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X Rated: Comparing 'Fortnite' On The Xbox One X And iPhone X

This article is more than 5 years old.

Credit: Epic Games

At first glance, pitting a smartphone against the most powerful video game console ever made seems pointless at best and delusional at worst. But that’s just what Digital Foundry did when they compared Fortnite running on the iPhone X and 6s with the Xbox One X. The results are surprising.

Comparing the One X with the iPhone X

The first thing Fortnite players will notice when they parachute into the game on the iPhone X is that it’s the same map they know from consoles or PC. Epic didn’t scale back the main features of the environment in order to get the game running on a smartphone. Animation is also very similar if not identical on the One X and iPX. Not only are all the large-scale features in place, they look a lot better than you might think. Fortnite is a very good-looking game on the iPhone X.

Of course, when you look closer “very good” on the iPhone X doesn’t really compete with the visual presentation on the One X. Foliage is reduced on the iPX. Lighting in general is simplified and volumetric lighting is absent. Shadows on the iPX are not nearly as sharp and well defined as they are on the One X, and they only pop into view when the player comes close to where they're supposed to be. Shadows cast by the movement of the sun behave oddly on the IPhone X. On the One X, shadows move smoothly as the sun moves; on the iPX, they jump ahead to a new position every 5 seconds or so.

Credit: Digital Foundry

The water reflections seen on the One X are absent on the iPX as are the surface ripples that enhance the visual beauty of the reflections. Water ripples are not the only small environmental movement effects missing from the iPX. Grass doesn’t blow in the breeze and clouds don’t roil in the sky. Ambient occlusion is also absent on the iPhone X which doesn’t makes little difference outdoors but noticeably flattens interior spaces. (If some technical terms are unfamiliar, check out this guide.)

There’s one visual area where the iPhone X can be considered to have an advantage. The phone’s elongated screen results in a wider field of view than you get on consoles. This can give the player an advantage in some situations because more can be seen on either side. On the other hand, objects directly in front of the character appear further away which can make it more difficult to hit a moving target at distance.

Credit: Digital Foundry

Digital Foundry estimates resolution on the iPhone X is roughly 1460 x 665 which is similar to native 720p (1280 x 720). Fortnite makes use of dynamic resolution scaling on the One X hitting a minimum of 1152p, a maximum of 1728p and an average of 1440p. The iPX’s small screen helps to minimize the effect of its relatively low resolution.

Frame rate is capped at 30 fps on the iPhone X and it stays at this level with only occasional brief 5 fps or less drops. There are also frame time glitches, but they don’t happen often and they aren’t intrusive. Fortnite plays at 60 fps on the One X.

The iPhone X has one performance issue that’s not a factor for the One X. Fortnite is a battery hog. The Digital Foundry reviewer reported that his battery went from 100% to 25% charge in 90 minutes of gameplay.

Credit: Digital Foundry

What about the iPhone 6s

In a word? Ugh. Textures are crude, texture filtering is poor, and the ground looks like blurry soup. Both foliage and shadows are missing. Lighting is further cut back from the reduced levels seen on the iPhone X. It looks like a game from years ago.

Resolution is estimated to be somewhere near 934 x 525. Even on the phone’s small screen, it doesn’t look good. Frame rate is generally below the 30 fps cap. However, when frame rate drops, it doesn’t drop very far, staying between 25 and 30 fps most of the time.

Credit: Digital Foundry

Conclusion

Here’s a summary of how the iPhone X, iPhone 6s and Xbox One X versions of Fortnite compare.

  • The map and animations on the iPX and One X are virtually identical.
  • Lighting, shadows and foliage are simplified on the iPX.
  • Small-scale environmental movement, water reflections and ambient occlusion are absent on the iPX.
  • Field of view is wider on both iPhones than on consoles.
  • The One X has much higher resolution than either of the iPhones and the 6s has lower resolution that the iPX
  • Performance is capped at 30fps on the iPhones and 60 fps on the One X.
  • Visual quality on the 6s is poor.
  • The game drains the phone’s battery fast.

Fortnite on the iPhone X looks surprisingly good when compared to the massively more powerful Xbox One X. The same can’t be said for the iPhone 6s where visuals are poor.

The quality of the game on the iPhone X speaks well for both the processing power of the phone and Epic’s creation of an attractive and playable mobile version of Fortnite. Whether mobile players will be able to compete effectively with console and PC players in cross-play is another question.

If you're interested in Fortnite, here's another article you might enjoy.

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