After 13 hours of research among 12 existing models, our preference goes to the Nintendo Switch .
Best mobile console
Nintendo Switch
A hybrid between home console and portable, it offers a
unique gaming experience. The exclusive games and the independent proposal are
well suited to different uses. It's a family friendly console!
Nintendo's new console is designed for hybrid use. In
other words, you can use it both as a portable console and as a living room
console. It is this aspect that mainly appeals to users, who like to vary the
pleasure without disconnecting from their current game.
Nintendo Super NES Classic Mini
Initiator of the fashion for retro consoles in mini
format, Nintendo dominates the market with its consoles filled with cult games
and at attractive prices. In both NES and Super NES versions, this mini console
is very attractive.
Praised upon their release, the NES Mini and Super NES
Mini were the initiators of the genre. Taking up the great titles that made
them famous and influenced the games we play today, they are a must-have for
any retrogaming fan. If they are not devoid of flaws, they are perfect for
nostalgic people who are not greedy for games, to introduce children to retro
consoles ... And even quite simply for the pleasure of the collection!
Sony PlayStation 4
Best power / price compromise, Sony's proposal is the
most popular model at the moment. Its catalog of exclusives is very recognized
and contains some nuggets not to be missed.
The PS4 well deserves its position as the most popular
console. Between its exclusive, very high-level catalog, its low price and its
virtual reality headset, it has everything to please. It is available in Slim
and Pro versions . We particularly recommend the latter to 4K enthusiasts.
Xiaomi Black Shark 3
Along with other gaming smartphones (of which it is
currently the best option), it increasingly appeals to mobile gamers, to whom
it offers access to many games with fluidity and magnificent graphics.
With the arrival of the video game giants on our
smartphones, gaming enthusiasts are increasingly attracted to this mobile
solution. It is indeed a sector where more and more quality titles are emerging,
while manufacturers pay more and more attention to the quality of the chip and
processor, to offer an ever more fluid experience. . If the Xiaomi Black Shark
3 is in our opinion the best option among them at the moment, do not hesitate
to consult our dedicated article .
Sega Mega Drive Mini HD
This console is as retro as the NES. It revives the
memory of first generation players (or almost) with many games. Enough to show
children what their parents were playing at the time.
This proposal from Sega is very interesting because of
its extensive list of games. The brand uses the same recipe as Nintendo: the
design of the era miniaturized and more modern connectors, to offer the right
dose of nostalgia without putting off the uninitiated public and therefore not
very receptive to this electronic Proust madeleine.
Microsoft XBox One
With a real multimedia boost, this home console offers a
good 2-in-1 option. It delights Microsoft fans with its 4K. The X is the most
powerful currently available on the market.
If the XBox library appeals to you and you are looking
for a multimedia oriented console, the One is the one for you. Indeed,
Microsoft guarantees access to the applications of the Windows store to its
console, which allows it greater versatility than its competitor Sony.
Why trust us ?
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fund our work while remaining completely impartial. Learn more .
How did we make our choice?
In the world of consoles, war is raging between three
major brands: Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. When the latter prefers to go it
alone in the world of the laptop, the other two still continue to oppose each
other in your living room.
In fact, one is not better than the other and your
choice should be determined by the following criteria:
The game library: it is important to ensure that your
preferred licenses are present in the catalog of your console. The war of
exclusives makes that generally, when one decides to take side with a camp, one
remains bound there during several generations of consoles. On this point,
Microsoft is harming its console by making certain titles available also for
Windows.
The desired functionalities : they can be hardware or software.
For example, if you are aiming for versatility, the Switch is ideal but for HDR
or 4K, you will have to go your way. VR, meanwhile, is only available from Sony
but the Xbox, in return, benefits from the high number of Windows applications.
It's up to you to determine what your priorities are.
We hope that these elements will allow you to see more
clearly in this clan war raging in the world of consoles. You are of course not
obliged (e) to take sides and can opt for several solutions!
Nintendo Switch
A hybrid between home console and portable, it offers a
unique gaming experience. The exclusive games and the independent proposal are
well suited to different uses. It's a family friendly console!
Nintendo's latest console is designed for hybrid use. In
other words, you can use it both as a portable console and as a living room
console.
The transition is extremely simple: you take the console
which comes in tablet form, you simply slide it into the dedicated dock by
removing the joysticks located around the screen and voila, the image is
automatically sent to your TV without transition or delay.
In addition to this, the console has a crutch
(relatively fragile) allowing it to rest on a table, which allows it to be used
in multiplayer, even on the go.
The multiplayer, precisely, is one of the strong points
of this device. Like its predecessors, the Switch is a console oriented to
sharing, whether locally (often neglected today) or network.
The Joy-Con can therefore be used in three different
ways: assembled around a central block to form a relatively standard
controller, separately to challenge your friends or separately, one in each
hand to make maximum use of the integrated motion sensors. .
The games offered are essentially made up of Nintendo
exclusives (still of such good quality), porting of retro games and independent
titles. Of course, big licenses such as The Elder Scrolls and The Witcher 3
have appeared on the portable console, with graphics quality suited to the
capabilities of the device.
Nintendo also offers us the lite version of the Switch
in different colors, some of which are quite pepy ( turquoise , yellow , coral
, gray ). This iteration is even more portable than the original, with 9 hours
of battery life and a lighter weight. It is also more robust, which is a plus
with younger children. However, be careful with the games you want to buy
because you need the mention “portable” on it to be compatible with this
variant of the console.
NB: if you are a fan of the small portable console
without being a fan of the Joy Cons, know that we have also devoted a
comparison to the best switch controllers .
Nintendo Super NES Classic Mini
Initiator of the fashion for retro consoles in mini
format, Nintendo dominates the market with its consoles filled with cult games
and at attractive prices. In both NES and Super NES versions, this mini console
is very attractive.
Praised upon their release, the NES Mini and Super NES
Mini were the initiators of the genre. Taking up the great titles that made
them famous and influenced the games we play today, they are a must-have for
any retrogaming fan. If they are not devoid of flaws, they are perfect for
nostalgic people who are not greedy for games, to introduce children to retro
consoles ... And even quite simply for the pleasure of the collection!
The recipe is simple: the design of the time, revisited
in a mini format and adapted to current standards (hello HD!). They contain
respectively 21 (SNES) and 30 (NES) games, the majority of which have become
cult.
Nintendo pushed the nostalgia to the maximum by offering
three display modes: the 4: 3 format, the cathode ray tube mode (as on the TVs
of the time) or the original definition. You are free to try them all and
choose the one you prefer.
The brand has also thought of those who had a lot of
difficulties with the games of the time by offering a backup system at will on
its two consoles. The SNES mini, more recent, adds a “Replay” function which
constantly records the last 45 seconds of play and allows you to return freely
if necessary. Practical enough to compensate for an unfortunate mistake!
The only real faults of these consoles are the
controller cables which are far too short and have a specific connection (no
USB), the inability to add other games (while there are several on the Nintendo
e-shop) and the absence of a “home” button on the controller.
Sony PlayStation 4
Best power / price compromise, Sony's proposal is the
most popular model at the moment. Its catalog of exclusives is very recognized
and contains some nuggets not to be missed.
The PS4 deserves its position as the most popular
console. Between its exclusive, very high-level catalog, its low price and its
virtual reality headset, it has everything to please.
Released in 2013, the Sony console continues to be the
most popular model. Available in a Slim and Pro version , it once again faces
its Californian competitor, the XBox.
The Slim version is placed, as its name suggests, in a
more compact version of the original PS4. It offers the correct power to play
all the games available (there are no games specific to the Pro version) but
does not allow access to 4K. In addition, video streaming can only be done in
HD.
The Pro is the most powerful model. Offered at a
slightly higher price, it adds support for native 4K gaming and 1080p 60fps
streaming of your video content. In addition to these features, its optimized
GPU allows it to upgrade the rendering of games originally planned in Full HD
to 4K.
The list of games optimized for this release keeps
growing, and if you're planning on getting a 4K TV (or already have one), we
recommend that you turn to the latter.
Speaking of games , Sony has a very qualitative catalog
of exclusives, especially for adventure seekers. Who hasn't heard of God of War
, Uncharted or Gran Turismo ?
Another strong point of the PS4 is that it is the only
console to offer a virtual reality headset . If the display quality is not as
high as on PC, the latter will be a first step towards the discovery of this
new way to consume your favorite games.
The multimedia part is unfortunately marked by the
absence of an Ultra HD Blu-Ray player, present in the competition.
Around the end of the year 2020 holidays, we will have
the chance to see the PS5 arrive. Its price would be a little higher than that
of the PS4 when it was released.
On the new menu, you will be entitled to 5x higher power
which allows 4K 60 fps and RTX processing, for better graphics quality, and an
SSD coupled with doubled RAM memory, for the benefit of execution speed.
Xiaomi Black Shark 3
Along with other gaming smartphones (of which it is
currently the best option), it increasingly appeals to mobile gamers, to whom
it offers access to many games with fluidity and magnificent graphics.
With the arrival of the video game giants on our
smartphones, gaming enthusiasts are increasingly attracted to this mobile
solution. And if the Xiaomi Black Shark 3 is in our opinion the best option
among them at the moment, do not hesitate to consult our dedicated article .
The masters of video games have understood the
enthusiasm of gamers for this new sector. This is why it is no longer rare, at
the present time, to find well-known licenses on our pocket companions.
Nintendo, Activision, Electronic Arts and others are already present in the
various stores and the available offer continues to expand with a variety of
games.
Smartphones for gamers are expected to run these titles
and those to come by offering high power, extensive software optimization and
great endurance. Many people also offer accessories that are beneficial to ease
of use: joysticks, dock to connect to a screen, etc.
The price is certainly higher than for a console such as
the Switch but you benefit, of course, from the features of a classic
smartphone in addition to those related to the game.
The recent development of cloud-gaming services (Google
Stadia, Playstation Now, Geforce Now and even Xbox Game Pass) is even more in
their favor thanks to the specific optimizations to which they are entitled and
the very wide range of titles available.
Sega Mega Drive Mini HD
This console is as retro as the NES. It revives the memory
of first generation players (or almost) with many games. Enough to show
children what their parents were playing at the time.
This proposal from Sega is very interesting because of
its extensive list of games. The brand uses the same recipe as Nintendo: the
design of the era miniaturized and more modern connectors.
Except that here, instead of finding yourself in front
of a faithful copy, you have in your hands a replica of the console of the
time, down to its smallest details! Thus, the headphone output volume
adjustment potentiometer, the extension port for Mega CD module on the bottom
and the cartridge port on the top are also present ... But unusable because
they are not associated with any electronics.
From a display point of view, Sega uses the same
settings as those present at Nintendo so that the player can choose to relive
an experience faithful to that of the time (which tends to cause eye fatigue
faster) or closer current standards. Backup at will is also part of the game.
The controllers are included with the console. The
version offered here is the three-button version while the six-button version
(optional with us) is included with the console in Japan. Fans of games such as
Street Fighter should therefore check out for optimal comfort.
This game is also part of the list of 42 games on the
console. As with the competition, it is not expandable but contains many cult
titles that you enjoy (re) discovering.
Microsoft XBox One
With a real multimedia boost, this home console offers a
good 2-in-1 option. It delights Microsoft fans with its 4K. The X is the most
powerful currently available on the market.
If the XBox library appeals to you and you are looking
for a multimedia oriented console, the One is the one for you.
Released the same year as the PS4, the XBox One first of
all disappointed its fans… But it has largely made up for it with its latest
versions.
Where Sony relies on its catalog of games to impress,
Microsoft plays on the debauchery of power and multimedia.
This console is available in All Digital , S and X
versions . Only the last two versions have a 4K Blu-Ray player. This player
allows the One to be the very first home console to be able to broadcast an
Ultra HD signal. This resolution is also available for games originally planned
in HD thanks to upscaling.
The All Digital version is an XBox One S focusing on
dematerialized. Thus, it contains no CD drive and is based only on downloaded
games. If its base price is more interesting than that of the other two models,
it is much less interesting during promotional periods when the S is often
presented in packs containing several games for an almost equivalent price. In
addition, the absence of a reader prevents you from taking advantage of the
second-hand market.
If the S is meant to be fairly standard, the X is a real
monster. Its power is 4.5 times more than the S model and even 1.5 times more
powerful than the PS4 Pro! It is currently the most powerful home console.
Of course, there is a reason for this: the display of
4K. The XBox One X claims to be the first home console to truly support UHD.
To push the vice even further, Microsoft recently
released Gears 5, the first game that can run at 4K 60 fps, a rendering worthy
of the most powerful PC Gamers! Never seen on this type of device.
In addition to this raw power and exclusive games
specially optimized for these consoles, Microsoft guarantees access to Windows
store applications to its console, which allows it greater versatility than its
Japanese competitor.
The Series X should be released at the end of 2020. It
will offer 4 times more power than the Xbox One X (2x for the graphics). As for
the PS5, the RAM memory will amount to 16 GB and will be coupled to an SSD for
flawless fluidity.
Atypical solutions
Nvidia Shield TV : it is a good mix between an Android
TV box and a home console by taking advantage of access to the entire Google
store in 4K HDR. In addition to this extensive catalog, exclusives are
available: Portal, Doom 3, Half Life (1 and 2) and many more. It also allows
you to stream games directly from your PC with Nvidia Gamestream or from a
remote computer with Geforce Now.
Raspberry Pi 4 : A nano-computer for DIY enthusiasts,
the Pi 4 ( 2 or 4 GB of RAM) can be configured as a home console that emulates
retro games while being compatible with modern controllers. Thanks to a wide
variety of emulators, it can satisfy all your nostalgia cravings, if you are
not afraid to give it a hand. For those interested, a tutorial is available on
Numérama .
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