Xbox Series X can apparently get incredibly hot

We’ve been feeling high as a kite lately, thanks to all the next-gen fumes we’ve been huffing in the run-up to the launch of the Xbox Series X and the PS5. While I’m sure both consoles will be fabulous new machines to play games on, right now I’m leaning towards the Xbox Series X thanks to Microsoft’s transparency around the cute obsidian brick.

They’ve shown off its hardware in several previews, detailed the games arriving on it in an uncomplicated fashion, and allowed games journos to have early hands-on time with preview consoles, painting a very complete picture in the process. Sony, on the other hand, has given fans a whack on the head with a rolled up newspaper as they stay more tight-lipped than a mob enforcer on trial.

But finally, finally, it looks like the scales can be balanced as we take a look at one flaw in the design of the Xbox Series X: It’s so dang hot. Consoles have always emitted heat, but the Xbox Series X apparently generates enough temperature to mess up a Predator’s thermal vision. “The Series X is hot, like really hot! It doesn’t make any noise, but damn it’s hot! The console is emitting heat like crazy. It’s almost like a fireplace shaft. You can heat up your flat with it,” Jeux Video’s Ken Bogard said via VGC’s translation.

Giant Bomb co-host Jeff Bakalar also commented on the crazy heat levels, saying that “this was just plugged in standby mode behind me and you guys, the entire thing is a little toasty.”

It seems like in the way a lot of the other consoles were doing stuff while you were not using them, this thing might be doing something while you’re not using it, to the point where it needs to exhaust heat.

It’s worth noting that the people who have an Xbox Series X right now, have preview units. The hardware inside those cubes is pre-release technology, so maybe the final Xbox Series X won’t burn your house down if left near anything flammable.

So far, that seems to be the only chink in the Xbox Series X armour on a technical level, as reviewers have praised other aspects of the device, such as its unbelievably quiet design and ability to keep multiple games in a standby state using the SSD and Xbox Velocity software.

This article was brought to you by Critical Hit