Xbox One X - the most powerful console yet?

Microsoft
The Xbox One X. Photo credit: Microsoft

Microsoft's next console, the Xbox One X, will hit shelves in November.

In the US it'll cost US$499, the same as the current-gen Xbox One, and is expected to set Kiwi gamers back between $700 and $800.

It'll be capable of 4k resolution, and have nearly 50 percent more graphical power than the rival PlayStation 4 Pro - six teraflops, compared to 4.2. It'll have 12GB of RAM, an octo-core chip and support virtual reality headsets.

It'll be 100 percent backwards-compatible with existing Xbox One games and accessories. This is an improvement on the Xbox One launch, which only got backwards compatibility with the previous 360 console last year.

Any game made for the Xbox One X will also run on the older Xbox One, Microsoft says, but will of course run better on the newer, upgraded hardware.

Microsoft says the Xbox One X will be the smallest console in the Xbox range so far.

As an update to the Xbox One, the Xbox One X remains a member of the eighth generation of hardware consoles, alongside the Wii U and PlayStation 4/PlayStation 4 Pro.

Interestingly, some tech writers have pointed out Xbox One X kind of spells 'Xbox'. On the Xbox section of popular web forum Reddit, reaction to the name has been largely negative.

"That may just be the worst name ever. Jesus. F**king. Christ," wrote user Snufflebox.

"Only Microsoft would come up with such a stupid naming system," wrote SteveGo.

"Nintendo: No one could come up with a worse name for a console than Wii U. Microsoft: Hold my beer," said the_mhs.

In a way the 'X', if taken as a Roman numeral, mirrors Microsoft's Windows 10 - which confusingly followed the tech giant's previous operating system, Windows 8.

Newshub.