a regular PS4, I just didn’t see all that much. Some effects here, some higher res textures there, sure there were improvements, but they were marginal, at best. Maybe the improvements will get better in the future, but as I stood there it just seemed like this $400 upgrade was not offering enough to justify its price.

I may revisit the PS4 Pro someday. Bundles are becoming a very nice way to justify buying a new console, and it was one of the things that also got me onboard with the Xbox One S. If we start seeing some great deals, I’ll probably look at switching. It’s just that without the 4K Blu-ray player, the console loses a whole lot of value to me.

The big question is, am I alone in this? I don’t think so, I’m sure there are many more like me. However, we are probably still a minority, maybe even a tiny one. Physical media seems to be a dying breed, and people are more interested in streaming their movies these days. Of course, there’s still people buying vinyl records, so niche markets are a big thing as well. Maybe the PS4 Pro will do fine without us, or maybe we’ll get a Super PS4 Pro with a UHD Blu-ray player tacked on. That’d be pretty great.

And yes, I know that I’ll probably be upgrading that Xbox One S to Project Scorpio in a year. Gotta get those high quality pixels that Microsoft is promising.