Microsoft Xbox One X review – in pictures

Xbox One X review

Microsoft has made the world’s most powerful games console and it’s called the Xbox One X. But is it worth upgrading to? Will it get the most out of your 4K TV? And is it worth buying even if you don’t have one? Click through the pictures to find out.

Design: Dimensions

Cosmetically speaking, the One X is very much a downsized One S that comes in black rather than white. Pick it up and you’ll immediately get an idea of just how much tech has been crammed inside. At 3.8kg, it’s a heavy piece of kit that’s diddy enough to tuck right under your TV without any fuss. In fact, the One X is the smallest console Microsoft has ever made.

Design: Controller

The official Xbox controller is arguably the best pad out there. It sits perfectly in your hands, has a really pleasant weight to it and doesn’t make your fingers feel cramped after you’ve spent too long slaying Locust scum with a chainsaw. The only problem with it is that, unlike Sony’s DualShock 4, it’s not rechargeable via microUSB, so you’ll need to swap in a new pair of AA batteries every month or so instead.

Performance: Graphics

How much difference can eight 2.3GHz processor cores paired with a six-teraflop graphics processor and 12GB of GDDR5 RAM actually make to your gaming? Well, it depends on what you’re actually playing. Some Enhanced titles really push the boat out with their 4K razzle-dazzle, offering ‘most stunning game you’ve ever seen’ levels of gorgeousness, while others just replicate their performance on PS4 Pro.

Performance: Storage

The biggest criticism of the One X as a piece of kit is its paltry 1TB hard drive. Given a properly 4K game such as Forza 7 or Gears of War can demand over 100GB of storage, you’re going to struggle to fit more than 15 titles on this console at once. And no one likes agonising over whether they should ditch Halo Wars 2 or Superhot to make space for Star Wars Battlefront II.

Games: Exclusives

It’s a sad fact of life that Microsoft’s console-exclusive games aren’t what they once were. While various Halo and Gears of War games were must-plays on Xbox 360, the Xbox One era has lacked a real system-seller akin to Super Mario Odyssey or Uncharted 4. The exclusives it does have are all an absolute blast to play, though, and one look at Forza 7 in 4K will be enough to convince you buying a One X was worth it.

Games: Backwards Compatibility

On the plus side, the One X boasts a killer trick that the PS4 Pro can’t compete with: backwards compatibility. This means a vast and growing list of almost 400 classics from the Xbox 360 and original Xbox are available to play on the One X with no fuss at all. Fancy revisiting Red Dead Redemption or Portal 2? Just dig the old disc out of the attic and you can download the game for free.

Ultra HD: 4K Blu-ray

The One X is a home cinema geek’s dream thanks to its Ultra HD Blu-ray drive. Playback performance has stepped up a notch from the One S, offering a sharper, clearer picture whether you’re watching Ryan Gosling lark about in La La Land or a penguin doing the same in Planet Earth II. Even though it’s a little ill-defined, its Atmos sound isn’t half bad either.

Ultra HD: 4K Streaming

The One X will allow you to stream from Netflix and Amazon in 4K, but there’s nothing here that you don’t already get on the Xbox One S or PS4 Pro. Anyone with a 4K TV will already have those apps pre-installed, so it’s not like you need them much anyway, plus a UHD Blu-ray disc will beat a streamed show for detail any day of the week.

Usability: Interface

The new Start Menu-like sidebar makes skipping straight into a recently played game or app a far quicker process than it was before, but the Xbox Store is still poorly laid out, its Settings menus can often be fiddly to navigate and there’s a strong whiff of feature creep to a lot of the interface. Still, at least it’s better than it was before.

Versus: PlayStation 4 Pro

As Forza 7 attests, the One X can do things that the PlayStation 4 Pro simply isn’t capable of. It’s also a much quieter console than the Pro, which can hum like a low-flying aircraft when it’s doing nothing more than running FIFA 18 in 4K. The bottom line is that both consoles are for gamers, not the majority of folk who have no idea what a teraflop is and just like playing CoD at the weekend.

Verdict: Xbox One X

Although the Xbox One X is the new king of consoles, its grip on this throne is a little shaky. Beyond the dizzying delights of Forza 7, Microsoft doesn’t boast many titles that’ll actually make the most of the One X’s innards but games should still run better on it than they do on Sony’s PS4 Pro. Taken on face value, the One X is the ultimate games console for anyone with a 4K TV. Nothing more, nothing less.