Microsoft Xbox Series X review: Sleek look, responsive controls, powerful gaming console
The gaming console makes a compelling case to be your next big-ticket purchase.
By Aabhas Sharma, TOI Contributor |
Get It For: Rs 49,990
Highlight: Power and design
For the first time, Microsoft has launched two gaming consoles at the same time — Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. At Rs 49,990, the Series X is the more powerful of the two. Microsoft has flipped the design template with the Series X. The console has a matte black finish and it has what some may call an industrial design. Ports are kept to minimal — there is one USB port next to the pairing button and a really thin Blu-ray Disc drive with an eject button.
You can put the console on its sides also. At the back, there is a ventilating grill. Even after long gaming sessions, too much heat did not dissipate. There is also an HDMI 2.1 port, an ethernet socket and two extra USB ports at the back. Microsoft has covered the ports bit with an array of options.
The controller also has a matte finish and comes in black. The buttons are responsive. It gave us no trouble while playing for hours.
There are four face buttons, along with the View, Menu, and Xbox buttons. Two bumpers, two triggers and two thumbsticks round up the controller. You will also find an expansion port and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom. A USB-C port, along with a pairing button, is on the top of the controller. It’s 2020 but Microsoft continues to have a battery enclosure of two AA cells to keep the controller running for hours.
All these specs combine to deliver blazing fast speed. Game load times are rapid and when you combine the frame rates (120Hz), you get an absolute powerhouse. The 1TB storage sounds enough but in reality, modern-day games are too heavy. For instance, NBA 2K21 is over 100GB whereas Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is about 47GB. The Xbox UI continues to be slightly underwhelming and Microsoft should’ve upgraded it.
Xbox Series X also supports streaming apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime. It is a powerful gaming console and makes a compelling case to be your next big-ticket purchase.
-The writer is with gadgetsnow.com
Highlight: Power and design
For the first time, Microsoft has launched two gaming consoles at the same time — Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. At Rs 49,990, the Series X is the more powerful of the two. Microsoft has flipped the design template with the Series X. The console has a matte black finish and it has what some may call an industrial design. Ports are kept to minimal — there is one USB port next to the pairing button and a really thin Blu-ray Disc drive with an eject button.
You can put the console on its sides also. At the back, there is a ventilating grill. Even after long gaming sessions, too much heat did not dissipate. There is also an HDMI 2.1 port, an ethernet socket and two extra USB ports at the back. Microsoft has covered the ports bit with an array of options.
The controller also has a matte finish and comes in black. The buttons are responsive. It gave us no trouble while playing for hours.
There are four face buttons, along with the View, Menu, and Xbox buttons. Two bumpers, two triggers and two thumbsticks round up the controller. You will also find an expansion port and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom. A USB-C port, along with a pairing button, is on the top of the controller. It’s 2020 but Microsoft continues to have a battery enclosure of two AA cells to keep the controller running for hours.
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The Xbox Series X is powered by a Project Scarlett 7nm chip. It has AMD’s eight-core Zen 2 CPU, AMD’s Navi-based RDNA 2 graphics chip that combines to deliver 12 teraflops of GPU power. Also onboard is 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD.All these specs combine to deliver blazing fast speed. Game load times are rapid and when you combine the frame rates (120Hz), you get an absolute powerhouse. The 1TB storage sounds enough but in reality, modern-day games are too heavy. For instance, NBA 2K21 is over 100GB whereas Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is about 47GB. The Xbox UI continues to be slightly underwhelming and Microsoft should’ve upgraded it.
Xbox Series X also supports streaming apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime. It is a powerful gaming console and makes a compelling case to be your next big-ticket purchase.
-The writer is with gadgetsnow.com
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