First, saying Sony has more powerful hardware isn't quite right. Whether it is, or is not, could be debated.
For example, Microsoft has more powerful CPUs, by virtue of being clocked higher. Sony has a much larger GPU, and uses GDDR5, which is horrible memory for a CPU, because the latency is atrocious. Microsoft chose lower latency memory, with less bandwidth, but included a cache which further improves the CPU performance.
So, probably Sony is faster, but the CPU is WAY slower, not only due to the clock speed, but also the terrible latency of the memory, and the lack of a L3 cache.
So, in most games, I'd suspect the Sony would do better, there will be the odd-ball that likes the faster CPU, or the cache of the XBone. Most things outside of games, which these consoles are designed to do now (home entertainment center) will almost certainly run better on XBone. So, it's not all bad. Just in one thing, and better in other things. But, like you, I'd rate the thing Sony is better at, as being more important for these consoles, since they are mainly for games.