Compare and contrast XBox One and PlayStation 4 from the user perspective

[MrFox]

Thanks, that seems to be a fair description.


Indeedoo, t would be, and I really want to know what might create those differences when the volume drops off.

Maybe it is because the conditions weren't ideal as djskribbles pointed out already, but I noticed re-reading the numbers again that the PS4's noise drops off by 9dB from a close distance to 1 meter. -Xbox One drops 2 dB in the same distance-. I wonder how.... :smile2:

It's an experimental error.

If "close" is 1 inch from the source in one case, and 4 inches in the other, there can be a 20db difference. There's no way to know where the source is, and the source is not a point. It comes from many different area, it's impossible to make such a test to be representative of anything. Only 1m is a useful figure. And it isn't a lot, because there's already 40db noise.

 

[AlphaWolf]

I may be wrong but am actually getting the impression that the PS Camera has better sound than the Kinect's camera (have always been impressed by the quality of sound that the PS Eye on PS3 was capable of - I remember playing that card game with Carl B and it was like we were together in the same room), but I can't actually hear this because the bandwidth now bringing this below phone levels (meaning less than 8khz rather than the 48khz I think the PS Camera is capable of)

Well if you want background noise in your chat, it certainly seems from the ign video that the ps4 is better at reproducing it.

 

[AzBat]

Before we get too sidetracked I'd like to thank Shifty for creating this thread. I know it's not required, but I would be mainly interested in comparisons from people who bought both consoles at launch. I'm interested in comparing OS, apps, multitasking, communication(video, voice & text), parties, media capabilities, etc. Basically all software related non-gaming uses. It's these where I think both companies will try to differentiate & play off the other. Competition is good!

Tommy McClain

 

[SlimJim]

EDIT: Something curious I noticed is that the Xbox One gets hotter than the PS4 when playing games, while it remains as silent as it was.

The explanation is: Sony wants the system to remain cooler. so the fans run at a higher RPM, thus creating more noise.

Sony could push a 1kB firmware update that makes the PS4 about as quiet as the XboxOne, but it will get a few degrees hotter, leading to possible future defects or something, I don't know

 

[joker454]

Last column is for different activities so not terribly useful. Both should about the same volume in use, although quality of sound makes a huge different (pitch of hums). Both are definitely audible if quiet; neither is 'silent'.

You sure? This is from the same DF article about the xb1:

We measure a peak of 125W consumed during gameplay and a 49 degrees Celsius case temperature (directly above the processor, so effectively the exhaust), in an ambient 23-degree environment - as close as we could get to our PlayStation 4 testing. That's 15W off our measured PS4 peak and almost the same temperature level. The difference is noise: Xbox One is a remarkably quiet machine - virtually silent during front-end and media tasks and even at maximum load after several hours' worth of Ryse gameplay

The distinction to them is clear, the difference between the two is noise. That sounds very significant to me given the great importance placed on console noise this past gen, it was quite the sticking point with many people.

 

[DrJay24]

DF, they measure the power and don't measure the noise. I don't want their subjective opinion. Not that I expect the XB1 to be noisy, they did make a huge box with an external power brick for a reason.

 

[joker454]

DF, they measure the power and don't measure the noise. I don't want their subjective opinion. Not that I expect the XB1 to be noisy, they did make a huge box with an external power brick for a reason.

Subjective opinion is critical here because not all noise is the same. Just like a measured 72 degrees outside on paper will look the same but actually feel completely different depending on humidity or wind chill, how irritating noise is will hugely depend on the type of noise, it's pitch, etc, something measurements alone don't give you. In the article they clearly say the difference between the two is noise, but I guess everyone missed that paragraph.

 

[DrJay24]

Subjective opinion is critical here because not all noise is the same. Just like a measured 72 degrees outside on paper will look the same but actually feel completely different depending on humidity or wind chill, how irritating noise is will hugely depend on the type of noise, it's pitch, etc, something measurements alone don't give you. In the article they clearly say the difference between the two is noise, but I guess everyone missed that paragraph.

You can measure frequency and amplitude. They can even record the audio and post links. Maybe they are afraid no one will hear the so called difference? If they are not going to do the science they are just as bad as the mainstream game journalist like IGN. They made their name measuring frame rates, why not just wave their hands and say one is better than the other and save the time?

 

[Bagel seed]

Browser benchmarks. PS4 is significantly faster. I suspect Xbone is heavily limited by snap resources.

Sunspider
PS4: 1,027.40
XBO: 2,360.90

Kracken
PS4: 22,768.70
XBO: 111,892.50

http://anandtech.com/show/7528/the-xbox-one-mini-review-hardware-analysis/5

 

[MrFox]

I wish they tried the browser benchmark both when running a game and when it's stopped.

 

[HMBR]

http://anandtech.com/show/7528/the-xbox-one-mini-review-hardware-analysis/5

I'm impressed by how bad power usage is, specially idle and standby, what's going on here?
because I would expect a PC with this kind of hardware to use half the power or less for idle/standby... no focus at all for power saving outside the worst case scenario (gaming)?

if both companies want to turn their consoles into a "media center" and always on thing, they should make a better job at this I think!?

 

[joker454]

http://anandtech.com/show/7528/the-xbox-one-mini-review-hardware-analysis/5

I'm impressed by how bad power usage is, specially idle and standby, what's going on here?
because I would expect a PC with this kind of hardware to use half the power or less for idle/standby... no focus at all for power saving outside the worst case scenario (gaming)?

if both companies want to turn their consoles into a "media center" and always on thing, they should make a better job at this I think!?

Maybe it's due to immature os code. Pc hardware especially haswell based stuff can downclock to 0.6ghz on a dime as needed, and likewise for gpu's. Maybe the consoles don't have the software to do that properly just yet. From the looks of thsoe numbers it's almost like the gpu is idling but the cpu is still running at full ghz on consoles, even when idle.

You can measure frequency and amplitude. They can even record the audio and post links. Maybe they are afraid no one will hear the so called difference? If they are not going to do the science they are just as bad as the mainstream game journalist like IGN. They made their name measuring frame rates, why not just wave their hands and say one is better than the other and save the time?

I don't get it, they gave their opinion right in the article. What are they supposed to be afraid of? I'm not following what you mean.

 

[temesgen]

You sure? This is from the same DF article about the xb1:



The distinction to them is clear, the difference between the two is noise. That sounds very significant to me given the great importance placed on console noise this past gen, it was quite the sticking point with many people.

There is a major difference between the noise associated with a launch 360 with the DVD spinning and 360 slim running a game off a HD install. I never noticed or cared about the noise associated with my slim, my launch 360 OTOH was extremely annoying.

It appears the PS4 is louder than the XB1 but the ambient noise on both platforms is acceptable.

 

[joker454]

There is a major difference between the noise associated with a launch 360 with the DVD spinning and 360 slim running a game off a HD install. I never noticed or cared about the noise associated with my slim, my launch 360 OTOH was extremely annoying.

It appears the PS4 is louder than the XB1 but the ambient noise on both platforms is acceptable.

Both previous consoles to me were too noisy for media watching, including later revised models. That's actually what got me to shift all my gear into the closet, that being excessively noisy consoles, and I owned multiple models of each console going through ps3 launch, 40gb revised and slim, and 360 launch, falcon and slim models. All were too noisy for movies and media. I think people here aren't concerned with media use much as all they want are games so in that case they may be ok, but for those wanting to use these as media boxes the xb1 has a clear advantage on the noise front if you have heard both side by side in a normal room, you can't miss the difference.

 

[MrFox]

but for those wanting to use these as media boxes the xb1 has a clear advantage on the noise front if you have heard both side by side in a normal room, you can't miss the difference.

You have?

 

[temesgen]

Both previous consoles to me were too noisy for media watching, including later revised models. That's actually what got me to shift all my gear into the closet, that being excessively noisy consoles, and I owned multiple models of each console going through ps3 launch, 40gb revised and slim, and 360 launch, falcon and slim models. All were too noisy for movies and media. I think people here aren't concerned with media use much as all they want are games so in that case they may be ok, but for those wanting to use these as media boxes the xb1 has a clear advantage on the noise front if you have heard both side by side in a normal room, you can't miss the difference.

I'd say the noise situation is very much like the resolution differences everyone is up in arms about these days. Going from 600P to 720P makes a notable difference that most will appreciate while jumping to 1080P from 720P is an improvement but in a living room not as important or noticeable. Similarly going from the noise of launch 360 to PS4 or XB1 is enough of an improvement that the margin between the the two systems is negligible.

 

[joker454]

You have?

Yup.

I'd say the noise situation is very much like the resolution differences everyone is up in arms about these days. Going from 600P to 720P makes a notable difference that most will appreciate while jumping to 1080P from 720P is an improvement but in a living room not as important or noticeable. Similarly going from the noise of launch 360 to PS4 or XB1 is enough of an improvement that the margin between the the two systems is negligible.

One difference is where you want to use the box. In my tv room I don't care since I'd put them all in the closet anyways, so the noise situation there is moot. However I'm considering one for the bedroom, in that circumstance the ps4 would not be suitable to me from a noise point of view whereas the xb1 would be good because it's just about silent. Of course that the xb1 can't play media from a nas makes it all but useless to me but that's an entirely different matter...but from the noise perspective it wins out.

 

[RudeCurve]

EDIT: Something curious I noticed is that the Xbox One gets hotter than the PS4 when playing games, while it remains as silent as it was.

Looking at the numbers both have the same minimum noise floor but the X1's "smart fan" setting allows the system to run quieter by slightly allowing more heat generation. What's good to see is the X1 consumes less power across the board.

The explanation is: Sony wants the system to remain cooler. so the fans run at a higher RPM, thus creating more noise.

Sony could push a 1kB firmware update that makes the PS4 about as quiet as the XboxOne, but it will get a few degrees hotter, leading to possible future defects or something, I don't know

+1

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Well we also have twich and ustream feeds recorded with the same devices, and they sound very good. So it's an online bandwidth thing. Doesn't make it more or less of an issue (maybe more) but it's not a like-for-like test of the mic or the camera.

By all means, provide other reference materials. I only posted what I had seen in passing, and by no means are my early posts intended as definitive. There might be value in updating the OPs with consensus-approved comparisons, so when we find a reference for audio chat that everyone agree is representative, stick that up top.

You sure? This is from the same DF article about the xb1:

As above, I was quickly quoting some stats and moving a post. Better comparisons are definitely welcome, and the DF comparison has been brought into question. A lot of the comparisons could be solved by YouTube vids showing the two consoles side-by-side, if ever anyone comes across such things.

 

[djskribbles]

Both previous consoles to me were too noisy for media watching, including later revised models. That's actually what got me to shift all my gear into the closet, that being excessively noisy consoles, and I owned multiple models of each console going through ps3 launch, 40gb revised and slim, and 360 launch, falcon and slim models. All were too noisy for movies and media. I think people here aren't concerned with media use much as all they want are games so in that case they may be ok, but for those wanting to use these as media boxes the xb1 has a clear advantage on the noise front if you have heard both side by side in a normal room, you can't miss the difference.

You make it sound like the PS4 is noisy. Sure, maybe to you. But I can barely hear my PS4 in a completely silent room from my seating distance (~10ft). If the room isn't completely silent, I can't even hear it. It's significantly quieter than my PS3 slim, which most people didn't seem to have a problem with. The only time that my PS4 is somewhat noisy is when the BD drive is spinning, and even then it's about the same as my PS3 slim. I haven't tried playing a Blu-Ray movie yet.