Communications
— LAN (Local Area Network). The most common and in fact the dominant interface today for wired connection of various electronic devices to computer networks. Allows you to work with local resources, as well as access the Internet. In the case of game consoles, such a connection can be used for network games, for working with specialized gaming services, cloud storage, firmware updates, and even for full-fledged web surfing and/or playing music and videos from local resources or Internet sites; specific network capabilities in different models are different. Note that the LAN interface is installed exclusively in desktop consoles (see "Form factor") — it is poorly suited for portable ones for a number of reasons.
— Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n). Game consoles use
Wi-Fi wireless technology primarily to access the Internet. The ways of using such a connection can be different: multiplayer games, access to branded gaming services, social networks, full-fledged web surfing, updating games or firmware, etc. This method of connection is more convenient than wired, because it eliminates the hassle with cables; and for portable models (see "Form factor"), it is actually the only possible one. Specifically, the Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) standard provides data transfer rates up to 300 Mbps and uses two bands — 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. The latter ensures compatibility with both earlier (Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g) and later (Wi-Fi 5) standards. And the mentioned speed is consider
...ed relatively low, but for most tasks it is more than enough.
— Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac). Further, after the Wi-Fi 4 described above, the development of Wi-Fi technology. It uses the 5 GHz band and gives a data transfer rate of more than 1 Gbps (in the future — up to 6 Gbps). This speed not only simplifies the transfer of large amounts of data (for example, downloading games or updates to them), but also reduces lag in online games. For compatibility with older Wi-Fi standards using the 2.4GHz band, Wi-Fi 4 may also be supported in addition to Wi-Fi 5.
— Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax). The latest version for 2020 uses the ranges from 1 to 7 GHz — that is, it is capable of operating at standard frequencies of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz (including with equipment of earlier standards), and in other frequency bands. The maximum data transfer rate increased to 10 Gbps, however, the main advantage of Wi-Fi 6 was not even this, but further optimization of the simultaneous operation of several devices on the same channel (improvement of the technical solutions used in Wi-Fi 5 and WiGig). Thanks to this, Wi-Fi 6 gives the smallest speed drop among modern standards when the channel is loaded.
— Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax). The Wi-Fi 6E standard is technically called 802.11ax. But unlike basic Wi-Fi 6, which is named similarly, it provides for operation in the unused 6 GHz band. In total, the standard uses 14 different frequency bands, offering high throughput in the most crowded places with many active connections. And it is backwards compatible with previous versions.
— Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be). As in the previous edition of Wi-Fi 6E, the technology supports operation in three frequency ranges: 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz. Wi-Fi 7 bandwidth has increased from 160 MHz to 320 MHz, allowing larger amounts of data to be transferred overnight. IEEE 802.11be uses 4096-QAM modulation, which also allows more symbols to be accommodated in a data transmission unit. The maximum you can squeeze out of the standard is up to 46 Gbit/s information exchange speed. In the context of game consoles, the development of MLO (Multi-Link Operation) looks like a useful innovation, with which you can aggregate several channels in different ranges. This significantly reduces delays in data transfer, while simultaneously ensuring low and stable ping in games. And when connecting multiple client devices, Multi-RU (Multiple Resource Unit) technology is designed to minimize possible delays.
— Bluetooth. Wireless interface designed for direct connection between various devices; very versatile and can be used for a variety of purposes. In game consoles, use cases for Bluetooth include connecting wireless controllers, headphones and headsets, and sharing files with other gadgets (such as a laptop or tablet); the specific capabilities of this interface are different in different models. Bluetooth uses the radio range and has a range of about 10 m, while it can maintain a connection even through walls (except that the range in this case is reduced).
— NFC. NFC (Near Field Communication) is a wireless communication technology with a short range, of the order of several centimeters. Potentially, it has quite extensive capabilities, but today it is most often used as an auxiliary tool when connecting via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If both connected devices have an NFC, instead of searching, connecting, authorizing and other actions, it is enough to bring these devices to each other and accept the connection. The vast majority of game consoles with an NFC are portable (see Form Factor).CPU
The model of the processor installed in the game console.
The processor is the main computing module of the device; the capabilities of the set-top box as a whole largely depend on its characteristics. However, it is worth noting that information about its model in game consoles is usually of a general reference and promotional nature. The fact is that set-top boxes are usually designed for a specific platform, and this implies certain requirements for the power of the hardware so that the corresponding games work normally. Of course, knowing the name, you can find more detailed information — characteristics, test results, reviews, reviews, etc. — and make the most clear impression of the capabilities of the processor; however, unless you plan to use the prefix in non-standard roles, this information is unlikely to be of real practical value. The only exception is gaming tablets (see "Form Factor"): since they are very versatile and can be equipped with a variety of programs, processor data can be useful in assessing how fast an application will run.
Note that advanced desktop set-top boxes can have multiple processors.
Graphics card performance
The performance of the graphics card installed in the game console.
Performance is measured in FLOPS, the number of floating point math operations that a graphics card processor can perform in one second. Game consoles traditionally use teraflops, or trillions of operations per second.
Theoretically, higher performance means a more advanced graphics card and corresponding graphics quality. However, in fact, this parameter is often given more for promotional purposes than to describe the actual capabilities of the console. The fact is that the quality of game graphics depends not only on the capabilities of the graphics card, but also on other factors — including the general characteristics of the set-top box (processor, memory, etc.), as well as how well the games are optimized for this platform . Therefore, models similar to each other in this indicator may differ markedly in the actual video capabilities. Moreover, a relatively modest graphics card can also outperform a more performant counterpart. For example, Microsoft's Xbox One S, which has a "only" 1.4 TFLOPS video accelerator, supports 4K resolution and HDR (see "Features"), while its peer PS 4 Slim with a 1.84 TFLOPS graphics card TFLOPS does not have such capabilities. Therefore, it makes sense to compare video performance only on consoles that differ significantly in digital indicators.
Internal storage
The volume of the set-top box's own built-in storage (see "Storage"). The larger this volume, the more information can fit directly in the device, the less often you have to clean the storage. It is worth noting that the same model of a desktop set-top box can be produced with different volumes (
500 GB,
1 TB and
2 TB). For portable set-top boxes, much less volume is available — up to
250 GB
