Somewhat late (the console was supposed to arrive at the end of December), but finally we are ready to present you our next-generation console test from Microsoft - the Xbox Series X, which the manufacturer calls the "most powerful" console ever. Of course, this kind of bold statement had to be tested by us, and we also checked the set of starter games and the speed of the console system itself. You will find out in the text below.
In the case of this review, as two people contribute to it, we decided to use a rather unusual formula for the post. At the beginning of each section you will find dry information about the console, and only below the individual opinion of each of us about the console. We invite!
The hero of this article, the Xbox Series X is one of the two consoles of the American giant available in the offer. In addition to the equipment we tested, the Americans also offer a much weaker variant of the Xbox called the Xbox Series S, which, however, as it quickly turned out, is not overly in demand by customers, so when renting the equipment for our review, we decided to only use a more powerful machine. The rental period was so long that not only did I get to know the capabilities of the console myself, but for the second week it also went to the owner of GameOnly - Piotr Gnys, who shared his opinion on the equipment with me.
In terms of specifications, the device looks impressive theoretically, offering the power found only in high-end PC sets for almost twice the amount of the console costing only PLN 2249.
The powerful CPU chip is especially noteworthy here. Until now, the company's most powerful console was a low-clocked eight-core Jaguar with a low parameter of executing instructions on the clock, and now players have at their disposal a high-performance unit on a modern architecture with support for up to 16 threads exceeding the old Jaguar by an order of magnitude.
The GPU is also significantly improved and offers full compatibility with the latest RDNA 2 architecture, accompanied by a truly monstrous amount of CUs. The system should provide developers with at least several times more possibilities than the times of the Radeon 7000 GPU with Xbox One, thanks to which creating modern worlds packed to the limit with details should be easier than ever.
Naturally, the memory of the device was also expanded, the capacity of which is as much as 16 GB. However, it was decided to divide it into two separate segments offering different bandwidth, which may be a significant problem for developers. Game development studios will certainly appreciate the presence of a fast SSD as standard, which allows you to load data at least a dozen times faster than before. Importantly, we can increase the amount of available space by purchasing a special hard drive. For now, there is only one of its 1 TB models produced by Seagate at a very high price of PLN 999, but over time more expansion cards should appear, priced much more affordable, but this option is now available. completely unprofitable.
Older external hard drives can also be connected to the console, but they can only be used to run backward compatible games due to their much slower speed.
The console came to us in a black and green packaging showing a close-up of the air outlet styled in green with the brand color. On the other side of the packaging, we have the image of the Master Chief known from the Halo brand, which of course refers to the ultimately superior Halo Infinite, who was prepared for the premiere of the equipment, but ultimately did not arrive.
The set naturally also included a new generation controller powered by popular AA sticks or wired via a USB type C port (no cable included), a power cord and an HDMI cable.
We conducted tests on the following equipment:
Daniel Kucner:
Piotr Gnys:
Contrary to the futuristic style of the competing PlayStation 5, the corporation opted for a proven, minimalist scheme, offering a very simple block in the shape of a black cuboid. From almost all sides it is invariably straight and free of indentations or curves, only on the top of the device, where we can see a concave air outlet painted with green paint reminiscent of the brand's color.
On the front of the console there is the aforementioned 4K Blu-ray drive, one USB 3.1 Type A port, a pad pairing button and a button to start the console styled in the Xbox logo.
The back of the device is of course a lot of ports: power input, Ethernet port for wired Internet connection, two USB 3.1 type A ports, HDMI output and a dedicated Storage Expansion slot that allows you to use additional disk space.
The console can be placed vertically or horizontally. The foot attached to the bottom is non-removable.
galleryAccording to Gnysk:
I must admit that Microsoft has focused on how players will receive the console from the very first moment the box opens. This is the level of Apple, where when opening the goods, he greets us and looks at us, instead of just being packed in cardboard and polystyrene. The console in the box lies horizontally and can be positioned this way (it even has rubber feet), but it looks much better vertically. The monolith definitely does not resemble a refrigerator, as people laughed at the beginning, if it is to be associated with something, then with the loudspeaker of old hi-fi systems, or with ... an air humidifier. It is modest, but it should fit most interiors and equipment on TV tables. And this subtle green in the openings, which you can see only when you look deeper - very nice. Plus for the Kensington connector, because at such a price, maybe some people will want to attach the console so that the thieves will not get it, and it also proves the durability of the housing. It is a pity that there is no optical connector - like a new generation, 4K and other wonders, and the sound cannot be played separately.
According to GoDlike:
Americans in the new generation are playing too safe. The console is of course a project aimed at the masses and should look moderately aggressive in terms of design, in order to blend in well with any type of interior, but the design of a rectangular body with almost no interesting shapes and grooves is simply too much. It can be said that this is minimalism, but minimalism is separated from exaggerated simplicity only by a thin line, which has been crossed here. It's a pity, because the previous projects of the Redmond giant in the form of the aesthetic Xbox One S were able to balance on this border very skillfully, which was appreciated by customers, announcing these devices with the most beautiful consoles of recent years.
This does not change the fact that the Xbox Series X, apart from the not very interesting design, is a device of high quality. While PlayStation 4 can crackle even without heating (PS5 too), the hardware of the Redmond giant remains unmoved, shaming the competition with its design. Nothing crunches, nothing shoots, and there is no point in finding any flaws or unfinished edges in the new device of the Americans. Sony - please take it to heart with the next PS5 model and try not to cause a heart attack after turning off the console with regular professional shooting shows in my room after a few hours of gameplay.
A certain downside is the presence of a permanently built-in stand, so if the console is placed horizontally, we will have to watch the underside of the cake on a regular basis. What, in turn, may be surprising at first, is the absence of an optical audio connector, which, however, is not very popular with most players. A similar step was taken, among others, by Sony from the port in question, first castrating the PS4 Slim, and then even the PlayStation 5, so I do not intend to criticize overseas corporations for the lack of this connector.
I am surprised by the lack of USB Type-C, especially that it has a new controller. So if we want to connect it with a cable, we are doomed to the old (and bad) juggling with an older type plug, which in a strange way is always set incorrectly the first time.
A huge 130 mm fan located in the upper part of the device is responsible for cooling the components. The equipment has been designed so that the distance between the main components generating the most heat and the fan itself is as short as possible, hence the most important systems and their massive heat sinks are located directly under the upper grille of the console.
Even before the premiere, the manufacturer boasted about the use of a fancy cooling system, even better than that used in the Xbox One X, which was appreciated for its silence (especially compared to the competition) and high efficiency.
According to Gnysk:
What surprised me completely is that the new Xbox is silent. A huge fan, which can be seen shining a flashlight through the upper holes, spins like crazy, when you put your hand down, you can even feel the increased temperature, but the tactile and visual impressions are the only things that can be observed. If you are lovers of silence, the Series X wins. Some laugh at the appearance of the Series X, but I associate this "chimney" design with the average home gravity ventilation system, where the air is exchanged through the chimney. The XSX is also a chimney that escapes through a really wide opening, and maybe that's why it is as quiet as "natural" ventilation.
According to GoDlike:
The new Xbox is just silent. No, I'm not exaggerating. You really can't hear it at all. Even PlayStation 5 is almost inaudible, but the Xbox Series X's silence is even higher. During many hours of my testing, both older and fully next-gen production, I did not even manage to turn the fan above the standard speed. The effect of course may be a bit worse if we place the console in a limited space (for me it was standing on the desk next to the laptop) , but the company's engineers deserve a gold medal for both performance and silence.
Importantly, the console worked equally quietly in the horizontal position, which also did not translate into increased vibration of the desk thanks to the manufacturer's damping feet also on the side of the device. Naturally, we will feel this way, of course, when inserting the disc into the drive, because the physics and rotation of the Blu-ray used cannot be jumped over, but most of the time the effect will be admirable.
The Americans did not try to innovate by creating a controller for the new console and opted for a safe evolution, rather than a revolution that the competition with DualSense offered. The new Xbox pad looks very similar to its predecessor, differing only in the additional Share button, the lack of which was criticized by players. The rest of the changes are only a slight facelift and changing the texture of the most important elements of the structure in order to improve the grip.
The device is powered by AA batteries again, which will please some people, but others who are used to charging with a cable, the need to juggle with the batteries may irritate. Of course, instead of a battery to power the rains, we can also use batteries, but, as in the case of an Xbox One rains, we will have to use an external charger to charge them, because automatic battery charging via the USB C cable can only be obtained using the official Battery Pack kit sold separately .
According to Gnysk:
While Sony has made a revolution, sitting down to the Xbox has the impression that nobody has sat over the pad. We have a rougher surface on the bottom of the pad, it also has triggers to prevent it from slipping, the d-pad has been changed to a cooler, octagonal one and a share button has been added, but that's it.
The vibrations are still some kind of joke and they are not much better than on the Xbox One, but they are so poor that even the PSX had better - after we feel the haptic vibrations on the PlayStation 5, the Xbox pad seems to be broken ... somewhere deep inside something it trembles, but as if the engine has fallen out. However, this is not the fault of the copy, because the Xbox One has the same problem, and with vibrations every PS controller beats the Xbox. Once again, there is no battery in the pad, only preparing it for the batteries of the finger is a joke at all. So, in general, I ended up with a two-meter long USB cable, so that my batteries would not die. Adding a button to take screenshots is just chasing the competition, but the one from 2013.
According to Godlike:
Again, as in the case of the console design itself, we are dealing here with the safest variant of evolution. The controller has had such minor changes that when looking at it from the front, you can often be mistaken whether it is not an old, worn-out Xbox One pad. Only after turning it, you can see the rough surface of the material, which, next to the Share button (let's add that it is erased from the DualShock 4), is practically the only novelty. The Xbox Series X pad looks as if it was only an improved revision of that from the Xbox One and I cannot forgive Microsoft for not having prepared something more for the start of the new generation. Especially that the competition served a real revolution in the form of DualSense offering a whole lot of new products at the forefront with haptic vibrations.
In addition, these batteries in 2021 look really comical. Yes, the controller that uses batteries instead of the built-in battery lasts longer, but in order not to spend a fortune on replacing them, you need to buy batteries and a charger. The confusion does not end here, because now, after each recharging of our batteries, we must remember to put two spare ones in the charger, otherwise, after discharging the current ones, a cable is waiting for us. What if we have two pads? You guessed it, another set of batteries ... or a Play & Charge set from the manufacturer containing the coveted battery with the possibility of charging via a cable, of course, additionally payable. The controller is of course as comfortable and functional as the one from the Xbox One, but I expect a wow effect from the new generation, and here, if you can talk about progress, it is really minimal.
As in the case of the controller, also this time the company's owners did not intend to serve far-reaching changes and the new Xbox Series X has the same system as the older Xbox One, almost. It should be noted, however, that this is not the same operating system that debuted many years ago with the launch of the previous generation of consoles. Microsoft has changed it several times over the years, and the last facelift was carried out a few months before the premiere of new consoles, so at least in some aspects you can feel a breath of fresh air.
However, the facelift has it that we should not expect any major changes. This is actually the case, because Xbox One owners will immediately feel at home here. Virtually the only major novelties reserved for the new generation of consoles are animated wallpapers on the home screen, the Auto HDR function (which we will come back to later) and the presence of Quick Resume. What is it? Remember the pause feature on Xbox One and PS4 that pauses the game and lets us do something else until we return, when we'll be greeted by the already loaded title exactly where we paused it? Quick Resume allows you to do the same, but with the ability to pause multiple games at once, even when the console is turned off!
What's more, the whole thing works completely automatically. So it is enough to run several games one after another, and then press the icon of one of them to return to the game after a few seconds without having to wade through long logos and loading screens. If we play several titles at once, and even those that can load a few minutes, each time we use Quick Resume, we save tens of seconds of time every day.
An interesting addition is the ability to pre-configure the console from the phone level, and although we only do it at the very beginning, the possibility of saving a dozen or so minutes on adjusting the system is most desirable. The software also allows you to use a quite extensive web browser, while the competition in the form of Sony has deprived its console of this fairly basic function, which may turn out to be important for many customers.
What is surprising is the fact that the company has not decided to offer the system interface in 4K as in the competitor's product and it is rendered only in 1080p, i.e. the good and popular FullHD. This controversial decision of owners of modern televisions may be a bit irritating, but it is worth remembering that thanks to this, more memory is given to the games themselves, which are the most important on the console.
According to Gnysk:
Whoever owns the previous Xbox will feel at home here. The downside is mainly the lack of distinction in which game we are currently playing (theoretically it is the first largest tile, but it is not marked whether the game is running or not), and the lack of the Quick Resume mark, which is one of the coolest features. Unfortunately, although some games have a badge indicating an upgrade to the Xbox Series X | S, most of the QR functions do not support, so marking which games have it and which do not, and in which we already have some game memory dump saved - would be helpful . In addition, the constant influences from Windows 8 and the title screens of the metro interface are problematic. Wait almost 5 seconds for opening the settings of the pad, because it is a separate application and you need to look at the "mushroom" icon? These things should be built into the normal options and not keep you waiting.
According to Godlike:
A new generation - a new system tailored to new hardware? Not in this case. The Americans decided to put their proven Xbox One system design on the new console. The effect is that the system works very quickly and comparable to the equally fast PlayStation 5, but you can quickly realize its limitations resulting from the presence on older consoles. I want to make a video? The maximum length is two minutes (!), While the competition offers up to an hour and it's backwards! And even if I come to terms with this limitation and would like to rip this flmik to a USB flash drive, there is no such possibility, because the company's management came to the conclusion that it is not needed.
So when recording a video for this article, I had to run the recording every two minutes and send the finished video from the console to OneDrive, and then from OneDrive to the computer, instead of just copying it to a USB flash drive. It is also impossible to take a screenshot of the system itself and even this. newly added to the pad with the share button. To do so, for the purposes of this review, I had to use the remote play function on the phone and take a screenshot of the entire screen from there (which makes the status bar on the phone visible), or take it with the camera and crop the photo.
In addition, there are still a lot of bugs and bugs in the system itself. Let us return to the subject of the video for a moment. When I finally managed to copy the video from OneDrive, to my surprise, it turned out that half of the recorded clips have no sound. Why? A quick read of Uncle Google gives a hint about the NBA itself, where the sound was muted for licensing reasons, but the rest of the titles should record properly, and they weren't. the silence rhythm for half of the video I could not afford.
Microsoft still hasn't added support for USB sound cards, which the competition hasn't had a problem with for a long time. The achievements system is still light years behind the trophies known from PlayStation, without offering a division into individual DLCs, so after the release of each expansion, our progress in achievements will reverse. Even portrayed as a key aspect of the new Quick Resume console, it often worked as it wanted, once starting the game from a saved state and once from scratch. I was also unable to test the freshly added feature in the form of the console configuration over the phone. After multiple attempts, the application always displayed the message "Installer for mobile devices does not work for some reason" and even after 30 minutes of juggling the settings, I was not able to use the new configuration method.
It is natural that errors do happen, but more than a month after the console's premiere, one would expect that such basic ones will already be eliminated, and unfortunately this is not the case. Does everything onPlayStation 5 work as it should? Of course not, but in January 2020 I have not come across any error for a month, despite many hours of gameplay, and in the case of the Xbox Series X I encountered many of them in the first days of testing. I hope that the situation will improve in the coming months, which does not change the fact that I am disappointed with the console system. Launching games and their installation, or browsing achievements, i.e. the most basic functions, work smoothly, but is it enough in the clash with Sony, which proposes software equipped with a lot of new goodies? I dare to doubt.
The new Xbox to start does not have a very impressive list of starter games. It is in a sense the norm, because each console was given a few, up to a dozen or so games to start with, many of which were of average quality. Microsoft, however, despite buying a few studios earlier and problems with Halo, did not offer anything in total. This does not mean that there are no games to start with, because many have received updates to the new generation, and a few came out practically in line with the premiere of the console. We, from our own sources or thanks to the Polish branch of Microsoft, had the opportunity to try Assassins's Creed: Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion, Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, Yakuza Like a Dragon, or the older Port Royale 4 or almost as forgotten as Dragon Age 2 The only thing missing from our list is Observer Redux, which seems to be the only truly next-gen title on Microsoft's console as of the console release date - it is the only game in the portfolio to be released only on a new console.
galleryAccording to Gnysk:
With the next-genes it is a bit like with Cyberpunk 2077. Everything came to the market probably a bit faster than it should, and while each generation of consoles usually did not offer too many new games in the first weeks, on the Xbox Series X practically 99% of the items were those that came out also on Xbox One and possibly got a patch. So it's hard to admire something specific, especially when the Xbox One X was above the rest of the consoles, so let's say that you can see a difference, Forza or Assassin's Creed in 60FPS is good fun, but I have not experienced decent Ray Tracing in virtually any of the games for which we had access. I mean, he was in Watch Dogs Legion and it must be said that the difference can be seen with the naked eye - on the other hand, Ubisoft gave this effect so much that at night in the game all surfaces in the game seem wet and mirror-like, as if it was not possible to cut the effect only to the shapes puddles, just had to be left all over. So I am waiting for some more decent show from outside the games standing in the middle of the generation, but the potential is there.
What you actually felt was faster loading times, and Quick Resume is just a frenzy. The console passed half of Poland to me, and when I plugged it in, I was able to continue playing AC: Valhalla exactly at the point where Daniel interrupted it. Resuming the game may take 4-5 seconds of the screen with the game logo and another 4-5 seconds of the black screen. Here, however, each time I got different times (but better than worse). Interestingly, Quick Resume also works ... with Xbox 360 games. Unfortunately, if a game is marked as "enhanced for Xbox Series X | S", it does not mean that it supports Quick Resume, and because of the lack of an appropriate label or even a filter, which games have this option, you have to guess when you can use it.
According to Godlike:
Games, and in particular exclusive games, have been the Achilles' heel of Microsoft's devices since the last generation of consoles. At the beginning, we could still observe the company's efforts to create exclusive productions that would attract crowds, but not only did they fail, the Americans quickly decided to go the easy way and since then the productions of the Redmond giant have been released on both Xbox and PCs (and some even exclusively for PCs).
Is it different with the Xbox Series X? Not. Is that a huge problem? Not. After all, the average bread eater plays rather popular multiplatform productions such as FIFA or Call of Duty, and of course there will be no shortage of these on the Xbox Series X. However, fans of exclusive games who expect something more from the equipment may be disappointed once again. Virtually the only hope of the company was the long announced Halo Infinite, which did not reach the premiere of the console after the crushing criticism of its trailer. So we get ... nothing to start with.
The situation is saved by Game Pass, popular in the Microsoft ecosystem, and developed backward compatibility. The first one is an attractive subscription offering hundreds of games at one affordable price, which is appreciated by customers around the world, often choosing the equipment of Americans because of the presence of Game Pass, especially since the competition does not have a decent answer to this service at all. Extensive backward compatibility, in turn, provides access to production not only from the previous generation of consoles (which the competing PS5 can do), but also from the Xbox 360, and even the original Xbox from 2001. All this often with dedicated updates boosting the resolution, and even when there is no such, we can count on the aforementioned Auto HDR function, which, as the name suggests, allows you to enjoy HDR support in older titles. Xbox Series X may not be exami, but it allows you to play many popular productions for pennies and, most importantly, in the highest image quality.
And since I mentioned the quality - this one is really high. The Americans did not regret the console's components, which can be felt not only in the games provided to us with a dedicated patch for the Xbox Series X, but even in the titles launched in the aforementioned backward compatibility. The game in the newest Assassin's Creed Valhalla in 60 fps mode is pure pleasure so far reserved only for rich people with powerful PCs. In Watch Dogs Legion, we get real-time Ray Tracing support, which is just a fledgling curiosity on expensive PCs, which looks simply stunning, even despite the low resolution of the reflections themselves and a slightly exaggerated frequency of occurrence.
galleryThe Witcher 3 straight from the Xbox One provides 60 frames per second without a patch. NBA 2K21 looks so good that it's easy to confuse replay gameplay with a live basketball match, and this is just the beginning of a generation! Over the years, we will see even more beautiful titles that will squeeze the last juices out of the equipment, at the sight of which our jaws will probably drop, and all this at the price of the now low performance of the computer set. The choice of console versus PC in the era of such galloping graphics card prices is basically fabulously simple.
It's not everything. In addition to high-level graphics, we also have a very fast SSD drive, through which we will not even want to look after a few loads on the older Xbox One. Depending on the title, the difference in loading time is up to ten times (from 40 to 4 seconds)! Importantly, its speed is also used by older titles such as the old Dragon Age 2, in which the loading of the game save was accelerated almost three times. So we will have a different experience with each production launched, not just a handful of the latest titles. Below is a comparison of the load times for selected titles between the Xbox One X and the Xbox Series X.
Interestingly, I noticed that although the SSD itself is not as fast as in PlayStation 5, in games prepared for the older Xbox One, we will get better results than on PlayStation 5 with an identical version of the game on PS4. This is probably related to the implementation of backward compatibility and may also be important with a large number of titles that will not receive a dedicated version for next-genes. Here the product of the Americans can catch up again, and although the number of such productions will gradually decrease with the premieres of new games or their remasters, there will be dozens of them for many years.
According to Gnysk:
XSX on paper is the most powerful piece of equipment, but so far it is not visible in games and mainly Quick Resume is something completely new and impressive (until PlayStation introduces the same option - but it does not promise to be yet). for games that Microsoft will show - I think they have a solid basis for management in this generation, the question is whether they will take advantage of this opportunity. For now, however, the Xbox Series X seems to be equipment for owners of previous consoles, or people who do not necessarily play every latest game and would like to have fun at a low price. GamePass wraz z EA Play, które da się czasem naprawdę tanio przedłużyć (przez sumowanie z Goldem czy pakietami z PC) sprawiają, że da się pograć za 20-50 złotych miesięcznie. Do tego cicha praca i myślę, że dla wielu osób Xbox może okazać się lepszym wyborem. Dodajmy do tego Xbox All Access, gdzie w ramach rat dostajemy Xboxa Series X i GamePass za raptem 145zł miesięcznie i przez dwa lata na pewno nudzić się nie będziemy. Zwłaszcza, że Sony nie wygląda na takie, które zbroiłoby się aby dać odpowiedź najlepszym funkcjom Xboxa Series X.
Ocena gnyska:
Ocena gnyska
GraNie graNowy Xbox zapowiada się na dobrą konsolę, ale wszystko zależy od tego jakie gry trafią na niego w kolejnych miesiącach. Największą zaletą jest obecnie jego 'abonamentowość' gier, w której jest bezkonkurencyjny i Quick Resume do wznawiania gier w kilka sekund.
Zdaniem Godlike'a:
Xbox Series X to kawał dobrego sprzętu, ale czy dobry sprzęt wystarczy, by skutecznie powalczyć z konkurencją, która tak mocno dopiekła firmie w ostatniej generacji? Microsoft podążając ścieżką bezpiecznej ewolucji, zaprezentował całkiem solidną konsolę, jednak bez efektu WOW, który zdobi produkt Sony. Rozchwytywanej konsoli konkurencji rozpędzonej znakomitą generacją pod znakiem PlayStation 4 niemal nie da się zatrzymać, a konsola schodzi na pniu w kilka minut gdziekolwiek się pojawi. Z drugiej strony paradoksalnie ogromna popularność PlayStation 5 może produktowi Microsoftu pomóc. Klienci sfrustrowani brakiem konsoli Sony w sklepach z braku laku sięgną po urządzenie MS, a po kilku tygodniach może się okazać, że upragnionego PlayStation już nie potrzebują, bo ich wymagania produkt Microsoftu spełnia w całości, do tego zapewniając dostęp do setek gier za jedyne kilkadziesiąt złotych miesięcznie.
Ocena GoDlike'a:
Summary
GraNie graXbox Series X to porządna konsola do gier, która swą mocą i dostępnym asortymentem tytułów powinna zadowolić każdego niedzielnego gracza. Osoby od sprzętu wymagające czegoś więcej będą jednak bardziej zadowolone wybierając produkt konkurencji.
Za wypożyczenie konsoli do testów wraz z zestawem gier dziękujemy firmie Microsoft.
