Xbox One X Review
Xbox One X is the new console by Microsoft, going for 499$ or £449. Compared to the previous Xbox One, it delivers 4K HDR at 60 fps, on the titles offering such definition, while also allowing you to play anything you were playing on your former console.
Free updates are scheduled for most games, updating their visual qualities so to really make the most out of your Xbox One X. Tomb Raider, Star Wars Battlefront II, Gears of War 4, are all either been updated or going to be updated soon, depending on when you’re reading this review, together with around 200 games in total.
4K is also offered for Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video. It’s the only console with a 4K Blu-ray player, and everything is Dolby Atmos compatible.
Is this enough to justify an upgrade from S to X, when the former one goes for 279$ while the latter for almost twice as much? No, not really. Especially when you consider that the Xbox One S works in upscaled 4K, which is not that different from native 4K, also depending on your TV quality.
The 1TB hard drive isn’t big enough when considering that a 4K videogame in your library might even take up to 100GB, while the Design hasn’t really changed much, as we’re mostly looking at a different color on a very similar console.
Xbox One X comes with an eight-core CPU, 2.3Ghz, which is an impressive update from its predecessor, but the 12GB of GDDR5 RAM are split between system and GPU. Nevertheless, it is more powerful than its competitor, the PS4 Pro, resulting in fantastic gaming experience and stunning visual quality.
Even if you do not own a 4K TV, the Supersampling rendering of the image will improve your experience, but it might not be worth the upgrade, investing in a 4K console to have an improved 1080p experience. If you do have a 4K HDR TV set, then the Xbox X could be a great choice and grant you a visual experience like no console before, and nothing you can see from competitors in the market. Colors are going to look a lot more vivid and, though sometimes games might not make the most of the 60 fps feature, dropping to 50 or 55, it still will make for a very fluid visual experience.
The new interface feels like a mix between Xbox 360 and Window 10, with all tabs separated neatly, and easy to navigate. You’ll find rows on the Home screen, with games and apps you’re particularly keen on, but won’t easily find friends lists or settings, which are relegated to the Xbox Help Bar in the Xbox jewel.
Ultimately, the Xbox One is a good upgrade, visually, but only worth spending on it if you really have a TV that’ll make it stand out, thanks to 4K HDR. Even when you don’t play it on such a device, it’ll still make your experience more fluid and visually stunning, but it might not be worth the investment, at least not until a 2TB option becomes available.