The Xbox One Elite bundle is Microsoft aiming at the most hardcore of hardcore gamers. It’s looking for people who are willing to spend some extra money for a nicer controller and a slightly faster drive in their system.
The Xbox One Elite console switches out the traditional 512GB of HDD space for a 1TB solid state hybrid drive, alongside a new Xbox One Elite Controller.
The Design
There’s no escaping it; the Xbox One is huge. It dwarfs the PlayStation 4, as well as both previous-generation systems, and could rival some AV amplifiers for the space it will take up underneath your TV.
The design gives the internal components plenty of room to breathe; after the notorious Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death issue, Microsoft has taken no chances with the Xbox One when it comes to heat. An oversized CPU heatsink and fan, positioned directly below a massive exhaust vent, ensure the console doesn’t overheat even after hours of continuous gaming.
The Controller
The controller is what makes this bundle really special. I’ll make this really simple: the Xbox One Elite controller is the best I’ve ever used. By a large margin.
Microsoft has included two different d-pads and three joysticks that affix to the controller with magnets, which means you can swap them easily.
- For the d-pad, there’s the standard four-point option and the crazy looking one that offers a lot of flexibility for hitting combos in fighting games.
- For joysticks, there are standard length concave and convex options, and an extra long stick
Even without all the extra paddles and interchangeable joysticks, just the feel of the controller is better than anything else I’ve ever put my hands on.
The Performance
The 1TB version of the Xbox One has a hybrid drive that uses solid state media for part of the on-board storage. Microsoft claims this makes the system quicker to load than the hard-drive-only 500GB model.
The console will learn the things you launch most frequently and cache it to the SSD portion of the hybrid drive. The effect on load times in Destiny –a game with unfathomably long load times in some cases– was negligible. We’re talking about a matter of a couple of seconds, and not enough that you’d actually notice a difference unless you’re comparing side-by-side with an original Xbox One.
The Interface
Microsoft’s latest software update upgrades the console’s core operating system from Windows 8 to Windows 10. The interface is still heavily designed for a couch-bound video game experience rather than a full PC operating system, but the underlying software has been moved to Microsoft’s latest platform.
The Xbox One menu has literally been turned on its side with the new update. While the original interface was a mostly horizontal affair, built around navigating left and right for nearly everything, the new interface incorporates much more verticality.
OneGuide and TV
The Xbox One integrates into your TV watching thanks to its HDMI input and OneGuide. It offers a full program guide of your cable or satellite service alongside the usual selection of online media apps, all wrapped up in one menu you can control with your voice.
