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xStation 5 - Review of the XTB trading platform
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X-Trade Brokers recently it presented its customers with a new version of the proprietary xStation transaction platform, version 5.0 (the test applies to Build 1.1.1). The platform itself, especially with the 3.0 marking, quickly gained popularity and appealed to traders. Contrary to appearances, this is its fourth version, but it is not known where the version 4.0 went (currently xStation 3.0 and xStation 5.0 are available). We have prepared a subjective review for you, which should quickly answer the question whether it is worth taking an interest in it and, for example, put aside the "dinosaur" which is MetaTrader 4.

Admission word

Let's start with a brief introduction. xStation is the second XTB platform. MT4 can still be considered the main one due to the constant popularity of this application on a global scale - so why was something new introduced? There are probably several reasons for this. MetaTrader 4 made its debut on the FX platform market in the summer of 2005, i.e. 11 years have passed since the premiere of the first version with the designation "4", which turned out to be a revolution in Forex market. During this time, it was refreshed many times, even despite the fact that the version marked "5" was released - this one was supposed to turn out to be a revolution, but users decided otherwise. But this is xStation 5 review, not MT4! Therefore…

Introducing your own platform to the market is extremely difficult, but it opens a number of doors - adding new tools, introducing modifications or deciding on the direction of application development - thanks to this, the broker has a direct impact on all these things and thus can meet the needs of its clients faster and more effectively. xStation 5 is based on a web browser, without the need to install additional software, which is extremely convenient for the user and increases his mobility, allowing you to trade from any computer. MT4 Web version Beta it appeared only last year at the end of August, which is 2-3 years too late in my eyes, because already at that time there was a clear interest in "browser" platforms on the part of traders. Some brokers decided to create their own versions of Web platforms in advance, including XTB, if they had already offered MT4.

Installation and login to xStation 5

xstation loginAs I mentioned in the introduction - xStation 5 runs from the level of a web browser. This eliminates all problems with installation errors (caused by, for example, clutter in the system registry), the lack of the necessary "additional" software, having system administrator privileges needed to install external software (a popular problem for people who want to observe the Forex market at work), or mobility. After all, every computer today comes with a web browser, not MT4.

To start using xStation, as with other Web platforms, just go to platform page and enter your login details. Here, too, mobility was taken care of and all we need to log in is an e-mail address and a password set by us. There is no need to remember your account number as in the case of MT4. If you have several accounts, you can switch between them from the platform itself without logging in again.

The appearance and interface of xStation 5

xstation 5 xtb settingsThere are two color versions available - dark and light. The dark version is definitely more eye-friendly and it is much more pleasant to work with. Of course, the platform allows you to personalize the colors and save templates. At this point, it is worth noting a powerful advantage - saved templates land on the broker's server, so they will be available after logging in on any computer and browser. Additionally, the created template can be run automatically on all open charts with just one click. These two options are definitely missing from MT4, and it makes life much easier, especially for mobile people and those who work on many charts at the same time.

xstation menuThe size of the windows can be almost freely modified (with certain logical limitations), and the whole work area (so-called workspace) save - and just like in the case of templates, the changes will be stored on the XTB server. You can also quickly change the orientation of the charts and personalize the toolbar. The location of most functions is intuitive, and the platform itself looks transparent - nothing is lost in the depths of unnecessary goodies and a color revue, as in the case of some platforms. Nevertheless, the place where the lists with analytical tools and the option to add indicators are placed turns out to be extremely wrong. The buttons responsible for these functions landed on the left side of the graph, which is a kind of "innovation" that I have not seen on any other platform. Perhaps not even their place is a problem here, but rather too small icons. Eyesight automatically searches for such things on the top toolbar, where there is still a lot of free space. Unfortunately, their location cannot be changed.

xtb quotesWindow Market Watch, in which there are available instruments and quotes is transparent and intuitive. The view can be easily personalized, create your own list of favorite symbols and quickly search for them, which is an extremely useful option with 3000 offered instruments. There is also a daily change of all instruments (which somehow is still not in the MT4 standard) and displaying the current spread. The whole list can be sorted in ascending / descending order by each parameter.

Features and capabilities of xStation 5 XTB

Transactions. As with most platforms on the market, we can trade in several different ways - by opening the order window and a single click on the button from the chart or from the quotation window. A useful option is the automatic setting defined in pips Stop Loss and Take Profit when concluding transactions from the Market Watch window. When modifying the order, it is possible to set a "mass" SL / TP for all transactions on the same instrument.

Pending orders can be set in a similar way - only that instead of 'buttons', you just need to click on the chart in the desired place. Modification of order parameters on the chart or activation on SL and TP is of course available, which has become a market standard (and kudos to the programmers for that). What is important, the Trailing Stop setting is active even when the platform is switched off, i.e. its value is stored on the broker's server side. Thanks to this, we do not have to have the platform running all the time or worry "what if I lose the Internet".

zrzut-ekranu-2016-10-20-o-18-44-56An interesting option that was probably the first to appear on the cTrader platform is to double or reverse a transaction with one click. The options are in the list of open items on the right. Doubling means adding transactions with identical parameters - it is worth noting that in addition to the volume and direction of the transaction, the SL / TP / TS parameters are also doubled. When reversing transactions, SL / TP / TS are removed and the opposite position is opened (the original position is closed at the same time).

Chart support. There are no innovations in this field compared to web competitors. Standard time intervals and chart types + HLC are available. Navigating them is simple and fast - launching subsequent charts and switching between their main parameters is not a problem or takes a noticeable amount of time. Standard default layouts + fullscreen option are available. Charts are missing Renko and the ability to create your own intervals or more of them, such as cTrader. The downside is also the inability to detach the available tools (e.g. a calendar or a company scanner) to a separate window that we could move e.g. to a second monitor. However, you can disconnect the entire Workspace with charts from the platform window - however, you cannot disconnect a single, selected chart.

Indicators and tools. While the analytical tools applied to the chart are available in the right amount and work properly with a wide range of modification options (displaying at selected intervals, colors, additional levels, etc.), at the moment a relatively small number of indicators is striking. It is true that their list will probably be expanded, but more demanding traders will pay attention to it, as well as the lack of access to the website xSocialwhich is currently only available on xStation 3.0.

Additional tools. News, Calendar, Statistics, Market Scanner - these are additional modules with which xStation 5.0 is equipped. So from the beginning:

  • News. In this module we have access to dozens of news straight from the market. They are published in English and Polish with the option of filtering. In addition to fundamental facts, information about XTB seminars as well as key levels achieved on popular instruments can be found there. It will not be useful to everyone, but some for sure.
  • Calendar - it looks great and has everything that is necessary, that is, the current result published, the forecast, the previous result, the importance for the market. It may scare the number of countries that are taken into account (eg India, Slovakia) but you can filter them out. You can attach to the lack of translated phrases in Polish and a brief description of individual economic indicators (like Forex Factory).
  • Statistics - something that popular platforms definitely lack. Statistics in xStation are much more clearly presented and, above all, they can be created in the unit of the account base currency or in pips. The amount of data presented is not much less than in MT4, but most traders will certainly be enough.
  • Market analysis - in my opinion, the most interesting tab. It is divided into 4 categories: 1. Market sentiment (sentiment among traders), 2. The biggest changes (list of instruments broken down by the largest decreases / increases in% with the option of filtering them), 3. Company scanner (list of companies with the possibility of searching them by industry, country or financial indicators - 14 parameters available), 4. Map (map of strength/changes in the value of individual assets relative to others).

xstation add-ons

News and calendar. Although they are separate tabs, they cover similar things. In the first one, we find a lot of news (several dozen publications a day) straight from the market, which are linked to the TradeBeat service. Many of them are in English, but not much less is released in Polish - you can filter everything out according to your preferences. In addition to the news, information is published on upcoming XTB webinars or when the courses reach key levels on the most important instruments. The calendar has what is necessary, but it is transparent and displays the results of macro data with a very small delay, which means that we do not need to nervously refresh external calendars on other websites. The number of available countries is surprising - there is, for example, Slovakia or India, but we can filter it out quickly.

forex calendar xtb

Statistics. The problem of many platforms is the presentation of statistics from the accounts. Sometimes we find a combination in the form of merging numbers - and that's it. It's different here. Intuitive colors and a clear, and even interesting way of presenting the results is somehow more optimistic, as long as we earn and display a lot of green :-). You can create them yourself according to a specific instrument or even their set, as well as change the display of results from the account currency to pips, which is definitely missing even MT4. Lest anyone be surprised - the account history is available elsewhere. Individual transactions can be checked in the lower History tab and from there you can also export them to an external file.

zrzut-ekranu-2016-10-21-o-12-44-29

zrzut-ekranu-2016-10-20-o-13-47-26Keyboard shortcuts. xStation offers support for charts as well as orders with keyboard shortcuts. In addition to the easier navigation through the platform, we have the ability to quickly close profitable, lossy or all trades regardless of the result, as well as open positions. The downside is that they cannot be freely modified, but the fact that they are available is a lot - usually browser-based platforms do not offer anything like that.

Notifications. For some traders it is an annoying nuisance, for others something that just needs to be on the platform. xStation informs us about almost everything - pop-ups and beeps. Fortunately, you can turn them on / off or limit them at will. Notifications concern connection status, information flowing from the market, transactions, and even calendar data. It is also worth adding that xStation has the ability to add price alerts, which some browser platforms lack.

zrzut-ekranu-2016-10-20-o-18-27-01Speed ​​of action. When testing the platform, for several days there was no suspension or even a freezing of several seconds, which would cause inconvenience in trading. So you can say that it works fine but ... It's hard to resist the impression that it could be a bit better. xStation leaves the impression of being sluggish. This is especially noticeable when changing the layout of charts, modifying colors or switching between main windows (charts / calendar / messages). When you use a high-end computer, you expect more. Perhaps it is just a matter of code optimization and the next updates will completely solve the problem, but at the moment I would rate the speed at school 3+. The advantage is the connection indicator and ping measurement, thanks to which we are able to monitor the speed of operation resulting from our internet connection.

Summation

In my opinion, xStation 5 will successfully meet the needs of most beginner and intermediate traders with "standard" requirements. The platform is equipped with the most important functions and has proven and necessary solutions to become the "only" platform for the trader. The problem will arise when non-standard solutions are applied, such as the desire to use automated strategies, but it has been known for a long time that Web platforms (so far) have not yet reached this level and there is nothing to expect such breakthrough solutions in the near future.

Pros Cons
  • phenomenal Market Analysis tab with tools and statistics,
  • very quick notifications with the publication of macroeconomic data,
  • available keyboard shortcuts,
  • trailing stop loss active on the broker's server,
  • available price alarms,
  • nice and transparent statistics regarding the account,
  • custom operations with one click.
  • a small number of indicators,
  • the charts are not distinguished by anything special,
  • non-intuitive placement of options for adding analytical tools and indicators
  • too small tool buttons and buy / sell available on the chart,
  • it could be a bit faster.
What do you think?
I like it
4%
Interesting
4%
Heh ...
10%
Shock!
63%
I do not like
10%
Detriment
10%
About the Author
Paweł Mosionek
An active trader on the Forex market since 2006. Editor of the Forex Nawigator portal and editor-in-chief and co-creator of the ForexClub.pl website. Speaker at the "Focus on Forex" conference at the Warsaw School of Economics, "NetVision" at the Gdańsk University of Technology and "Financial Intelligence" at the University of Gdańsk. Twice winner of "Junior Trader" - investment game for students organized by DM XTB. Addicted to travel, motorbikes and parachuting.