Microsoft now has a special new energy-saving mode for its Xbox One console, significantly reducing the power consumption of the console.
The company has received plenty of criticism in recent times over the power consumption of the Xbox One, particularly because the console has an "Instant On" feature that drains the battery. In order to appease disgruntled customers, Microsoft has now announced an energy-saving mode that will be available when new U.S. customers set up their Xbox One console for the first time.
At the same time, Microsoft also defends its Instant On feature for the Xbox One, arguing that it's necessary to provide updates without interrupting gaming and entertainment experiences.
"With this power setting, the Xbox One is always up-to-date delivering updates and downloading content while the console is not actively being used. Only with this setting can you make game or content purchases from SmartGlass or Xbox.com and have the content download automatically to your home console. When factoring the monthly system updates, new features in apps and games and automatic mobile purchase downloads, the Instant-on setting easily saves users countless hours of needlessly waiting," Microsoft explained in a press release.
"While we believe Instant-on provides the best experience for our fans, we also believe in providing consumer choice which is why we offered the 'Energy-saving' mode. This lower power state consumes less energy and can save customers an average of $6 to $15 in energy costs* per year in the U.S. This mode does not provide the added value of background updating," further added the company.
"By providing multiple power states in Xbox One and empowering our fans with choice, we sought to balance energy efficiency and functionality. At the same time, we know many Xbox One fans are vigilant about their household's energy consumption; after all, environmental leadership often begins at home."
As previously mentioned, the company will now offer two options during the initial setup of new Xbox One consoles in the coming months, allowing new customers to choose between Instant-On or Energy-Saving modes.
Existing Xbox One owners, meanwhile, will be able to enable the energy-saving mode on their consoles by going into Settings > Power > Startup. From there, they will be able to toggle the energy-saving mode on or off.
