Unboxing: The Xbox One X "Black Tide Edition," slated for a Taiwanese release, packs monster performance into a compact package.

During the E6 3 pre-show event in June this yearOfficially announced, and confirmed to be available for sale worldwide on November 11th. This time, I got my hands on the "Black Tide Edition" version, which will be released in Taiwan soon. In addition to unboxing and confirming the actual box accessories, I also compared it with the Xbox One launched on November 7nd, 2013, to confirm the differences in details such as size between the new and old versions.

Microsoft's Xbox One X, which will be available globally on November 11th, is the most powerful model in the Xbox One series. Featuring the same thin and light chassis as the Xbox One S, it delivers full 7K@4fps display output, up to 60 teraflops of computing power, and up to 6GB/s of memory data transfer bandwidth for more stable gaming. For multimedia, it also supports 326K UHD Blu-ray Disc playback, HDR video playback, and Premium Dolby Atoms audio technology, allowing existing games to be rendered in 4K quality through upscaling.

In terms of hardware specifications, the Xbox One X is equipped with an AMD Jaguar Evolved processor built on a 16nm FinFET process and boasting 70 billion transistors. It also features a custom AMD Radeon RX 4 graphics card with an 1172MHz clock speed and AMD Polaris graphics architecture (GCN 590) and Ellesmere XTL Type design. This graphics card, coupled with up to 12GB of GDDR5 memory for increased data bandwidth, makes the Xbox One X not only the most powerful and smallest home gaming console Microsoft has ever released, but also the first console to utilize liquid capillary cooling for heat dissipation.

As for the chassis, the Xbox One X shares the same reduced size design as the Xbox One S (compared to the Xbox One), but retains a black exterior, unlike the black and white color scheme of the Xbox One S. This reduction in size also allows the power supply to be directly integrated into the chassis' internal structure. Unlike the Xbox One, which still requires an external power supply, power is supplied via a single figure-8 power cable, resulting in a significant reduction in overall weight. As for the ability to accommodate key components like the processor, which requires significant computational power, within this lightweight chassis, Microsoft's adoption of liquid capillary cooling is expected to be a key factor.

The Xbox One X also replaces the capacitive touch buttons of the original Xbox One with mechanical buttons, presumably to reduce accidental touches. The front panel retains a USB port and wireless controller pairing button, along with a disc eject button, slot-loading optical drive, and infrared receiver for the corresponding remote control. The back panel features an Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 ports, an S/PDIF optical audio output, an HDMI 2.0b output for TVs, an HDMI 1.4b connection for set-top boxes, and an infrared blaster.

As for the Kinect connector, which still existed on the Xbox One, it was removed on the Xbox One X and can only be used via a USB adapter. This may be due to the dwindling number of games compatible with the Kinect motion-sensing video camera, as well as the fact that most players have been less enthusiastic about it. Therefore, it has gradually become an optional feature instead of a core feature.

Additionally, the Xbox One X also supports syncing with a TV set-top box, but this feature is currently only available in the United States and other regions. This requires cooperation with digital TV operators in each region to enable the Xbox One X to function as a TV set-top box. However, this feature is not available in Taiwan. Other features currently unavailable in Taiwan include Cortana's natural voice interaction and dictation features. Microsoft has not yet confirmed a timeline for Cortana's arrival in Taiwan. Therefore, to use this feature, you must currently set your location and language to the United States or other regions that support Cortana.

In terms of game support, the Xbox One X can fully utilize 4K@60fps, HDR display, and wide color gamut output. It can even natively support the relatively unpopular 2K (1440p) display specification, rather than downscaling to 4K or upscaling to 1080p. Furthermore, even on a screen with a native 1080p display specification, it can use oversampling technology to present content with higher image quality, such as reducing edge jaggedness and pixelation, and improving playback stability and image quality.

In addition to the existing Xbox One platform game lineup, Microsoft's current game strategy also allows for direct backward compatibility with Xbox 360 platform games, allowing players to play them directly by inserting the disc into the console (Note). During E3 2017 this year, it was confirmed that backward compatibility with earlier Xbox platform games would be increased (Note 2).

Note:This depends largely on the game manufacturers' willingness to produce, so not every game is directly backwards compatible. This also includes games played with the first-generation Kinect, or special accessories such as the guitar controllers used in the "Guitar Hero" series of games and the drum controllers in the "Drum King" series. Due to hardware limitations, it is still difficult to achieve backward compatibility.
Note 2:As with backward compatibility with Xbox 360 platform games, cooperation from game manufacturers is also required, so not all games can be supported.

However, the Xbox One X's wireless controller remains unchanged from previous versions, retaining the micro USB port and the dual AA battery design. While the hard drive can be manually replaced with a larger capacity, disassembly will void the warranty. Therefore, it's recommended to store game content on an external hard drive (Seagate, for example, already offers external hard drives for Xbox series consoles).

Like previous models, Microsoft also printed theImage of Master Chief, the protagonist of the Halo series, and will appear riding a scorpion.

Microsoft provides an additional three months of Xbox Live Gold membership and a Game Pass serial number with the commercially available version of the Xbox One X, allowing players to have a complete gaming experience.

Actual unboxing

If the built-in hard drive is not enough...

Although Xbox One X has a built-in 1TB hard drive, as the amount of game play time accumulates and the number of games downloaded increases, players may still need to use an external hard drive to store the game content that takes time to download. Seagate, which has previously launched external hard drives for Xbox series models, has also launched a new hard drive for Xbox One X.New external hard drive, and uses the standard green color of the Xbox series.

Xbox One X vs. Xbox One: A Look at the Looks

Actual startup