Everything you need to know about the Xbox One X

The US technology giant are calling it the most powerful console ever made.

Not only is the Xbox One X a smaller, sleeker and faster console than the original, it is more powerful than its closest rival, the PS4 Pro, in every major specification.

What is the Xbox One X?

In a nutshell, it’s a suped-up Xbox One, adding 4K gaming, enhanced performance and a few other bits and bobs.

When is it released?

The Xbox One X is released worldwide on 7 November 2017.

What will the Xbox One X cost?

The recommended retail price for the Xbox One X is £449.99.

Where can I pre-order the Xbox One X?

You can buy the Xbox One X at all major retailers, such as Amazon, Tesco and Toys R Us.

Will all my games and Xbox Game Pass work with an Xbox One X?

Microsoft say: Yes, all Xbox One games (including Xbox One Backward Compatible titles), Xbox Game Pass8 subscriptions, and accessories will work with an Xbox One X. In fact, with the increased power of Xbox One X, many games will achieve more consistent framerates, faster load times, improved anisotropic filtering, and will run at their peak resolution if the title features dynamic scaling.

Do I need a 4K TV to benefit from the Xbox One X?

Microsoft say: No. The power provided by the Xbox One X allows developers to use techniques like supersampling, anisotropic filtering, and others to produce a better 1080p image.'¯Additionally, games will have the ability to run at higher framerates and with faster load times.

What is supersampling?

Microsoft say: Supersampling is a technique game developers can use to improve graphical fidelity. By utilising the additional power of the Xbox One X, developers can process images at a higher resolution, and then scale them down to fit the display resolution the player is using. Supersampled images reduce aliasing (commonly referred to as "jaggies") and generally look "cleaner" to the naked eye compared to a non-supersampled image at the same resolution.

Will my current controllers and accessories work with Xbox One X?

Microsoft say: All Xbox One accessories (controllers, headsets, chatpads, remotes, etc.) will work with Xbox One X. Kinect for Xbox One is also compatible with Xbox One X via the Xbox Kinect Adapter (sold separately).

Will there be two different versions of games—one for the Xbox One S and one for the Xbox One X?

Microsoft say: No. There will be one version of all games and they will work on all Xbox One consoles.

What does Xbox One X Enhanced mean when I see it on a game?

Microsoft say: If a game has the Xbox One X Enhanced icon, this means developers have worked to improve an existing title, or have implemented the most recent developer tools to take full advantage of the power of Xbox One X.

Is Xbox One X really the most powerful console ever?

Microsoft say: Yes. No other video game console has ever had six teraflops of graphic processing power.

What is a teraflop and why should I care how many Xbox One X has?

Microsoft say: FLOPS is an acronym for floating-point operations per second. Tera means one trillion. So, Xbox One X can perform six trillion floating-point operations per second. That's rendering graphics, making game physics behave, and things like that. The short version is: games play better on Xbox One X because it "thinks" really, really fast.

The specs: How powerful is the Xbox One X?

CPU - Custom eight-core 2.3GHz processor

GPU - Custom unit running at 1.172GHz

RAM - 12GB GDDR5

Storage - 1TB hard disk

Disc drive - UHD Blu-Ray player

Video output - 4K resolution, HDR 10 support

Audio - DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1,Dolby Atmos, PCM 2.0, 5.1, 7.1

Wireless - Bluetooth, dual-band Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, IR blaster

Connectors - 2x HDMI, 3x USB 3.0 ports, IR out, S/PDIF, Ethernet

That’s impressive - but at nearly £500 is it a worthwhile investment?

Yes, according to Techradar.

"With a gaming PC's worth of graphical horsepower housed inside a deceivingly small package, the Xbox One X does what no console has done before: Native 4K HDR gaming", says the online publication, who add that "while the games look absolutely stunning, with a fantastic level of detail accentuated by the console's HDR support, their larger file sizes will mean that the 1TB hard drive fills up fast".

Techradar conclude by saying that "minor faux pas aside, the Xbox One X fulfills the promise of 4K HDR gaming and offers the most premium gaming experience on a console, bar none".