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Xbox One S Vs Playstation 4 Pro
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Xbox One S or PS 4 Pro? Which one deserves your money?
Features
Technology: Hardware
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Games & Software: PS 4 Pro
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Technology: Review
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Games & Software: Xbox One S
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Two new consoles are hitting the market, but which one should you buy? Here's our list of the good and bad on each console.
World War 4K
Both consoles love playing the "we have 4K" card, but does this even matter? Well, if you don't have a 4K TV and aren't buying one anytime soon then probably not. At the same time, even if you have 4K maybe it's a little over-hyped (see Samsung UNJS8500 Review).
On the other hand, if you have a large TV that supports 4K resolution it certainly would be nice to be able to use that feature. Unfortunately, just how each console will support 4K in terms of games is not known. Sure, the manufacturers will promise a lot but until games appear that support 4K it's hard to say.
What we can tell you is that the Xbox One S is the only one to have an Ultra-HD Blu-Ray that supports 4K. This is a little odd considering Blu-Ray is really Sony's baby. Of course, if you don't have 4K Blu-Ray discs then this is meaningless to you. Besides, aren't we all streaming (see Television Cord Cutting and How To Stream Netflix In 4K Resolution) our content these days?
Advantage? While the Xbox One S has the advantage with the Ultra-HD player, the PS4 Pro may ultimately win if it can convince developers to support 4K on new games as well as offer free 4K upgrades for existing games.
Price
Well, it's hard to not factor in price when the price difference is about $100 between the two. The Xbox One S will cost around $300 USD while the PS 4 Pro will cost around $400 USD. In addition to that $100 difference, the Xbox One S can be had with some pretty decent game bundles.
Advantage? Xbox One S
Power
The entire point to buy a new console is because it's bigger, better, and more badass than it's predecessor. Just like in the world of cars, this is a horsepower war and the PS 4 Pro is running circles around the Xbox One S.
Want the specs? The Xbox One S can run 1.32 teraflops of calculations while the Playstation 4 Pro can run 4.14 teraflops. That means the PS4 Pro is 3 times as powerful as the Xbox One S. Of course, just like with cars, the one with the biggest engine doesn't always have the best performance.
Advantage? Playstation 4 Pro
Online Service Wars
Online play is a big deal for a lot of gamers and with good reason. So the security and reliability of a console's online services are also a big deal. The good news is that both the Xbox Live and PlayStation Networks are very safe and secure.
On one side, we could argue that the Playstation Network is down more often than Microsoft's Xbox Live Network. On the flip side, we could point out that some services on the Playstation Network can be used online for free whereas anything on the Microsoft side requires a Live subscription.
One neat thing on Microsoft's Live service are the free monthly games they offer subscribers. It's fun to get a few free games each month, but the downside is that they're often games you either have or otherwise passed on when they came out a while back.
Advantage? Ever so slight advantage to Camp Microsoft here.
Exclusives
This is the big war each console manufacturer has been playing for years and that's an attempt to get the best games exclusively on their system. Microsoft brings incredible games like the Halo series and Forza franchises. Sony fires back with Uncharted, God of War, and even original ideas like No Man's Sky (which ultimately backfired when it wasn't as good as anticipated).
So for every amazing exclusive game one console offers, the other console offers their own exclusive. So it really comes down to the types of games you like.
Advantage: Up until this point I'd all this a tie. But we have to talk about "mod support" on consoles. The big two games with mod support ability on consoles are Fallout 4 and Skyrim Remastered. Although these were promised on the PS4, it seems like mod support won't be on the PS4 after all. So we give the win to the Xbox One S here.
UI & Controls
In terms of the user interface (UI) on each console, it's hard to pick a winner. It's a very subjective thing and all about what you get used to. While never a fan of the Playstation UI, I can at least say the Microsoft UI solution is terrible and confusing and seemingly gets slower and more complicated with every update. I'd give the win to Sony there.
In terms of controlling the console with an actual controller, well this is an easy win for Microsoft. The Sony controller is an abomination and never feels right in the hand. The layout is wrong and has been from the original Playstation days. They really need to just give in and copy Microsoft on this one.
Advantage? If you want a console for playing games then the Xbox One S wins here hands down, all because of the controller. If you're more about using your console as a multimedia device and aren't a hardcore gamer then Sony has the advantage.
So Who Wins?
As these giants battle it out you, the consumer wins. Oh, right, so you wanted a console winner? For my money, Xbox One S is the winner as I can't justify the extra money for a more powerful system that doesn't have any major game support behind it.
But Wait!
No, seriously, wait! Don't buy either one unless you have nothing and need something. In that case, go with the Xbox One S. Otherwise, wait. In late 2017 Microsoft is expected to launch their Project Scorpio which is their answer to the PS4 Pro and more of an apples to apples comparison.
The advantage of waiting is that while developers start to harness the PS4 Pro's power, those same games (non-exclusives) will appear on the Scorpio console near its launch. That means that you'll likely have a larger library of games that take advantage of this new console power.
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