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Dossier Xbox One X: the world's most powerful console

In many respects Microsoft's new Xbox One X system is a perfect example of how history can repeat itself and, for us here in the industry, so can product reviews.
Last year Sony's PS4 Pro blew T3 away hardware-wise, with its 4.2 teraflops of computing power elevating the gaming experience on Sony's platform superbly, with higher resolutions and framerates, more particle effects, better physics, HDR and more brought to games across the PlayStation library.
Indeed, while there were a few titles at launch that fully exploited the system's enhanced power, by the end of the system's launch window over 50 titles immediately benefited from its extra power, either new games programmed from the off to exploit it, or old patched titles to enjoy just a little of it.
And over the past year the PS4 Pro has gone to offer the best-in-class audio-video option for gamers whenever new multi-platform tPartnered with a suitable setup of 4K, HDR television and surround sound system or headset, the experience the PS4 Pro was unashamedly premium - with Sony recognizing and then carving out a new high-end gamer tier in the market - and fantastically immersive and vivid, with the system demanding to be the center of your home entertainment life. You had to pay for that premium experience for sure, but the payoff was spectacular.
Now 12 months later Microsoft has, arguably, followed Sony's lead in releasing its own premium platform, top-tier console with the Xbox One X. And boy has it gone premium.itle is released.
Unboxing the Xbox One X reveals a system that, weirdly, is kind of reminiscent in terms of shape and design as Sony's classic PlayStation 2 console. This is especially true when orientated on its end, with a remarkable overhang looming over its disc slot, eject and sync buttons, as well as front-facing USB port.
The console carries over the tasteful dimpling pattern we saw first introduced on the Xbox One S on its side panels and, in height and width, it is just slightly its junior. In terms of density the Xbox One X feels incredibly solid and exudes to premium feel in the hand. In terms of ports, the Xbox One X is essentially identical to the Xbox One S with power, a pair of USB 3.0, IR out, digital audio out, and network cable connector located on its rear panel .
Asides from the new console, the Xbox One X box also includes an Xbox One X controller with pair of batteries, HDMI cable, power cable, quick start guide and pair of trial codes for Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. In terms of pure hardware the Xbox One X is quite interesting. Its 6 teraflops of horsepower is roughly equivalent to a mid-to-high-end PC gaming GPU, which on the market today costs almost as much as the console itself. So when you consider that along with its 6 teraflops of computing power the Xbox One X also comes with 12 GB of GDDR5 RAM, and has a GPU engine that runs at 1172MHz, it appears an absolute steal.
Indeed, to build a PC gaming system that has the same power of the Xbox One X would cost at least twice the price. The PS4 Pro packs just over four teraflops into its larger one. The PS4 Pro packs just over four teraflops into its larger chassis, making the Xbox One X 50% more powerful in a pure "Fight of the 'flops" smackdown, however, the system does retail for £ 100 less and always has, with the console priced at £ 349.99 at launch. Also, we must note here, that pure hardware specifications do not always equate to enhanced gaming performance, with programming, drivers and optimization often key in squeezing out true potential.
The only hardware area that seems unremarkable is the Xbox One X's storage capabilities, with only 1TB hard drive coming standard. This is not cripplingly low or anything, with that more than enough for 10 or so AAA games to be installed on the drive at once, however considering that we have got used to the S's 2TB hard drive, it definitely felt like downgrade. Surprisingly, the Xbox One X packs all its power into a chassis that's, as we mentioned earlier, actually smaller (30cm x 24cm x 6cm) than the Xbox One S that preceded it. Granted, to really see the difference you have to put the two side-by-side consoles, but it's nice to know that you will not have to make any extra space on your AV shelf to accommodate Microsoft's latest console entry.
In terms of pure design it's interesting how Microsoft has toned back the console in the Xbox One X, with the system a rather unmemorable, space gray-black box. This is almost undoubtedly because of the shift in demographic pitch for this premium system, and while that is almost certainly the right decision, as after all you would not want to play clashing with your high-end audio-video setup, we do feel the design lacks a certain desire factor. It will, however, unobtrusively slot in between your Dolby Atmos decoder and turntable amplifier just perfectly. Having this edge in the power department over the PS4 Pro means that the Xbox One X is much more capable of producing the 8 million plus pixels that are required for native 4K, while its competitor makes some, admittedly clever, upscaling trickery.
The biggest advantage of this 4K resolution is pure detail. With four times the amount of pixels, even the smallest details are clearly visible, and even the most distant objects are distinct thanks to larger draw distances. A great example of this was demonstrated when we played Assassin's Creed Origins, with the X not only allowing the game to be rendered in 4K, but also offer twice the detailed draw in the environment when compared to it running on an Xbox One S. Also, thanks to the 12GB of RAM onboard the X, transitions between the protagonist Bayek and his eagle Senu, which you can pilot in an in-game scouting mechanic, were very smooth and seamless.
Another good example of the power of the X came while playing the programmed-for-native-4K Forza Motorsport 7, which was absolutely spectacular, with everything from the vehicles and their interiors, to the tire-marked race tracks, and onto the lush , surrounding environments both incredibly crisp and fantastically detailed.
Forza's cars also showed off the benefits of 4K in seeing objects in the far distance, which remained clear when at lower resolution they would have become fuzzy due to the smaller amount of pixels available. Indeed, when we booted up Forza on the Xbox One S, while the fluidity of framerate and overall experience remained the same, draw distance, texture details and weather effects were all at the level of the X, with some marked downgrades.
Not only does the Xbox One X have the raw power to output games in a native 4K resolution, but it is also optimized for HDR televisions, or high dynamic range, which is probably the most boring name for the most interesting piece of screen technology we've seen emerge in the last few years.
Put simply, HDR increases the maximum brightness and darkness to television is able to display. With this increase in contrast, images do not have more pop to them, but brighter areas have more sparkle to them, and darker areas have more detail. As you can see, HDR's ability to have enhanced contrast between the lightest and darkest parts of the picture really elevates scenes like this, with the damp, dark, surrounding cave tunnel juxtaposing brilliantly with Lara's glow stick light source, too light bleeding in from the exterior. With all the steps forward Microsoft is taking in the gaming department, it's almost easy to forget the console is also 4K, HDR media player in its own right, with its Ultra HD Blu-ray player allowing you to consume 4K movies and television shows without having to worry about internet buffering, as well as lower picture and audio quality.
Planet Earth II, Salt, Hancock, The Amazing Spider-Man II, and Batman, as well as Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. And, as you would expect this is the same drive as the S, the results were just as good. The crispness of the imagery and the wide-range of contrast were top draw, while thanks to the quality of our test Samsung television, colors popped and details really stood out.
There are no setup issues or compatibility problems with getting the X to display at 4K and with HDR enabled either, with the system very much plug and play in that regard just like the S that preceded it. We were automatically prompted to enable 4K resolution and HDR to be turned on and off simply in the menu options of the console. The Xbox One X is a powerful piece of kit, and it's capable of producing images that are truly stunning to behold but trust us when we say this, you'll definitely need a premium setup to be able to fully benefit from it.
We noted a year ago that the PS4 Pro was overkill for anyone who does not have a 4K TV and, if anything, the Xbox One is even more so thanks to its even greater emphasis on 4K gaming and viewing, so unless you are already hooked up or are prepared to upgrade your whole audio-visual setup, then you almost certainly need to cool off for a while. CPU 8-core AMD On the television side you'll need to set up both 4K and HDR, and although these technologies have firmly entered the middle-range of the market, they have not quite made it into the realm of supermarket tellies just yet. Yes, if like most people, you're still enjoying your HD television then your games will look better due to the new console's use of 'supersampling' and various small visual enhancements, but the benefit you'll see will pale in comparison to what an Ultra HD set is capable of. Robert Jones