Microsoft Xbox One X (XBOX) Reviews and Impressions

It doesn't sound normal. I would be taking it in if that sound will annoy you after a long period of dealing with it.

 

During this Sean Bean Apple like narrative you can see them testing 1X in a noise cancellation room.

 

OK something is definitely up with my console, the 4k HDR blu ray playback is exhibiting very greyish black bars compared to my S, and even compared to the standard blu ray version. Tried a few different movies, reinstalled the blu ray app and all with same result. My video output settings are exactly the same as the One S, man I'm kinda worried.

 

yea get that replaced.

 

Finally got my console, pretty happy with the no noise. Overall very happy so far, barring any defects in the machine itself. I asked about replacements since Ultra had me worried, they indicated that all Scorpio devices would be replaced with Standard... nooooo

 

Against my better judgement I picked one up...freely available at that store at around 11AM (they had two non scorpio behind glass).

I wanted the non scorpio it looks better.

First thing that struck me as I was carrying it in the bag out of the store...holy smokes it's heavy. I guess that vapor chamber cooler is heavy. Once I took it out of the bag though it didn't seem like a clump of dense matter anymore but more normal.

Haven't fired it up yet, will update/post more impressions then.

Still cant believe MS stick a measly 1TB hdd in there and didn't go for the obvious (and likely incrementally cheap) wow factor of a 3 or 4 TB drive befitting the monster marketing image of the console they're trying to drive. But in practical terms combined with my existing 1TB external it should be fine. Even if the "4k" games average out to double size. I'm typically only using around 35% of my 500GB S+1TB external.

One thing bugging me before firing it up, I cant believe the dash isn't 4K. Evidently that had to be sacrificed for giving 1Gb of RAM back. Come on, they cant squeeze a 4k dash into 3GB of system ram? Engineering fail MS.

Too be fair, I had to ask here if PS4 Pro's dash was 4k (upon borrowing my my brothers Pro), so evidently I couldn't at a glance "just tell". So it may not be a big deal. But it's the psychology of the thing. A so called 4k marketed console should have a 4k dash!

I've already decided Quantum Break will be my choice to play 1st. I lost interest halfway through on regular Xbox, but it's "enhanced" and looks great anyway, so it should be a fine choice, and I already own it.

 

its much faster than XBO. Waiting for my friends to wrap up AC:O. Game looking incredible.

 

Now I've plugged it in...of course in todays console world it's a lot of waiting. Starts right off of course with an "required update", which was 700 some MB so paltry by todays standards, but due to the console taking a long time to "process" the update besides downloading it, still took too long.

Then there's the games themselves, although I had set my S to DL any 4k updates the last few weeks, guess Quantum Break was on my S internal drive so I gotta DL that to play it, 83GB! Ridiculous. That'll push me over ISP cap this month (250GB) and cost me $10. And take a few hours.

I tried Gears 4 on the X, very sharp, but no fundamental change to the graphics, but I left that game after my campaign playthrough on the S pretty much despising it.

Judging by Digital Foundry the improvements to games like Halo 5 will likely be subtle stuff you wont notice except in a side by side, not that thrilling.

All in all I'm pretty dang underwhelmed although I should have known that going in. The box is $100 too expensive, point blank. Sure it's 6TF but the nature of the beast like a high end PC is you're going to utilize about 10% of the extra TF, mostly it's going to idle.

Oh well on the plus side I'm "set" for at least a couple years. It'll be the best console going for at least two years. It's just, not much is exciting me in gaming right now or even the forseeable future, now that I'm "off" Destiny 2. Maybe Red Dead 2? But that's probably several delays away yet. Battlefront 2 kind of, but not relishing the thought of paying $60 for it. . Honestly kind of feeling buyers remorse though currently.
$400 would be so much more palatable.

About noise well, I haven't noticed hearing it at all from the couch so uhh yeah, seems good.

I do like being black again a surprising amount coming from a white Xbox S (which was more because i found a great price on that edition so I was forced to accept the white). The console seems a bit weirdly top heavy to me though, with the smaller base-larger top design.

 

Try Forza 7

 

I'm still debating getting one as it's also an UHD blu ray player
But I find the games lacking somehow.
Anyone has tried Quantum Break on it ?

 

Rangers what a whiner. Some people have more money than sense. LOL

I will take the console off of you. You're clearly not the demographic Microsoft was targeting at. Go back to your PC & leave us console plebeians alone.

Tommy McClain

 

I've tried. Looks a lot sharper than when I played it on XBO.
Thing is, the game still suffers from a lot of artifacts. That part they haven't really resolved. Their temporal pipeline really creates so many artifacts it's hard to unsee for me. I don't think I will do a second play through for this one because it wasn't cleaned up for release.

 

As someone with a 1070 PC setup, I can see why someone would feel that way. I've played all the same titles on my PC and it looks pretty close to match to ultra settings. It's a big upgrade if you've never played at those settings though.

There are some exceptions though, the latest X1XE patches have some slightly newly added things not found on PC ultra. So (??) and I prefer the additions over marginally better PC settings. It makes it look more complete. ie Forza 7 looks a lot better than my unpatched PC @ ultra 4K.

Secondly, without a 4K HDR screen, I don't think you're going to see the 'big jump' in quality over the lower res, SDR versions.

DSR is great. Don't get me wrong. It really is good. But it's still only 1080p at the end of it, and I can see where it falls off. The insect demo show cases the difference between 1080p and 4K@1080p very well, but the reality is that there' still quite a few pixels missing that I know I would be able to see with a proper 4K screen.

You (we) need a game that contains textures made for 4K, and HDR, and spatial sound to really draw out the best from both the device and the TV.
I think there are only a handful of games that offer that level of fidelity today.
I am expecting a lot more with the next set of releases for titles.

 

I think that's a little unfair. Why more money than sense? What would be sensible about not buying an XBox One X if you like console gaming and XBox?

I can understand his sentiments and it's a problem with mid-gen upgrades. These boxes are the same cost as a new console, spent sooner than a new generation and not offering anything like a next-gen upgrade in gaming. So people spending the same amount and not getting the same return, even if they consciously know they won't, could certainly feel underwhelmed. It's a whole new state and experience in console gaming. Indeed, I'd be shocked if people were lauding XBOX with the same sort of enthusiasm as a typical new console generation; it's naturally a bit 'meh' in console gaming terms, and for people who are happy to spend a premium for a 'nice enough' experience. Those with HDR displays will likely feel much more satisfaction as that is a very visceral improvement.

 

Because even though what Ranger writes is probably true for a lot of XB1S folks with high end PCs, hell, worst case scenario lets say it is true for everyone (as in, they feel 'meh') it's unlikely he'll go back after this especially if he has a 4K HDR screen, the probabilities are small that someone would evaluate that it wasn't worth the price paid and reverting back.

 

Isn't that what he means by buyer's remorse? He's bought the thing is now somewhat 'stuck' with it. Won't want to go back (presumably there's a cost involved. You can't typically take a new bought product back for a full refund without it being defective), but wishes he hadn't bought it in the first place. It's probably hard to gauge the personal value of something like this without having experienced it plenty in person.

 

uhhh yea. It's buyers remorse For sure it is. Lol you have a console that plays the same games already, you are shelling out $500 for getting the upgrade.

It's like... you have a Toyota Corolla, you are perfectly happy in how it gets you A to B. Then you buy a luxury sedan, it's way better. But you still only cared about A to B.
But over time it grows on you. I think he'll lose buyers remorse once he has a new title to sink his teeth into.

 

Yeah getting it replaced today, they got one set aside for me already but it's the standard edition tho. Have you tried UHD HDR movies yet? Any issues with grey looking bars?

 

I have to buy a UHD disc first. I will be shopping for planet earth II this Black Friday. Unfortunately I won't until then. I will try a standard Blu Ray for now; will report later tonight.

Let me know how your situation progresses