The long wait it’s finally over, Microsoft’s next-gen game console, Xbox One, is here and pretty much every popular tech website has already published a review. To make it a bit easier to find the best resources, I compile a list with the best Xbox One reviews for your enjoyment, some of them are long, other are short but to the point, also a few include videos, and some are just video reviews, but best of all, they are interesting and pack with great information. Towards the end you’ll also find the pros and cons, which pretty much defines all the reviews, follow by the final Xbox One score. Enjoy!
As a side note, if you’re planning to participate in the Xbox One launch event, Microsoft is preparing big celebrations around world and you’ll have the chance to watch it live on Xbox Live, Xbox.com, and Spike TV. For more information check my previous article.
Before we get started, I do want to say that even though it is a pretty exciting time for gamers a lot of tech sites “somehow” managed to get their hands in the all-in-one entertainment device before everyone else — Well… Except for that guy who got his Xbox One early courtesy of Target’s mistake –, and they already published their reviews, but I do feel that those long write-up don’t reflect 100% what the console really is or what it’s really capable of, as many of the features are yet to be tested, such as Xbox Live and real hardware performance, which we are only going to see once a good number of people unbox and setup the console.
With all that in mind, the reviews below aren’t listed in a particular order, if you know about another good review that should be included, please post a comment and I will add it.
Xbox One review resources
- Microsoft Xbox One review: a fast and powerful work in progress (Engadget)
- Xbox One The Review (Polygon)
- Xbox One review (The Verge)
- Xbox One Review: Microsoft’s Ambitious One-Stop Shop (Time)
- Xbox One review: This is the console of the future (Fortune)
- Microsoft Xbox One (Wired)
- Xbox One Review in Progress (IGN)
- Xbox One review: in full (The Telegraph)
- Xbox One review: More than a game console, less than a living room revolution (Ars Technica)
- Xbox One Is a Slice of the Future (Rolling Stone)
Xbox One video review
Xbox One REVIEW! Adam Sessler Reviews (Revision3)
Microsoft Xbox One Hands-On Review (HotHardware)
Xbox One game reviews
As for game reviews, I found this Reddit thread with a list of resources where you can find a comprehensive list of game for Xbox One with reviews and scores (recommended).
Pros and Cons
The following a list of pros and cons I compile from all the resources I’m sharing with you today:
Pros
- Easy to set up and use.
- Familiar Xbox 360 dashboard, which also matches Windows 8 user-interface, therefore there isn’t much of a learning curve.
- More than just games — This is an all-in-one entertainment device.
- Strong game lineup.
- Kinect 2 works good (but it’s work in progress).
- You can disable voice and gesture control.
- Wake-on-voice very impressive and futuristic.
- Really fast face recognition.
- Snap multitasking feature, which allows you play and watch live TV at the same time — just as an example.
- Console runs quiet.
- Controls feature power-saving mode, redesigned analog sticks, shoulder buttons, and d-pad are more comfortable. Improved rumble motor and new rumbling triggers.
- Games load quickly.
- Switching between apps and games is fast and snappy.
- Upload Studio is great to create, edit, and share clips.
- Pass through TV integration is lag-free and easy to configure.
- Clean, sparse menu helps to navigate efficiently.
- Big box design helps on airflow and to avoid overheating.
- Xbox One SmartGlass companion app on Windows Phone, Windows 8.1, iPhone, iPad, and Android.
- SkyDrive integration.
Cons
- Expensive game console.
- Requires a subscription for online gaming and to use apps.
- Pass through TV integration isn’t the best way to go.
- Case is boxy and physical design isn’t really attractive.
- Kinect can be unreliable.
- Some games like Call of Duty: Ghosts and Dead Rising 3 will only play at 720p, which is lower resolution as opposed to the native 1080p on PS4.
- Limited exclusive titles at launch.
- Missing functionalities at launch, such as stream gameplay, which won’t be available until 2014.
- Controls still use AA batteries.
- Proprietary headsets.
- Most apps are pretty much useless when in snap mode.
- Game DVR may not work perfectly.
- Lack of storage management, users will only be alerted when the internal hard drive is running low.
- Switching between games can delete unsaved data without warning.
- Kinect 2 IR remote doesn’t learn on unsupported hardware.
Final thoughts
Although all the reviews have quite mixed opinions, everyone agrees that Microsoft is in the right track, playing is beautiful, and Xbox One has great future that could take over the living-room in a few years. Many write ups coincide that Kinect 2 is a great idea, but it doesn’t work as expected all the time and voice commands may be tricky when more than one person is in the room. Among the reviews pricing seems to be an issue, many feel that at $500, Xbox One is expensive or at the moment is just a luxury device that could be hard to sell.
Everything aside, the real test for Microsoft’s next-gen console is yet to come, and that is when on Friday, November 22nd, gamers finally get their hands on the new Xbox. And only then, we’ll see if the 300,000 dedicated servers for Xbox Live can keep up with the online gaming load, if games are what all gamers expect to be, if multitasking and voice command real works, and if there is any hardware problems in the boxy-box or even is customer will get a DOA.
Finally, it’ll be interesting to see how many Xbox One, Microsoft will manage to sell the first day, priced at $500 many people say is it will be difficult and the $100 difference compare to the PS4 for Kinect isn’t worth it. Sony sold 1 million PlayStation 4s in 24 hours and that is pretty impressive.
Are you buying an Xbox One, a PlayStation 4, or you are just going to wait? Be the first on leaving a comment.
Xbox One final score is 7.7/10, not bad! (I came to this score by averaging out The Verge, The Telegraph UK, Polygon, and Wired scores.)
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].