Console gaming is getting better—and in some ways, cheaper—than ever before. 4K gaming is finally becoming a thing, Nintendo made its main home console portable, and some incredible games have landed in 2017. If you’re still thinking about jumping on the bandwagon, let us help you figure out which console is right for you.
Before we get started, a couple notes: We’re not including PC gaming in this guide. If you’re shopping for a console, we’ll assume you don’t want to plug a desktop into your TV and fiddle with making a third-party controller work. You just want a console that you can plug in, download a few games, and it works.
We’re also not going to highlight every tiny detail about every console. Most modern consoles have a lot in common and there’s no point in picking every nit. These are who we believe each console is best suited for overall, and no console is obviously superior to any other in all ways.
Xbox One X: For the Hardcore Pixel-Pusher
If you’re the type who wants to get the absolute best picture detail out of your games and you don’t care how much you have to spend, the Xbox One X (pre-order) is for you. Set to land November 2017, it packs more processing power than any modern console. This is extremely helpful if you want to play games in 4K HDR and at the highest frame rate.
4K HDR gaming gives your games crisp, pixel-perfect detail with a higher range of beautiful colors (as long as you have a 4K HDR- compatible TV). Most modern games also aim to have a high-frame rate, typically aiming to hit 60 frames per second for super smooth motion. Both 4K HDR rendering and 60fps games require massive amounts of processing power for modern, graphically intensive games. In side-by-side comparisons, the Xbox One X seems more capable of achieving more detailed pictures, or pushing higher frame rates.
If you want your console to be the center of your media center, the Xbox One X is good news for you as well. The Xbox One X comes with a built-in 4K Blu-Ray player, which means it’s the only console on the market that’s capable of true 4K HDR gaming and playing 4K HDR movies. While the Playstation 4 Pro can play games in 4K, it still only has a standard HD Blu-Ray player inside.
All that power will come at a premium, though. The basic 1TB model of Xbox One X costs $500. Meanwhile, the Playstation 4 Pro—which can also play 4K games, but doesn’t have a 4K Blu-Ray player—costs $400 for a 1TB console.
If you want all that power, you’re going to have to pay for it.Upsides
- 4K HDR Gaming
- More 60fps games
Downsides
- Most expensive console on the market
- Fewer exclusive games
- Still waiting on independent graphics tests
Xbox One S: The Cheap Console With 4K Video
Coincidentally, Microsoft manages to hold both the most expensive console on the market and the cheapest. While the company has discontinued the original Xbox One, it has replaced it with the slightly upgraded Xbox One S ($245) The new model can play 4K Blu-rays—though it can’t play 4K games, like the One X—and stream 4K video from services like Netflix.
Aside from the new 4K and streaming features, the One S is largely the same as the original Xbox One. It plays Xbox One games, plus select original Xbox and Xbox 360 games. With…
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