Xbox One X review: Still probably the most powerful console

MSRP $499.00

“The beastly Xbox One X is the perfect approach to play console games.”

Pros

• Improves performance for all games
• Xbox One X Enhanced games look and run amazing
• 4K UHD Blu-Ray player
• Sleek design
• Very easy to make use of

Cons

• 4K recording options are limited
• Timeliness of Xbox One Enhanced patches is unclear
• Performance improvements could be unpredictable in non-Enhanced games

This review was last updated by Digital Trends contributor Cody Perez on 5/15/2020.

When Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One X, an upgraded version of the Xbox One with an intimidating $500 price tag, it claimed the brand new hardware can be “probably the most powerful console ever made.” Years later, with the console in hand, we are able to confirm that the Xbox One X makes good on that promise. Well, no less than until the Xbox Series X comes out later this 12 months, that’s. Nevertheless, power by itself doesn’t all the time translate to improvements. Each loyal Xbox fans and potential PS4-owning converts are itching to know – does probably the most powerful Xbox truly improve games recent and old?

Short answer? It does.

Every game we’ve played, whether it received an “Xbox One X Enhanced” patch or not, delivered a noticeable performance boost over the Xbox One and Xbox One S. It does this no matter your setup — though the gain is most noticeable if you may have a 4K HDR10 TV.

While games look and run higher, though, the differences aren’t so vast you can’t live without them. Like its PlayStation counterpart, the PS4 Pro, it caters to gamers who simply can’t tolerate a second-best experience. Still, the Xbox One X is now the perfect console for many multi-platform games when it comes to power until the next-generation comes.

Contained in the black box

The Xbox One X is a refinement of the Xbox One design. It’s, as Microsoft has identified over and over, 40 percent smaller than the unique Xbox One. It’s roughly the identical size because the Xbox One S, albeit a bit denser at 8.4 kilos. Don’t let the “40 percent smaller” figure idiot you, though. Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro is concerning the same size, and the PS4 Slim is smaller still.

We prefer the matte black finish of the Xbox One X to the white Xbox One S, which tends to point out more wear over time. We also prefer its fan placement. The edges of the device are covered with small, subtle air holes, versus the One S, which had quite a few large fan holes over half of its casing. That ought to make the Xbox One X easier to stack with other devices without restricting airflow.

• 4.
  The Xbox One X is that this generation’s most power-hungry console.

Les Shu/Digital Trends

You’re not going to purchase the Xbox One X due to the way it looks, though. As reported, the Xbox One X has probably the most impressive console hardware up to now. It features an 8-core 2.3 GHz x86 CPU, a custom AMD GPU that may crank out 6 teraflops, and 12 GB of DDR5 RAM. Even in comparison with the PS4 Pro, that’s loads of graphics processing power. The Pro, which is much more powerful than the usual PS4, has a GPU that computes 4.2 TFLOPS and “just” 8GB of RAM.

The one disappointing hardware within the Xbox One X is its terabyte hard disk. Having double the space of the usual Xbox One model is an improvement, nevertheless it’s still not enough storage for anyone who buys games online often. Even if you happen to’re just downloading the Xbox Live Games with Gold, the publisher provides every month, most players will fill that hard disk up very quickly. Worse, 4K assets and uncompressed audio files can inflate the file sizes of games — we’ve recently seen several games easily break the 100GB mark — so it’s fair to say that a couple of big games will eat up that drive space pretty quick.

Still a solid home theater device

The One X keeps all of the ports from the Xbox One S, and for players preferring to purchase games at the shop, it has a 4K UHD Blu-Ray player. The console has HDMI out and in, in case you wish to filter your TV service through the Xbox and use Cortana to alter channels as a substitute of your distant. This feature works exactly because it does on the One S – and we still prefer a distant. You’ll also find three USB 3.0 ports — two in back, one in front — which can come in useful if you wish to benefit from the console’s recently added mouse and keyboard support or connect an external hard disk to store more games. Lastly, there are IR-out and S/PDIF ports for advanced surround sound setups and, in fact, an excellent quaint Ethernet port.

Every game runs no less than a bit higher on an Xbox One X.

Lots of the features above don’t contribute on to games, but they could be useful for your house theater setup. We liked how the Xbox One S could function a 4K UHD Blu-Ray player, game console, and TV streaming box abruptly. And the Xbox One X can do the identical. 4K Blu-Ray and HDMI pass-through are features you won’t find on any PS4.

The console also supports advanced surround sound options, reminiscent of Dolby Atmos. Atmos, which bounces pontificate the partitions and ceiling to make simulate the effect of sound traveling, could be spectacular, but an Atmos surround sound system is amazingly expensive. There are headphones, including gaming headsets, which simulate the experience, but they’re rare.

Just like the Xbox One S, the One X doesn’t have a dedicated Kinect port. Players upgrading from an original Xbox One can still use it, but you have to buy a Kinect-USB connector. It’s a small, but noticeable inconvenience for upgrading Xbox One players. Microsoft has already ended production of the Kinect, so the port’s absence isn’t surprising.

Xbox One Enhances, but some games greater than others

What does all the ability do to make your video games higher?

Very first thing’s first; the games that show probably the most improvement are those where developers put in overtime and optimized for the hardware. These games, which Microsoft brands as Xbox One Enhanced, exhibit the console’s maximum potential. Primarily, which means running at 4K resolution in high dynamic range (HDR) with none toll on the sport’s framerate. All of the Xbox One Enhanced Games we played showed large improvements in visual fidelity and a smoother framerate. At a time when it seems like bugs and performance issues are dragging games down, seeing games run higher than before is gratifying.

Les Shu/Digital Trends

Les Shu/Digital Trends

Microsoft has announced over 100 current and upcoming games which have, or may have, Xbox One X Enhanced patches. While we now have a handy list of Enhanced games which are already out, Microsoft lets you filter your games list just to point out your Xbox One X Enhanced games. It might not aid you resolve what to play, nevertheless it’s a pleasant touch, especially for brand spanking new owners who need to put the console through its paces.

While playing Gears of War 4, one in all a couple of games we had access to that received an Xbox One Enhanced patch ahead of the console’s launch, we found that the sport looked considerably sharper on the One X, even in comparison with the 4K upscaling of the Xbox One S. We found that non-essential details within the environment, including brick partitions and trees, retained their sharpness even after we weren’t near them. JD Fenix’s face, which normally features tremendous detail in cutscenes and when seen up close, retained its definition in combat sequences, where the sport’s camera pulled further away.

The brand new console’s increased fidelity can change the way you experience games in unexpected ways.

Super Lucky’s Tale, an Xbox One console exclusive adaptation of the Oculus Rift’s 3D platformer that launches alongside the One X, doesn’t feature a high level of detail, but simply runs sharp with an incredibly high and smooth framerate. It runs the way in which all games should run, with none hitching, stuttering, or quirks. To be fair, a part of this is solely that the sport is well-made. Is isn’t as if there have been substantial issues on other Xbox One models — somewhat, the One X maximizes the sport’s colourful, cartoon aesthetic.

The brand new console’s increased fidelity can change the way you experience games in unexpected ways. In a single section of Gears 4, we looked up on the moonlit sky and noticed that not only was the moon brighter and more detailed than it was on the Xbox One S, but we could see wisps of sunshine and energy around it. The Gears of War franchise takes place on a fictional, Earth-like planet called Sera. After we played the sport for the primary time, we paid no attention to that fact — but with the increased fidelity of the Xbox One X, the sport felt more like a totally realized world.

X gonna’ give it to ‘ya

Every game runs no less than a bit higher on an Xbox One X. Even games that weren’t Xbox One X optimized, running at 1080p on a non-UHD monitor, ran a bit higher on the One X than the One S. You may think that’s obvious, nevertheless it’s removed from a given. Even with its general “boost” mode, which was added months after launch, the good thing about the PS4 Pro is essentially relegated to games optimized for the platform, and infrequently those advantages are most visible only on a 4K screen. The Xbox One X does what most players expect from a more powerful device. It robotically uses that power to run games higher.

Les Shu/Digital Trends

Les Shu/Digital Trends

There’s a catch, though. The way in which a games’ performance improved, especially when playing on a 1080p TV, varies from title to title. For instance, DOOM featured barely improved visuals and almost imperceptibly shorter load times. Yet even on a monitor without HDR, the colours and lighting in Destiny 2 showed brighter, highlighting details on my ship more clearly. Destiny 2 also featured a smoother framerate on a 4K TV, in comparison with the 4K-upscaled visuals of the Xbox One S. Most games we tried featured one or two of the next – sharper visuals, an improved framerate, or barely improved load times.

Would you somewhat buy the console with the best games or the console that helps great games play their best?

Simplicity is each a blessing and a curse. If you may have a 4K HDR10 TV with a 60Hz refresh rate, the console will robotically detect and adjust your settings. On a system level, though, there are not any options to regulate or optimize how the console uses its extra power. Especially for non-4K players, the flexibility to make a choice from improving fidelity, smoothing out a framerate, or minimizing load times, can be helpful.

For the reason that PS4 Pro launched in 2016, some games have added additional options like these. Not one of the 10+ games we played on the console showed such options, though not all of them had received “Xbox One X Enhanced” patches, which might presumably add those features.

4K video capture is feasible, but demanding to share

Along with playing games, the Xbox One X lets you capture screenshots and record 30-second video clips in 4K. While it’s a pleasant touch, the functionality feels extremely limited. Video clips taken in 4K show up at a lower resolution while you post them to Xbox Live. You possibly can set your screenshots and videos to record on to an external hard disk, however the drive have to be NTFS-formatted, which implies you can’t store your clips and videos on the identical external that you simply’d use to store additional Xbox One games.

In other words, recording gameplay in 4K is primarily a feature for tech-savvy owners who’re willing to take the additional steps essential to get their high-resolution gameplay online.

Our Take

The Xbox One X is the perfect console for enjoying popular multi-platform games. While the $500 price is difficult to just accept, the hardware is impressive enough to make it feel like money well spent, and it’s often on sale for much, much lower than that today with the launch of the Xbox Series X coming soon.

Nevertheless, after we have a look at the gamers probably to purchase it — players who already own a game console — it becomes a tougher sell. There are not any Xbox One X-exclusive games, and the console’s biggest strength is connected to an expensive peripheral: a 4K television.

While we are able to absolutely recommend the Xbox One X over the $400 PS4 Pro on a hardware level, the PlayStation 4 platform offers a much larger variety of exclusives, including a few of our favourite games of the 12 months. In contrast, Microsoft’s first-party software output seems to have declined in recent times.

Ultimately, the Xbox One X presents an interesting wrinkle for serious gamers. Would you somewhat buy the console with the best games or the console that helps great games play their best? It’s a alternative that console gamers have never needed to make.

Is there a greater alternative?

Not right now, as we’re still waiting for the discharge of the Xbox Series X and PS5. Until then, Xbox One X provides the perfect technical experience of any game console. In case you’re willing to speculate in a high-end gaming PC, that has its benefits, nevertheless it’s also more complicated.

How long will it last?

The unique Xbox One stays relevant even after the Xbox One X is introduced. That said, the Xbox Series X continues to be set to release later this 12 months. Fortunately, nearly all games are expected to be compatible with the Xbox Series X for no less than the primary 12 months the brand new generation is out. Nevertheless, time is ticking on when the Xbox One X might be not value it with how backwards compatible the upcoming consoles are.

Do you have to buy it?

Yes, if you happen to don’t have a console this generation. The Xbox One X is often on sale, with a price that is well justified by incredible performance, a broad set of features, and an enormous library. That said, the Xbox Series X is coming later this 12 months and might be compatible with most, if not all, Xbox One games, so that you may be higher off waiting for it or the PS5.

This text was last updated by Digital Trends contributor Cody Perez on May 11, 2020.

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