Xbox Series X is getting a 4K dashboard

Xbox Series X is getting a 4K dashboard
(Image credit: Xbox)

The Xbox Series X is getting a new 4K dashboard. Microsoft announced that the feature is now available to Xbox Insiders in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings.

"This change means Home, Guide, and other areas of the UI will be displayed in a higher native resolution for increased sharpness and text readability," the notes read.

This marks a step up from the previous dashboard, which appeared in 1080p. Of course, you'll need a 4K TV in order to get the benefit of the higher resolution.

It does leave a couple of questions open, however. Will HDR also come as part of the upgrade? And will Xbox Series S get the higher-resolution dashboard too? Microsoft has made no mention of either, but hopefully, that's just an oversight on its part.

One of our main gripes with the Xbox Series X was that the menu experience was too similar to the Xbox One. While this doesn't fix that entirely, it will at least put some ground between the new console and its predecessor in terms of appearance.

Recently, Microsoft started testing a new dark mode for its new Xbox consoles, which lets you dim the brightness of the screen, controller LED and even the power button. It also lets you disable HDR and removing bright highlights, which will hopefully ease eye strain during late-night gaming sessions.

Both Night Mode and the new dashboard should hopefully roll out to all Xbox Series X and S owners later this year. 

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Joe Svetlik

Joe has been writing about tech for 17 years, first on staff at T3 magazine, then in a freelance capacity for Stuff, The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, Men's Health, GQ, The Mirror, Trusted Reviews, TechRadar and many more (including What Hi-Fi?). His specialities include all things mobile, headphones and speakers that he can't justifying spending money on.