Playstation 5 vs Xbox Series X- Clash of the Consoles
Both Sony and Microsoft are set to release their new generation of gaming consoles this November, promising drastic improvements to their ageing predecessors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic imposing various restrictions and delays, the launch line-ups are much thinner than the vast amount of system exclusives that we expect, and distribution delays will inevitably make the product very difficult to get your hands on this Christmas. However, the big question for many will still be: Which one should I buy? We’ve got you covered. Below is a detailed comparison of the specs, applications and features of the two systems. Here is Clash of the Consoles.
Sony’s PS5 will be available to people in the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea on the 12th of November, and is set to release in the UK and the rest of the world on the 19th of November. The cheaper Digital Edition is the alternative, possessing a smaller profile due to the absence of a disc drive. This edition will be priced at $359 and the PS5 will be priced at $449. One big issue that many users found while using the PS4 was the noise of the fan. The PS4 has a very loud fan, which can be detrimental to the overall gaming experience as a roaring fan during gaming can be very irksome. Sony has promised that the PS5 will contain a much quieter fan than the PS4, Dengeki Online even claims that the fan is ‘extremely quiet’ and the PS5 cools down very quickly. Some doubts can be expressed over this claim, as the GPU for the console is the Ray tracing acceleration (Up to 2.23 GHz; 10.3 TFLOPS). This GPU is known to be smaller than others, and Sony claims that this allows it to be more agile and nimble. Smaller surface area of a GPU means less heat transfer, and therefore the fans need to work harder to keep the fan cool, therefore noise could still be an issue. It will be interesting to see how Sony have overcome that and produced a much quieter PS5 like they claimed. As I said earlier, the maximum output for the GPU is 10.3 Teraflops, not quite hitting Xbox’s 12 Teraflops. Although this most likely won’t be a notable difference, it could well be beneficial towards Microsoft as developers learn more about each system. One aspect where Sony is superior to Microsoft is loading times. The PS5’s SSD reading speed of 5.5GB/S is more than double that of the Series X due to the PS5’s storage being 175GB smaller. This is a crucial advantage as people generally hate waiting for things to load and killing loading times will increase user interaction and provide for an overall seamless gaming experience. The PS5 boasts an incredibly evolved DualSense controller, providing haptic feedback all around the surface to make for a mesmerizing sensation while going through events of significance in the game. It also has a much more expansive launch lineup than the Xbox, with the likes of Marvel’s Spiderman: Miles Morales, Demon’s Souls and many more. It does not offer extensive backwards compatibility like the Series X, however the PS5 has the upper hand with exclusives and that will be a crucial selling point.
Set to hit shelves on November 10th at $499, The Xbox Series X abandons the flatter footprint of its predecessors in favour of a 30cm tall, 15 cm wide, 4.5 kg block. This is a questionable design option, as I’m not sure many people would want to have a big block on display in their living room, however Microsoft has no doubt packed that brick with premier components from top to bottom to supply futuristic, next generation gaming experiences. The secondary console they are releasing, the Xbox Series S is $200 cheaper than the Series X, and unlike the PS5 Digital Edition, there are many differences between the Series S and the bigger, more powerful Series X. For starters, the Series S contains a GPU which delivers a maximum output of just 4 Teraflops compared to the Series X’s 12 Teraflops. This means the difference between the two consoles in graphics will be very notable. Secondly, the Xbox Series S has 512GB of storage compared to the Series X’s 1TB. It has also, like Sony, opted for the exclusion of a disc drive in this console. The Series S also has a smaller SSD, however due to the output resolution being 1440p at 60 fps, games take up less storage and therefore developers will be able to decrease file size for their games, which means they will take up less space on your SSD. Are all these differences worth a $200 difference? I believe so, you may even be getting a good bargain as apart from the disc drive, there aren’t really any differences I can see that can’t be resolved by supplement. Moving on to the Series X. As mentioned earlier, the Series X’s GPU, a RDNA 2, produces raw graphics-processing power of 12 Teraflops, 1.7 Tflops more than the PS5 and double the Xbox One X. Games will appear cleaner, more detailed and smoother than ever before, and Microsoft has announced that its gameplay will be at a native 4k resolution with up to 120 fps, with the potential for 8k. Like Sony, Microsoft has also focussed largely on speed improvement. The Series X will cut down drastically on loading times and delays with its custom 1TB SSD. Microsoft have also skilfully advanced on their features, one new feature being Quick Resume, which allows players to run multiple apps and games in the background. Its backward compatibility is next level, with an all new feature called Smart Delivery, where you can purchase an Xbox One version of a game and download it onto your Series X for the top tier gaming experience. However, it isn’t all next-gen gaming experiences and better SSDs with the new Xbox. One big disappointment for people planning on buying the Series X was when it was announced that it was to have the same dashboard and interface as the Xbox One. A crucial asset of a gaming console is its interface, as that is the first thing that catches the user’s eye, therefore if it is just the same design you put on the last console, people will lose interest due to the anti-climax. Another questionable tactic that Microsoft has adopted is using AA batteries on its controllers (again). Rechargeable batteries have been around since 1859, and Microsoft chose not to use rechargeable batteries like its competitors, PS4 and Wii U, when launching the Xbox One. The power of rechargeable batteries has been apparent over the past 7 years however Microsoft has still opted to use AA batteries, which decreases user convenience as people must spend more and more money on batteries, pop them every few hours and dispose of them. Microsoft have also chosen to not include pack in games with these consoles (again). Pack in games is a great tactic to entice customers, adopted by Sony and Nintendo over the years. However, Microsoft has never considered this option, although games included in the purchase will be seen as an eye-catching bundle by customers and increase sales. The last aspect of the Xbox Series X that would have definitely prompted many sighs from the gaming world was its choice against VR. Virtual Reality is a valuable additional feature to have on your console, as it provides a unique, different and very enjoyable gaming experience for the user, as seen in Sony’s addition of it back in 2016. However, Microsoft has yet again opted out of the VR experience, leaving users with the same gaming interface and not many different, unique changes to the experience.
Compared to Sony’s constant advancement of its technology and features with every console, it seems that Microsoft is struggling to keep up with the times and step out of their comfort zone. In addition to that, the sudden delay of Halo Infinite to 2021 has left the Xbox Series X launch lineup very sparse compared to PS5’s. The launch lineup will only offer enhanced versions of this Christmas’ hottest games, such as Call of Duty: Black Ops- Cold War and Cyberpunk 2077, leaving Microsoft with their last option to promise exclusives in the future. Exclusives are arguably the biggest selling decider of a console and having a sparse exclusive lineup on your console can decrease sales drastically. For me, this and the lack of exciting progress on the Xbox’s old features gives the PS5 the edge, and Microsoft look set to lose yet another Console Clash.
