Just because the Xbox Series X is coming doesn’t mean Microsoft is giving up on the Xbox One and Xbox One X anytime soon. But just because your older Xbox can play all the new and upcoming games doesn’t make it an equal footing.
The Xbox Series X is obviously a more powerful machine, but there’s another key advantage over its predecessors. Namely the fact that it seems to be using noticeably less power.
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This information comes from Dutch site Tweakers, which has been putting the Series X through a number of technical tests and compared it to performance from the 4K-capable Xbox One X. In short? The Series X is quieter, faster, and uses less energy.
According to Tweakers’ testing, the Xbox Series X uses 128W of power when it’s playing a game, while the Xbox One X used a higher 180W of power doing the same thing. Sitting on the menu used up 50W of power on the Series X, compared to 52W on the One X, while sleep mode required just 28W compared to 43W on the One X.
Those are quite big differences, and despite the immense power of the Series X Microsoft has clearly done a lot to ensure it’s far more energy efficient than its predecessor.
In terms of sound the Series X is much quieter as well, running at 25dB during gameplay and 24dB on the menu screen. In the same situations the Xbox One X came in with a respective 38dB and 27dB.
Interestingly, despite reports the console could run quite hot, the Series X came out cooler in Tweakers' comparison testing. While they admit that using a FLIR camera the way they did isn’t that accurate, they didn’t record temperatures higher than 48 Celsius (118.4 Fahrenheit). The Xbox One X, on the other hand, reached up to 65 Celsius (149 Fahrenheit).
It does make sense that a console using less power would produce less heat, even if the fans are running as quietly as previous reports have noted.
Power has been a big focus of the Xbox Series X’s marketing so far, and as good as it is to have it seems that power isn’t being prioritised over other important factors. And you’ll be able to see that for yourself come November 10, assuming you were able to get a pre-order in.
