Xbox One X specs are certainly impressive, but does it put that extra horsepower to good use?
The Xbox One X is no longer going to be produced, Microsoft announced earlier this year. Instead, the company is going to focus its production efforts on the Xbox Series X, the next-generation console that’s about to launch around the world on November 10. Despite the Xbox One X’s end-of-life announcement, you’ll probably be able to find the console on store shelves for a little while longer while retailers clear house (should they have any units left). There’s really no reason to buy this over the Xbox Series S or X at this point, but if you are curious, the window is closing on being able to get hold of one brand new. With Xbox Series X right around the corner, is it worth buying an Xbox One X now? Well, not really, but that’s not to say it’s a bad console. As of right now, it’s still the most powerful console in the world. And all of this power is worth it because it allows the Xbox One X to play some titles in native 4K resolution, sometimes even at 60 frames per second. The console is capable of HDR playback for games in the HDR10 format and supports Dolby Vision video streaming, too. For AV fans, this is the only platform where you’ll find a 4K Blu-ray player built into the box and support for Dolby Atmos, a more immersive audio format than 7.1 surround sound. And yet, in spite of all of this, the Xbox One X is not perfect. The console’s hard drive, which currently is locked at 1TB, fills up faster now that most games require 4K texture packs. And even though Xbox Game Pass is a winning service, Xbox still doesn’t quite come out on top when it comes to exclusives. And best/worst of all, you get a lot of the same functionality from the Xbox One S which you’ll find comes in at a much lower price point (again, though, you’re better off looking at the newer machines if you want a future-proofed purchase). For a look at what comes in the box check out our unboxing video below. Still want to buy one of the older Xbox units? Read on for everything you need to know to make your choice. If you’ve seen an Xbox One S at some point, you should be able to picture the Xbox One X – if it weren’t for the difference in color schemes, the two consoles would be nearly identical. It’s a design style that Microsoft has now left behind for the blockier Xbox Series X and Series S models. If you’ve never seen a One S before, the Xbox One X is a rectangular box the size of a large Blu-ray player that’s coated with a matte space grey color. It’s a far cry from the bulky VHS player-stylings of the original Xbox One, and the design only becomes more impressive when you consider what’s under the hood. The noticeable differences here between Microsoft’s last console and its latest one (if you can even notice them) are the color change from the white sheen of the Xbox One S to the space grey of Xbox One X, and the shifting of the disc tray from the top-left side of the console’s face to sitting discreetly lower down the front. These changes are aesthetic, however, and neither add nor take away any functionality from the system… which isn’t a bad thing considering how well-equipped the Xbox One S was. The aforementioned disc tray not only plays Xbox One games, but 4K Blu-rays as well. This might sound sort of mundane if you’re not totally up-to-date on what 4K Blu-rays are, but considering that Microsoft’s 4K consoles are the only ones on the market with that ability, you can understand why it’s worth pointing out. Round the back the similarities to the One S continue. From left to right you’ve got a power connector, HDMI out, HDMI in, two USB ports, an IR out, an Optical Audio port and an Ethernet port. To the surprise of no one, the console does not see the return of the original Xbox One’s Kinect port – if you haven’t heard, Kinect (Microsoft’s motion-sensing camera) has been officially dead for a long time, and Microsoft has even stopped selling the adaptors that allowed it to work on modern consoles. Controller-wise the new machine is packing a darker gamepad which, for all intents and purposes, is exactly the same mechanically as the one that currently ships with the Xbox One S. You can’t fix what isn’t broken, apparently. If controllers are a bit too imprecise for your liking, Xbox One X does support keyboard and mouse controls for some games (Gears 5, The Sims 4 and Metro Exodus as a few examples). It’s not the first console to do so (that award goes to the Dreamcast, and even the SNES had its own mouse), but the feature will be welcomed by gamers who prefer this more accurate and responsive control scheme. If you’re looking to see the real differences between the Xbox One X and every other console that’s come before it, all you’d need to do is open the lid. It goes without saying, though, that this is no longer the console you want if you’re looking for a top-of-the-line machine in 2020. The console comes equipped with an eight-core CPU clocked at 2.3GHz, alongside 12GB of GDDR5 RAM. It features a GPU clocked at 1172MHz leaving the console with 6 teraflops of graphical computing power.
