Overview:
The Xbox Series S is the smaller and more budget friendly option of Microsoft’s current generation lineup of consoles. The Series S in comparison to its counterpart the Series X is a digital only console, which means that the games you can buy are limited to the Microsoft store on the console and Xbox Gamespass. The Series S can deliver 2K visual quality at a ceiling of 120 fps, however in most games it will translate to 2K at 30 fps and 1080p at 60 fps.
The Series S console is half the size of the Series X making it extremely portable if you want to take it outside of your home. While not as strong as its counterpart, the Series S is a great entry point into the Microsoft and Gamespass ecosystem, as the number of games and day-one releases are great.
Specifications
- Dimensions: [ 2.56 x 10.83 x 5.94 inches ]
- Weight: [ 1.93 kg ]
- GPU: 4 TFLOPS, 20 CUs @1.565 GHz Custom RDNA 2 GPU
- CPU: 8X Cores @ 3.6 GHz Custom Zen 2 CPU
- RAM: 10GB GDDR6
- Storage: 512GB Custom NVME SSD
- Storage expansion: 1TB Seagate Expansion Card for Xbox
- 3 USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports
- 1 Ethernet jack
- 1 HDMI 2.1 port
- AC adapter
What's in the Box
- Xbox Series S
- 1 Xbox controller
- 2 AA batteries
- AC adapter
- 1 HDMI 2.1 cable
- User manual
The Good
- Portable
- Budget friendly
- Digital only
- Sleek design
- Vertical or horizontal configuration
- Xbox gamespass
The Bad
- Only 1080p at 60 fps
- Maximum visual quality is 2K
- Digital only
- Weaker than counterpart Series X
- Small storage capacity
- Proprietary storage expansion
Honest Rating
4 Stars
Honest Review
In the day of digital information and entertainment the Series S seems like a no brainer. It’s sleek, portable, and can play all AAA games release by Microsoft and associated publishers. When looking at the console in terms of budget, its very hard to beat the Series S for what it offers, even in comparison to the Series X which is $300 more.
What you are getting at the price is amazing – all access to Xbox Gamespass, Microsoft flagship gaming service where you can download from over 100+ games or simply stream them to the console via XCloud. My only complaints with the console would be the lack of storage and that it is a digital only console.
The lack of storage is a big downside considering the size of AAA games. With a 512gb of internal storage and propriety upgrade path it becomes very tedious when you have to constantly delete games in order to download new one or updates. That also puts me to the point of digital only, while there are benefits to being a digital only console, like not having to keep swapping discs and games are already available to play – the downside is felt even more when services that authenticate digital games go down. When these services are down, no digital game can be played as the license for that specific game cannot be received, this is bypassed when using physical media as the licensing is stored on the disc. Not only are physical games cheaper to buy and re-sell but they add a measure of protection in that your purchase is yours and you own the media.