I wanted to write this a little while ago, but needed to have some more time playing on the Xbox One X and try to experience as much as possible. Since the launch of the new Xbox One console, I have been having a blast. Yes I am an Xbox fanboy so maybe my view is slightly skewed but Microsoft made an extremely great (dare I say) near perfect console.

To my luck, I managed to pre-order an Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition, I know a number of people that wanted this edition but missed out due to the limited number. After using it for a little while I thought I might sum up the experience I have had with it so far and also areas where there is some contention on the Internet.

Breakdown

Price

I knew I wanted to purchase the Xbox One X when it was still called “Project Scorpio”. From what I was reading and the rumours swirling around the Internet , I knew it was going to be a powerful console and it wasn’t going to be cheap. A high price tag was not going to discourage me from purchasing it. I pre-ordered the Xbox One Elite controller and that was $200 AUD, so paying around $700 AUD for a new, and powerful console was not an issue. I mean a GTX 1070 is still going for $700 AUD. For the power and convenience the console provides it is super cheap, plus I have a large library of Xbox games so I am not going to invest in another console.

4K and HDR

Weeks before the lead up to the release of the console there were many gaming sites that posted about how “unnecessary” or “wasted” it would be to purchase the Xbox One X console if you do not have a 4K TV or one that supports HDR. Funnily enough there were none of these articles written when the PS4 Pro was coming out/released (bias “journalism” maybe). I don’t know where these so called “journalists” got this information because Microsoft to their credit on numerous occasions highlighted the benefits a gamer would have if they only had a 1080p display.

I personally do not have a 4K/HDR supported TV; mine is still a 65” 1080p Panasonic plasma TV. The games (enhanced or not) all look gorgeous. Gears of War 4, Halo 5 Guardians, Quantum Break, etc. all look brilliant with their enhancements. Even the games that haven’t gotten the enhancements look slightly crisper and cleaner to me like Battlefield 1. I have spoken to a number of friends on Xbox Live who do have 4K TVs with HDR and have an Xbox One X, and there has been a unanimous agreement that the visual fidelity is high class.

Performance

I knew the Xbox One X was powerful and would help with load times, framerate, etc. but boy did I underestimate how much of an improvement there would be. Off the top of my head I can think of two games where the load times have significantly improved. Destiny 2 and XCOM 2 (I’ve been playing these recently). Loading to the Tower or any planet in Destiny 2 took it’s sweet time on my original Xbox One. On the Xbox One X the time it takes to go to those same locations is easily halved.

XCOM 2 on the original Xbox One was a disaster when it came to loading. If you tried loading a save, loading a mission, or coming back to your ship, it could easily take one minute. On the Xbox One X it loads in under 15 seconds. Before I could go and grab a drink from the fridge and come back to still see that the game is still loading, and now on the Xbox One X it just loads too quick to do any of that.

Games like Halo 5 Guardians, Gears of War 4, Battlefield 1, etc. all feel smoother. They feel like they are hitting higher refresh rates (or targets that they were originally supposed to be reaching). I don’t know, I can’t measure it and maybe I’m just imagining it, but the games feel like they play better. It is the same as going from a monitor that doesn’t support 144Hz to one that does and you reach that refresh rate, the game just feels so much better. So overall I think the Xbox One X is on a completely higher tiered level to the original Xbox One. Kudos Microsoft for squeezing so much performance out of such a dense little box.

Good Internet

My current Internet download and upload is 100Mbps and 40Mbps respectively (again I am fortunate enough to be able to have fibre connected directly to my house). I also do not have a data cap. Both of these (speed and data) are extremely important when considering the Xbox One X. The game updates to handle the 4K assets, etc. are massive (some games nearly double in size). So if  you have slow Internet download speeds or have a relatively small data cap then it will seriously hamper your ability to play the recently updated Xbox One X Enhanced games. From what I can tell there is no way to not download these updates if you have an Xbox One X console.

I did notice that downloading titles on the Xbox One X seemed slower than on the original Xbox One. I am on the Alpha Insider Preview ring so there may be some OS issues, but other people I have talked who are not Xbox Insiders pretty much agree that their downloads seem to be going slower on the new console. I’ll be keeping an eye on this and if it persists then I may have to have a little chat with the Microsoft Support team or raise an issue.

Storage Space

Along with these large downloads to support the 4K assets comes the need for more storage space. This is one area I think Microsoft needed to do a little better. A 1TB internal storage device is not nearly enough to support all the new Xbox One X Enhanced games that a gamer could potentially have. My internal HDD is near capacity with all the updates my games have received recently (I only have 75GB left). I do have an external HDD but may need to consider purchasing another. So do invest in another storage device to ensure that you do not run out of space.

Final Thoughts

Who is this Xbox One X console for? Well due to the high price tag I don’t imagine it is for the casual gamer, or someone who is not interested in playing the latest games at the highest fidelity possible on a console; for that I would suggest the Xbox One S. The individual who would buy this console would be one of these I believe:

1. Looking to buy a new console where money is not a purchasing factor.
2. Looking to upgrade your old or original console where money is not a purchasing factor.
3. Looking to upgrade your old or original console to play the latest games at the highest console fidelity possible.

Do you need a 4K/HDR supported TV to enjoy the Xbox One X? Absolutely not. I don’t have one and I am having a blast; everything looks amazing and the games play better than before. There is a noticeable difference even in 1080p 🙂

Do you need a good Internet to use the Xbox One X? Unfortunately I believe yes. I cannot see in the settings anywhere to disable 4K updates if you don’t have a 4K TV. Downloads could take an extremely long time and you may hit your data cap if you have one. This is one of the downside of 4K gaming.

If someone off the street right now asked me, “Would I recommend the Xbox One X?” I would say “yes” in a heart beat with no hesitation. I would tell them that they don’t need 4K or HDR to experience what the Xbox One X offers, I would even mention to be mindful of the download sizes for game updates.

I don’t give technology a numbered rating but if I had to give one to the Xbox One X, it would easily be a 9.5/10. I cannot fault Microsoft for the product that they have built.

Kudos Microsoft.