XBox One vs Playstation 4

PlayStation 4; a year in which the PS4 has surged ahead on sales, but the Xbox One has seen a turnaround in the way it’s seen and, potentially, its fortunes. No other console generation has seen two rivals so similar in terms of hardware, specifications, software and services, making it surprisingly hard to choose between them. In our PS4 vs Xbox One review we explain everything you need to know in order to make the right choice. See also: The 39 best ever first-person shooter games.

The PS4 is generally seen as the hardcore gamer’s choice. Its hardware is slightly more powerful than the Xbox One, and Sony was smarter in focussing the PS4’s software and interface on games rather than some vision of the console as an entertainment hub. That was Microsoft’s mistake at launch, where the Xbox One seemed too much focused on TV, movies and voice-controlled entertainment, and too little focused on playing games. Where Sony pushed to make its console more affordable, Microsoft saddled it with a pricey motion control peripheral that nobody really wanted – the second-generation Kinect.

Right now, the situation’s different. Kinect is now an option rather than the default, and the Xbox One has dropped in price - in the US Microsoft has announced a $50 price cut, with no word on whether that price drop will also come to the UK. However, already selling for just £299 at Amazon without Kinect, the Xbox One is far more affordable than it was at launch. More importantly, Microsoft seems to have got the message that people primarily buy consoles to play games. See also our PS3 vs PS4 comparison review.