Xbox Series X review: A full year later, the Xbox Series X is proving its worth
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The start of something bigXbox Series X review: A full twelvemonth later, the Xbox Serial Ten is proving its worth
Another wait at the Xbox Serial X, six months on. 
Source: Matt Brown | Windows Cardinal
On Nov. ten, 2022, Microsoft unleashed the Xbox Series X onto the world, and millions have already purchased the console, and its sibling, the Xbox Series S.
For those taking a more than cautious "await and see" approach, you lot might have been put off by the Xbox Serial X launch lineup. You may accept been wondering how the consoles held up over fourth dimension. After over half dozen months of almost non-stop usage, I'm pretty confident to call the Xbox Series X my favorite console of all time.
For over a year, my Xbox Series X has become my chief console of choice, and the cornerstone of my leisure time. And later Microsoft'due south E3 2022 showcase, I couldn't be more than excited for the platform'south future.
As the Xbox Serial X passes its first altogether, nosotros're going to cover the hardware and pattern, its capabilities as a gaming console, as well as a centerpiece of your amusement system. What are we losing, and what are nosotros gaining? Are the tradeoffs worth it? Do the games honor Microsoft'due south merits that this is the nigh powerful gaming console ever made? And is the Xbox Series X a worthwhile gaming investment for the future?
True next-gen gaming
Xbox Series X
Bottom line: The Xbox Series X hardware will not disappoint. Information technology'due south powerful, sleek and modernistic, and games that are optimized to have reward of all the new hardware will truly smoothen. The launch lineup was looking sparse, but after E3 2022, we now have a truly bright future to look forward to.
Pros
- Superb blueprint in powerful hardware
- Efficient cooling and silent audio
- Quick Resume multiple games faster
- Xbox Games Pass hereafter is heady
- Huge investments in exclusive content
Cons
- Disappointing media center and smart home features
- Content sharing and social capabilities experience increasingly dated
Xbox Serial X review: Specs, hardware and design
Source: Matt Brownish | Windows Key
| Category | Xbox Serial X |
|---|---|
| Processor | 8 cores @ 3.8GHz (3.66GHz w/ SMT) custom Zen ii CPU |
| Graphics | 12.155 TFLOPS, 52 CUs @ ane.825GHz RDNA 2 GPU |
| Dice size | 360.45mm2 |
| Procedure | 7nm enhanced |
| Memory | 16GB GDDR6 w/ 320MB bus |
| Retentiveness bandwidth | 10GB @ 560GB/due south, 6GB @ 336GB/s |
| Internal storage | 1TB Custom NVME SSD |
| I/O throughput | 2.4GB/s (raw), 4.8GB/s (compressed, with custom hardware decompression block) |
| Expandable storage | 1TB Expansion Card (sold separately) |
| External storage | USB 3.two external HDD back up |
| Optical drive | 4K UHD Blu-ray drive (No 3D Blu-ray support) |
| Performance target | 4K @ 60 FPS, upwards to 4K @ 120 FPS, 8K @ 60 FPS |
| Color | Matte Black |
| Size | 301mm x 151mm x 151mm |
| Toll | $499 |
When the Xbox Series X design was first revealed, people were immediately shocked by its credible size. Not too long after, nosotros learned that the PlayStation five, the Xbox Series X's principal contest, sports a similar volume. The reality of thermodynamics is communicable upwardly to console design; equally PCs button always-increasing power, the form gene of consoles also changed to adapt necessary cooling technology.
With this in mind, information technology's hard to find anything to mistake in the Xbox Series Ten's visual design, unless you intend to lay information technology out flat, that is. Clearly, this panel was designed vertically first, with a profile that is at least superficially similar to modern smart speakers and meaty PC towers. The pattern is comfortingly familiar while also being undeniably Xbox.
Microsoft doesn't score any points for its horizontal configuration, though, which many may exist exploring. The unsightly foot at the base but looks awful when exposed, equally if the console had been toppled over. It at least remains functional, with small-scale feet that keep the side panel from scraping on the surface of whatsoever it's placed on. The anxiety are barely visible if you're concerned near them beingness an eyesore when you practice have the console stood upwards vertically.
Source: Matt Dark-brown | Windows Central
Having the console horizontal or vertical won't affect the thermals or usability of the system in whatever manner from our testing. The ports' layout is a tad more than annoying than they were on the Xbox 1 S and X. Instead of a line of ports, they're stacked on top of each other in an irregular design. Microsoft tried to make it easier by calculation engravings next to the ports to feel them out with your fingers. It'southward a nice bear on, but when there are wires, USB devices, memory cards, and dongles plugged in, it doesn't assistance every bit much as I'd similar.
| Loading speed exam | Xbox Series X (SSD) | Xbox I 10 (HDD) |
|---|---|---|
| Monster Hunter: World | 4.7 seconds | 35.6 seconds |
| Gears five | 8.nine seconds | 47 seconds |
| Country of Disuse 2 | 13.1 seconds | 1 minute, three.iv seconds |
| Fortnite | ten.2 seconds | 24.3 seconds |
| Rocket League | 4 seconds | 5 seconds |
Speaking of ports, Microsoft opted for a proprietary tech solution to expandable storage, in the class of the $220 Seagate 1TB NVME Expansion Card. The next-gen consoles employ NVME SSD storage not simply to speed up loading times but also to requite developers more next-gen tools. The cards themselves are small and well built, and Microsoft says other manufacturers will offer competing solutions, which should bring the cost down. The metallic parts of the cards practise become incredibly warm (as NVME storage would within your laptop besides). Thankfully, they have thick plastic handles for removal and insertion. The cards are certainly easier to manage than typical NVME m2 drives we get for laptops. And the fact the cards are hot-swappable is besides pretty awesome. Taking your games, saves, and Xbox Live contour to a friend's place has never been easier, but that price is going to be a tough sell for most.
Xbox Series 10 is the all-time panel Microsoft has ever built.
NVME storage may go pretty toasty, but thankfully, the Xbox Series X itself doesn't. Microsoft built the Xbox Series Ten to direct air from one end and out of the other, expelling warm air from the concave vent at the system's top terminate. The craftsmanship and applied science prowess here is undeniable. I reviewed the Xbox Series X initially in the wintertime months of the UK, but even in the summertime I don't discover the Xbox Series Ten getting unmanageably warm in an unconditioned room.
The Xbox Series X is not only generally cooler than its predecessors, but also quieter. Using a $300 microphone and a sound meter, nosotros were effectively unable to notice any noise coming out of this system, which is impressive indeed.
Source: Windows CentralXbox Series X running 4K 60FPS Gears Tactics.
Getting PC-like power in such a meaty, cool, and quiet device is merely remarkable.
For a total rundown of how hot the Xbox Series X gets head to this link. But as y'all tin can meet from the above heat signatures, the Xbox Series Ten remains on the cooler end of computing hardware. By comparison, the Xbox Ane Ten and PS4 Pro become significantly warmer running games that max out their specs while also being noisier. Games optimized for the Xbox Series X like Gears 5 and Gears Tactics top the organization out at around 52C, which is impressive for a 12TF system. Running backward-compatible titles designed for Xbox One, the heat expulsion was fifty-fifty lower, at around 35C.
When it comes to engineering and pattern, I'chiliad pretty confident to land that the Xbox Series 10 is the all-time Xbox panel Microsoft has ever congenital. It's really not as large as information technology seems in pictures, and getting PC-like power in such a compact, cool, and quiet device is just remarkable. Only a video game console is far more than than its design.
Xbox Series X review: Features and OS
Source: Windows Central
The Xbox Series 10 is a tale of gains and losses, at least when it comes to features. On newspaper, this is an all-new generation, but the reality is more than complicated. The Xbox Series S and 10 share an OS with Xbox One, and the 2022 Xbox 1 is a wildly different proposition than what nosotros have today.
Xbox Serial X media support is a fleck of a mixed bag.
For fans of the old school Xbox vision equally the center of your amusement system, the reality is that the Xbox Series S and X are dropping many of the features that enabled that. HDMI pass-through is gone, along with the IR Blaster. This ways that the Xbox Series S and Ten cannot command your TV/cable box for surfing channels seamlessly without switching hardware signals.
The OneGuide Television app has been completely removed, and perhaps oddly, even the power to play 3D Blu-ray has been killed as well. Typically, Microsoft cites depression usage as its primary reason for removing features. In fairness, the trends certainly seem to propose viewership is increasingly moving towards apps similar Netflix and Disney+, every bit over-the-air and cablevision Telly viewership wanes. Still, if yous built up your amusement system effectually the Xbox One's features, information technology may sting to know that these are gone.
The Xbox Series Due south and X do even so have an IR receiver, though, which means you can still utilise media remotes similar the PDP Talon to control apps. If you have a mod TV that supports HDMI-CEC commands, y'all can fifty-fifty use those remotes to command your set too. All of our recommendations for the all-time TVs for Xbox Series X practice apply HDMI-CEC, alongside most modern TVs later around 2022 in general.
Just like the Xbox Ane consoles, the Xbox Series Ten still supports 4K UHD Blu-ray, 4K playback for media apps, and videos, aslope HDR10 and now Dolby Vision, with Dolby Atmos and DTS:X surround for audio. The Xbox consoles also back up Amazon Echo and Google Assistant voice commands besides. When paired with HDMI-CEC, you tin even gear up routines that are at least reminiscent of the good quondam Kinect days, that control your Xbox and Boob tube simultaneously.
While the Xbox Series X media support is a fleck of a mixed bag, Xbox doubles down on gaming features with considerable success.
Source: Windows CardinalWhen emerging from Quick Resume, yous'll get a small-scale notification in the peak right.
The offset headline act is Quick Resume, which is quite literally a game-changer. Thanks to the NVME SSD, the Xbox Series X storage is fast plenty to accept an unabridged game land and commit it to storage retention. This is like to how it works with apps on your smartphone, but to be able to do it with a piece of software as big and complicated as a video game is no like shooting fish in a barrel feat. When saved in a Quick Resume state, you can re-open your games in mere seconds after the console has been shut down into standby, or fifty-fifty subsequently existence completely powered off and unplugged.
Afterwards having Quick Resume for a few months, it's merely impossible to go back to an Xbox Ane console.
The Xbox Serial X (and S) are likewise capable of doing this for several games simultaneously. You can proceed your favorite multiplayer game similar Overwatch or Monster Hunter: Globe suspended in the vestibule while you lot await for friends to log on and bound over most-instantaneously to that unmarried-histrion game in your backlog. The verbal number of games available for suspension varies by their size and complexity, and every bit of writing, there aren't whatever tools for managing how Quick Resume works. For example, it would exist nice to give sure games Quick Resume priority over others since if you're cycling through many different games in short succession, there'south no way to know which is being kicked out of the Quick Resume land. Almost gamers won't use information technology this way, though, unless y'all're as indecisive about what to play similar I am.
An earlier downside I've encountered, is some games that resume out of Quick Country have corrupted sound or lose audio completely. Thankfully, this has been rectified in recent updates. Microsoft has also added tools to manage how Quick Resume works, with the power to view at a glance in your library which games are before long suspended. It tin all the same be a scrap inconsistent, though, which makes information technology an unreliable replacement for simply saving your game.
When a game is in a Quick Resume state, it has a couple of arrow icons over it in your game library and shows a "Quick Resume" message in the top right corner on the title screen when information technology loads in. Afterwards having Quick Resume for a few months, problems aside, it's simply impossible to go dorsum to an Xbox I console.
The Xbox Serial X (and Southward) take reward of many of the latest HDMI 2.1 features, including Auto-Low Latency Fashion or ALLM, which makes certain your TV is set to Game Mode when it detects that an Xbox panel is continued. The Xbox Series Ten can also take reward of 4K 120Hz and 8K 60Hz outputs, which some games in the launch lineup are gunning for. Microsoft has likewise added a unique "FPS Boost" feature to the Xbox Series 10 and S consoles, giving backward-compatible games a frame rate boost, and in some cases, "Auto HDR" likewise. Microsoft's impressive push button for game preservation continues.
Source: Windows Key
For the launch of the Xbox Series 10, Microsoft has as well given united states a refreshed dashboard experience, which follows Microsoft'southward latest fluent blueprint principles, while also pulling abroad a bit from Windows itself, taking on dissimilar fonts to requite Xbox a bit of its own identity. These new stylings are persistent across the Xbox Game Pass apps on PC and mobile, as well as the new Xbox app, which comes with a handy new characteristic for new Xbox Series X panel owners every bit well. While y'all wait for the Xbox Series X to download its initial updates, you can sign in and install your games and settings via the mobile app on Android and iOS, streamlining the whole procedure. Microsoft too refreshed the Xbox store's pattern across the board, making it incredibly speedy in the process.
The Xbox Series X and S dashboard is a painstakingly polished and responsive experience.
The Xbox Serial X dashboard also sports Dynamic Themes, which are animated and stylish, simply they aren't equally sexy every bit they could be since they're blurred by 1080p Hard disk limitations. This is one thing that continues to bug me about the Xbox Series X, and it's the fact the dashboard is HD and doesn't support HDR. Flipping betwixt a 4K HDR-enabled game and the dashboard volition cause your prepare to get blank for a niggling while, which is an irritating, admitting minor issue. Just when your Telly media switching is slower than the Xbox Series X is to actually load a game, it sort of defeats the point of Quick Resume.
Diverse fan-favorite features from the sometime Xbox One days are nonetheless missing. Film-in-picture for media apps is still gone, which was pretty handy for grinding segments in sure games. The Upload Studio app is however dead, which means making content out of your Game DVR clips still requires oft-expensive third-party PC or mobile software. Things similar political party conversation messaging also however feel quite sluggish compared to modern messaging platforms similar Discord, WhatsApp, and Telegram, for no skilful reason. Microsoft has begun porting the new Border browser to the Xbox Serial X and Southward consoles, though, and has improved its mobile app offerings a fleck here and there, but it'south a dull procedure. Just the problems are small, and don't injure the overall feel.
What we have is an Os that refines upon all of the mistakes and forced-Windows 8 integrations of yesteryear, prioritizing speed, usability, and gaming to a higher place all else. Almost every best Xbox Ane accessory and all of your best Xbox headsets deport frontward.
The Xbox Series 10 and S dashboard is a painstakingly polished and responsive experience, which is a far, far, far cry from the sluggish and clunky Kinect-first environment we got back in 2022.
Xbox Series 10 review: Games and ecosystem
Witcher 3's performance mode hits 4K threescore FPS with ease, fifty-fifty without the future optimization patch CD Projekt RED is working on.
The Xbox Series Ten has promised to be the "earth's most powerful console," but what does that hateful in reality? At to the lowest degree, in theory, it means that games will hit 60 frames per second more consistently, at 4K resolution more consistently, while also bringing in some next-gen visual features. Some of those avant-garde features include ray-tracing reflections and shadows, which aims to cast light more dynamically, rather than artificially, elevating the visual fidelity of your games. Microsoft besides offers FPS Heave and Machine HDR to heighten past-gen games, besides, while other companies are eager to sell those enhancements for a premium.
The compages brings in some of the latest tech from AMD, with a massive CPU boost over the past-gen consoles. The way Microsoft has built its Xbox 1 and Xbox Series X/S platform enables past-gen games designed for Xbox Ane to gain natural operation boosts on Xbox Series X.
Games similar Monster Hunter: World with uncapped frame rates go from 30 frames per second on average to anywhere up to 60 frames per second (FPS), without whatsoever developer intervention. Various games with unlocked frame rates and dynamic resolutions should perform far better beyond the lath on the Xbox Serial 10. Others would need updates to "unlock" the frame rates, but diverse Xbox One games nosotros've tested like State of Decay 2, Monster Hunter: World, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice run across vast improvements. Even games that are capped at xxx FPS see improvements, with a vast reduction in lost frames during complex sequences. Jedi: Fallen Order, for example, never drops below 60 or thirty in its respective performance modes on the Xbox Series 10 — this is a game that was notorious for performance bug.
What almost side by side-gen games, though? Well, what nigh them indeed. As of writing, in that location aren't actually a huge amount of games that are fully built from the footing up for the Xbox Serial X, but that is virtually to change very shortly. Microsoft's E3 2022 showcase offered a wide-ranging glimpse at some of its future games, and they look admittedly mind-blowing. Forza Horizon 5 has some of the most impressive visuals ever seen, and Halo Space's notorious delay has yielded great results for the game'southward graphical quality. Flight Simulator also pushes the boundaries of cutting-edge photorealism, while even games from smaller studios like The Ascent impress with their detail and lighting quality. Microsoft'south purchase of Bethesda last twelvemonth is really starting to behave fruit in the exclusives department too, with Starfield, the next game from the legendary creators of The Elder Scrolls, at present touted as a permanent Xbox console exclusive.
Gears 5 is staggering in its dazzler, a monument to the skill and passion of The Coalition.
Equally of right this minute, we do have a decent variety of games that take advantage of the functioning overhead from the Xbox Series X. Gears v for case, has been given a side by side-gen makeover. Ray-tracing appears on puddles and certain cogitating surfaces, and Microsoft has pushed the multiplayer out to 120 frames per second. Gears 5 is staggering in its beauty, a monument to the skill and passion of The Coalition game studio. Other games similar Falconeer and DiRT5 are as well pushing 120Hz modes, only neither game is particularly mind-blowing in visual complication, even if they have great art styles.
Every bit we move deeper into the Xbox Series X generation, we should meet even more games that are more optimized around the system that hit 4K60 without compromising on things like ray-tracing, as is the case with Gears 5. At that place is a range of smaller improvements across the board, though, which makes the gaming experience far better than what we ever had on the Xbox Ane.
Source: Windows Central
The NVME SSD alone has massive implications for game development. Fast traveling in Lookout man Dogs: Legion is near-instantaneous. Loading screens take become cursory to the point of irrelevancy. Monster Hunter: Earth maps went from anywhere up to a minute'south worth of loading down to around ten-15 seconds. The vast majority of games we've tested see like speed enhancements, also.
Save for the SSD loading speeds, the large deviation betwixt the Xbox Series Ten and the Xbox 1 from 2022 is that Microsoft didn't really have anything ready to showcase the technology at launch, instead very largely on Scout Dogs: Legion and the Xbox One-enhanced version of Gears 5. In the example of Gears 5, is it worth going back to for a bump in visual quality? I'm not sure, but I'd judge well-nigh would rather play something new. Into the summer and towards winter of 2022, though, we'll have Battlefield 2042, Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, The Ascent, Flying Simulator, Far Weep 6, and various other games that truly showcase the tech. Many of them will as well exist included in Xbox Game Pass, at no boosted cost. This ultimately brings the states to the future.
Xbox Serial 10 and the time to come
Source: Matt Chocolate-brown | Windows Central
A panel is only as skillful equally its ecosystem, and when it comes to Xbox, Microsoft certainly has a few tricks up its sleeve. Microsoft has purchased Bethesda Softworks and ZeniMax Media, which would give information technology controlling ownership of DOOM, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Dishonored, Prey, and various highly anticipated games like Starfield. After E3 2022, we practically have confirmation that the vast majority of these games will also be exclusive to platforms where Xbox Game Pass exists, effectively making them Xbox console sectional.
You lot also take Xbox Game Laissez passer, which is undeniably one of the best deals in gaming.
Microsoft has been investing in its kickoff-party portfolio more than than it ever has in the by. Hellblade II'due south in-engine trailer from 2022 is tantalizing. Microsoft is arresting major industry talent in California with its studio, The Initiative, to build Perfect Night. Fable is coming back, congenital by a large team at Playground Games. And Forza Motorsport eight is in the pipeline as well.
Microsoft continues to enjoy robust support from major third-party publishers, including Ubisoft, 2K, and EA. Microsoft also invests in projects from second-party studios, with Asobo'due south Flight Simulator 2022, and Moon Studios' Ori the Volition of the Wisps. A cursory glance at our best upcoming Xbox games listing reveals dozens of titles worth looking forward to.
Source: Microsoft
Where Microsoft has struggled a fleck more is with some of the "trending" games that we encounter pop up from time to time, but Microsoft has been improving in this area also. Targeted exclusivity deals for Xbox Game Pass including MLB: The Show, Outriders, and STALKER 2 continue to shine a spotlight on the value of the service. Microsoft has even started gradually improving its JRPG offer, grabbing Octopath Traveler and Dragon Quest XI.
With ZeniMax'due south properties on lath, and effectively confirmed as exclusive, the situation has changed very rapidly. Then, you likewise accept Xbox Game Pass, which is undeniably one of the best deals in gaming. Games like Elder Scrolls half-dozen are guaranteed to launch twenty-four hours ane every bit part of a $x-per-calendar month subscription on Xbox Game Pass, alongside all of Microsoft'southward other games. Gears of War, Halo, Forza, Fable, Hellblade, Fallout, DOOM, The Elder Scrolls, Dishonored, Casualty, Wolfenstein, The Evil Inside, and many hundreds of others comprise this vast library of content, which is sectional to Xbox on consoles right now. Ultimate-tier subscribers can even take their games onto Android and the web with Project xCloud via Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming. EA has as well brought dozens of games from its dorsum catalog into Xbox Game Laissez passer Ultimate too.
The Xbox Series Ten didn't necessarily have a compelling lineup when it launched, just Microsoft is ramping up speedily. A huge library of content awaits simply around the corner, and for only $10 per month, rather than the $lxx-per-game argument competitors offering.
Xbox Series X review: Final thoughts and summary
Source: Matt Brownish | Windows Cardinal
The Xbox Series Ten is a spectacular panel. Every aspect of it is dripping with the love of a massive team that clearly cared about every millimeter, every line of code that was poured into this monolithic whole. Waiting for the full-blown feature set of RDNA 2 may cost Microsoft the sales race in Q4, but for those who are lucky enough to become their hands on it, the Xbox Series X is panel gaming at its most excellent and well-nigh refined.
Xbox Series X is panel gaming at its most fantabulous and most refined.
In terms of the ecosystem the Xbox Series Ten is attached to, Microsoft has struggled to change the narrative over its exclusive game offering, but that's showtime to change. A tidal moving ridge of investment has brought the entire ZeniMax portfolio exclusively under Xbox, aslope a robust lineup of satellite studios which include heavyweights like Obsidian, Playground, 343i, and many more.
The backward-compatibility effort on the Xbox Serial Ten cannot exist understated for its meticulousness and execution. Thousands upon thousands of games are launching with this console, from your favorite service-blazon experiences like Rocket League and Fortnite, to single-player classics like DOOM and Fallout 4. Hundreds of games are finer getting free "remaster" treatment, boosted to their maximum resolutions and frame rates cheers to the forward-looking design of the Xbox ecosystem architecture.
Pros
- Nifty design meets powerful hardware
- Well cooled and silent
- Quick Resume multiple games and boosted loading speeds
- Xbox Game Pass and hereafter beginning-political party investment bring heady possibilities
- Vast roadmap of sectional content
Cons
- Media center capabilities are degraded
If yous're a hardcore Xbox gamer, you lot're likely already sold on this thing. If y'all're looking to jump in for the first fourth dimension with the best the ecosystem has to offering, the Xbox Series X will not disappoint. Unmatched value, a truly huge stable of studios building exclusive content, and power that rivals some of the most powerful gaming PCs out there. The Xbox Series Ten is the all-time video game console Microsoft always fabricated. And honestly, it's now my personal pick for the best panel e'er made.
Leading 4K
Xbox Series Ten
The full next-generation experience.
Xbox Series Ten is Microsoft's new flagship, equally its about powerful console with over 12TF GPU performance and a custom SSD. It boasts up to 4K resolution and 120 FPS, full astern compatibility across four generations, and ray-tracing support.
Next-gen in HD
Xbox Series South
Feel side by side-gen gaming for less.
Microsoft serves the next-generation for less with its budget-friendly Xbox Series Southward. The console packs the same loftier-performance CPU and SSD engineering science every bit Xbox Series X, while scaling dorsum the GPU and removing the disc drive.
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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-series-x-project-scarlett
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