PS4 vs. Xbox One Update Speeds: What Takes Xbox So Long?

The majority of gamers choose one main console every generation. Nintendo make sneak in there from time to time as a complimentary console because its hardware is so different, but I think it’s safe to assume that when it comes to Xbox and PlayStation, most of you pick one of the two due to budget limitations. Those who take their gaming more seriously will own both because they can’t miss out on console exclusives, and owning both a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox One is the best way to see the benefits and drawbacks of each platform.

One NeoGAF user who goes by the name “Caayn” noticed over time that his Xbox One typically takes much longer to update than his PS4. In fact, the difference is really dramatic. Those of you who own both consoles may know what I’m talking about already, but if you only own an Xbox One or only own a PS4, then I think you’ll be shocked by the results.

To give a really clear idea of how big the difference can be, Caayn decided to shoot a video of both consoles updating their firmware at the exact same time. This side by side video shows off both consoles processing their updates, and in the video you’ll see that it takes the Xbox about seven times longer to fully update. See for yourself in the video below.

Comparison Video

So what are we looking at? Keep in mind while you’re watching this video that we’re dealing with a PS4 Pro and an Xbox One S: the two upgraded versions of each console. In truth, the update download and update process would likely be the exact same if we were dealing with the normal PS4 and Xbox One. A beefed up GPU is not going to affect this process at all. So what are the other major factors?

This Is an Unbiased Party

This dude owns and loves both of his consoles. He isn’t out to prove that “my PS4 is better than your Xbox One” because, well, both consoles are his and he wants both to perform well. Don’t go thinking that we’re here to try and downplay the Xbox One in any way, we’re simply observing this process and wondering what it is that takes the Xbox One so much longer to update.

Update Size

The two updates you’re observing are extremely comparable in size. Caayn notes in his post that the PS4 Pro update was 325MB and the Xbox One S update was 384MB. The fact that the Xbox update was slightly larger is insignificant; the difference is negligible.

Downloading on the Xbox One

You’ll notice that the PS4 begins the installation process, while the Xbox One has to download the update file first. If we want to be really strict, we can shave off about 50 seconds of time difference because of this, because it wouldn’t take the PS4 very long to download the update. Last night I downloaded Patapon Remastered, which is almost 700MB in size, and it took less than 60 seconds to fully download and install. Even if this video started out with the PS4 downloading the update first, it would have added maybe one minute to the entire process.

At any rate, you can see in the video it only takes the Xbox One about 30 seconds to download the update.

So what’s the deal?

Listen: the Xbox One is a great console, and it does many things better than the PS4. Many social QOL aspects of the Xbox experience I greatly prefer to the PlayStation experience. Xbox Live is also the superior online service, if I’m being honest. In this specific regard — that is, in regard to update speeds — the PlayStation 4 is the superior console. Another user (mike4001) chimed in to offer a suggestion as to why:

“Xbox One has a complete recovery image on its HDD (so you can recover a failed update if your console is bricked without downloading anything from the internet). So during the update the updated files have to be integrated in this system image which is around 4 GBs in size. Basically it has to copy a 4 GB File from one point to another point on a single HDD. Due to the slow 2.5″ HDDs this takes a lot of time. PS4 does not do this.”

Hey! When it all comes down to it, this can all be avoided by setting up your console to automatically download and install updates, so there’s nothing to fret over. But now if your friends want to dog you for how slow updates on the Xbox One can be, now you at least have an educated response as to why this occurs.

Do you allow automatic updates, or do you do everything yourself?

Manual or Automatic Updates for You?