NOTE 20 ULTRA AND XCLOUD: MICROSOFT'S STREAMING GAMING TO THE TEST
The Android world has a huge catalog of games. There are thousands of them, but only a few of them manage to appeal to gamers accustomed to PC and consoles . But now, thanks to the services that allow you to play in streaming, it seems that something is really changing in the mobile world. Leading this (possible) revolution is undoubtedly Microsoft, which with its Game Pass Ultimate offers access to dozens of titles in streaming through xCloud, with a simple monthly subscription.
Obviously this is only part of the offer included in the
Game Pass Ultimate, but it is important because it could lead, in the medium
term, to the creation of a playful ecosystem even larger than the current one,
made up of Windows 10 PCs, the new Xbox Series X e Series S and now also from
Android smartphones. Waiting to find out how the situation will evolve on iOS,
we tried the service on the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra , a phone that has
focused on the Microsoft streaming service since its presentation.
Costs, network and interface requirements
In order to use xCloud it is necessary to have a
subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, all other subscriptions do not provide
the possibility to play in streaming. The cost is € 12.99 per month, for a
subscription that includes much more inside, such as the ability to play over
100 titles on PC and console , including Microsoft exclusives directly on
launch day, at no additional cost. The subscription gives access to multiplayer
mode on consoles, entitles you to discounts and exclusive offers and, by the
end of the year, will also include games from the EA Play catalog.. The offer
is really full of possibilities, to which is obviously added the game streaming
on devices other than PC and console. In this test we are using a smartphone,
but in the future it will be possible to play directly from a TV or PC. you
need a 10 Mbps connection
For now, the service can only be used from a telephone, a
choice made also for the limited current transmission resolution, stuck at
720p, certainly not ideal on larger screens. To access the service you , the
bandwidth requirements are currently low, also considering the resolution with
which the images are transmitted.
During the test we used a 5 GHz Wi-Fi connection on a 40
Mbps fixed line in download and 30 Mbps in Upload, but it is also possible to
play under 4G and 5G networks, paying maximum attention to consumption, because
the classic 50 Monthly GBs can run out quickly if you use the service for many
hours.
Unified interface
To play in streaming, you need to install the Xbox Game Pass
application on your smartphone and connect a compatible pad. Some games, few in
truth, have already been adapted for use with the touch screen, however the
controller is practically mandatory for most titles, which would be difficult
to manage without. We used a Razer Raiju Mobile but it is also possible to pair
the Xbox pad, without the need to buy a dedicated peripheral. Obviously, the
advantage of this pad is given by the support for the smartphone, which allows
you to play without a support surface for the phone.
The interface that appears once the application is started
reproduces the one seen on PC and console, Microsoft has managed to unify the
style of all its gaming platforms and even on the Note 20 Ultra the experience
is no different and is perfectly manageable directly from the joypad. From here
you can access three sections, Cloud, Console and PC, and the first is the one
that allows you to play directly in streaming.
At the top center some recommended games are shown,
scrolling down instead the application divides the available titles into
categories, from the most popular to the most suitable to be played on
smartphones, like a normal video streaming service. . On the left there are
then three shortcuts, one to return to the home, one to enter your profile and
the last one allows you to create real playlists of games.
Playing from a smartphone is possible, but not at all
Once the game has been chosen and started, the platform
proceeds to load, more or less quickly depending on the title and the type of
connection. In some cases it took about ten seconds, in others the loading took
almost a minute. Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a 19.3: 9 screen, a particular format
for the gaming world, the interface therefore occupies only the central part of
the display, simulating a classic 16: 9 screen and completely cutting out the
camera hole. With a tap on the screen you can see some statistics, including a
very important one, namely the bandwidth consumption, useful when playing on
the move to keep the data plan under control. At the first start, the
application synchronizes the saves with those available on the PC and console,
thus ensuring continuity of use between the different platforms.
We tried different titles, from Gears 5 to Ori, through
Resident Evil 7 and Forza Horizon, discovering a platform that promises very
wellbut that needs higher quality to offer a gaming experience suitable for all
titles. For example, Ori does not give any kind of problem, certainly the
definition is much lower than those available on monitors and TVs but it is
still perfectly playable, same thing for Gears 5. Resident Evil 7 instead shows
the limits of the current streaming quality, just observe what happens in the
initial part, where the dense vegetation of the Baker house particularly
suffers from the compression of the video signal .
A screen like that of the Note 20 Ultra can handle much
higher resolutions but for now Microsoft prefers not to push on quality: the
transition to a higher resolution would require much more power in the servers
and much more bandwidth to be managed, increasing consumption even more. .
On the input lag front, the situation is less problematic
than we expected. At first we connected the pad via Bluetooth and the delay was
evident, then we instead focused on the wired connection via the USB Type C of
the Note , which led the input lag to lower until it didn't bother during the
game. It's probably not enough for competitive titles yet, but for single
player play it's within acceptable limits.
