Judged purely as a black box, the PS4 is the clear winner. The system is significantly smaller than the Xbox One and about three pounds lighter, which is nice if you care about taking it out of your entertainment center to travel with it. The PS4 just plain looks better, too, with striking angles and a front ridge that elegantly hides ports and the disc slot. It's a huge improvement over the industrial boxiness of the Xbox One.

The Xbox One is generally less power hungry than the PS4, running a good 20 to 30 Watts lower whether sitting idle on menus, displaying streaming video, or running at maximum gaming performance. The PS4 wins out in standby mode, though, saving seven or eight Watts when the systems are "off" but still awake enough to download content or start up quickly (both systems can be turned off completely to avoid almost all power draw).

Neither system is exactly loud when in full operation, but while the PS4 is quiet, the Xbox One is practically silent. Close your eyes and you'd be hard pressed to tell if the Xbox One is on unless you get right up next to it. The Xbox One got noticeably hotter after continued operation, though; our IR thermometer measured a top temperature of 115 degrees Fahrenheit coming off its top vents compared to about 100 degrees for the PS4.
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So, should you upgrade? The answer is "probably not yet." (For PC gamers, the question here is "should I move over to the living room?" but we're not even going to attempt that debate here. If you enjoy playing on PC, please continue to do so.)

The general proposition that applies to all console launches is still in effect here. You'll never pay more for a system with a smaller lineup of games than on its first day on store shelves. That applies especially in this case, where neither system has an obvious system-seller that jumps out from the crowd. Both the PS4 and Xbox One will see regular software improvements that fix some of the rough, rushed edges on some of their features as time goes on as well.

Yes, you'll get a nice jump in graphical quality for your money if you upgrade now, but the leap isn't nearly as pronounced as it has been in previous generations. We're reaching a real point of diminishing returns in console hardware upgrades. Your current Xbox 360 and PS3 will both see major multiplatform releases through the next holiday season—maybe even further than that—before they really start to look long in the tooth and lose significant developer support.

Plus, I'm guessing that there are at least a few games in your current console’s library that you haven’t had a chance to play through yet. Now’s a great time to get those titles for dirt cheap (or even to pick up the competing system to try out some of the exclusives you’ve been missing).