PS5 vs PS4 & Xbox One vs Xbox Series X – Are the next generation consoles a huge quality leap compared to their previous versions?

As humans, we tend to favour anything that’s new, pretty and shiny. We often fanatically change tablets, smartphones and laptops as soon as a new model appears on the horizon. After all, every new product has to be better than the older model, right? And who wouldn’t want what’s advertised as the best? However, we rarely consider whether what’s being sold as a new generation, the latest model with the best new features, is actually of higher quality than previous versions. We easily succumb to the magic of advertising and the vision of showing off our status, instead of thinking about what we really need and carefully evaluating the advantages of the product. It is no different when it comes to gaming consoles. For most, it’s all about what’s new, without answering the question is PlayStation 5 actually that much of a leap in quality and technology compared to PS4? And what is the situation with Microsoft’s latest consoles? Or what about accessories? What’s better the PlayStation 5 controller or the previous versions? We are about to find out in a moment.

Xbox One X vs Xbox Series X & Xbox Series S

Let’s start with a brief comparison of the technical specifications of both consoles produced by Microsoft. The Xbox Series X offers performance several times better than what we can count on when dealing with the Xbox One and its various variants. Definitely the biggest leap in performance was recorded thanks to the platform’s central processing unit, which is far more advanced than that of the Xbox One. Below we have provided a table comparing the Xbox Series X to the two variants of the Xbox One console. One of these variations is the more powerful version, the Xbox One X. The other is the standard version of the console, the Xbox One S. The differences between the two are mainly related to the chip responsible for processing graphics.

	CPU	Graphics performance	RAM	Memory capacity	Storage	Controller capacity	Expandable memory	External storage	Optical Drive
Xbox One	8 cores @ 3.8GHz; ZEN 2 from AMD.	Performance: 12 Tflop; J. computing: 52; Clock speed: 1.825 GHz; Architecture: RDNA 2.	16 GB GDDR6	10 GB @ 560 GB/s (graphics) 6 GB @ 336 GB/s (CPU)	1TB NVME SSD	2.4 GB/s (raw) 4.8 GB/s (compressed)	Special cards 1 TB	USB 3.2 drive	4K UHD Blu-ray
Xbox Series X	8 cores @ 2.3GHz; Jaguar from AMD.	Performance: 6 Tflops; J. Computing: 40; Clock speed: 1.172 GHz; Architecture: Polaris.	12 GB GDDR5	326 GB/s	1TB HDD	120 MB/s	None	USB 3.2 drive	4K UHD Blu-ray
Xbox Series S	8 cores @ 1.75GHz; Jaguar from AMD.	Performance: 1.4 Tflops; Computing J: 12; Clock speed: 914 MHz; Architecture: GCN.	8 GB DDR3	68 GB/s 32 MB ESRAM @ 218 GB/s	500GB, 1TB or 2TB HDD	120 MB/s	None	USB 3.2 drive	4K UHD Blu-ray

 

Why is the Xbox Series X better than the Xbox One X?

What technically makes the case for choosing the Xbox Series X is undeniably 1.65x faster processor clock speed, 8 x 3.8GHzvs8 x 2.3GHz, higher floating point performance – 12 TFLOPS to 6 TFLOPS, and more RAM. The 234GB/s higher memory bandwidth and faster GPU are also a plus. Meanwhile, the definite plus of owning an Xbox One is 2,665 more games available! When it comes to the controller the two versions don’t differ too much, but that can be taken care of by buying a personalised xbox controller. As you can see, the new generation is slightly superior to the older generation in terms of technology, but is not compatible with many games. Therefore, in this case you need to make a decision based on your requirements and preferences.

PlayStation 5 vs PlayStation 4

The PS5 is undoubtedly a revolutionary device as Sony’s most robust and fastest console. Take a quick look at the manufacturer’s console specs below to see for yourself. But is everything about PS5 better compared to the previous generation?

	CPU	GPU	RAM	Built-in memory	External drives	Drive
PS5	Zen 2 – 8 cores 3.5GHz (dynamic clocking)	Teraflop, 36 CUs 2.23GHz, RDNA 2;	16GB GDDR6	825GB SSD (custom design)	NVMe SSD 2. 5″ HDD	UHD Blu-ray
PS4 Pro	8 cores Jaguar, 2.1GHz	4.2 Teraflop, 36 Cus 911Mhz	8GB GDDR5	1TB HDD 500GB	USB HDD 2.5″ HDD	Blu-ray
PS4	8 cores Jaguar, 1.6GHz	1.84 Teraflop, 18 Cus 800MHz	8GB GDDR5	1TB HDD	USB HDD UHD	Blu-ray

Why is the PS5 better than the PS4?

Besides a much faster processor based on the new technology, PS5 scores a massive advantage over its predecessors when comparing graphics systems. The mysterious Teraflops that appears on the GPU specification is worth explaining. Simply put, Teraflops refers to the number of floating point operations a console can perform in one second. When comparing the consoles’ GPUs, it’s clear that the PS5 is around 2.5 times more powerful than the PS4 Pro, and up to 8 times more powerful than the PS4, as well as being faster and more efficient. The new Sony console also wins in the duel of the amount of RAM and its speed – PS5 has 2 times more RAM than the PS4 and PS4 Pro. Another big advantage of the PS5 is the extremely fast SSD, which will significantly reduce the loading time of games, as well as completely eliminate the problem of switching between different locations during gameplay. PS5 also has a much better optical drive, but interestingly not much has changed in terms of controllers and accessories. The PlayStation 5 controller is obviously one of the better devices of its kind using DualSense technology, but you only get one in the box and has no additional features, so buying a PlayStation 5 custom controller is not only a good idea, but a must.

The new generation of consoles are a huge leap in quality compared to their predecessors?

With Sony’s latest consoles, you can see quite a leap when it comes to processor power, performance, or RAM size. However, there is no significant difference when it comes to accessories, and the predesigned PlayStation 5 controllers are not too different from their predecessors. Still, we have to admit that performance and speed, as well as other technical parameters, make a strong case for buying a new PlayStation. If you can get your hands on one, of course. And what is the case with Microsoft consoles? Here, too, the latest console wins in terms of technical specifications, but not by as much as in the earlier comparison. What is important here, however, is that only just over 70 games have currently been released for the latest generation of consoles. The older version has around 3,000. Therefore, taking backward compatibility into account, buying a new Xbox console is a good idea, but only if you want to play the latest games. If not, the technical conditions alone do not make it necessary to upgrade to the latest device.