Just the Facts Please

What is it? A new 4K-equipped Xbox One
When is it out? November 7, 2017
What will it cost? $499 (£449, €499, CA$599 or AU$649)

Choudhry, who's the head of Xbox software engineering, also announced that Xbox One X is the smallest system ever from Microsoft. On top of that, the console works with all accessories and games for the Xbox One.

Below are more bullet points from Choudhry on Xbox One X and what it takes to hit 4K:

• 6 teraflops GPU clocked at 1.172Ghz
• 12GBs of GDDR5 memory
• 326GB/s of memory bandwidth
• 8 million plus pixels
• HDR
• Wide color gamut
• Premium Dolby Atmos sound
• 4K UHD Blu-ray playback
• Liquid-cooled vapor chamber

Here’s what Microsoft wants you to think about the Xbox One X: “The year’s best game are going to play best on it.”

While the world’s most powerful console has the processing grunt and graphical heft to deliver on that promise, I honestly can’t tell you whether it’s got the games to deliver. From Crackdown 3 to Middle-Earth: Shadow of War we’ve seen a litany of stunning new titles for Xbox One X. Alas, many of them aren’t scheduled for 2017 and plenty of big names weren’t promised as being ‘Xbox One X enhanced’ with 4K, HDR and all the rest.

Xbox One X's Design: Square Brick or Sexy Beast?

Xbox One X looks almost identical to the Xbox One S. It has a space grey color, and comes with a 4K Blu-ray player.

You only have to see the One X’s ‘Scorpio’ dev kit to appreciate the design work that’s gone into this thing. Whereas the dev kit is big, chunky and reminiscent of the original One, the One X is the smallest console Microsoft has ever made. It’ll tuck right under your TV without any fuss and probably be the prettiest thing sitting there, even if that doesn’t actually count for all that much.

Cosmetically speaking, the One X is very much a downsized One S that comes in black rather than white. You get the same connections and ports as with the One S - so an assortment of HDMI, USB and digital audio ports - and you’ll be using an identically specked controller as well. Since the One S did such a fine job of polishing up its next-gen Xbox fundamentals, none of this is a problem. Right now, Microsoft has the two best-designed consoles of this generation, one of which is the most powerful. And that’s what you really want to know about, isn’t it?

Advanced electrical engineering. Moore's Law. A miracle. Call it whatever you want, but the Xbox One X defies what we thought was possible for a console, squeezing an ultra-powerful GPU into a slim plastic shell.

Also similar to the Xbox One S, the One X looks to have two physical buttons: one in place of the touch-capacitive power button and one for the eject button on the face of the console.

But the big difference – if you can even it call it big – is the shift of the drive from the front top section down to the very middle of the console. It might not have any difference in practice, but it does feel a bit more confusing for players handling the system for the first time.

Interested in anything other than the Space Grey color? You might be out of luck. So far, Microsoft has only announced the one color – though, we're sure a special edition with a new color scheme is just one holiday season away.

More Powerful than Grandpa's .45

Right. To be very clear here, dev kits are not the same thing as a final retail product. So we’re likely to see the proper Xbox One X make even more use of its monumental power when it sees the light of day in November. For now, just know that Microsoft's new console is a monster both in theory and practice. The kind of performance that was previously available only to PC owners can now be found in a games console, and that is genuinely exciting.

You don’t have to know anything about specs to understand the One X’s appeal, but the details are genuinely impressive to those in the know. Eight 2.3GHz processor cores are paired with a six-teraflop graphics processor, 12GB of GDDR5 RAM and 1TB of storage all amount to a very capable machine. One that has the power to deliver 4K gaming at 60 frames per second with High Dynamic Range enabled. And yes, you can totally tell the difference from standard Full HD fare.

Having seen Minecraft, Gears of War 4, Forza Motorsport 7, Sea of Thieves and Assassin’s Creed: Origins all running on One X, we’ve been blown away. While Microsoft’s first-party titles seem to make most use of that extra power so far, every game will undoubtedly look better than on Xbox One S. Especially those that are rendered in native 4K, like the drop dead gorgeous Forza Motorsport 7.

Splashed out on a 4K telly with HDR 10 support already? The One X feels like an essential purchase. Especially since it’s also been lavished with an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive for 4K movies and Dolby Atmos support for immense surround sound. Truly, this thing is a home cinema geek’s dream.

While loading times for non-One X enhanced games should drop significantly, we’re curious to see how speedy this new console is with games that make the most of its power. While the Forza Motorsport 7 demo we played wasn’t slow, it did take a reasonable amount of time to get all those gorgeous 4K assets ready. So what does this all mean? We know the Xbox is the most powerful console ever made but what that actually amounts to in practice isn’t quite so clear. Also, if you haven’t made the televisual upgrade to 4K?

With six teraflops of graphical horsepower contained within a smartly designed package, the Xbox One X is about as premium as consoles have ever felt. Games look absolutely stunning, with a fantastic level of detail accentuated by the console's HDR support. Yes, it's expensive, but the One X justifies this with a big step up from what's come before.

What Do You Think - HOT or NOT?