The best 10 game consoles in comparison

Which game console is better: Xbox or PlayStation? This is a highly controversial topic for hardcore gamers. Even though Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation have over 80% of the global market share, this doesn't mean there aren't other notable players. You’ll also find a variety of Nintendo consoles, and Google and Apple are challenging the gaming market with their cross-platform gaming services, Stadia and Arcade.

With so many options available, it is becoming increasingly difficult for players to determine which game console is the right one for them. Each device is unique in terms of performance, graphics, speed, storage, entertainment, number of exclusive games, portability, and so on. In what follows, we break down the main aspects that matter when choosing a game console.

Graphics and performance

The latest game consoles are equipped with premium graphics and provide great gaming experiences. The GPU clock speed is a crucial factor for the performance of the console. However, if you are to compare the graphics processing units or GPUs of high-end models, such as Microsoft Xbox Series X vs. the Sony PlayStation 5, you'll notice that they are closely matched in terms of clock speed. Both feature eight-core, 64-bit AMD processors and RDNA 2 AMD GPUs. In this case, the specs that might make a difference are the number of compute units, the floating-point performance, and the internal storage.

Shading units

Most of the video game consoles today have shading units or stream processors integrated into their GPU. Although shaders are generally used to control GPU-focused tasks, like image, video, and signal processing, they also boost performance because they facilitate parallel data processing. For example, Sony PlayStation 5 has 2,304 shading units, far exceeding the average value of 925.3, which accelerates graphics processing and rendering speed.

TFLOPS

Floating-point performance refers to the computational power of a system and is measured in floating-point operations per second. Some of the famous game consoles of the 1990s, like the Sega Model 1 or the Nintendo 64, had less than 200 MFLOPs (mega-floating point operations per second). Fast forward to the present day, the floating-point performance of the average game console is of 1 TFLOP (tera-floating point operations per second). Higher-end consoles have floating-point performances of 12 TFLOPs, an indication of just how far we’ve come in terms of raw GPU processing power.

RAM and internal storage

All the video game consoles nowadays demand a significant amount of RAM and internal storage. Internal or on-board storage has replaced the memory cards and cartridges of old game consoles. The first Microsoft Xbox, released in 2001, was the first machine to use on-board storage, with 8GB available, along with an optional memory card of 8MB. Now, game consoles have up to 2TB of internal storage. You can expect top-tier game consoles such as the Microsoft Xbox Series X to come with at least 16 GB of RAM.

Ports and connectivity

USB ports enable you to connect peripherals to the console, such as speakers, headphones, and external hard drives. Not only that, when you have a USB flash drive and HDMI ports on your console, you can easily save your game profile and transfer it to another console. Connectivity is another praiseworthy advantage found in modern game consoles. With Bluetooth connectivity, gamers can connect any Bluetooth device they want – wireless headsets and speakers, wireless controllers, or even keyboards.

Controllers

If you’re like any typical gamer and prefer playing games that involve a lot of movement, you might prefer wireless controllers over wired controllers. With wireless controllers, you don't risk getting tangled in cables. If you opt for wireless controllers, you need to make sure the gaming experience is smooth and without any delays between the moment you provide the input and the moment when it becomes visible on the screen. 

The lag for wireless controllers should be below ten milliseconds for undisrupted gaming. However, there is a significant advantage wired controllers have over wireless controllers: with wired controllers, you don't have to worry about charging the battery of your controller.

Motion-sensitive controllers provide an intuitive sense to gaming by detecting and tracking gamers' movements with the help of accelerometers and gyroscopes. With motion-sensitive controllers, your movements are seamlessly translated into the game. Such controllers are suitable for sports and action games, which were made extremely popular by Nintendo's Wii console.

Entertainment

Game consoles offer a variety of entertainment options in addition to gaming, for example, movie streaming, music streaming, and virtual reality applications. Besides, there is a wide range of accessories you can use for different types of games: racing wheels, joysticks, and even comfy seats. However, not all the machines are equal since each of them is unique in terms of hardware, movie streaming capacity, and exclusive apps.

Compatibility

As brands such as Microsoft and Sony continue to upgrade their consoles and the games that make them so popular, any typical gamer is going to need to understand what backwards compatibility is. With backwards compatibility, you can play games from the previous generation (or several generations) of console. And, currently, few game consoles are backwards compatible. The PS5 is backwards compatible (the PS4 was not), as is the Xbox Series X and previous series of Xbox consoles.

Virtual reality accessories and games

Paired with a VR headset, your game console guarantees an immersive and interactive experience in a 3D environment. PlayStation VR and Oculus Rift S are the rivals in the VR gaming world, both offering advanced technology and a growing number of VR games and apps. EVE Valkyrie, Headmaster, Rez Infinite, Farpoint, Final Fantasy XV are only some of the most famous virtual games. When it comes to the PS5 vs. the new Xbox Series X, the PS5 wins in terms of virtual reality accessories; it supports VR but the Xbox Series X does not.

Game ecosystem

When we talk about the best game consoles, it's the 'games' that ultimately matter the most. When choosing a game console, the choice depends a lot on the games you like to play. The number of exclusive games often becomes the top priority for most of the users. Exclusive games are what defines a console; they are only available on a single platform belonging to the console producer.

Sometimes, a unique title is the principal reason players choose a particular game console. Some of the most popular exclusive games for Xbox One are Forza Motorsport 7, Halo 5, Sea of Thieves, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, and Killer Instinct. The PlayStation platform also offers plenty of exclusive titles, the most popular being Alienation, Amazing Discoveries In Outer Space, Bloodborne, Bound, DriveClub, God Of War, and Until Dawn.

With the popularity of game consoles such as the Xbox Series X, access to subscription services are becoming more important to gamers, too. With a subscription such as the Xbox Game Pass, which has already surpassed 15 million subscribers, you’re able to pay a flat fee for access to hundreds of games. This means that you’re not only immediately able to access popular games, but it ultimately ends up being more cost-effective for heavy gamers.