Xbox One vs PlayStation 4: Which one should you buy?
When console giants battle it out, you the gamer has to make the hard decisions. In just a few days the Xbox One will be launched in India, sold exclusively on Amazon India. The launch comes nine months after the Playstation 4 started selling here, giving Sony a headstart. Confused between the two options? We help you with that decision.
Specifications
This time around, both consoles have similar technology under the hood. The PlayStation 4 has a 1.6GHz custom x86 8-core processor, very similar to the Xbox One's 8-core CPU at 1.75GHz; both use AMD's Jaguar architecture.
What makes a big difference, as always, is the RAM. While both have 8GB RAM, the PlayStation 4 has faster GDDR5 RAM clocked at 5500MHz with a 256-bit memory bus. On the other hand, Xbox One has 8GB DDR3 RAM, like the one you have in your PC, clocked at 2133MHz. The numbers do seem to tip in the PlayStation 4's favour.
Winner: PlayStation 4, with powerful RAM
Graphics
What's gaming without great graphics. While both systems use the same AMD Radeon GPU, a lot of reputable sources have dissected both Xbox One and Playstation 4 to find the Sony console packing a lot more GPU power with 1152 GPU cores at 800MHz as compared to Xbox One's 768 shader cores and at 852MHz (which Microsoft revised from 800MHz).
Couple PS4's core superiority with the GDDR5 RAM above and there's a lot more power in there for new technologies to take advantage of. While all games will look impressive on both consoles, in the long term, as graphic engines get more and more complex, the PS4 will be able to last this cycle longer.
Winner: Again, PlayStation 4, with more GPU power
Style/form factor
Last console war, Xbox 360 came out with an impressive design that made the PS3 pale in comparison. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the form factor winner this time clearly is the PlayStation 4. With its sleek unique slant design, the PS4 just looks beautiful on your console table, without taking too much of space. Xbox One does have nice minimalist aesthetics, but the console itself is massive without factoring in the gigantic power brick and the large Kinect unit. Again, this round may go to the PlayStation, but it purely depends on your aesthetic taste.
Tie: You pick what you like, though the PS4 takes a lot less space
Controller
Nintendo Wii showed the world that there are more fun ways to control games, making the controller go beyond just a piece of plastic with buttons. The Xbox One controller is sadly just an updated version of the Xbox 360 controller, which was excellent in its own right, but for a new generation, there should be more. The new controller does look good, and packs an IR sensor for Kinect.
In terms of innovation, Sony's DualShock 4 controller leads in features, with a small touch pad in the center, a clearly defined options button and an instant share button for those Twitch and social share moments. In addition to that, it updates the sixaxis, and sports a light in the centre for motion sensing.
Win: Playstation 4's feature packed DualShock 4
Peripherals
Microsoft's Kinect is a groundbreaking innovation with a host of good games like Dance Central, as well as a lot of health and fitness games utilizing it. Microsoft has shown off some truly jaw dropping, foot-pumping games during E3 this year. While PlayStation 4 does have a camera similar to Kinect as well as a few things like Project Morpheus VR glasses in the works, the Kinect definitely seems a lot more exciting.
Win: Kinect
Games
While all games generally make it to all platforms including PC, both Microsoft and Sony are pulling out all the stops in the exclusive game department. So far Sony's exclusives have been middling at best with Infamous and Killzone putting on a decent show. Though with BloodBorne and Uncharted 4 in the pipeline, the PS4 has a fighting chance.
Xbox One, apart from the really good Kinect lineup, has Sunset Overdrive, Forza and the eyeball searingly good Quantum Break. There are also timed exclusives, where Xbox One scored the new Rise of the Tomb Raider and PS4 got the beautiful No Mans Sky, a game that will take you 5 billion years to see all of it.
Tie: Again, it depends on what games you're looking forward to
Service and failure
With the Xbox service, Microsoft has always been spot on with warranty, with quick console replacements, even though the Xbox 360 failure rate was pretty high with the accursed Red Ring of Death, the bane of every gamer. PlayStation 3 had a better run, though Sony's service has always been a bit spotty.
There have been reports constantly coming in from PlayStation 4 owners about their dealings with Sony service when getting their console replacements, which seem to take ages. The PlayStation 4 has seen a few cases in terms of failure, mostly in the Blu Ray failure department. Nevertheless, the replacements do arrive eventually. Going by Xbox 360's failure rate, new Xbox One owners should keep their warranty cards safely.
Tie: Post the experiences you had with Sony or Microsoft, whether good or bad, and hopefully it should help prospective buyers. It could also work as a wake up call to both console giants to up their service game.
Price
Xbox One is priced at Rs 45,990 with Kinect and the PlayStation 4 retails at Rs 39,999, the same as the Xbox One without Kinect. You can get the PS4 a bit cheaper as various online sites like Snapdeal and Flipkart run discounts periodically. If you do plan on going in for an Xbox One, make sure you pick up the one with Kinect for a little bit more.
Conclusion
Out of the seven points illustrated, PlayStation 4 seems the logical winner, winning three of the points and the Xbox bagging just one. The rest are ties that depend upon what games you want to play and which console you like the best in looks. Though the PlayStation 4 leads in specs, the Kinect more than makes up for it, bridging the power gap with sheer magical fun, but at a bit of a price jump. You could either choose one, both or use that money to build a killer gaming PC.
