You asked a bunch of great questions about the Xbox Series X. A lot of them we’d have already covered in our full Xbox Series X preview HERE. No doubt I’ve probably missed a few questions, so if you still want something answered, I’m now a lot freer to talk about things that I couldn’t talk about before so reach out to me on Twitter and ask me there. We’ll be continuing our coverage up until launch as well.
@BTFreddy: Does it run quietly?
When it comes to noise, I’ve never heard a peep out of the Xbox Series X. It’s always been whisper quiet whilst playing it, and there’s absolutely nothing else to say about this which is the ultimate compliment.
@ThatsDruici: Other than the share button, does the new controller do anything that the Elite V2 won’t be better at?
It’s definitely a different controller. As I spoke about at length here, the D-Pad for me takes the best parts of the Elite V2 controller and the Xbox One controller, the controller’s bumpers and triggers are matte and better shaped, and the controller itself sits a bit better in the hands. In saying that, the Elite V2 does things that this controller doesn’t. They’re both really good controllers.
@Brendanfoley asks: How flimsy is the back panel. It looks like a decent pull would make it come apart, like if you pulled out the power cable, which is always an effort, that the panel would come away too
I wondered this when I first saw it too. It’s not flimsy at all. Even when I’ve tried to pull it off to test it myself, it doesn’t come off, so absolutely no worries there.
@ThatCochrane asks: How do saves work not just from One S to Series X, but backwards as well.
Exactly how they always have. Is there’s something that the Xbox ecosystem absolutely nails it’s how it handles saves and it still worked flawlessly going between my Xbox Series X, Xbox One X and PC.
Andrew Willis asks: Does it run hot?
It does get hot when you’re playing games, but it’s to be expected. The console fan is pushing hot air out of the console and it feels controlled which is exactly what you want.
@BenjamasM asks: How does it work if you plug in an external drive with games installed from your Xbox one/X into it? Does it just detect the HDD and let you play those games? Or do you have to format and reinstall the games?
Exactly as you’ve mentioned it. It works perfectly.
@Tinyjoshua asks: Does it warn you when it closes games (via quick resume) once you reach the limit or just closes the oldest game automatically.
This is one of my only complaints about Quick Resume. There is currently no way to manage what games you have open, so it will just close your game when it gets to its threshold. I’d love to see some kind of way to manage this going further, or just have the console warn you.
Kane Hatfield asks: Will you post gameplay?
We have. We’ve still only got access to Dirt 5, Gears 5, Yakuza Like A Dragon and Gears Tactics. You can find some of that gameplay footage/our previews here.
Anthony Michael Roman asks: Actual usable storage?
You’ve got 802GB of usable storage on the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series X Expansion Card will give you an extra 900GB.
Brian Smith asks: Does it work with ultrawide monitors?
Unfortunately not. It will work but you’ll either get a stretched image or a small image. Just like the Xbox One X, it does export at 1440p so if you’ve got a 1440p monitor, you can take advantage of the 120Hz feature quite well.
Danny Sampson asks: Do you know if it can run 120fps at 1440p:
It most certainly can. I’ve been using the console on both a 4K TV as well as a 1440p/144Hz monitor and it’s a really great experience on the 1440p monitor. I was able to play both Dirt 5 and Gears 5 in 120Hz so you definitely won’t have any more trouble there.
Lachlan Noack asks: How is Sea of Thieves and what’s the new UX like:
Sea of Thieves is great it’s one of the games that loads a lot faster. The UX is very similar with some minor improvements. My favourite thing about it is that it sorts your Xbox Series X optimised games out nicely.
Jesse Higgins asks: Can I use my external hard drive that I bought for my Xbox even if it’s still not running off the SSD?
You can use it to play Xbox One games off of as well as store Xbox Series X games, but you’ll need to transfer Xbox Series X games onto your internal to play them.
Michael O’Neil asks: Does it play all 360 and Xbox games or just the backwards compatible ones?
It’ll still only play the games that are compatible, although they now have Auto HDR which will basically make a lot of old games look a lot better.
