PS5 vs Xbox Series X: Which console should you buy?

We are getting new next-gen consoles this week, the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S, as well as a PlayStation 5

Design

These consoles could not be more black and white. Literally, the PS5 is white and Xbox Series X is black.

They do also have completely different designs too, So the Xbox Series X has a more classic look with the box style design. Whereas PS5 is looking pretty more unique.

PS5 Series - StepPhase — PS5 (2nd. pos.) and PS5 Digital Edition (3rd. pos.) with all accessories

The PS5 is much taller than the Xbox Series X. PS5 also comes with a built-in stand, which either you can attach to the bottom or the side of the console.

PS5 also has an LED strip towards the top of the consoles, which will change their color depending on the stage, the console is in. It will give you an RGB gaming look, which mostly the gamers are big fans of.

And the Xbox Series on the other hand doesn’t have any fancy when it comes to the design.

Now something you should know, there are 2 models of each of these consoles.

So the PS5 has the Regular PS5 and then the Digital PS5. Whereas the Xbox has the Xbox Series X and the Series S.

Now on the PS5 side, both model looks similar, the only difference is here Digital Edition PS5 doesn’t have Blu-ray drive. So it has a more uniform design.

On the Xbox side, Series S is crazy small nearly 60% smaller than Series X. It is even smaller and thinner than the Xbox One X.

Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S - StepPhase — Xbox Series X (left) in Black & Xbox Series S (right) in White

Controllers

Controllers also could not be more black and white either. And PS5 controller is white and the Xbox controller is black.

The PS5 DualSense controller is now bigger and fatter then the PS4 controller.

The biggest difference between both controller are, the Joysticks are symmetrical on PS5 controller. Whereas Xbox controller are asymmetrical.

PS5 Controller

It now features Advance Haptic Engine. According to this, you will able to feel the difference between certain surfaces in a game. Stuff like ice, mud, grass, and so on.
It has a built-in rechargeable battery.
It also has a TouchPad for interacting in some games using touch. You can also use UI as a mouse.
It has adaptive triggers, which can adjust pressure based on the games. So actually you will able to feel different guns in games actually firing differently.
It has a built-in microphone on top of the already built-in speakers. Meaning that you can use your TV speakers and still have a voice chat with your friends, without the need for headsets.
It has a headphone jack for connecting your headphones easily and also has a dedicated share button.

Xbox Controller

The Xbox Controller will require separate batteries to work. You can however buy the Xbox play n charge kits but it cost an extra $25 with taxes.
It uses impulse triggers, which vibrate independently in the controllers to give you a better immersion.
It comes with Dynamic Latency Input. Microsoft claims it manages to reduce the latency of the controller which could result in comparative advantage over PS5 gamers in Online Games.
It also has a headphone jack for connecting your headphones easily and also has a dedicated share button.

However, the PS5 controller has way more features than the Xbox controller. And Xbox controller is an improved version of Xbox One.

Specifications

Which of these consoles are more powerful? Well specifications wise these consoles are very similar

PS5 Specifications

Custom AMD CPU & GPU
8 Core AMD Zen 2 CPU
AMD RDNA 2 GPU with 36 Computes Unit @2.23Ghz
Variable 3.5Ghz Boost
RAW GPU Performance: 10.28 TFLOPS
16GB GDDR6 RAM
Bandwidth: 16GB @ 448GB/s
Custom 825GB NVMe Storage with Speed upto 5.5GB/s

So, PS5 games will actually load faster and assets will load quicker as well.

Xbox Series X Specifications

Custom AMD CPU & GPU
8 Core AMD Zen 2 CPU
AMD RDNA 2 GPU with 52 Computes Unit @1.825Ghz
Constant 3.8Ghz Boost
RAW GPU Performance: 12.16 TFLOPS
16GB GDDR6 RAM
Bandwidth: 10GB @ 560GB/s only for the first 10GB of memory and remaining 6GB @336GB/s of memory
Custom 1TB NVMe Storage with Speed up to 2.4GB/s

So, CPU alone the Xbox Series X is more powerful

Xbox Series S Specifications

8 Core AMD Zen 2 CPU
3.6Ghz Boost
GPU: 20 Computes Unit @1.56Ghz
RAW GPU Performance: 4 TFLOPS
10GB GDDR6 RAM
512GB NVMe Storage with Speed up to 2.4GB/s

You can customize specs as per your requirement by burning your more extra bucks.

Cooling

PS5

It uses Liquid metal as thermal paste, It does not have a vapor chamber. But it does have a gigantic fan and massive heat sink, which according to SOny It can achieve the same performance as a vapor chamber.

Xbox Series X

It uses a vapor chamber and active fan as well heat sink to keep the temperature down.

Xbox Series S

It does not have a vapour chamber. But it does have a active fan and large vents.

UI

Xbox Series

Xbox Series UI looks similar to Xbox One X’s UI
It’s UI runs at 1080p even on the 4K TV or 8K TV

PS5

PS5 UI is brand new.
It’s UI runs at 4K and then upscales to 8K

Both feature a great style UI with a focus on not just the games. But also What your friends are doing, the latest news and activities rounding the games you are currently playing. And achievements and Trophies and with all that perfectly visible. But Both UI looks pretty good.

Games

Moving on to Games, this is were it get’s really interesting.

Xbox Series

On the new Xbox series, you can play from the current or previous generation and as well as next-gen games on last-gen. So, it’s fully backward compatible.
Xbox exclusive games will be Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Cyberpunk 2077, Halo, and much more. Flight Simulator 2020 will be a very big exclusive game on the Xbox.

PS5

Sony, on the other hand, was going to have actual PS5 exclusives and reason for this For example, If you developing a game for just one system, you can obviously optimize that game much better.
But still, most PS5 games will support PS4 including “Spider-Man – Miles Morale”.
And the only big PS5 exclusive games were available at the moment is Ratchet & Clank Rift apart, Gran Turismo 7, Horizon Forbidden West, God of War: Ragnarok, and much more.

Majority of the games that will be available at the launch for both consoles and actually be playable on both.

Major exclusives launching in 2021 and 2022 like Horizon Forbidden West and God of War are on the Sony side. And Halo and Fable will be on the Xbox side franchise.

Graphics

Which consoles will have a better looking games?

Xbox Series X

4K120 Capable (game dependent)
8K60 Support
120fps @4K

Xbox Series S

120fps Capable @1440p

PS5

4K120 Capable (game dependent)
8K60 Support

To play 4K120 Support games your TV should support HDMI 2.1.

Special Features

Xbox

Games Pass: It allows you to pay a monthly fee of $10 and get access to over 100 massive games. You can play those games on the PC too. And you can even play all of these games directly on your smartphone too with an Xbox controller.
3D Audio
Quick Resume: we can switch between multiple games
3 USB Type-A ports

PS5

PlayStation Now: In this, you cant download all the games. You have to stream them which means the quality will not be as good. And new games won’t be actually available as now. Until years after release.
PSVR headset support.
Quick resume
3D Audio
WiFi 6
USB Type-A ports and USB type C support on the front. And 2 USB Type-A ports on the back.

So, Games Pass is really superiors.

Backward Compatablity

So, all these consoles will able to play games from previous generation.

Xbox Series S

No Disk based games
Xbox 360 Game Support
Original Xbox Games Support (Select Titles)

PS5 Digital Edition

No Disk-based games
PS4 Games Support
External SSD/HDD for Previous Gen Games

Price

Xbox Series S

Xbox Series S price will be $300. Which is actually less than Apple Watch SE
You can play the same games as Series X with Ray-Tracing Support, 120FPS, 3D Audio, Quick Resume, 1440p/1080p