Microsoft Xbox One X review
Microsoft Xbox One X: the Digital Foundry verdict
The workmanship that's gone into Microsoft's latest console is exceptional. To quadruple graphics power over the original model but to retain essentially the same form factor
and the same acoustics points to a level of engineering that really does take console design to the next level. Xbox One X is a beautifully designed little box that does the job assigned to it without taking up much space or making much noise - the latter being our biggest bugbear with PlayStation 4.
Beyond that, what we can definitely say is that the machine is a love letter to the core gamer, with many forward-looking features. The implementation of FreeSync support - something we didn't have time to fully test - is the kind of feature we didn't expect to see until at least the next console generation. Meanwhile, the backwards compatibility features really are superb - if you've stayed with Xbox across the generations, you're in for a real treat here. There's a sense that Microsoft is paying homage to its roots, honouring its past successes and making genuine efforts in curating a great library - all at no cost to the user.
But we end this review with key questions unanswered. To what extent is
Xbox One X a better games console than PS4 Pro if you're considering a 4K display purchase? Well, the specs suggest that we should get significantly higher resolutions and/or smoother frame-rates, along with a potentially big increase in texture quality. And in the preview phase, titles like Shadow of War and Rise of the Tomb Raider clearly exhibited big upgrades over their Pro counterparts. But in terms of quantifying the difference based on final software, we have little to go on right now. We'll be reporting in more depth on key titles over the coming days and weeks.
The question of whether Xbox One owners should invest in the new console is certainly easier to answer compared to the same choice facing potential PS4 Pro owners upgrading from the base Sony hardware. Your existing library of games runs better - sometimes
a lotbetter, and with a 4.6x boost to GPU power, you're far more likely to notice the difference compared to the 2.3x upgrade offered by Pro. Many of the games we have seen in the preview period do look better than Pro equivalents too - but for now, the jury is still out there.
But really, it all comes down to whether you own a 4K screen or are considering investing in one. The right ultra HD display with decent HDR support really does offer a huge improvement in many cases over standard 1080p. Forza 7's precision lines and often beautiful lighting are a world apart from the base Xbox One experience, while the richness of detail in Gears of War 4 (or the doubling in frame-rate, if you prefer) are transformative experiences. Work needs to be done on beefing up the lacklustre 4K media support, but as a top-tier games machine, Xbox One X is an excellent piece of kit.
Tuesday