Counterpoint: Why You Shouldn't Buy or Upgrade to the Xbox One X

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Xbox One X

Yesterday, our own Joel Hruska wrote a post arguing for the claim of the Xbox One X. His premise is rock solid, and the hardware is very impressive, but this line in his commodity stood out to me: "When I say the Xbox One X is worth ownership, that doesn't mean it makes sense for literally every person right now." I couldn't hold more.

There'south a decent number of 4K-loving early adopters out there that will exist entirely pleased with the Xbox One Ten at the $500 price point. I'm not hither to yuck anyone's yum–it's totally fine if the Xbox One X (Buy on Amazon for $499) makes yous happy. Still, if you're unsure whether it's worth information technology to buy (or upgrade to) the Xbox One X correct at present, there are a few conditions and competing products that are worth considering before you make your decision.

1080p

1080p TVs

If you don't have a 4K television, the Xbox I X is going to hold limited entreatment for you. Sure, you'll nonetheless benefit in small ways, simply it won't ever look as good as it would on a 4K Television set. And since your Television set probably besides doesn't have HDR10 support, you won't fifty-fifty benefit from high dynamic range.

In all fairness, 1080p TVs will nonetheless benefit from super-sampling, higher quality textures, additional effects, and any broiled-in operation improvements, but the overall impact is minimal compared with what you'll experience on a 4K set. Then if you already have an eighth generation console, the $500 toll tag is hard to justify without the crucial element of 4K.

Xbox One S

At present, let'south assume yous accept a 4K tv set. If your main concerns are HDR support and 4K video playback, Microsoft has an option that's significantly less expensive. The Xbox One S works with the HDR10 standard, outputs at 2160p, enjoys 4K streaming apps, includes UHD Blu-ray support, and still plays the entire itemize of games (at a lower resolution). And with Black Friday coming upwardly, you can option one up for under $200 – roughly 62 percent less than a Xbox One X.

Of class, the Xbox One (S) uses some rather anemic hardware, and games volition never exist able to perform as well as they will on the much beefier (and expensive) Xbox One Ten; that should get without saying. But since many of us utilise our consoles as fix-top boxes first and gaming devices second, the Xbox 1 S is simply more than compelling to that segment of the market.

PS4 Pro

The Xbox One X is unambiguously more than powerful than the PS4 Pro. Pretty much every spec is superior, so nobody is making the argument that the PS4 Pro has more gooder-er graphics. However, the PS4 Pro does serve as an important foil hither.

First and foremost, the PS4 Pro has been on shelves for a year now, then anyone interested in a higher-finish gaming panel has had ample opportunity to invest already. While it'due south less powerful than the X, it still offers a fairly compelling jump in visual fidelity over the initial 2013 consoles. And since we're non fifty-fifty close to native 2160p rendering as the standard, we'll have to become across the half-steps to finally get true 4K gaming on the reg.

And when information technology comes downward to cold hard cash, the PS4 Pro (Buy on Amazon for $399) is significantly more than affordable. Not merely did it launch $100 less expensive than the Xbox One X, but since it'southward already well established in the market, yous can already find refurb/open box deals at an even lower toll. And then if you lot're just looking for a way to play high-res games on the inexpensive, the PS4 Pro volition win out for many of us.

Steam

PC Gaming

With and then much variety in components and consumer needs, the way gaming PCs stack upwards against the Xbox Ane X isn't straightforward. On one manus, it's exceedingly difficult to build a comparably powerful gaming PC for 500 bucks. On the other, anyone willing to get a little scrap spend-y tin can get a much more powerful gaming rig that'southward better equipped for true native 4K rendering. So if you're coming at information technology from the high-stop, a overnice PC is undoubtedly more compelling.

From the depression-end perspective, it's piece of cake to build an affordable machine that'south capable of handling most games. For instance, I just specced out a PC capable of running Star Wars Battlefront 2, and it was in the $500-600 range. Information technology won't have the horsepower of the Xbox One X, but information technology does accept the do good of a ridiculously big library with shockingly inexpensive titles. And when yous desire to upgrade downwards the route, y'all won't have to buy a whole new PC.

And finally, one massive argument confronting investing in an Xbox Ane is Microsoft's Play Anywhere initiative. First-party Xbox titles are coming to PCs besides, and so the draw of console exclusivity is expressionless every bit far every bit Redmond is concerned. In the end, the Xbox One 10 has appealing aspects, merely it'southward just not enough to flip near PC gamers.

Now read: The Best Inexpensive Games Enhanced for the Xbox One X