Xbox One review: Microsoft console is a serious contender

Update: The original Xbox One has been usurped by the Xbox One S – a slimmer, iteration of the console with a 4K Blu-ray player. You can check out our review of that device over here. In a nutshell, the Xbox One S is an update, rather than an out-and-out sequel, to the Xbox One. You’ll be able to play all Xbox One games with it, but with the addition of HDR support and an in-built 4K Blu-ray player. It’s also pleasing on the eye, with a 40% reduction in size over the (rather bulky) original Xbox One.

If you want to wait for a fuller upgrade over the Xbox One, you’ll have to wait until the tail end of the year. That’s when Microsoft has said it will launch the Xbox Project Scorpio; its 4K, VR-enabled machine. You can read more about what’s been announced so far of Project Scorpio over here. We’ve also got a collection of the best games currently available for Xbox consoles here.

Carry on reading below for Seth Barton’s review of the original Xbox One.

Xbox One review

Let’s put its rocky reception behind us, the Xbox One has come on leaps and bounds since then and today is arguably the equal of its better-selling competitor. It has a better range of exclusive titles, a brand-new interface that does away with Kinect entirely and the best remote gaming technology around. Yes it lags behind its PS4 rival in terms of raw graphics power, but the Xbox One is still a great console. As it’s now past its second birthday, and with some the ‘New Xbox One Experience’ as the new dashboard is officially known now available, I’ve taken the opportunity to revisit the original review for a frank reassessment of where the Xbox One sits today.

Originally launched amid a fanfare of additional features, Microsoft always wanted the Xbox One to be more than just a games console. in retrospect that looked like folly, but there are a number of those features that have remained potentially useful, such as the HDMI passthrough socket, while others have been skilfully integrated, such as game streaming to Windows 10 devices,

I’ve pitted the two next-generation consoles against each other in a separate article, but here I’ll be putting the machine under the microscope to see how Microsoft has turned the Xbox One around from potential disaster to serious contender.

The Xbox One is now sold without its divisive Kinect peripheral

XBOX ONE DESIGN

There’s no escaping it; the Xbox One is huge. It dwarfs the PlayStation 4, as well as both previous-generation systems, and could rival some AV amplifiers for the space it will take up underneath your TV. The angular lines, lack of physical buttons and combination of glossy and matt plastics give it an imposing, almost monolithic appearance.

Simple. Understated. Massive.

The design gives the internal components plenty of room to breathe; after the notorious Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death issue, Microsoft has taken no chances with the Xbox One when it comes to heat. An oversized CPU heatsink and fan, positioned directly below a massive exhaust vent, ensure the console doesn’t overheat even after hours of continuous gaming. It’s barely audible when gaming, something I can’t say of its slender rival.

Our one sticking point is that it does make a constant low hum when sat in its ‘Instant On’ mode, which I could hear when sitting in a very quiet room. For more on its standby modes and power usage, see Interface.

XBOX ONE SPECS

After Microsoft revealed it was using semi-custom AMD Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) for the Xbox One, Games consoles have never looked closer to desktop PCs in terms of hardware. The two quad-core Jaguar processor modules in the Xbox One, which each run at 1.75GHz and are paired with 8GB of DDR3 memory, should be significantly easier to program for than the PowerPC-based CPU used in the Xbox 360.

Plenty of space inside. Image courtesy of iFixit – because I wasn’t brave enough to open up our console

Sony has taken a similar approach, also opting for an eight-core Jaguar APU and 8GB of RAM for the PS4, but both companies have made their own adjustments to AMD’s reference design and taken wildly different approaches to graphics memory. The Xbox One relies on 32MB of fast-access ESRAM to quickly buffer textures into the slower DDR3 memory, which according to developers is more complex to program than the PS4’s faster GDDR5 RAM.

This has led to an ongoing resolution and quality disparity between the two consoles in most multiplatform games. In general the PS4 runs game at a Full HD 1,920×1,080 resolution, while the Xbox One uses a slightly less detailed 1,600×900 resolution. It’s not a dramatic difference, but the fussy will be able to notice it.

Not the most convenient place for a USB port if you’ll be putting your Xbox One in a tight TV cabinet

The slot-loading Blu-ray optical drive allows developers to use bigger textures, increasing detail in games without needing to ship multiple discs. However, games aren’t read directly from the disc; they must be installed to the 500GB internal hard disk; and with retail games approaching 50GB in size, it won’t be long until that disk is filled.

While the PS4’s hard disk can be swapped out by you at home, getting to the Xbox One’s disc isn’t for the faint-hearted. However, by plugging in a USB hard disk with 256GB or more space you can expand the internal storage with ease. Note that the Xbox formats the disc, so you can’t continue using it as external storage for a PC.

The Xbox One automatically saves your game progress to both the console and to the cloud, so you can access your saves from other consoles. You can do this without Xbox Live Gold, unlike on PS4 which requires PlayStation Plus.

XBOX ONE PORTS

In order to avoid spoiling its minimal front face, Microsoft moved all the ports to the rear and left-hand side of the Xbox One. There are two HDMI ports; one to output video to your TV and a second to receive pictures from an external source – most likely a TV set-top box (see Xbox One TV and OneGuide). There’s also a digital optical S/PDIF to output surround sound to older AV receivers and sound bars.

The HDMI input is perfect for your Sky or TiVo box, but is too laggy to feed a PC or other games console into

There are two USB3 ports on the rear, as well as a third on the side of the console. I’d have rather seen some front-facing ports for convenience but it’s not a huge problem for most. You’ll also find the proprietary Kinect port and an IR blaster input at the back. The Xbox One can control your set top box, to change channels and the like; this is usually be done with the Kinect, which has its own powerful IR emitter, so the IR blaster is simply a backup for those without a Kinect, or for where the setup isn’t practical.

You have the choice between wired Ethernet and wireless 802.11n Wi-Fi for getting online. It’s pretty essential to have one or the other these days, for console and game updates, if not for actual online play.

XBOX ONE CONTROLLER

The Xbox 360 controller was widely regarded as one of the best controllers ever made, so Microsoft didn’t been change the formula too drastically for the Xbox One. The controller has the same offset analogue stick layout, four face buttons, two triggers and two shoulder buttons, but the start and select buttons have been replaced with menu and multi-tasking buttons respectively.

The smooth textured plastic creates plenty of grip and the contoured shape comfortably fits your hands

Despite being similar to its predecessor, numerous little changes make a world of difference. The new four-way directional pad is much more precise than the 8-way 360 D-pad, which was arguably its weakest feature. Individual rumble motors in the new ‘impulse triggers’ add force feedback directly to your fingers. A smaller dead zone and greater resistance to movement make the analogue sticks feel incredibly responsive.

The Micro USB port can’t charge the AA batteries, but plugging it in will save battery power

The battery compartment is now recessed within the controller, rather than protruding outwards as it was with the Xbox 360. Microsoft has opted for AA batteries rather than a built-in rechargeable pack, and these can’t be charged via the micro USB port so you’ll want to buy the optional Play-and-Charge battery pack to avoid constantly buying replacements. The Xbox Dashboard now shows you how much battery power you have left in the player one controller – unfortunately additional icons aren’t added as subsequent controllers are paired with the console.

The original controller required an optional headset adaptor if you wanted to plug headphones directly into the controller. Unlike the PS4, which has a standard 3.5mm audio jack that will work with just about any wired headset. The adaptor had its upsides, with controls to mute the microphone and adjust the volume, but I’m glad to see the rejigged controller has a straightforward 3.5mm jack. PC gamers can plug the Xbox One controller into their computer via the supplied USB cable and use Microsoft’s official drivers to play PC titles as well.

Overall, the controller feels superior in almost every way, which is a major achievement given the 360 pad’s pedigree. I narrowly prefer the Xbox One’s controls, but the PS4 controller levels things up with its more convenient built-in battery.

XBOX ONE INTERFACE

The New Xbox One Experience, as it’s officially known, has now replaced the original interface and it’s a huge improvement. The original interface was heavily integrated with voice controls from the Kinect peripheral and had to have extra menus bodged into it when Kinect was dropped as a standard, bundled peripheral. The new interface is far easier to understand and navigate, it’s simply great.

Booting up the Xbox One takes over a minute, which feels like a lifetime but you’ll only do it rarely. Once you activate the Instant On function, the console resumes from an energy-friendly deep sleep in just a tenth of the time. This speed is present throughout the operating system, letting you jump from a game, to the Xbox store, to recorded video clips and back into your game without barely a pause.

The new interface is easy to navigate with horizontal menus across the top and then content is tiled downwards within each heading. The Store is over on the right and breaks down into subheadings such as Games and Movies when you reach it. You can pin favourite apps to the main screen so you don’t have to hunt for them.

Behind the scenes, the new interface actually runs on the same code as Windows 10, not that you’d know to look at it. The advantage is that developers can write a single app that works across laptop, desktop, tablet, Windows Phone and Xbox One. This makes it far more likely that developers will keep their apps up-to-date. For example, there’s a new universal Netflix app, which lets you search for Netflix content (via text or voice using Kinect) from the main interface.

The Xbox One is designed to be a hub for all your content, and now it has the DLNA-compatible media player to back that up. You can use it to play files over the network, including the sometimes tricky MKV file format, or play content directly from a USB flash drive.

STREAMING

The best thing that Windows 10 has brought to the Xbox One is local game streaming. You can now play your Xbox One games on any Windows 10 device on your home network – and with practically any modern laptop and PC upgradeable to Windows 10 for free, it’s pretty likely you have such a device to hand. This means you can play games when someone else is watching TV, or when you’re tucked up in bed with a cold, or on a monitor connected to your desktop PC, or any TV you can plug your laptop into … it’s brilliant.

It’s easy to get started, just launch the Xbox app on your Windows 10 laptop (for example), click the Connect button on the left and find your Xbox One. You can power up the Xbox from here and then choose to stream its video output to your laptop. If your Wi-FI connection is decently you get a high-quality 1080p video stream from the Xbox and you can either connect a control wirelessly to the Xbox (if it’s in range) or connect via USB to your laptop.

There’s a smidgen of lag that may irk those playing serious online shooters but for most games it works brilliantly. You can even use your laptop’s keyboard to type in messages, search terms or to redeem store codes. Sony looked to be leading in the way with this tech, but by limiting its streaming to the PS Vita (not enough controls) and its own-brand Android phones and tablets, it’s now lagging seriously behind.

SHARING WITH OTHERS

Since launch Microsoft has added Twitch, so gamers watch other players (very handy in conjunction with the Snap feature, so you can play and watch at the same time) or stream their own gameplay straight to the web.

You can upload screenshots to Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage, share them with Xbox Live friends or post them to Twitter. There’s no Facebook option at present though, which is a shame. Video clips can also be uploaded to OneDrive and now directly to YouTube too, via the YouTube app.

It’s a good range of services, but everything just hangs together a little better on PS4, with simple menus accessible from the dedicated share button that let you upload to all the available services in one place. That said for those who love watching Twitch, the Xbox One is fantastic.

XBOX ONE TV AND ONEGUIDE

Support for streaming and catch-up services has hugely improved over the 18 months since launch. BBC iPlayer, All4 (previously 4OD), Now TV, Blinkbox and Demand 5 sit alongside Amazon Instant Video and Netflix, amongst others. Sky recently added ‘TV from Sky’ as well, so you can essentially use the Xbox One as an extra Sky box and watches programmes in a second room, although this requires Sky Go Extra at £5 per month or is free for those already paying for Sky Multiroom.

TV integration is arguably the Xbox One’s killer feature outside of games. Once connected to the console, you can use your Sky, Virgin or YouView box just as you did before, but with many added benefits. You can see notifications and invites from gaming friends, have a Skype conversation in a Windows alongside live TV, or even bring up a web browser there.

The Xbox One isn’t fussy about what devices it displays through the HDMI passthrough port, happily accepting 720p, 1080i and 1080p signals. That means you could connect a PC, smartphone, tablet, digital camera or camcorder, or even another games console. However, be aware that the Xbox One introduces a significant amount of latency to the input signal that could make it difficult to play your games this way, so I wouldn’t recommend it.

From next year the Xbox One will become a fully-fledged PVR with the ability to record shows, season link and even let you watch that content on other devices on the go

Most people will therefore stick to using the HDMI passthrough with a set-top box. Microsoft has UK support for the OneGuide unified program guide, bringing your set top box’s TV channel listings to your Xbox One for browsing programmes and setting up recordings from the console. It’s also able to put content from streaming services and even YouTube subscriptions alongside TV content and recordings, letting you search it all in one place. It’s a slick system that would appear to be a no-brainer for Xbox owners, but convincing the rest of the family might be tougher, as the Xbox One needs to be turned on for the passthrough to function.

The Xbox One is by default set to a 60Hz output, to make the most of your TV, while UK TV runs at 50HZ. If you are going to watch TV through the console be sure to change the setting in Settings, or else you’ll get juddery video, particularly noticeable in panning shots.

XBOX ONE EXCLUSIVE GAMES

In the two years since it first went on sale, there have only been a handful of Microsoft exclusive titles to justify buying an Xbox One over rival Sony’s PS4. Having said that, it’s the Xbox that has the upper hand here, with Sony’s exclusives largely failing to live up to expectations, or simply being niche titles.

Titanfall was the first big exclusive, though that was sometime ago now and the community of players is pretty small now. Since then, there’s been the fun and frantic third-person shooter Sunset Overdrive, although it’s not a system seller. Then there’s arguably the best racing game to date in the form of Forza Horizon 2 – it’s more on the fun side than a serious simulation but don’t let that put you off. Worth a mention is Halo: Master Chief Collection, which has prettied up versions of all four core Halo games, great for a nostalgic blast though the multiplayer has been dogged by problems.

That bring us round neatly to this Christmas’s offering, leading the way is the well-received Halo 5: Guardians. The single-player is a good blast but it’s the two multiplayer modes that really shine, with a tight arena game fro those who want to test their mettle and a more knockabout mode on big maps with vehicles if you’re looking for something truly epic.

Alongside Halo, Microsoft also has the much-hyped Quantum Break coming soon. It’s a third-person shooter with time-bending gameplay, which is then interwoven with a live-action TV episodes that you’ll stream from Xbox Live. Then there’s Rise of the Tomb Raider, which is exclusive to Microsoft for now, and is the slickest action-adventure around today.

XBOX ONE KINECT

At launch, Microsoft was adamant that Kinect would be an integral part of the Xbox One – so much so that it initially bundled the depth-sensing camera with every console. The company has since backtracked on that decision, following an outcry by gamers about the price and lack of support in big games. More recently it has gone further still with Kinect bundles drying up at retail and the new interface eschewing voice controls.

No longer a key part of the Xbox One, but Kinect still has its uses

It’s bigger than the original Kinect, with a black finish and angular lines that match the console. The camera detects the number of people in the room, automatically signing in profiles as it recognises faces. If you download the free Xbox Fitness app, it can monitor you while you exercise, using a combination of RGB and infra-red cameras to monitor small details like flushed cheeks to read your heart rate. It also reads QR codes, which is far easier than typing in 25-digit numerical codes to redeem Xbox Live subscriptions or digital downloads – it takes less than a second to detect a code, having activated it almost as soon as you raise the card to the camera lens.

It’s more than just a camera, however. Microsoft says Kinect’s microphones are precise enough to isolate your speech from across a room, even with game audio in the background, although a Chat headset does still ship with the console. In my experience, I still got some in-game feedback from our online friends when playing Killer Instinct, but for the most part speech was clear and of a much higher bit rate than the Xbox 360.

Support for Kinect is patchy beyond Microsoft own titles. Forza 5 can track your head movement to move the in-car view as you lean left and right, while Ryse: Son of Rome lets you command your fellow soldiers with voice commands. It’s at its best away from games, with voice-controlled search of content on Netflix and brilliant Skype integration for chatting online.

XBOX ONE PRICE

The Xbox One’s price has plummeted since launch, first removing the Kinect and then in an attempt to compete with PS4. Today you can pick up an Xbox One (without a Kinect) for just £230 bundled with a couple of smaller games, with 3-game bundles starting at around £270.

If that doesn’t tempt you, and it really should, then head over to our Best Xbox One deals page for all the latest and greatest Xbox One bundles.

THE WRAP UP

The Xbox One has really come into its own over the last six months. It has now delivered on its promise to provide something more than just a games console. Its HDMI input and OneGuide service mean it really can be centre of your home entertainment; the ability to split the screen to both watch-and-play is a killer feature for some, while a proper DLNA media server lets you stream your media files to the console. Add in the new game streaming technology and you can play around the home as and when you please. Plus form next year it could replace your PVR entirely as a free-to-air set top box recorder of enviable power.

Then there’s the excellent controller and a good range of exclusive titles, with a current line-up that puts Sony’s in the shade for most gamers, plus a range of upcoming exclusives that look arguably stronger this Christmas – especially given that Uncharted 4 has slipped into 2016, the latest in a line of Sony slip ups.

So despite all that, why is the PS4 still our preferred console for most? Well it’s an established fact that it’s technically superior to the Xbox One when playing multi-platform games, with slightly sharper visuals and smoother frame rates, and at present those make up the large majority of our gaming diets.

It’s a narrow thing though, and if the exclusives on the Xbox One appeal to you, or your living room TV is heavily contested by others, then I’d recommend you buy Microsoft’s console over Sony’s.