PS4 edges Xbox One out in lifetime energy efficiency, claim researchers

A report from the Natural Resources Defence Council has suggested that Microsoft needs to considerably improve the efficiency of its Xbox One's connected standby mode, which at present draws more than twice the power of Sony's rival PS4.

Both next-generation consoles, which launched last month in the UK, are power-hungry machines. The combination of a large quantity of high-performance memory, an eight-core AMD accelerated processing unit (APU) and the fact that both consoles are in their very first engineering generation mean that neither are cheap to run - but the NRDC's report suggests that Sony's PS4 could have an edge over the lifespan of both consoles thanks to a more efficient standby mode.

A feature of both Microsoft and Sony's console is 'connected standby,' whereby the console appears to be off but is still connected to the internet. Compared to a true standby mode, connected standby draws more power but allows for handy time-saving features like the ability to start the console downloading an update or a game remotely from a smartphone or web browser - something that would be impossible if the console were in true standby.

The trade-off is power draw: Sony's PS4 draws around 8.8W while in standby mode, while Microsoft's Xbox One - which has the added feature of the Kinect camera, allowing the console to be switched on via voice - draws 18W. This, the NRDC claims, will offset the PS4's higher power draw during gaming, streaming and disc playback - any given console spending more of its time in standby mode than being actively played.

Both consoles, however, show room for improvement. As well as the high cost of connected standby modes, power use during video streaming is highlighted by the NRDC's Noah Horowitz as a problem: "Standalone devices like Apple TV and Roku need less than 5 watts to stream HD movies – a whopping 15 times lower than PS4 and Xbox 360. This improvement is even more critical for Microsoft’s Xbox One due to its TV integration mode, which may result in the device operating for more hours and consuming more energy.

"Launch models are more focused on working well than on efficiency," Horowitz concluded. "We expect upcoming hardware and software revisions to bring efficiency enhancements, but the question is how much and how soon."

Andoid Games