Sony PlayStation 4 sells 22 million, but Microsoft has
backward compatibility
Update: Watch the new Xbox One vs PS4 comparison video
we put together
Our incredibly in-depth Xbox
One vs PS4 comparison
is more meaningful than ever after GamesCom
2015. It considers Microsoft's backward compatibility news and previous
price drops, and how it all contrasts with Sony's powerful specs, exclusive
games and graphics power.
Now a year and a half since the two consoles launches,
Sony's sales numbers prove that PS4 is more popular with early adopters of the
next-generation of video games. Fact.
PlayStation 4 is outselling
Xbox One 2-to-1 right now, surpassing 22.3 million systems sold
worldwide, while Microsoft's sales numbers are at 12.8 million.
Who cares? Those are overall sales statistics - all
meaningless, as the Xbox
One price drop and surge
in popularity are starting to make the debate a little more even.
Being able to play Xbox 360 games on your Xbox One starting
in November is going to guarantee that trend will continue.
Microsoft's come-from-behind campaign consists of adding
exclusive games likeHalo
5, full
DVR capabilities, readying an Xbox
Elite controller and, further out, experimenting with HoloLens.
In addition to Xbox One backward compatibility,Windows
10 presents exciting game
streaming possibilities in a forthcomingNovember
update. It's already the only console with EA
Access and Sling
TV.
Sony is preparing PS4 for a streaming and virtual reality
future, too, withPlayStation
Now, PlayStation
TV and Oculus
Rift-rival Project
Morpheus. In the meantime, it's readying Uncharted
4 for its delayed 2016 release date and tweaking its console with
feature-filled firmware updates and PlayStation
Plus games.
Both consoles are getting Fallout
4 and Star
Wars: Battlefront, as is the ever-popular PC, and both are rumored to be
getting a 4K
hardware refresh for the coming months, with HDMI 2.0 able to deliver
4K resolution at 60fps. For now, we have to settle for 1TB
refreshes.
Whether Sony's PS4 will get the new Ultra
HD Blu-ray standard as part of this upgrade is still open to debate,
but it would make sense as a key differentiator between the console upgrades if
and when they do drop.
"We have have the advantage in powering gamers through
the next decade," say both companies. To see if that's true, our Xbox One vs PS4
comparison needs another update.
Xbox One vs PS4 hardware design
Deciding between PS4 and Xbox One is like peeling back an
onion, and it starts with the outermost layer, the hardware design.
Xbox One's dimensions make it a menacing gaming beast that
measures 13.5 in x 10.4 in x 3.2 in. It's also riddled with vents, a
design decision to avoid another Red Ring of Death overheating
scenario.
Xbox One is a monster console with lots of vents, but at
least it won't overheat
It towers over every other device (though Microsoft advises
not to stand it up vertically), and completely dwarfs our smallest home theater
gadget, the app-filled Chromecast.
PS4 has a more distinctive angular shape with an overall
stylish design. This half-matte half-gloss console measures a slimmer 10.8 in x
12 in x 2 in at its widest regions.
These dimensions make Sony's machine more media cabinet-friendly, at least next to Xbox One. The new Xbox also weighs a heftier 3.56 kg vs PS4's 2.75 kg.
PS4 is smaller and a little more stylish
PS4 has the advantage of hiding ports too, though as we
illustrated in our video comparison, this can actually make it harder to plug
cables into the back of the system.
In this way, Xbox One represents functionality over form. A
lot of the internal specs are comparable, but Microsoft and Sony really
diverged when it came to the designs of Xbox One and PS4.
That may matter since you're buying into an expensive
console that's going to sit front and center in your living room entertainment
system for the next ten years.
Xbox One vs PS4 front and rear ports
More clear cut is the wireless connectivity situation. PS4
makes room for gigabit ethernet and 802.11 WiFi bands b/g/n, while Xbox One
includes all of that plus the older 802.11a band.
Xbox One also supports both the 2.4GHz and newer 5GHz
channels that are compatible with dual band routers. PS4 limits connections to
2.4GHz, which is likely to have more interference.
Both systems launched with 500GB hard drives and now have
1TB variants, but only PS4 allows user-replaceable internal drives. An Xbox
One teardown found a standard-looking drive inside, but replacing it
voids the warranty. Be careful.
Instead, the Xbox
One June update finally allowed gamers to add external storage to the
monster-sized system. There are strings attached. The drive needs to be 256GB
or larger and USB 3.0 compatible.
External storage isn't an option that Sony supports in its
"go big or go home" internal approach.
PS4 vs Xbox One rear ports
PS4 and Xbox One are void of remarkable characteristics on
the front. There's a Blu-ray/DVD combo drive to the left and their respective,
muted-color logos to the right. PS4 has a pair of USB ports tucked between its
sandwich-like halves next to where the disc drive is located.
It's party in the back Xbox One connections. That's where it
has two USB ports, HDMI in, HDMI out, S/PDIF for digital audio, a proprietary Xbox
One Kinect port, an IR blaster connection and an Ethernet port. To the
far right is a K-lock in case you want to lug this system around to LAN
parties.
Sony went with a minimalist approach when it came to PS4's
rear ports. You'll only find an HDMI out, S/PDIF, Ethernet and PS4 camera port
(marked "AUX") around back.
Xbox One is more feature-packed in this area thanks to its
HDMI in and IR blaster connections used for its TV cable or satellite box
functionality. But are you really going to use this feature? PS4 lacks this
pass through technology, opting to stick with gaming as its top priority.
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