Xbox One X versus PlayStation 4 Pro: Which high-end console brings the better hardware?

Tonight at E3 in Los Angeles Microsoft introduced the new Xbox One X and it's time to compare their best to Sony's latest and greatest.

The Xbox has become more than just a game console as Microsoft has focused on making it another part of the expansive Windows platform. Meanwhile, Sony has focused on adding features to the PlayStation to bolster the gaming experience as well, though they don't have software expertise of Microsoft. But for many, the whole thing boils down to which console will play the games and movies we want, and look the best while doing it.

While the hardware won't tell the whole story, here's what we know so far.

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CategoryXboxPlayStation 4 Pro
Price$499$399
DimensionsSmallest Xbox ever11.61in x 12.87in x 2.17in
CPU8-core AMD custom Scorpio Engine
Liquid-cooled vapor chamber
AMD Jaguar 8-core (x86-64)
GPU40 custom AMD GCN cores (6 TFLOP)
12GB DDR5
326GB/s memory bandidth
36 AMD GCN cores (4.2 TFLOP)
8GB DDR5
218GB/s memory bandwidth
Storage1TB1TB
Optical outUnknownYes
AV outHDMI 2.0HDMI 2.0
Power consumption245w max310w max
4K StreamingYesYes
USBUSB 3.0USB 3.0 (x3)
VR supportNoYes (PSVR Enhanced)

Sounds like a beast! Your move, Sony.

We'll keep updating as Microsoft reveals more information about the Xbox One X.

Jerry Hildenbrand
Senior Editor — Google Ecosystem

Jerry is an amateur woodworker and struggling shade tree mechanic. There's nothing he can't take apart, but many things he can't reassemble. You'll find him writing and speaking his loud opinion on Android Central and occasionally on Twitter.

89 Comments
  • Don't forget UHD Blu-Ray Player:
    Xbox - Yes;
    PS4 "Pro - WTF were you thinking, Sony?
  • UHDBD FTW
  • Blu rays still exist?
  • What's a BR?
  • Yep, some people like myself still like to buy hard copies of movies and music.
  • I gave up on the hard copy of music about 6 or 7 years ago. I still buy it digitally though. But, I'm with you on still buying physical movies. If they include a digital copy, even better.
  • For what it's worth I have PS4 Pro and I never think to myself that I'm missing out by not having UHD Blu Ray
  • It's not worth much
  • Maybe not to you, but for those of us with huge 4k projection screens, UHD makes a big difference.
  • Yeah, I was bummed about it missing the feature at first, but looking at the available titles, there are MAYBE 2-3 that I would purchase. Until the software selection gets better, it's a non issue.
  • So how many UHDBRs you have in your collection?
  • One, so far. I don't yet have a way to play it but I have one.
  • Round one...FIGHT!
  • Oh, an Xbox article on AC. I wonder if this will be a one and dine.
  • LOL 😂, no joke. We sure do see plenty of Sony PlayStation, though, don't we?
  • I started with AC last Nov/Dec after switching from WC. After all the articles I saw for PS, I just thought Android folks preferred Playstation.
  • Probably. Although you may see another article next year after the XB1X tanks and the Xbox division closes for good...
  • Awww, what a cute little furry troll.
  • Usually have Xbox articles on Windowscentral.com, they've been covering the crap out of this one
  • This isn't even close, Microsoft has a far superior machine come November.
  • You list it as no VR, that's not true. https://www.androidcentral.com/e?link=https2F%2Fclick.linksynergy.co... The mixed reality headsets are supposed to work with it.
  • VR = No? That needs correcting for a start. It's been announced since scorpio was first teased that it would support VR. Just because they haven't shown that aspect at E3 this year doesn't mean it won't support VR.
  • Going to wait for official word from MS on that. This doesn't meet the bare min CPU and GPU requirements listed for either the HP or the Acer mixed reality headsets. Hopefully, they make it happen or have something else in the works! *Edit: We're also trying to get the full picture of what and how pertaining to VR and Xbox 1X. The guys at VRHeads are on the trail.
  • So wouldn't the correct listing be "unknown" rather than "no" even in that scenario? No is a definitive statement, particularly when they have hinted that the answer is actually yes in previous comments.
  • Nope. Until we get an OFFICIAL confirmation that they are working on VR for Xbox, the answer right now is "NO"!
  • Not one thing has been announced yet for VR or AR with regards to the Xbox. NOT ONE THING. Until they OFFICIALLY state their plans, it doesn't have VR. PERIOD.
  • Really? What about this direct quote from Phil Spencer then? : "Because as we saw 4K gaming and really high-end VR taking off in the PC space, we wanted to be able to bring that to console. Project Scorpio is actually an Xbox One that can natively run games in 4K and is built with the hardware capabilities to support the high-end VR that you see happening in the PC space today... when it ships it will be the most powerful console ever built." Just because they didn't detail those capabilities to support high end VR at this year's E3 doesn't negate the FACT that they already announced this console supports VR, a whole year ago.
  • GTX 1080 Ti has the highest teraflop
  • Lol I was going to comment that a low end budget build pc out functions and out performs both of those consoles. Consoles are so far behind now. Hahahaha
  • You can't get a low end gaming PC that does what these do for $399-$499 and have the same quality though.
  • Make you count. Someone that had an Xbox 360, got an Xbox One and now will get an Xbox One X. Its the same price for anyone that will do hardware upgrades from time to time...
  • Make you count. Someone that had an Xbox 360, got an Xbox One and now will get an Xbox One X. Its the same price for anyone that will do hardware upgrades from time to time...
  • I have a 360 and a One. I won't be getting the One X.
  • All I've got is a Xbox One but I will be getting a Xbox One X.
  • A decent mid tier pc will, not a low end budget one.
  • Haha haha I got an i7 6700, 64GB 2133 mhz DDR4 RAM several hard drives 1TB Samsung Evo SSD and 512GB m.2 SSD. 8TB HDD another 256GB SSD on top of all that a GTX 1080 and other parts of the PC about $3000 and I can barely run 4k. And that's the difference is that consoles when done right have an easier optimization process vs PC and that's because of the hardware is identical.
  • 1. I said 1080 Ti which plays games at 4k60 ultra just fine. Far superior than a console ever could.
    2. You just listed a bunch of HDD and SSD space like that's somehow beneficial to gaming performance. 1 SSD or M.2 is enough. I don't care about your 8TB HDD
    3. your RAM was ****. I run DDR3 and run 2400 Mhz. And having 64 GB of it doesn't help you game better. If you're running DDR4 you should be running 2800 Mhz and up. 2133 is barely a sidegrade from DDR3
    4. your CPU selection was ****. K model CPU or bust. even if you don't OC the K model is clocked higher out of the box.
    5. My PS4 pro for the most part doesn't actually run at 4k. Let's wait and see how the Scorpio implements their version of it.
    6. Games need to have Pro/Scorpio version by the developers in order to play at 4K. On PC all games will run at 4K assuming your hardware supports it. So my statement stands: the GTX 1080 Ti is still the superior product no matter how you slice it.
  • You are an idiot. This thing is 499. How much will it cost for a rig with your fancy 1080 Ti? Stop making retarded comparisons.
  • The card will be around $800 alone.
  • Retarded indeed.
  • Ridiculous post. The Xbox One X alone is cheaper than the GTX 1080 Ti. Build a 1080Ti system for $499 then I'll pay attention to your post. The GTX 1080 Ti is not superior in price. A gaming rig running that card would be 3x the price of the Xbox One X.
  • Yet the 1080 Ti costs far more than both of these consoles on its own anyway!!!!!
  • The xBOnex (definitely a 13 year old "hackers" name) is without question a better machine than the PS4 pro! But how much does that matter without compelling exclusive titles?
  • They've released pics of the rear with optical out.
  • Its amazing we still aren't at the point that SSD are standard now
  • They're just not cost effective compared to HDDs. I mean, the newest gears of war takes around 350 Petabytes... That's a lot of expensive nand cells!
  • The PS4 pro was so rushed, the fact that it doesn't​ even have 4k Blu Ray is mind blowing.
  • That was to cut cost. Nothing to do with rushing it.
  • I admit it I'm a PlayStation fanboy lol, not used to seeing them come out with the weaker console
  • I don't think the PS4 Pro is weaker, it's still an extremely powerful console, it just lacks the grunt to push 4K visuals at a constant 60fps.
  • He meant weaker of the two.
  • And now MS has to sell 4k console to people who already have 4k console. Ahh, true 4k, right. 1% of people care about that. Casual gamer won't tell the difference.
  • Who says the machine is for the "casual gamer"?
  • Its for the pixel peepers.
  • I don't think that SONY rushed the PS4 Pro, in fact Sony wanted to Time-Proof the ps4 because of 4k resolutions being mainstream. MS misunderstood what SONY were doing by putting all their efforts in R&D just outdone SONY in their own game, but without proper exclusive games and a price tag which is not that friendly (even though it worth every penny) i think MS is in boiled water if they don't focus on contents.
  • But what games are on it? That's what makes or breaks a system. The average buyer could not care less how many teraflops it has or what the specs are. They buy it to play games. Remind me of the Wii's specs again.....
  • Research it yourself man even using the internet is a chore
  • It was a rhetorical question. Sorry if it didn't come across that way. Rest assured, I'm fully versed in using The Google.
  • No, it came across. And you're right.
  • All Xbox One and 360 games that are backwards compatible, as well as soon-to-be-announced original Xbox titles, with 22 exclusives out of the 42 games that were shown.
  • 22 "exclusives" they count things that will also launch on PC. And there's no guarantee any of them will actually be worth playing The Switch had breath of the wild recently and Mario Odyssey to look forward to... The PS4 had horizon zero dawn recently and the last of us 2 to look forward to... The xBOnex has what? Forza, and another Forza to look forward to? And yeah, I can play blue dragon and lost Odyssey... But why would i spend £500 on an xBOnex or even £200 on an xBOnes when I can just blow the dust off my 360?
  • Using Xbox Play Anywhere so yes, they are Xbox Exclusive.
  • "Remind me of the Wii's specs again....." Remind us of the fate of the Wii?
  • Sold over a hundred million units, so it did well for itself and serves as a perfect emulation station.
  • I have a brick game with a 10,000 in 1 cartridge. I think that's what you're looking for.
  • It looks great, but I'm concerned about the launch library. With Scalebound out of the picture, the only one that really interested me was Forza.
  • If Forza is still geared towards the controller user then I won't be buying it. The previous versions are terrible with a wheel.
  • I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Beast?
    These consoles are all about games now, especially with VR on board.
    Sony kills them in almost every aspect and they're $100 cheaper. You're right that hardware doesn't tell the whole story. Xbox is a whole year behind Sony in terms of game catalogue.
  • I think Microsoft screwed up the original Xbox One launch by focusing on entertainment rather than games, however the Xbox One X announcement was far better as they focused on games instead.
  • Their games lineup looks pretty bad. Another Snoreza game, generic dudebro shooter #43459, and then multiplats and a bunch of indies. Console power is one thing, but you need good games to play on it. I'll wait until some decent games come out.
  • Yeah, I was not a fan of any of those games. They may have a more powerful machine but if the games aren't any good then why does it matter?
  • You're not really waiting for a good Xbox game to come out, be honest. You're waiting for the same hardware on a PS platform to come out. Only then that you'll say, o yeah! Nice hardware, hardware matters yo!
  • Dumb article.
  • Dumb comment.
  • It should come with a 2TB or 4TB drive.
  • A super powered console with nothing good to play on it! Woooo!
  • You're right
  • Speaking as a casual gamer who uses their system as a multi-purpose entertainment hub, I absolutely refuse to " update " my Blu Ray disc collection to 4K. So the whole " plays 4K movie disc " feature is dead to me. Next stop for me will be strictly digital. So from my perspective what Sony did with the Pro is a non-issue.
  • Ditto. I've been getting more digital downloads lately (movies and games), and coupled with me buying less physical BD's and games, it doesn't sway me one bit.
  • If can accept current streaming quality then you weren't the market for Blu-Rays in the first place.
  • If picture and sound quality are issues for you, you aren't using an Xbox to play your discs.
  • Well as a primarily playstation gamer i gotta say xbox really brought it with there new console playstions pro just really didnt peak my intrest to switch from my standard ps4 maybe in the future when i can afford a 4k tv but even then its only 4k gaming no 4k video's might as well just wait for the next generation
  • I am a PS4 Pro owner, and honestly i am quite disappointed in it. The Xbox one X is looking to be what the PS4 Pro should've been.
  • Except with fewer and lower quality games...
  • Not a hardcore gamer but all the games I ever wanted to play are on Xbox (and PS)
  • For me the Xbox wins. I don't like how Sony dealt with backwards compatibility. And even if Sony has more games, I just can't spend money on the PS knowing that there is a much more powerful one out there. I'd be happy with whatever title the Xbox can play as long as its 4K60fps.
  • Backwards compatibility makes for under 2% of total time spent on the console. Everyone SAYS they care about BC, but no one really uses it.
  • Forget the specs, heres the real thing you need to know: The PS4 has over 37 RETAIL titles (and many more "Digital" titles) that are FULL EXCLUSIVE to the platform, you can't play them ANYWHERE else.
    Xbox One has 2...Halo and Sunset Overdrive. If you have a PC, there is NO REASON to own an Xbox. PERIOD.
  • 22 console exclusives according to 1 article i saw. Maybe playable on PC, I don't know. But a PC with these specs will be a lot more money, so you'd be better off with the XOX if you don't already have a gaming PC. Also, more and more titles are buy once, play on both PC and Xbox.