Xbox Series X review: a next-gen PC

Microsoft’s new Xbox Series X console is designed to usher in a new era of gaming. We affectionally call it the “next gen” every time a big leap in console hardware arrives, promising new games and things we’ve never seen before. The Xbox Series X will undoubtedly deliver those in time, but for now, the big launch games, flashy new graphics, and next-gen games are still on their way.

In the meantime, Microsoft has built what feels like an exciting PC upgrade experience in a console form. The Xbox Series X comes the closest I’ve ever witnessed to re-creating the superior PC experience of playing games, thanks to SSD storage, a far more powerful CPU, 120Hz support, and impressive backward compatibility features that improve existing games. This is all inside a $499 box that’s quieter and far easier to use and maintain than the $3,000 gaming PC I built a few weeks ago.

There’s a reason the Xbox Series X even looks like a PC — it’s because it often feels like one.

Cool and quiet hardware

Microsoft has squeezed all of the components of the Xbox Series X into a boxy, rectangular, tower-like case. It looks like a compact PC but with an unassuming design that looks far better standing vertically than it does laying horizontally (just like most PCs). The base of the Xbox Series X isn’t removable, and (unlike the PS5) the console is not designed to be opened up. When placed horizontally, it’s fair to say that the Xbox Series X looks like it fell over with the base permanently attached. I’m not in love with the design, but I’m also not bothered by it. It’s a black box you stick under your TV and forget about, as long as you’re able to fit it under your TV.

There are two USB ports at the rear alongside an Ethernet port, a storage expansion slot, and HDMI 2.1 out. At the front, there’s a single USB port and the 4K Blu-ray drive. Microsoft has also added raised Braille bumps next to the ports on the Xbox Series X, a nice touch for accessibility. I would have liked to have seen USB-C here or even the clever HDMI passthrough system from the Xbox One days, but neither is a major omission. Sadly, the Xbox Series X doesn’t support Wi-Fi 6, which would have been great future-proofing for many.

I haven’t noticed any issues with heat or noise on the Series X. Microsoft has placed the Xbox Series X exhaust fan at the top, flanked by a green coating in the plastic cover that makes it look like there’s an LED up top. I’ve never once heard this fan, which is surprising since my Xbox One X can get pretty loud in certain games. Yet, the Series X has remained silent throughout the weeks I’ve been using it. The heat exhausting from the top is very similar to what I’ve felt on the Xbox One X, and it has never been too hot to touch.

It’s difficult to judge dust buildup, noise, and fans in just a few weeks of use, but I don’t have any immediate causes for concern. I have mostly been using the Series X outside of a TV stand where air can flow easily, so it hasn’t been squeezed inside a unit. I think most people are going to need to think about positioning and airflow with these next-gen consoles, just like you would with a giant gaming PC.

The only other hardware that’s new with the Xbox Series X is the controller and the storage expansion cards. (More on these in the next section.) The updated controller is very similar to the Xbox One version, with an updated D-pad, textured grips, and the addition of a new share button and a USB-C port. The share button lets you quickly share clips or screenshots with friends, much like on a PS4, while you’ll need to purchase a rechargeable play-and-charge kit separately ($24.99) if you really want to take advantage of USB-C — the controller runs on AA batteries by default.

Storage and load times

Load times are incredibly good on the Xbox Series X compared to what we’re used to on current consoles. The Xbox Series X utilizes a greatly improved CPU that works in tandem with the SSD to help games load far faster than the current Xbox One X.

I’ve noticed load time improvements across every game I’ve used on the Series X. Some are dramatically faster in terms of minutes saved waiting for a game or a level within a game to load. Others are a few seconds saved here and there, but they all add up to more time spent playing games instead of waiting for them to load.

I’m used to the speedy load times from PC SSDs, but I’m still impressed with the Series X load times. Games like Sea of Thieves and Destiny 2 load in less than half the time they do on the Xbox One X. Even older games like GTA V load a lot faster than before.

While the Xbox Series X comes equipped with 1TB of storage, you can only use 802GB of it. That’s actually slightly more than the 780GB of usable space on the Xbox One X, even with Microsoft reserving space for the OS and new Quick Resume feature that lets you swap between games in around 10 seconds or less.

Microsoft is also using a proprietary storage expansion slot on the Xbox Series X, and so far, only Seagate has been confirmed as a partner for the $219.99 1TB cards that slot into the rear of the console. The usable space on these cards is 920GB as, once again, space is reserved for Quick Resume.

Games that have been specifically updated for the Xbox Series X make use of Microsoft’s new Velocity Architecture to get the most performance out of the system’s SSD, so you can’t run them off USB storage. The vast majority of backward-compatible games, however, don’t use Velocity Architecture, meaning they can be played directly off a USB drive — unless they get a Series X update in the future.

That means a lot of the immediate load time improvements are thanks to the SSD and CPU alone, not the new APIs Microsoft has implemented that should improve load times even more in the future. It also means that if some of your older games don’t get updated for the Velocity Architecture, then you could just run them freely from USB storage. You’ll see plenty of load time improvements this way — providing you’re using fast USB SSD storage drives — and some may even come very close to the times you’ll see using the internal drive.

Optimized games and 120Hz modes

These load times and CPU improvements, alongside a big bump to 12 teraflops of GPU performance, all contribute to an experience in existing games that feels a lot smoother. That could mean a jump from 30fps to 60fps in games like Fallout 4, or menus and planet load times in Destiny 2 suddenly being on par with PC.

These improvements also mean that most titles with poor performance on an Xbox One should hit a stable 30fps at the minimum. A lot of frame rate drops that I’ve seen in games on the Xbox One X have simply disappeared with the Xbox Series X, thanks to the hardware boost. I’ve noticed Apex Legends, Warframe, and Destiny 2 all dipping less at demanding points.

A number of Xbox Series X optimization patches will be available when the console launches on November 10th, and I’ve had a chance to test both Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 4. Both games are transformed by these updates, moving from 30fps to 60fps. Sea of Thieves feels like a new game as a result, or like you’re playing on a PC. That’s how dramatic the shift from 30fps to 60fps feels.

Even backward compatibility support gets an impressive boost. The Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV now runs super smoothly on the Xbox Series X locked at 60fps, while the Xbox One X often struggled to maintain that 60fps performance. Grand Theft Auto IV also benefits from the auto HDR feature that Microsoft is shipping with the Xbox Series X, that will work on most games to make them look even better.

Alongside the optimization patches, the most exciting games I’ve tested so far on the Xbox Series X are Dirt 5 and Gears 5 — not because they’re necessarily technical showcases for the console, but because both offer a new 120Hz option.

This is where the Xbox Series X really started to feel even more PC-like to me. I play at 165Hz with frame rates that exceed 200fps in games like Destiny 2, Valorant, Call of Duty: Warzone, and CS:GO on my gaming PC. I personally value frame rates over visual quality, so I regularly drop settings to get as many frames as possible. Running around the versus multiplayer mode in Gears 5 in 120Hz feels like I’m playing on my PC. With frame rates hitting 120fps, input lag is reduced, and the experience is suddenly so much smoother than what I’ve ever experienced on any Xbox before.

That same feeling of PC-like smoothness plays out in Dirt 5 with the 120Hz mode enabled. The overall visual quality drops to achieve 120fps, but when I’m sliding around corners, the input latency is reduced, and I value that over some mud and snow rendering just that little better on my 4K TV.

It’s that feeling that’s really important with this new Xbox, and I can’t stress it enough. Games feel better. Whether that’s because of load times, better frame rates, or simply the CPU, SSD, and better GPU making things like menus or character changes in games feel instant, a lot of the sluggishness has been removed without developers even having to touch games.

Higher frame rates are clearly a focus on the Xbox Series X, but some games will favor new ray-tracing techniques instead. Watch Dogs: Legion is a good example, as it will run at 30fps on the Xbox Series X with ray tracing enabled. The Watch Dogs: Legion patch for Series X wasn’t available in time for review, so ray tracing is still largely a mystery on the Xbox Series X right now.

I’m also encouraged to see that a choice is emerging in Xbox games. That’s something we’ve seen in current-gen games, with video options like FOV sliders you typically only find on PCs. Dirt 5 and Gears 5 are good examples of this choice, allowing you to enable a 120Hz mode for the higher frame rates and smoother gameplay or focus on a 4K target with image quality prioritized.

I’m hoping we see these choices on many optimized Xbox Series X titles in the future.

Quick Resume and the Xbox dashboard

While the hardware and experience of gaming have changed on the Xbox Series X, the dashboard remains the same. Microsoft is keeping the same Xbox One dashboard that exists today, with a few visual changes the company has been working on in recent months.

It feels like Microsoft has been tweaking the Xbox One dashboard ever since the disastrous launch of the console back in 2013, and not a year goes by without an overhaul. I think it’s definitely in much better shape these days, but I still find the guide confusing to use at times.

Most of the big issues I had with the Xbox One dashboard have disappeared, though. Speed and reliability problems have vanished, and, like games, the dashboard feels just that bit more responsive on the Xbox Series X. A new store interface, also available on the Xbox One, has definitely helped. It’s clear Microsoft has taken the feedback and made some meaningful changes in recent months, but I’d still like to just be able to pin my favorite apps and games at the top of the home interface instead of seeing recently used ones that rotate frequently. Microsoft could still do with offering more customization options here and simplifying the interface further.

You do get the benefits of a dashboard that feels instantly familiar if you’re coming from an Xbox One, but without the fun and fanfare that a new UI entails. Thanks to the faster components inside the Xbox Series X, you can now boot from cold (not standby) in around 20 seconds. That might be enough for some to turn off the instant standby option in favor of some energy bill savings and the health of our planet. Also, the boot animation no longer has an accompanying sound so loud it makes you feel like your house is falling down.

The biggest new addition to the Xbox Series X dashboard over the Xbox One is Quick Resume. It’s a feature that lets you switch between games in around 10 seconds or less. The timing will vary per game, as will the number of games you can switch between and quickly resume. I’ve been able to regularly swap between five games freely, but the number will vary on titles.

It even works after reboots or updates, and it’s great to just turn a console off and not have to worry about save points. When Quick Resume works, it works really well, but it doesn’t seem to work on all games. I’ve not been able to use it with Forza Horizon 4, Watch Dogs: Legion, Sea of Thieves, or GTA V. Microsoft is still working to enable Quick Resume on a number of games due to a “recently discovered platform bug,” so updates should arrive after launch. While most games should support Quick Resume, it’s still not clear which missing ones will get updated.

While I ran into a number of Quick Resume bugs on an Xbox Series X preview unit, I haven’t had as many problems on the retail hardware. Gears 5 has failed to resume or the audio has crackled as it resumes, but most games seem to resume well. I have had Quick Resume points just disappear, though. I think Quick Resume is the best part of the Xbox Series X, but there are clearly some early bugs that still need to be squashed. I also wish Microsoft had provided some way to manage Quick Resume or to know which games are in a suspended state.

The final part of the dashboard I want to touch on is sharing clips and screenshots. Microsoft made a big deal about a new share button on the Xbox Series X controller, but it’s totally let down by the dashboard. It still takes far too long for clips and screenshots to be uploaded to Microsoft’s Xbox Live service for you to share them.

This is a problem that exists on the Xbox One, and I’ve had to wait minutes for clips to be available despite having a fast 1Gbps upload at home. On my gaming PC, I can instantly stream clips or my screen to friends on Discord, and the Xbox process just feels old and slow in comparison.

The feel of a PC

Microsoft’s intention with this new generation is to bring a PC-like experience to a console. You can feel it throughout the Series X and even the smaller Series S. If you upgraded from a GTX 1060 gaming PC to an RTX 3080 PC right now, you’d get the same Windows 10 you know and access to the same games you’ve been playing for years. Everything would just feel faster and look better, and you’d be ready for the latest and greatest games.

That’s exactly what you get with the Xbox Series X. Not only does it feel like you’re upgrading your PC if you move from an Xbox One to an Xbox Series X, but it feels and looks like it. (Hello, PC tower design.) You take everything you already own, even existing hardware accessories, and you bring them along with you, just like you do on a PC.

It’s a different approach to Sony with the PS5 and its dedicated exclusive next-gen games, new dashboard UI, and new controller. Microsoft has focused on the basics that really matter: high frame rates, a quiet and cool console, faster load times, accessory support, and backward compatibility. In my three weeks of using an Xbox Series X, it’s fair to say it has delivered on these basics.

But the best part about the Xbox Series X is that it’s not actually a PC. I don’t have to worry about drivers, copious game launchers, or Windows updates ruining how my PC works. You turn the Xbox on, and you play games. If developers embrace the choice and performance options I’ve experienced on the Series X, I’d certainly be tempted to play far more on an Xbox with crossplay, cross-save, and keyboard and mouse support all becoming more prominent on Xbox.

There’s one big question that remains for me with the Xbox Series X: when will Microsoft’s 23 first-party studios deliver the next-gen games to truly show what this console is capable of? Powerful hardware and a sleek user experience are only part of the mix. Microsoft will need the games to really make the Series X feel like something brand-new.