Phil Spencer stood on a stage in 2017 and did something most people thought was a bit desperate. He announced a console that cost five hundred dollars. At the time, the gaming world was still reeling from the mess that was the original Xbox One launch—you remember, the whole "always online" and "TV, TV, TV" debacle that nearly handed the entire generation to Sony on a silver platter. But when the Microsoft Xbox One X introduced itself to the world under the codename "Project Scorpio," it wasn't just a hardware refresh. It was a formal apology wrapped in six teraflops of graphical power.
It was a beast. Honestly, it still kind of is.
Even today, looking back from the era of the Series X and the PS5, the One X remains a fascinating piece of tech history because it shifted the goalposts of what a "mid-generation" update could be. Before this, we had the PS4 Pro, which was fine, but it was essentially a "checkerboard 4K" machine. Microsoft decided to go the brute force route. They wanted native 4K. They wanted liquid cooling (well, a vapor chamber, technically). They wanted to prove that they could build the most powerful box in the room, even if they were lagging in sales.
The Raw Math of the Scorpio Engine
Numbers in gaming are often marketing fluff. We hear "teraflops" and our eyes glaze over. But when the Microsoft Xbox One X introduced the Scorpio Engine, the specs actually translated to a visible difference on the screen. It featured a custom GPU running at 1172MHz. To put that in perspective, the original Xbox One was chugging along at 853MHz. That is a massive jump for a console that was supposed to play the same library of games.
Microsoft’s lead silicon architect, Leo del Castillo, talked extensively about the "Hovis Method" during the rollout. This was a process where each individual processor was tuned to its specific power needs, maximizing efficiency and reducing heat. It sounds like nerd talk because it is, but it's the reason that tiny box didn't sound like a jet engine taking off when you booted up Gears of War 4. It was dense. Heavy. It felt like an expensive piece of AV equipment rather than a plastic toy.
Most people don't realize that the One X also bumped the memory bandwidth to 326GB/s. That mattered more than the raw speed in many cases. It meant that textures didn't just look better; they loaded in a way that didn't stutter the frame rate. If you compare Red Dead Redemption 2 running on a base Xbox One versus the One X, the difference isn't just "sharper." It’s a completely different atmosphere. The base console looks like it has Vaseline smeared over the lens, while the One X version still holds up remarkably well against modern PC standards.
Why 4K Was a Risky Bet in 2017
We take 4K for granted now. Every cheap TV at the grocery store supports it. But when the Microsoft Xbox One X introduced native 4K gaming to the living room, the "4K TV" was still a luxury for many households. Microsoft was essentially building a console for a demographic that might not even have the display to see the benefits yet.
It was a "chicken and the egg" problem.
Microsoft solved this with supersampling. If you had a 1080p TV, the console would still render the game at 4K and then shrink the image down to fit your screen. The result? Ridiculously crisp edges. No jagged lines. It was the first time console players realized that resolution wasn't just about the number of pixels on the box, but about the clarity of the image overall.
- The Compatibility Promise: One of the smartest things Microsoft did was ensure that every single Xbox One game worked on the X. No "remasters" required to get a basic boost.
- The UHD Blu-ray Player: Sony weirdly left a 4K Blu-ray drive out of the PS4 Pro. Microsoft put one in the One X, making it the best media center of its time.
- The Enhanced Program: Developers had to opt-in, but when they did, the results were staggering. Games like The Witcher 3 received patches that offered a choice between 4K resolution or a 60fps performance mode. This was the birth of the "Performance vs. Graphics" toggle we see in every game today.
The Cultural Shift: From "TV" to "Power"
The launch of the One X was a pivot point for Xbox's brand identity. They stopped trying to be the "all-in-one entertainment system" and went back to being the "powerhouse for gamers." Albert Penello, who was a lead on the Xbox marketing team at the time, frequently pointed out that the One X was designed to bridge the gap between console convenience and PC performance.
It worked, mostly.
But it didn't solve the "games" problem immediately. You can have the fastest car in the world, but if there's nowhere to drive it, who cares? During the period the Microsoft Xbox One X introduced high-end specs, Microsoft was still struggling to match Sony’s first-party output. We had Forza, we had Halo Wars 2, and we had Sea of Thieves on the horizon, but we didn't have God of War or Horizon Zero Dawn. The One X was a masterpiece of engineering that was occasionally waiting for software to catch up to its potential.
Interestingly, the One X became the ultimate machine for backward compatibility. When Microsoft started adding original Xbox and Xbox 360 games to the library, the One X used its overhead to "Heutchy Method" those old titles. This essentially forced old games to run at higher resolutions without touching the original code. Playing Red Dead Redemption (the first one) or Splinter Cell: Conviction on a One X felt like playing a modern remaster.
The Quiet Death of the One X
It’s weird to think about now, but the One X had a very short shelf life. It arrived in late 2017 and was effectively discontinued in mid-2020 to make room for the Series X. Usually, consoles linger on shelves for years after their successor arrives. Not the One X. Microsoft killed it off fast.
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Why? Because it was expensive to make.
The vapor chamber cooling and the 12GB of GDDR5 RAM weren't getting much cheaper. To sell the Series S at $299, Microsoft couldn't have the One X sitting there confusing people. The Series S is actually "weaker" than the One X in terms of raw TFLOPS (4 vs 6), but the Series S has a vastly superior CPU and SSD. This created a confusing moment for consumers: do I want the old 4K machine or the new 1080p machine? Microsoft chose for us by pulling the One X from production.
Is the Xbox One X Still Worth It?
If you find one at a garage sale or a thrift shop, grab it. Honestly. Even in 2026, it serves as an incredible secondary console. While it won't play "Series-only" titles like Starfield or Microsoft Flight Simulator (unless you use Cloud Gaming), it plays the vast majority of the Xbox library better than the Series S does in certain specific ways—namely, the One X versions of games often have higher-resolution textures than the Series S versions.
- For Physical Media Collectors: It’s a cheap way to get a 4K Blu-ray player that also happens to play thousands of games.
- For Retro Fans: It handles 360 and OG Xbox games with incredible visual clarity.
- For Budget 4K: If you have a 4K TV but don't want to drop $500 on a new-gen console, a used One X still looks stunning on a large panel.
The Microsoft Xbox One X introduced a level of "premium" that we hadn't seen in consoles before. It wasn't just a plastic box; it was a statement. It proved that there was a market for mid-gen refreshes that didn't just offer incremental bumps, but actual, transformative power.
Actionable Steps for Current Owners or Buyers
If you’re still rocking a One X or looking to pick one up, here is how to get the most out of it today:
Swap the Internal HDD for an SSD
The biggest bottleneck of the One X isn't the GPU; it's the old-school mechanical hard drive. If you're comfortable opening the case, putting a cheap SATA SSD inside will slash your load times by 50% or more. It makes the UI feel like a modern console.
Focus on the "One X Enhanced" Library
Check the Xbox store for the "Enhanced" logo. Titles like Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection were specifically tuned for this hardware. They look significantly better here than on the base model or even the Series S in some instances.
Use it as a High-End Media Hub
Since it supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision (for streaming apps), it’s a better media player than most "smart" TVs. Enable the "Instant-On" mode if you use it frequently, but be aware it draws more power in standby.
Check Your Thermal Paste
These consoles are getting older. If yours sounds like a vacuum cleaner, the thermal paste on the Scorpio Engine has likely dried out. Replacing it is a moderate-level DIY project that can extend the life of the machine by years.
The Xbox One X was a weird, powerful, and ultimately short-lived experiment. It was the bridge between the failures of 2013 and the successes of the current generation. It proved that power alone isn't enough to win a console war, but it sure does make the games look pretty while you're fighting it.