The XBox Series X and S and the Playstation 5 herald the arrival of the next generation
of gaming consoles, but with both the XBox Series X and the Playstation 5 costing $499,
for some that's too high a price to pay.
Enter the XBox Series S. A next-gen console that retails for only $299.
That's $200 less than the others. Have Microsoft made the right compromises though to reach that
price point? Here I'll be going through the specs and features of the XBox Series S and giving you
my verdict on who I think the Series S is for. Should you buy it? Should you upgrade to it?
Should you buy the Series X instead? It's not as cut and dry as you think and I'll go into why
so that by the end of the video you'll know if the XBox Series S is the right console for you.
Welcome to my Tech Gear. Let's get into it!
Now the first thing you're going to notice here is its size.
It is tiny! At only 10.8 by 5.9 by 2.6 inches, it is 60% smaller than the Series X
and it's also over half as heavy at only 4.3 pounds. This is a tiny powerhouse of
a console that is easily going to fit pretty much wherever you want it to in your house.
It's also small enough so you can easily shove it in your bag and take it with you somewhere.
The front of the console just has a single USB 3.1 port.
The most noticeable emission here is the lack of a disk drive. This is a digital console
only, so you can't play any game discs or watch any DVDs that you might have with this console.
On the back of the console we have two USB 3.1 ports. We have a storage expansion port which
I'll get to later. There's an ethernet port if you want to hardwire into your network,
although it does also come with WiFi5, or 802.11ac,
dual band (that's 2.4 and 5 GHz) built into it. There's also a power outlet and an HDMI 2.1 port.
Now along with the new console also comes a new controller. Now these are minor tweaks over
previous generations. On the back you will see texture added to the buttons on the front itself,
and also underneath to allow for grip. The D-pad has also seen a redesign so it looks a
little bit more like the elite controller from previous generations. This makes it a lot more
responsive and comfortable to use overall. It is slightly smaller than the previous generation
which just makes it generally more comfortable, in my hands at least, to hold and use. Now all
of these changes signal an evolution, not a revolution, compared to its predecessor,
and why break what's already working so well? The changes do add up though to a
controller that's better than what came before it, albeit only slightly. On the front you will
see a share button which makes it really easy to share your video clip gaming moments with
your friends or social media. It is still not rechargeable though so I'd recommend
going out and buying some rechargeable batteries if you don't have some already.
Now both the Series S and X do run significantly quieter than the previous generation.
The S runs at about 38 decibels, which is whisper quiet, and the Series X runs a few
decibels louder. Compare that's the previous generation like the XBox One X. That ran out over
60 decibels which was significantly louder. This means that you can pretty much put the S or the X
pretty much anywhere in your lounge and you're not really gonna hear it.
Now there are some obvious hardware differences between the Series S and X,
with slightly weaker tuned CPU and some noticeable differences in the amount of RAM and the teraflops
available. The Series S is a definite step down from the capabilities of the Series X,
but that's actually OK because the Series S is targeting 1440p gaming,
not 4k, so it doesn't need as high a spec to achieve the same frame rates.
So what is it actually like to play? Well, the Series S runs games at 1440p,
at a max of 120 frames per second, and it will even do ray tracing, although at a lower level
than that of the more expensive Series X. Previous generation consoles ran games at 30
or 60 frames per second so jumping up to 120 is a noticeable, and welcome, change. We're
now getting into the realms of refresh rates that PC gamers have been enjoying for years.
Whilst it is only a 1440p picture, the picture quality, at a sensible viewing distance, is
almost indistinguishable from its more expensive 4k sibling, the Series X. Yes ,if you get up close
to a TV you can tell that the detail can get a little fuzzy in places on some games, and you'll
see plenty of other reviews talking about that. The thing is you don't play your games with your
face two inches away from the screen, although I'm sure there's some people that do! You actually
play at a further distance where small details like this become less obvious. The frame rate
has more of an impact on gaming here rather than the differences between 1440 and 4k resolution.
It is worth pointing out that how well games run on the Series S, or any console for that matter,
is entirely reliant on how well software houses optimize for different consoles, or whether they
bother at all! Games on any of the next-gen consoles at the moment are all over the place.
Some only support 60 frames per second. Some 120 frames per second.
Some lock the resolution to 1080p. Some don't. It's a bit of a minefield.
This isn't unexpected though. With any new generation of consoles the games that first
come out for it are never really making the most of the hardware available to them
and it typically takes about a year or so before we start seeing what these consoles really can do.
So, gameplay on this console can be varied. It can be smooth. It can be choppy. It can
have great visuals, or not so great ones. It really depends on what game you play, and again
that's the same for any console. For the games that have been optimized for it
well though you will notice smooth gameplay at a high refresh rate.
The Series S also supports 4k video out of the box with the HDMI cable that's provided.
So for all your 4k movies from the likes of Netflix, Disney+ and others
are fully supported. It also supports DTS, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Atmos
audio formats so watching a movie on this console shouldn't provide any issues.
Both the Series X and S use the same high speed internal solid state drive for storing
their games. This is a huge improvement over previous generation XBoxes that use traditional
hard drives. This results in significantly quicker load times. The speed difference
can literally mean the difference between a game taking minutes versus seconds to load.
Both the Series X and S also have 'Quick Resume' which allows you
to jump straight back into a game that you've recently been playing.
This means that a game can typically start up within a few seconds. That's crazy fast!
Storage wise the Series S comes with 512GB of storage but not all of that is usable. Only 364GB
is usable because the rest is taken up by the operating system. The Series X on the other hand,
whilst it comes with a terabyte on the box, only 802GB of that is actually usable. Now you can't
say that the Series X has twice the amount or more of storage than the Series S. Well you can,
but in real world usage it's complicated by the fact that the size of games for each console can
differ due to XBox's new Smart Delivery System. This allows game developers to omit 4k textures
when downloading for the Series S as they're not needed for that console.
So if you take a game take Gears 5 for instance. On the Series S it takes up 55.1GB of storage. On
the Series X it takes up 71.9GB. So, given these sizes as a reference, the Series S is only able
to store seven games before running out of space, whilst the Series X will do likewise once about 10
games are installed. So, either way both consoles are going to need more storage at some point.
Now you can get the official one terabyte expansion card
which has the same spec as the internal drive, but that's going to set you back $220. That's
only one terabyte though and personally I think that's going to fill up pretty fast.
I think you're better off saving your money and getting an external USB hard drive,
preferably 4TB or higher. It's worth noting that the quick load times and instant resume that I
mentioned earlier won't work with games that are stored on an external drive. However, you can move
games from an external to an internal hard drive. So, for games that you play often keep them on
your internal drive, and for games that you play less frequently keep them on your external drive.
You then get the best of both worlds. Fast start times for the games that you play often
and mass storage for all your other games that are just a click away. Here's hoping though that
actually some higher capacity cheaper external SSD options become available in the future.
The biggest feather in Microsoft's cap, and the ace up its sleeve compared to Sony as far as
I'm concerned, is XBox Game Pass Ultimate. Nothing else comes close to the variety of games available
on this platform. For only $15 a month you get access to hundreds of games for free.
Access to Series X and S new games such as Halo Infinite when it releases. Backwards
compatibility with XBox One, XBox 360 and even original XBox games. If that wasn't enough,
they recently paired up with Electronic Arts to include EA Play as part of the Game Pass bundle,
for free! So, EA games such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order,
Madden NLF, FIFA, NHL, and others, are now all available, at no extra cost.
Microsoft also recently bought Zenimax Media who own software house Bethesda.
So, the likes of the Doom and Elder Scrolls series of games that they
created are now also available on Game Pass for, no extra cost.
This is where I think the Series S really starts to make sense. A next-gen digital
only console that has a cheaper entry level price giving you access to all the games that
a subscription to game pass provides. It is also worth noting that the XBox Game Pass Ultimate
also gives you access to a whole bunch of games on the pc for, you guessed, it no extra cost.
So at the end of the day do I recommend buying the XBox Series S? Well it depends who you are.
If you're after the best next-gen console. Best graphics. 4k at 120 frames per second.
Have a lot of physical media like DVDs or previous generation XBox games on disk.
Then the Series X is your obvious choice.
However, before making your decision it is worth considering what's it going to
be plugged into. If you have a 1080p TV or a 1440p monitor, well, then paying for a 4k
console just doesn't make sense. It's overkill. In that case, the Series S is more than enough.
Regardless of whether you run a 4k or 1440p, check that your TV can run at 120 frames per second.
Most don't, even the 4k ones. I upgraded my tv to a 4k 120 fps capable tv even
though I only bought the Series S because I wanted that high frame rate compatibility.
I now have a 4k TV for my streaming media, and I have 120 frames per second when I want to game.
I brought the Sony X9000, or the X900H as it's known in some other countries.
If you're interested in a review of that let me know in the comments down below. The difference
between 1440p and 4k for me is minimal, at the viewing distances that most people play at.
So really, in summary, if the limitations of the Series S don't impact you, then the Series
S is a great entry into the next gen consoles. It's super quiet, in a compact package that,
when combined with Game Pass Ultimate, provides a very compelling all-in-one package.
You might never have to buy another game again. It does take a small hit in visual clarity though,
but at a $200 saving it's a compromise I think most people will be OK with.
If you've already got a previous generation XBox, I had the XBox One S before getting the Series S,
I'd say upgrade. The speed increase in the internal SSD alone
is justification enough and I considered it a worthwhile upgrade I'm more than happy with.
I do hope this video has helped you decide whether the XBox Series S is the right console for you.
If you've enjoyed the video then please don't forget to like and share
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See you in the next one!