Let’s face it, everyone enjoys a rivalry. Some say a little healthy competition is important. When it comes to gaming consoles, there’s two reigning champs—the Xbox and the PlayStation. Each is releasing a new console this year; but which console holds the advantage, the Xbox Series X or the PlayStation 5?
Some key points your customers are going to want to know are price, games, and design.
Price
When purchasing a pricey device, the dollar sign sometimes is the main deciding factor.
The price of the Xbox Series X is $500—the same as its predecessor, the Xbox One. The PlayStation 5 will also be priced at $500 and both consoles will also have cheaper versions available. The cheaper versions encourage going all-digital, for those seeking disc-free use!
The next-gen digital-edition PS5 and Xbox Series S retail for $400 and $300, respectively.
Another deciding factor for your customers could very well be the games offered at launch.
Games
Console exclusive software is a big selling point for certain customers.
Xbox Series X games include:
- Halo Infinite (Halo 6)
- Fable
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
- Yakuza: Like A Dragon
- Dirt 5
- The Medium
PlayStation 5 games include:
- Destiny 2: Beyond Light
- Madden 21
- NBA 2K21
- Horizon: Forbidden West
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Gran Turismo 7
- Final Fantasy 16
- God of War 2: Ragnarök
If games don’t make the (con)-sole decision maybe features such as storage, bandwidth, and speed will reel in customers.
Design
Internal specs:
It’s what’s on the inside that counts! Both systems will deliver 8K resolutions, high frame rates, powerful processors, and quick SSDs.
Here’s how the two consoles stack up internally:
Xbox Series X:
- CPU: 8x Cores @ 3.8 GHz (3.6 GHz w/ SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU
- GPU: 12 TFLOPS, 52 CUs @ 1.825 GHz Custom RDNA 2 GPU
- Die Size: 360.45 mm2
- Process: 7nm Enhanced
- Memory: 16 GB GDDR6 w/ 320b bus
- Memory Bandwidth: 10GB @ 560 GB/s, 6GB @ 336 GB/s
- Internal Storage: 1TB Custom NVME SSD
- I/O Throughput: 2.4 GB/s (Raw), 4.8 GB/s
- Expandable Storage: 1TB Expansion Card (matches internal storage exactly)
- External Storage: USB 3.2 External HDD Support
- Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-Ray Drive
- Performance Target: 4K @ 60 FPS, Up to 120 FPS
PlayStation 5:
- CPU: AMD Zen 2-based CPU with 8 cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency)
- GPU: 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency)
- GPU architecture: Custom RDNA 2
- Memory interface: 16GB GDDR6 / 256-bit
- Memory bandwidth: 448GB/s
- Internal storage: Custom 825GB SSD
- IO throughput: 5.5GB/s (raw), typical 8-9GB/s (compressed)
- Expandable storage: NVMe SSD slot
- External storage: USB HDD support (PS4 games only)
- Optical drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray drive
External specs:
For gamers, how the console looks, is a huge part of purchasing. Having a console that fits the aesthetic of your home, sometimes is the selling point.
When looking at the Xbox Series X design, it is far more minimalistic and conservative with a flat black color in a cubic shaped console. If your customers love a good geometric piece, this is the one for them. Keep it horizontal or vertical, the disc drive remains capable in either placement.
Sony’s PlayStation 5 console competes with a fresh rectangular to triangle shape with bright white fin-like sides. As with the Xbox, this console can be placed horizontally or vertically.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, a winner will be chosen by your customers. What team will they be on? Will it be Sony, or will it be Microsoft? Only time will tell.