Packing more power than ever into a box roughly the same size as an Xbox One S, many will be left thinking “the Xbox One X has got to be loud, right?”.
Well, actually it’s not. In fact, outside of installing games from any discs you have lying around, it’s effectively silent.
I couldn’t quite believe my ears to be honest. After listening to the loud whirrs of my PlayStation 4 Pro and the muffled hum of an Xbox One S, I expected the Xbox One X to maybe sit comfortably between the two, but it is noticeably quieter than both. Maybe I’ve just got a good unit, but during normal operations it is inaudible.
Now, I’m not a scientist, but I downloaded a sound meter app on my phone to see just how loud the console was. Without the Xbox One X turned on, I placed my phone about 1 foot away from the console and the baseline sound level in the room was around 19-21 dB, which is apparently comparable to the background of a TV studio. Suffice to say, I was then amazed when I booted up the Xbox One X and found that it generated no additional noise whatsoever. Even after playing Assassin’s Creed Origins for an hour or so, there was no increase in noise level from the console, which is very impressive.
Things were different, however, when I inserted a Resident Evil 7 disc into the unit’s drive. With the disc spinning up to install, noise levels went up to around 27-31 dB. That’s still rather quiet though in the grand scheme of things – supposedly about the same volume level as a quiet bedroom at night – and after the disc was installed, the Xbox One X went back to being inaudible.
For the sake of comparison, I booted up the old Xbox One S and spent some time playing Assassin’s Creed Origins on that. It resulted in a volume increase of around 1-2 dB on top of natural noise levels – noticeable but not a hindrance – while booting up the PS4 Pro for some time with Gran Turismo Sport resulted in a volume increase of 2-3 dB initially, rising to 5-6 dB when the fans began to kick in. Yes, the PS4 Pro is rather loud.
Table showing increase of volume levels in the room for each console
So there you have it. The Xbox One X isn’t only the most powerful games console in the world right now, it’s also the quietest.
Want to find out more about the Xbox One X? Read our related articles below.
Xbox One X Makes an Incredible First Impression
Xbox One X Loads Games Up to 20 Seconds Faster Than an Xbox One S
Xbox One X vs Xbox One S: Game Screenshot Comparisons
Assassins Creed Origins on Xbox One X is a Generation Ahead
