The Natural Resources Defense Council was the first organization to do a small study on the actual consumption of next-generation consoles. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are much more powerful than their predecessors, and this usually means that its components are more advanced and are usually related to higher consumption. But … How much more is it to have a next-gen console at home?
As we said, NRDC did a Consoles Consumption Study, an agency responsible for environmental protection in the United States. The PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X have a consumption that varies between 160 and 200 watts on average in use, higher than a 60 inch TV. The PS4 is the console that consumes the most today, with an average of 130 to 150 watts.
Some new features increase consumption
Xbox Series X
The new consoles have a slight advantage over their previous generation in standby mode. The estimated consumption is about 1W less, but with a trick.
If we have features like Instant Activation on Xbox Series X it will cause an additional annual expense with the logical increase in the electricity bill. Obviously, the biggest expense for consoles is when they play next-gen games, which drops dramatically when they play PS4 or Xbox One games.
NRDC asked Sony and Microsoft to conduct studies on how gamers are using their consoles’ power saving options, providing information to gamers to empower them more.
Source: Games industry
