Last week I received a loan unit of Microsoft’s latest video game console, the Xbox One X, touted as the world’s most powerful console. After months of hype, I was eager with anticipation and excitement to feel ‘true power’, another of Microsoft’s descriptions of the console.
Unfortunately, due to being extremely busy with various events and trips overseas, I haven’t been truly able to experience the full extent of the Xbox One X, and so this is simply a very basic first impressions and a review in progress of the Xbox One X.
Right out of the box, Xbox manages to impress with a slipcase with details on installation for the Xbox One X as well as information on Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass. Then comes a rather stunning book with everything you need to know about the Xbox One X, its features and all the enhanced games on offer. As an Xbox fan, the book itself is quite a collectible (and rather pretty too I might add). Being a review unit, Xbox was kind enough to also include a whole lot of extra goodies, including a heap of fantastic games, some trial subscriptions to apps like Netflix and Mixer Pro and my personal favourite, a 4K UHD version of Planet Earth II.
The console is slim, much slimmer than the Xbox One S, and the svelte, matte-black finish does look good, but it’s hardly visually striking, compared to the white Xbox One S and its variants such as the Gears of War 4 or Minecraft editions. The console comes with a standard Xbox One controller, though revamped with added grooves around the back, providing for more grip, 2x Duracell AA batteries and an HDMI cable.
The Xbox One X was simple and easy to set up, and hooks up to a TV much like that of other consoles, with rear ports identical to that of the Xbox One S. In fact, even the power plug is the same. Therefore, if you’re updating from the S to the X, you simply need to swap one box to another. Upon startup, the Xbox One X powers up with the glorious Project Scorpio start up (sadly this is a one time thing when first setting up the console). As with the previous versions of the Xbox One consoles, an update is required, followed by general set up.
Though the Xbox One X is said to have 1TB of storage, about 220GB is already used up. Transferring content from an old Xbox One or Xbox One S to the Xbox One X is relatively simple, with two different methods of transferring data. First, you can simply copy all of your games and content onto an external hard drive and then copy them from the hard drive to the Xbox One X, or, you can transfer content across via your Internet connection. It’s important to note that transferring is a time consuming process and can take hours to complete, depending on your Internet connection speeds, if you’re transferring via the direct method without an external hard drive.
We’re still in the process of transferring some of our enhanced titles and unfortunately do not currently own a 4K TV, so reviewing the enhanced titles on the Xbox One X may not be as heavily focused on the visual graphics and aesthetics. Though we’ll certainly try. Stay tuned for more as we enjoy the Xbox One X.