Battle of the Consoles: Xbox vs Playstation

There are only a couple of rivalries that withstood the test of time. You have the Lakers vs. the Celtics in the NBA, Lamborghini vs. Ferrari in super cars, Nike vs. Adidas in sneakers, Android and iOS in mobile operating systems, and of course for us gamers – the Xbox vs. Playstation.

For those who have been gaming for as long as us, you’d remember that it wasn’t always a 2-way competition between the two. There was a time when Nintendo’s devices – Gamecube and Wii were part of the competition for our living rooms.

But at some point, these two gaming giants decided that they would go toe-to-toe every couple of years or so to come up with the most innovative gaming console for us.

In our opinion, Playstation has come up on top in the last couple of versions. They have just dominated Xbox with a combination of innovative hardware, awesome exclusive games, and an overall enjoyable gaming experience with their consoles.

However, Xbox has made a bold proclamation this year that their latest model – the Xbox Series X will be four times better than their previous model. Yes, FOUR TIMES better.

But would that be enough to topple the king of gaming consoles this round? Or will Microsoft need to go back to the drawing board and try again next time?

Let’s find out!

 

The Tale of the Tape

Before we get into the nitty-gritty analysis of this pound-for-pound matchup, let’s look at the fighters on each corner.

 

Hardware & Specs

Spec Sheet
Specs	PS5	Xbox Series X
CPU	8-core 3.5 GHz AMD Zen 2	8-core 3.8 GHz AMD Zen 2
GPU	10.3 teraflop AMD RDNA 2	12.0 teraflop AMD RDNA 2
RAM	16GB GDDR6	16GB GDDR6
Storage	825 GB Custom SSD	1 TB custom NVMe SSD
IO Throughput	5.5GB/s (Raw), 8-9GB/s (Compressed)	2.4GB/s (Raw), 4.8GB/s (Compressed)
Resolution	Up to 8K	Up to 8K
Frame Rate	Up to 120 fps	Up to 120 fps
Expandable Storage	NVMe SSD Slot	1TB Expansion Card
External Storage	USB HDD Support	USB HDD Support
Backwards Compatibility	PS4	Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Optical Disc Drive	4K UHD Blu-ray	4K UHD Blu-ray
Price	$400 – $500	$500

 

If you would look at the spec sheet for both consoles, you’ll see that both of them use the same customized processor and graphics card from AMD. This high-powered processor allows both consoles to perform ray tracing.

Ray tracing can usually be found on high-end gaming desktops because of the computing power needed to run it. But with the custom CPU & GPU AMD designed for the two consoles, both will now have ray tracing capabilities. This means better in-game graphics performance for gamers, especially when playing optimized games.

Another key difference between the two consoles is the noticeable gap in IO Throughput. In a nutshell, IO throughput is the speed of data transmission on the memory. With Playstation’s higher IO Throughput, they’ll be able to have faster in-game loading times for players.

So right out the box, Xbox comes out swinging with its advantage on almost every hardware component. Based on pure hardware alone, we’ll have to award this one to Xbox. Although their advantage is very slim, they’ve managed to load up their console with higher specs for the same price.

This makes the competition exciting because Xbox has an early lead because of its hardware’s prowess. Now let’s see if this hardware advantage would make a difference once we jump on to the games later on.

 

Controllers

A serious point of contention between these consoles is their controllers. Although for the most part, there weren’t any noticeable differences in the past versions (at least in our opinion), Playstation’s new DualSense controller just takes the competition by storm.

This new controller is years ahead in terms of innovativeness with its haptic feedback and adaptive trigger technology. Say goodbye to random shocks and vibrations on your game, because with this new and improved controller, you’ll get a more realistic feel of the game.

The technology in the controller allows you to feel different sensations based on the actions of the character as well as the environment in which your player is. This means that you’ll have a realistic feel on how a gun cocks and recoils every time you fire it. Exciting times, right?

On the other side of the ring, Xbox mostly made aesthetic and ergonomic changes. The biggest change that they did was to add a share button, similar to what the old PS4 had before.

A plus side for Xbox though is the compatibility of the Xbox One controller with the new Series X. That means you won’t have to buy new controllers when you break them or you need an extra.

 

In-Game Performance

Now for the most important aspect of the battle. Which gaming console gives you the best game performance?

 

Video

Both consoles have almost the same GPU capabilities, with Xbox having a slight advantage. But they have the same resolution cap, the same frame rate cap, and the same ray tracing capabilities. Since they basically have identical specs, they also share the same video experience in-game.

The difference-maker in this category would be Xbox’s Smart Delivery feature.

Basically, this feature upgrades your existing games from Xbox One, to match the improved graphic specs of the Series X. With Smart Delivery, you’ll be able to play your favorite games with better graphics!

The best part about it is they’re doing this absolutely FREE.

So in terms of video performance, we’ll take the Xbox because of its Smart Delivery feature.

 

Sounds

The Xbox Series X supports Dolby Atmos for streaming, gaming, and Blu-ray. That’s an awesome feature to have if you’re an audiophile with high-quality speakers set up around your game room.

On the other hand, Playstation has a customized audio processor called Tempest, which gives it great 3D sound processing. However, this is only available for headphones. So better invest in a glorious piece when buying a PS5.

We’ll give this category for you to decide. Are you a gamer who enjoys blasting out sound effects? Or do you prefer to plug in your headphones and leave the world behind?

 

Loading Time

As we mentioned above, Playstation edges out the Xbox Series X when it comes to game loading speed because of its better IO Throughput.

Although both are already fast by any standard, if you’re an excited fellow who wants his/her game booted up immediately, then Playstation would be your best bet!

 

Games

Exclusive Titles

Although they have a lot of awesome titles shared between them, each has exclusive titles that can be the decider for you.

Upon release, Playstation announced Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Horizon II: Forbidden West, Gran Turismo 7 as their exclusive titles.

While Xbox has: Halo Infinite, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, Forza Motorsport 8, State of Decay 3.

In our opinion, we’re much more excited about the games coming out from Playstation than Xbox. So we’re choosing them to win this round!

 

Backward Compatibility 

There are days when nostalgia hits and you just want to play the games you used to play. The beauty of having backward compatibility is it gives you the opportunity to replay old games you loved before.

Xbox Series X gives you the freedom to choose games from as far back as the 1st Xbox. While Playstation only gives you access to PS4 titles.

So for this category, we’re hands down giving it to Xbox.

 

Game Subscriptions 

If you love to play different games, but find it expensive to buy new games every month, game subscriptions are perfect for you.

Xbox gives you the option to subscribe to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate that gives you access to hundreds of games including top-tier titles such as Gears 5 and Forza. In addition, it also gives you the opportunity to play Xbox games on Android-supported devices. Sweet!

Playstation on the other hand is lagging in this department because they only have Playstation Plus Collection which gives you access to the top 20 games for PS4.

Xbox wins this round again just because of the vast amount of titles available for you via the Game Pass Ultimate.

 

Design

The console’s design is pretty subjective depending on your personal preferences and taste.

Personally, we prefer Playstation’s futuristic-looking console over Xbox’s boxy design that could be mistaken for an air purifier.

So kudos to the Playstation design team for creating this sleek machine!

 

Conclusion

In our count, we ended up with a tie between the two consoles because both are amazing in their own right! Come on give Xbox credit for really amping up their game with their Series X. But also, you gotta tip your hat to Playstation’s innovativeness especially with their new controllers.

Now, despite having a tie on our scorecards, we would still opt to have the Playstation just because of its controller. To be honest, it’s the one that drove it home for Sony’s baby, even if the Xbox’s game pass was so interesting.

Now it’s time for you to make a decision. Are you a team Playstation or a team Xbox? Let us know in the comments below!