All savings are good to do these days with the galaxy of appliances that populate our homes. If we encourage consumers to switch to less power-hungry products or put their box on standby, we sometimes forget that video game consoles can also be particularly greedy. And this, even in standby mode.
Because an Xbox Series X⎜S or a PlayStation 5 obviously consumes when you play, but also when you don’t play. Manufacturers know this and have multiplied functions in recent years to better manage energy, in particular to reduce the consumption of increasingly powerful technological beasts.
Functions that raise questions
In 2021, the Natural Resources Defense Council he had studied the energy consumption of the latest generation consoles. In the game they obviously scare counters with 160 W for the xbox series x and more than 200 W for the playstation5 (a little less for Xbox Series S) to add to the consumption of TV.
But it is especially the “Instant Start” function that raises doubts: to benefit from a start in 5 seconds (compared to the usual 45 seconds), the player must accept that his console consumes 13 W, permanently, without him don’t play anything. games.
With such consumption, this option costs about 20 euros per year, at the EDF regulated rate. This is slightly more than for an Xbox Series S that consumes only 10 W in standby mode (15.25 euros/year), and considerably more than for PS5 (1 to 2 W in Instant Start, that is, 3.05 euros/year maximum). ).
By disabling instant start and prioritizing power saving mode, the Xbox Series X will “cost” only 0.76 euros per year. A roughly equivalent sum for the PS5 in the same mode. With her ultra limited consumption even in the OLED version (0.3-0.5 W in standby mode with Wi-Fi / 2.2 W with LAN connection), the Nintendo Switch is far from the competition (from 0.46 euros to 3.35 euro/year).
Switch to power saving mode
By default, consoles are often put into instant start mode to allow players to get back to their game faster. It is possible to return to energy saving mode to consume less.
For Xbox Series X⎜S:
- Press the Xbox button.
- Go to Profile & system > Settings > General > Power & startup mode.
- From the dropdown menu, choose Supply mode.
- Switch to power saving mode.
It is possible to choose to turn off the console after a defined time of inactivity and choose the wake-up mode.
For PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition:
- Go to the Settings menu from the PS5 home page (top right).
- Click System > Power Management > Features Available in Sleep Mode.
- Choose the desired options (stay connected to the Internet, turn on USB ports, allow power on from the network – a kind of sleep mode)
It is possible to switch to automatic shutdown after a period of inactivity by choosing Set when the PS5 should go to sleep.
For Nintendo Switch:
Sleep mode is the default mode for Nintendo systems that allows you to reduce power consumption. Quick restart is built in to pick up where you left off.
You can choose between Auto Standby mode that will turn off the console after a defined period of inactivity, Wired Standby mode to maintain Internet connection, or to help reduce power consumption.
Source: BFM TV
