Xbox One Review

Xbox One - TV Integration and Entertainment

Microsoft wants the Xbox One to be the hub of your living room and as such one of its headline features is the ability to route your TV signal through it and have the box control your TV viewing experience. Now this may sound like quite a gimmicky feature but, you know what, it’s actually really compelling.

For a start, by having your settop box's HDMI cable plug into your console (yes, if you just use your TV’s integrated tuner the Xbox TV feature is completely useless) it means you don’t need an extra HDMI socket on your TV to accommodate the Xbox One. That may sound like a trivial thing but if it saves you having to buy an HDMI switcher or go through the hassle of having to manually swap cables each time you want to play some games, it’s quite a significant boon.



In fact, this sense of consolidation applies in other areas too. For this reviewer a PS3 had been the Blu-ray player, an Apple TV the portal to Netflix and a Virgin Media box was for TV (Why not use Netflix on the PS3? Well because it takes longer to turn on than the Apple TV and the remote on the latter is nicer to use) Now, with the Xbox One, there’s one box that plays Blu-rays, gives access to the Virgin Media box and, because it’s always on anyway and has easy Kinect navigation, takes care of Netflix. The Xbox One really does live up to its billing as the centre of your living room, in this regard.

However, the service isn’t without its issues. In the US, the console can actually be used to control cable TV boxes, removing the need for a TV remote almost entirely. Again Kinect is the crucial piece to the puzzle here, as it allows the user to simply say what they want to watch. For instance, saying ‘Xbox, watch HBO’ will switch your cable tuner's channel for you, something that is certainly easier than using any remote or game controller. In fact you can even use universal remotes to control the Xbox One, completely integrating it into your existing AV setup.

The problem? That functionality is currently only available in the US. Elsewhere in the world you’re still reliant on your settop box remote to provide channel navigation. The function is still useful, but it’s just not quite as useful.

The really big issue, though, is that Microsoft hasn’t accounted for the different TV standards used by different countries. As such the Xbox One is expecting a 60Hz TV signal but in the UK it receives a 50Hz signal. To compensate it has to repeat every 5th frame to keep things in sync, which results in a stuttering effect. Like so many such visual artefacts, it’s something you may not ever notice, only notice on occasion or always find distracting. We found we did notice straight away but got somewhat used to it after a while.

There is a workaround whereby you change the output resolution of the console from 60Hz to 50Hz (continually switch from 1080p to 720p [or vice versa] and select No when the prompt appears - this will make the Xbox 'try' 50Hz), though this does then mean all your games and other content will be running at 50Hz too, which could have its own issues. Hopefully it is something Microsoft can fix with a software update.



When it comes to downloading and streaming your entertainment, the Xbox One largely has you covered, and again its ‘centre of the multimedia-verse’ approach means it’s the natural device to use for accessing these services - especially as they're so much slicker than on your average 'smart TV'.



The usual TV catchup services are available to download as apps from the Store, along with the likes of Netflix, Lovefilm and Blinkbox. What makes them even more convenient to use is that Kinect is fully integrated so you can again speak your demands. There are gaps in the offerings, with the big omission being BBC iPlayer, but generally most of the obvious services are on board.



Microsoft also offers its own video on demand and music download services. The former offers a reasonable selection of films and TV shows, though nothing beyond what is available from other services, and with prices of £10.99/£4.99 to buy/rent a film it certainly wouldn’t be our first pick. The music offering is more tempting with it offering free, ad-supported, plays of its fairly extensive range of music, or you can grab an Xbox Music Pass for an ad-free experience that you can also get on your phone and tablet devices. An Xbox Music Pass costs $9.99 or £8.99 per month.



Blu-ray playback is offered, though (like many of the console's seemingly standard services such as Xbox Music) only after downloading an app from the Store. Once downloaded, though, it’s a free and effortless experience. Discs load quickly, it’s easy to control them with the controller or Kinect and quality is generally very good. However, there are a couple of potentially major barriers to its uptake as a main Blu-ray player: it doesn’t play writeable discs and nor does it support 3D. The latter is incoming but we don't yet know when, meanwhile the former is only a software issue so it’s possible Microsoft will change its mind.

That suggestion of restriction when it comes to playing copied content or content you’ve created yourself carries over to playing media from USB sticks - it simply isn't possible right now. Neither can you connect directly to a shared drive on your PC to access your files. At least DLNA is supported, unlike on the PS4.