Xbox One vs. PS4 News: Comparing Specs and Price of Xbox One to Rival Before Release Date

The Xbox One is set for release on Nov. 22, and much like the PlayStation 4's launch, hundreds of thousands are eager to pick up their pre-ordered consoles and begin exploring its diverse features and games. For anyone curious how well the Xbox One stacks up against the PlayStation 4, here's a quick comparison of the two next-gen consoles. 

The biggest difference maker for the Xbox One is the Kinect 2.0, the motion-sensor camera that comes standard with the console. This camera is responsible for many of the features found on the Xbox One, including voice commands, motion-capture gameplay, and even facial recognition. The Kinect can recognize six different users at once. The Kinect is largely responsible for the Xbox One's $500 price tag, which is $100 more than the PlayStation 4. For PS4 users to get voice commands and other similar features, players must buy the PlayStation Eye, and even then the voice commands will be more limited than on the Xbox One.

The Xbox One User Interface is unique, and will build upon the concepts found on Windows 8 and add the previously mentioned voice commands along with the ability to "Snap" two apps together on one screen. This allows users to use Skype while surfing the web or watch live sports and get fantasy sport updates. The PlayStation 4 has the ability to switch between two apps instantly using the home button, but cannot have two apps on the same screen at once.

Under the hood, the Xbox One has a 64-bit AMD Jaguar CPU with 8GB of DDR3 RAM (5GB of that RAM is for gaming) and an AMD Radeon GPU with 768 cores. The PlayStation 4 has a Single-chip x86 AMD Jaguar processor with 8 cores CPU with 8GB GDDR5 RAM (again, around 5GB of RAM is used for gaming) and an AMD Radeon Graphics Core Next engine with 1152 shaders for the GPU.

The Xbox One will support Blu-Rays and DVDs, and unlike the PlayStation 4, the console will support CDs at launch, though the Sony console will eventually support CDs as well. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 both have 500GB of internal storage, USB 3.0 and HDMI ports. The Xbox One will retain the power brick on the power cable.