True 4K Gaming
For those looking to experience the very cutting edge of visual fidelity on home consoles then look no further than the Xbox One X. Sony’s PS4 Pro may be capable of offering up 4K resolutions, but these are more often than not upscaled. This means that the system isn’t rendering the games in a native 4K resolution, essentially meaning that some of the detail is lost from the image you see on your screen.
While the difference between upscaled and native 4K is only slight, the step up from the 1080p visuals you’re seeing on your current Xbox One and what the Xbox One X is capable of will be significant, especially when paired with a solid 4K display. With a more powerful CPU running the system, a GPU pushing out more teraflops than the PS4 Pro, and 12GB of RAM, the Xbox One X really is a monster.
It’s not going to match up to the very best gaming PCs that money can buy right now, but for $500, it’s a fair price for the power you’re getting.
Graphical Improvements Outside of 4K
The Xbox One X isn’t just a console for those with a 4K display, though. If you’ve yet to make the jump to the next generation of display resolutions, you’ll still see visual improvements all the same.
Using the same “supersampling” technology that Sony uses in its PS4 Pro, the Xbox One X will make games look and run better on your 1080p TV. Be it through boosted framerates or minor added details in your games, those looking to get the optimal Xbox One experience without investing in a 4K TV still have reason to pick the system up.
On top of that, the Xbox One X’s added power will also allow the system to keep up with the increased system requirements that will no doubt arise for the most impressive games before the end of this generation.
Way Faster Load Times
If you’re looking for a reason to pick up the Xbox One X outside of visual enhancements, then Microsoft has got you covered there, too. With games getting far more demanding and requiring heftier installs onto your console’s hard drive, increasingly lengthy load times have been becoming more and more commonplace across all consoles. The Xbox One X will allow players to jump into the action even faster than before thanks to a faster hard drive than the one we’ve seen in previous Xbox One systems.
With a 50% boost in the hard drive’s bandwidth, load times will be slashed down considerably as data is no longer bottle-necked. Combine that with the added RAM – of which 4 GB will be used as a cache for your games – and a more powerful CPU and you’re looking at games loading significantly faster than what we’ve come to expect from Microsoft’s home systems. It sounds great on paper, so here’s hoping it’ll be just as impressive when it’s in the home of fans around the world.
UHD Blu-Ray Player
This improvement isn’t one that’s going to appeal to Xbox One S owners, as the slim system incorporated a UHD Blu-Ray player into its form factor when it released last year. However, for those looking for a way to play the new cutting edge media as well as games on their 4K display, the Xbox One X comes across as a bit of a steal.
For a brand-new UHD Blu-ray player on Amazon, you’re actually looking around the $200 mark. You can likely pick up a budget or refurbished player for less, but even so, you’re still looking around $100. Taking that into account, the Xbox One X’s price tag actually becomes a pretty solid deal. Considering Sony’s 4K PS4 Pro comes in at $399.99, an extra $100 for a good player is definitely not a bad deal.
While the Xbox One X’s price may seem a little steep, it’s a fair entry point for not only the best 4K gaming console experience on the market, but as a 4K media system as a whole.
Published: Jun 15, 2017 12:56 am