Hello everyone it's SpawnPoiint and welcome back to another video and this is the xbox series s
the cheapest next-gen console that you can buy right now but how does it compare to the xbox
series x and what features if any is it actually missing, is this smaller and cheaper xbox worth
buying or should you spend that £200 or $200 more for the series x let me show you why i think this
could be the perfect entry level console to buy and what the real pros and cons are over the x
today i will go over the specs and the obvious features but i will also show you how it runs on
a 4k tv bearing in mind the series s only supports a 1440p resolution for gaming and if you want to
see more gaming and tech videos from myself please hit that like button and subscribe to the channel
The first thing you'll notice about the series s is the overall design
and size is absolutely tiny especially when you compare it to the series x it's actually 60%
smaller so if space is an issue in your setup this could be a huge advantage to you and just
like with the previous gen the s version comes in white instead of black along with a matching
controller this controller is no different to the other colors that are available for the series s
and the series x it's not lacking any features at all on the box itself you've got the small
xbox branding you've got the black grille on top which really stand out against that white design
overall it's small and has a very clean design it's quite a sleek looking console now what's
great about the series s you can actually lay it flat or you can stand it up so for example if i
wanted to stand up on my shelf then i could or if i wanted to lay it flat and under my
tv unit i could do that as well now the series s comes with a 512GB SSD which is a noticeable
step up from last gen in terms of speed and load times but it's half the size of the series x
which comes with a 1TB drive realistically you're getting about 364GBs of usable space from this ssd
that means you'll probably get around 5 to 6 games installed depending on their size or one copy of
call of duty for an entry level console i think 364GBs is fine but you can also purchase a 1TB
storage expansion card although that will set you back as much as the console so if you're looking
to install 5 or 6 games at a time the Series S will probably be fine but if you like to have
say the latest call of duty and warzone installed you've probably already maxed out the storage on
the series s and once you factor in updates to your existing games or downloading new games as
they come out the 364GBs could be a problem when it comes to playing games on the series s you're
going to get the exact same offering as the series x i'm not talking about power or resolution,
i'll cover that in a minute, i'm talking about the actual games so every game available for the
series x is on the series s2 the games are optimized for these consoles so that means
you can play the same back catalog of xbox one and 360 games plus the latest releases
game pass is incredible i've said this before on other videos and i think game pass along with the
series s is an awesome combo you can play the latest fifa, forza, back for blood or download
any of the old classic games like halo i mean sure most of these games could technically be
played on the old xbox one but it's going to be better and faster on the series s
especially with that ssd and it is whisper quiet too i knew the xbox series x was quiet because
i've been using that for the last year or so but take a listen to just how quiet the series s is
Another awesome feature that the series s has as well as the series x is quick resume this feature
really is next gen being able to close one game and open another in a matter of seconds is great
it doesn't just close the game though, it saves the exact moment that you left it so if you're
driving around a corner in forza and you leave that game to play something else when you come
back to it it will be the exact same spot. Just one thing to note about the series s is there's
no disk drive this means your entire game purchase and experience is going to be digital only no more
cheap deals on physical games or borrowing disks from your mates personally i buy 99% of my games
digitally on both the xbox and the playstation 5. it's easier to buy play and store and switching
between games is so much more convenient if you do go down an all digital route like i have my advice
is to look around online for websites that sell psn and xbox live credit i use two different sites
and it saves me around 15% on credit which means every game that i buy through the stores well they
are 15% cheaper so even though i've already shown you some impressive gameplay from the series s
there's one big difference between the x and the s and that's the resolution the series x is capable
of true 4k gaming which means that what you see is the best available right now whereas with the
series s it's limited to 1440p now this might sound bad but we're not talking 1080p here 1440p
is still watchable and once it's upscaled to 4k it looks okay okay so this example here this is forza
and i'm currently playing it on the xbox series x it looks nice super sharp and clearly looks like
it's 4k but let's look really closely to some of the content on the screen so we're going to look
at the badge here on the back of the car you can see here what it says so remember this is in 4k
and this is on the xbox series x now we're going to switch over to the xbox series s same game and
it still looks good but everything just looks a little bit softer and almost out of focus now
bear in mind i've not changed anything here it's the same hdmi cable it's the same port on the tv
but i can definitely see a difference now if we go back and we look at the same badge on the back of
the car it's completely different to the series x there's no denying it looks pixelated and almost
unreadable now comparing the two side by side it's obvious that the xbox series x at 4k
looks a lot better than the series asset 1440p which is then upscaled to 4k these results are
obvious but it's only when comparing them side by side you really see how much detail you're missing
so if you're used to playing or seeing native 4k content you're going to notice this difference
but don't forget you need a tv or monitor that supports 4k to even see it and even then you need
to be pretty close to appreciate the true 4k over upscaled 1440p if you're using a monitor that's
1440p well you're not going to see any difference in resolution anyway so don't worry about it
and any games that are enhanced for the xbox series x like the older games with this logo
these also won't be native 4k on the series s but that's down to that same 1440p limitation when it
comes to audio just like with the series x the series s supports everything that you need this
includes dolby digital dts true hd and atmos both are lacking the optical port so if you're planning
on using an optical out to your tv or soundbar you'll need to use hdmi instead the audio that it
supports is not only great for gaming but ideal for entertainment too so the series s supports
all of the streaming apps you would expect to see including disney plus netflix and amazon prime and
what's great about these streaming apps is even though the gaming side of the console is limited
to 1440p the playback for content is actually 4k and as all of these apps support 4k and even dolby
vision and dolby atmos there is no difference to the series s over the series x for a console this
small and cheap to double up as a 4k streaming box is awesome i usually use the apps on my tv
for watching netflix but the apps on the series s is exactly the same so unlike the playstation
5 and the playstation 5 digital console the cirrus s and x do have different specs the series s does
share some of the features from the series x including ALLM or auto low latency mode, VRR
and AMD freesync but the internals are different so the cpu is similar but not identical to the x
the x is running a 3.8GHz while the s is a 3.6GHz processor the gpu power on these differ again
this is the reason behind the resolution being capped at 1440p instead of 4k obviously as the
series s does not have a disk drive it's unable to play discs something that the series x can do
but if you do like buying physical games or movies and this xbox will be the only way for you to play
them you might need to go for the x instead one question worth asking is were the differences in
power between these two will we see a greater divide between how future games will look
right now the games look very similar just the resolution is different but as developers create
games for the playstation 5 and the xbox series x will we see more than just a drop in resolution
like will the games look worse for the games that exist already it shows that the series s is more
than capable of playing those games but as more intensive games are released for next gen it will
be interesting to see how the s handles those a quick look around the console itself to have a
look at the available ports there's one hdmi 2.1 port three usb 3.1 ports and an ethernet
port now although the hdmi port is 2.1 which means it's next gen 4k 120Hz ready the cable
that is provided within the box is actually an hdmi 2.0 today i have been using an hdmi
2.1 cable and that's the same one i usually use on the series x but i thought it was worth mentioning
anyway and in case you were wondering what you get inside the xbox series s box well here it is
so obviously it comes with the xbox itself an hdmi 2.0 cable a power cable and the white controller
there's also some batteries if you're not using a charging dock. Before i talk about which one
is right for you or whether it's worth buying one let me just mention the prices
so the series x costs £449 or $499 while the series s costs £249 or
$299 that's a £200 or $200 price difference and for that £200/$200 you're getting a more powerful
gpu native 4k games an ultra hd disc drive and double the storage i guess the question is will
you benefit from those differences if you're using a 1440p monitor that cannot upscale to 4k you're
not bothered about resolution or you only play older games on game pass the series s is perfect
for you if you have no need for the disk drive you'll only have three or four games installed
or you think you'll be watching netflix more than gaming the series s again is ideal but if you've
got a 4k display and you really want to see that native 4k gaming experience or if you need a disk
drive for your movies and games well the x is the only way even with all of those differences it
also comes down to budget and availability if the series s is the only option available right now
you will not be disappointed but as soon as you start spending money on external storage or you
don't want to be limited to a digital only buying experience you may as well go for the series x
so the ultimate question is which one would i buy or would i buy a series s and the answer is
yes definitely it's an awesome little console it plays all of the next-gen games it's quiet
and it's really small and even if you've got a series x already i think the series s works well
as a second console maybe in a bedroom a kitchen or a play room somewhere where you don't need a
series x but you can continue playing or streaming your content for me to be able to play forza in
the living room but if i want to i can have the series s in the bedroom and continue playing on
an evening and considering how cheap and available these serious s's are it's a must buy for me well
you just made it to the end of today's video so thank you for watching and if you drop an "Xbox
Series S" in the comments i will give you a thumbs up for staying until the end don't forget to hit
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