PS4 Pro vs Xbox One X — What should you buy?
2013 saw the year of a technological leap for gamers all around the world. With the launches of the Xbox One and the PS4 rivalling each other, it was inevitable that an uprising of hype and excitement surrounded its release. However, there were a couple of key elements that both console either held back on, or lacked altogether. Then birthed (in 2016) was the PS4 Pro and the Xbox One X to help solve any remaining issues. Whilst both have been a great success and have brought forward new specs and ultra HD Quality, the question still remains, which New Gen Console is the best?
DESIGN:
Now the design of both of these products will only matter to you depending on whether you’re the type of person who prefers the aesthetics aspect of a console as opposed to its capabilities. The PS4 Pro is noticeably taller compared to its previous older model — the standard PS4. This design choice was most definitely needed in order to house the powerful new hardware that they’ve installed into the device. It has a sleek and slanted matte design with a flat parallelogram finish. It’s also wider. The PS4 Pro has an additional USB port and the power lead is now a kettle lead compared to its previous model.
The Xbox One X’s design comes as no surprise with its slimmer finish compared to the previously ridiculed box-like model on the standard console. It’s power brick is internalised into the hardware as well as replacing the touch-sensitive buttons with more physical responding ones, which is perfect as my main issue previously was accidentally turning off the console. Their USB Ports have moved from the side (why on Earth would you have it there in the first place?!) to now the front of the console, making them 1000x accessible. There’re no additional ports found on this console compared to its previous model.
CONTROLLERS:
With the new PS4 Pro there comes a new, slightly refined/tweaked controller. Functionality wise, it remains very similar to its predecessor. The D-pad arrows and shape buttons have been given are more distinct grey tone in contrast to the all black on the previous model. The touchpad however is now translucent with a light bar present on top, making it easier for the player to see their colourful light bar.
On the other hand, Microsoft’s controller has been tweaked and refined intensely to offer their players a better user experience. The result of this is a controller that’s extremely close to almost perfection. On the exterior, the controller looks similar to the previous models’, but when you examine the hardware deeper you’ll notice a few small changes that produce a subtle but noticeable difference. The surface is slightly more textured on the back of the device. There’s finally a simple audio jack for any earphones to be used whilst gaming. There’s also the inclusion of bluetooth for connection to PC’s, along with the controller having a better grip texture for its joysticks/buttons.
SPECS:
The Xbox One X’ features a 2,3GHz AMD 8-core CPU, as well as a Integrated AMD 6 Teraflop performance. The console comes with the storage option of 1TB. Technically, the CPU and GPU of this console is better compared to the standard model. Whilst it supports HDR gaming, you still have to ensure that the game and TV you’re playing on is HDR capable (which also applies to the PS4 Pro).
The PS4 Pro features a 2.1 GHz 4.2 TFLOP AMD Radeon, 8GB GDDRS & 1GB along with coming in either a 500GB or 1TB storage option model. The texture on the graphics are very rich with improved textures and lighting effects, leading to a more realistic and smoother gaming approach with fewer bugs and glitches.
ENTERTAINMENT CONTENT:
Both console’s software-wise doesn’t offer much of a significant upgrade compared to its previous models. The user experience on both is still relatively similar. However, what sets the 2 apart is how the PS4 Pro can offer users a better home entertainment experience by not only allowing users to have 4K media playback via Netflix and YouTube but also offering a dynamic upscaling experience to any game purchased, regardless of a 4K TV. The console does however lack an official 4K Blu-Ray disc player whilst this is an advantage that the Xbox One X does offer.
A strong advantage that the PS4 Pro has over the Xbox One X is its exclusive content. With critically acclaimed and game changing entries like The Last of Us, Uncharted, God of War and Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Man, Xbox is left with a bit of serious making up to do. Although, the Xbox One X does have exclusive games too (Gears of War, Halo 5, Rise of the Tomb Raider) they’re not as much of a success compared to Sony.
If exclusive gaming content is important to you, the PS4 Pro will definitely not disappoint.
PRICE:
As of current, the PS4 Pro retails for £349. With that, you gain a 1TB standard console. The Xbox One X retails at an expensive price of £419.99 (with also a 1TB memory fitting).
The pricing system is definitely something worth considering when deciding which console to purchase. As the PS4 Pro has a ton more specs and exclusives, it almost justifies its higher retailing price. However, with the Xbox One X only having unnoticeably different specs, the pricing of the console is definitely questionable for those with a budget.
CONCLUSION:
It’s hard to come to an ultimate decision on which console is best. For me, I know what helped me to decide was comparing both consoles graphics together. So here we go, take a look below at both the PS4 Pro’s and the Xbox One X’s graphic comparison video and make the ultimate decision!
Good luck.
— Tyrell Bibbiani, Digital Marketer
Here at Glance, we wholeheartedly believe in embracing a holistic approach to product design. If this sounds like the right thing for you, please contact us to discuss how we can help you not only build your product right, but help you build the right product — for the right context.
