But only hardcore gamers will appreciate it.

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   The Xbox One X is the ultimate video game system. It sports more
   horsepower than any system ever. And it plays more titles in native 4K
   than Sony's PlayStation 4 Pro. It's just about everything you could want
   without investing in a gaming PC. The only problem? It's now been a year
   since the PS4 Pro launched, and the One X costs $500, while Sony's console
   launched at $400. That high price limits the Xbox One X to diehard
   Microsoft fans who don't mind paying a bit more to play the console's
   exclusive titles in 4K. Everyone else might be better off waiting, or
   opting for the $279 Xbox One S.

    Gallery: Xbox One X | 14 Photos

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     * Most powerful hardware ever in a home console
     * Solid selection of enhanced titles
     * 4K Blu-ray drive is great for movie fans
     * Expensive
     * Not worth it if you don’t have a 4K TV
     * Still no VR support

   As promised, the Xbox One X is the most powerful game console ever. In
   practice, though, it really just puts Microsoft on equal footing with
   Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro. 4K/HDR enhanced games look great, but it’s lack
   of VR is disappointing in 2017.

  Hardware

   Despite all the power inside, the One X is Microsoft's smallest console to
   date. It looks similar to the Xbox One S, except it has an entirely matte
   black case and is slightly slimmer. It's also surprisingly dense -- the
   console weighs 8.4 pounds, but it feels far heavier than you'd expect for
   its size, thanks to all of its new hardware. The One S, in comparison,
   weighs two pounds less.

   The Xbox One X's real upgrades are under the hood. It features an 8-core
   CPU running at 2.3Ghz, 12GB of GDDR5 RAM, a 1 terabyte hard drive and an
   upgraded AMD Polaris GPU with 6 teraflops of computing power. The PS4 Pro
   has only 8GB of RAM and tops out at 4.2 teraflops. Microsoft's console is
   clearly faster. That additional horsepower means the Xbox One X can run
   more games in full native 4K than the Sony's console.

   Along the front, there's the slot-loading 4K Blu-ray drive, a physical
   power button, a single USB port and a controller pairing button. And
   around back, there are HDMI out and in ports, the latter of which lets you
   plug in your cable box. Additionally, there are two USB ports, connections
   for optical audio, IR out, and gigabit Ethernet. If you've still got a
   Kinect around, you'll need to use a USB adapter to plug it in.

   Devindra Hardawar/AOL

   The console's controller hasn't changed since its last mini-upgrade with
   the Xbox One S. That revision rounded out its seams, improved bumper
   performance and added a 3.5mm headphone jack. It's still a great
   controller, though I'm annoyed Microsoft is sticking with AA batteries as
   their default power source. Sure, you could just pick up some renewable
   batteries, or the Play and Charge kit, but that's an extra expense. And
   manually swapping batteries feels like a bad user experience when every
   other console has rechargeable controllers.

  In use

   Devindra Hardawar/AOL

   You won't find any major differences between the One X and the last Xbox
   at first — aside from a more dramatic startup sequence. Navigating the
   Xbox interface is fast and zippy, but mostly that's due to a recent OS
   upgrade. If you're moving over from an older Xbox One, you can use the
   backup tool to transfer your games and settings to an external hard drive.
   Just plug that into the new console during setup and it'll make it feel
   just like your old machine. It's also a lot faster than waiting for
   everything to download from Xbox Live.

   You'll still have to set aside some time if you want to play an Xbox One
   X-enhanced title, though. Those 4K textures will make games significantly
   larger, but Microsoft says it's come up with a few ways to help developers
   make downloading them more efficient. For example, language packs and
   other optional content won't get installed by default.

   We only had a few enhanced titles to test out during our review: Gears of
   War 4, Killer Instinct and Super Lucky's Tale. They each took advantage of
   the console in different ways. Gears of War 4 runs natively in 4K at 30
   FPS with Dolby Atmos and HDR (high dynamic range lighting) support. It
   looked great -- especially with HDR, which highlighted bright elements
   like lightning strikes -- but I noticed the frame rate dip occasionally. I
   was also surprised that load times were on-par with what I've seen with
   the game on the Xbox One S.

   You can also play in Performance mode, which bumps the frame rate up to
   60FPS and uses higher quality graphical effects, while rendering it lower
   in 1080p. Personally, I preferred this, since it makes the game much
   smoother -- as if you're playing it on a high-end gaming PC, not a
   console. Some PlayStation 4 Pro games also let you choose how you wanted
   to distribute its power, so in some ways Microsoft is just following in
   its footsteps.

   I've been playing Gears of War 4 on my gaming PC (which is connected to my
   home theater) over the past year, and I was impressed that the Xbox One X
   is able to deliver a similar experience. It didn't quite match my rig
   though, which is powered by Intel Core i7 4790k CPU running at 4GHz, 16GB
   DDR3 RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 1080 GPU. Typically, I play at 1,440p (2,560 by
   1,440 pixels) with HDR and all of the graphical settings set to their
   highest level, and I can easily maintain a 60FPS frame rate. The One X
   felt just as solid at 1080p, but there were clearly plenty of graphics
   settings it couldn't take advantage of, in particular higher levels of
   bloom lighting and shadow detail.

  Gallery: Xbox One X screenshots | 9 Photos

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   Killer Instinct and Super Lucky's Tale run in 4K at a smooth 60FPS. They
   both looked and played better than their standard versions, though I was
   surprised they didn't take advantage of HDR. As usual, I noticed the
   improvement in frame rates more than the higher resolution. Unless you're
   sitting very close to a TV above 50-inches, you'd likely have a hard time
   telling between 4K and 1080p.

   That poses a problem for Microsoft: It's betting that gamers will actually
   want true 4K rendering. In practice, though, PlayStation 4 Pro titles
   running in HDR and resolutions between 1080p and 4K often look just as
   good to the naked eye. The Xbox One X's big advantage is that its hardware
   could let more games reach 60FPS compared to Sony's console.

   Microsoft says over 130 Xbox One X-enhanced titles are in the works. That
   includes already-released games like Forza Motorsport 7 and Assassin's
   Creed Origins, as well as upcoming titles like Call of Duty: WW2. You'll
   be able to find them easily in a special section in the Xbox store. There
   is also a handful of Xbox 360 games that'll get enhanced eventually,
   including Halo 3 and Fallout 3. Some of those titles will get bumped up to
   a higher resolution, while others will get HDR support. Microsoft
   describes these upgrades as a bonus for developers who were prescient
   about how they built their games. Basically, don't expect your entire 360
   library to get enhanced.

   Even if a game isn't specifically tuned for the new console, Microsoft
   says you might still see some performance improvements. The PlayStation 4
   Pro, meanwhile, has over one hundred games built for its hardware, and its
   boost mode can speed up some older games.

   Microsoft is still pushing the Xbox as more than just a game console,
   though. 4K Blu-rays loaded up quickly, and I didn't notice many delays as
   I skipped around films. Planet Earth II, in particular, looked fantastic
   thanks to its brilliant use of HDR. Unfortunately, the One X doesn't
   support Dolby Vision, so you're stuck with the slightly less capable HDR
   10 standard. That makes sense since it's more widely supported, but it
   would have been nice to see Dolby's, too.

   IFrame

   And speaking of Dolby technology, Microsoft is also highlighting Atmos
   support on the One X, just like it did with the One S. The company's app
   lets you configure the console to pass audio Atmos signals to your audio
   receiver. You can also shell out $15 to get Atmos support for headphones,
   which simulates immersive surround sound. It's strange to pay money to
   unlock Dolby features, but it's worth it since it's significantly better
   than Microsoft's audio virtualization technology. The Netflix app also
   supports Atmos for a handful of films (something that the Xbox One S and
   PlayStation 4 offer, as well).

   One thing you won't find in the new Xbox is VR support. Microsoft has
   mentioned that the console will offer some sort of mixed reality, but it
   hasn't offered up any details yet. It's technically powerful enough to
   work with any of the Windows Mixed Reality headsets launching this fall.
   It's a shame that Microsoft is being so wishy-washy because Sony has had a
   very successful head start with the PlayStation VR.

  Pricing and the competition

   Devindra Hardawar/AOL

   The biggest knock against the Xbox One X is its $500 price. The PS4 Pro
   launched at $400 last year, and there's a good chance we'll see plenty of
   deals around the holidays. If your friends are on Xbox Live, or you're a
   devotee of Microsoft's first party franchises, then the X makes more
   sense. If you just want to play third-party titles that come to both
   platforms, though, the PS4 Pro is clearly the better deal.

   If you're looking to upgrade from an original Xbox One, and you have a new
   TV, the One X might be more compelling. It's faster and offers more
   features than the One S, and more importantly, it'll last you much longer
   without needing an upgrade. There's also plenty of wisdom in simply
   waiting a while before you buy the One X, especially if you haven't moved
   to a 4K TV yet. The new console can make games look better on 1080p sets,
   since it'll supersample high-res textures and have more graphical effects,
   but it's simply not worth the upgrade since those TVs don't support HDR.

   If price isn't a huge concern for you, it's worth considering investing in
   a gaming PC. A decent one costs between $600 and $800, plus the price of a
   monitor, but it'll easily be more powerful than the One X. And you have
   the added benefit of upgrading components down the line. Now that
   Microsoft and game publishers are offering most major titles on PC, you
   won't be missing out on much by ditching consoles.

  Wrap-up

   Ultimately, the Xbox One X offers some major performance upgrades that
   gamers will notice -- especially if you're coming from an original Xbox
   One. But it's also a bit disappointing since it's coming a year after the
   PS4 Pro, and it doesn't offer VR yet. For Microsoft fans, though, none of
   that will matter. It's exactly what the company promised: the fastest game
   console ever made.

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