This generation of video game consoles (the eighth, if you’re counting) started unlike any other. For once, both major players — Sony and Microsoft — released their new machines within days of each other. Decisions on which to buy didn’t have to be made based on one being available months before the other, it was a simple choice — two machines, each with a roster of launch games. Which one did you want?
Overwhelmingly, people decided they wanted a PS4. For one, it was more powerful than the Xbox One. But also Microsoft had had a PR nightmare in the run-up to launch, initially announcing its console as a media box, rather than a games machine, and getting tangled in “always online’ requirements that its target audience rejected. It was a mess of about-turns and apologies. That was in 2013. Since then, Sony’s console has widened the sales gap, and was further bolstered by adding to its line-up with a VR headset and the PS4 Pro — a mid-generation upgrade released last year.
But Xbox isn’t done yet. 12 months later, it has its own upgraded console ready to go — the Xbox One X. But this is no mere mirror of the Pro. It’s the most powerful console in the world.
Just looking at the stats, it now feels as though Pro could have done with another year of development because, for sheer power, the X dwarfs it. Here’s how the two upgraded consoles and Microsoft’s current base model, the Xbox One S, stack up against each other and what each thing actually means.
Processor
Xbox One X: 8-core CPU at 2.3GHz
PS4 Pro: 8-core CPU at 2.1GHz
Xbox One S: 8-core CPU at 1.75GHz
The key here is the clock speed, measured in gigahertz — there are other variables, but basically the faster the clock speed, the more quickly it can process data.
Graphics & Memory
Xbox One X: 6 TFLOPS, 326GB/s, 12GB GDDR5 memory
PS4 Pro: 4.2 TFLOPS, 218GB/s, 8GB GDDR5 memory
Xbox One S: 1.4 TFLOPS, 68.3GB/s, 8GB DDR3 memory
TFLOPS stands for ‘trillion floating point operations per second’, which possibly doesn’t make things any clearer, but it’s a sign of the graphical potential of the console. The more memory, the more detailed textures the console can access. And the figure in GB/s is how quickly the console can process information from the memory and get it on your screen. In all cases, the X’s figures are about 50 per cent higher than the Pro’s.
Optical drive
Xbox One X: 4k Blu-ray drive
PS4 Pro: Blu-ray drive
Xbox One S: 4K Blu-ray drive
If you have a 4K TV, you may as well have a 4K Blu-ray player. Both Xbox consoles have one.
Price
Xbox One X: £449.99
PS4 Pro: £349.99
Xbox One S: £199.99
The Xbox One X is £100 more than a Pro but, on top of it being a more powerful gaming machine, the 4K Blu-ray player offsets that cost. You’ll do well to get a decent stand-alone player for less than £150.
But stats are all well and good. What’s it actually like to unbox one, stick it under your TV and start playing games? Well, initial impressions, as taking into consideration the gargantuan size of the original Xbox One, it’s incredibly small. Not quite as small as the One S, but we’re talking millimetres here. It also takes up less space than the PS4 Pro, although that’s partly because of the Pro’s slanted design. There’s also no bulky power block (like the original One had) taking up space either — everything’s inside the machine. Which given its size, is a remarkable feat of console engineering.
The X won’t replace the S (for now) but games will be enhanced for it. There’s a full list [here](
https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/xbox-one/xbox-one-x-enhanced-list) and we’ll be looking at how the big titles are improved as the updates get rolled out. And it doesn’t just mean upcoming games — the likes of Halo 5: Guardians, Rise Of The Tomb Raider and Gears Of War 4 will all be improved retrospectively.
As a games console, there’s little doubt the X is a winner. The most powerful console on the market right now. But it is expensive — especially when the S can play all the same games and comes in at less than half the price. How important is 4K and HDR to you? How important are smoother visuals? It’s a mid-generation upgrade rather than a new generation, so the differences are smaller, but it does feel similar to the experience of moving from the 360 to the One. If you’ve just played the less powerful console, you’ll find it works fine. But once you’ve experienced the X, you’ll find it very difficult to go back.