Microsoft has cut the boot time of the Xbox Series X|S consoles in half, as members of the Xbox Insider test program have noticed. As spotted by The Verge, the consoles now go from a cold boot to active in around five seconds thanks to a shorter bootup animation sequence.
As confirmed by director of Xbox integrated marketing Josh Munsee, the company created the shorter boot-up animation sequence to reduce the overall startup time. Usually, an Xbox Series X|S will need around 10 seconds to fully load, which is still an impressive figure given that the Quick Resume function can store several games in a standby state.
Can confirm – worked with @harrisonhoffman and @jakerose27 to create a shorter boot up animation (~4s) from the original boot up animation (~9s), helping to reduce the overall startup time.
— Josh Munsee (@joshmunsee) July 23, 2022
When it rolls out, this boot-up will only benefit those consoles set to Energy Saver mode when it rolls out eventually. The new default state for the Xbox systems that is designed to be friendlier towards the planet, Energy Saver mode also uses around 20 times less power than standby mode and can be used to perform background downloads and updates.
What can you do with those spare five seconds? The opportunities are endless, as you can reclaim dropped food before germs infest it, check notifications on your smartphone, or fold two t-shirts.
In comparison, the PS5 takes around 20 seconds to go from a cold boot to active, but it’s still an outstanding number. If you’re looking to grab the latest Xbox for yourself, you can check out GameSpot’s Xbox Series X|S restock page to see when new units arrive near you.
The next couple of months also look good for Xbox, as the recent joint showcase with Bethesda revealed new details on upcoming games such as Redfall, Starfield, and Overwatch 2.
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