The Xbox Series S

Thanks to Xbox ANZ I have had the Xbox Series S in my hot little hands for a little while now, and in that time I have had a chance to get to know the Series S fairly well. So far, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with this little beast, the Xbox Series S, and I am eager for this to be released so you can get your hands onto this next-generation console.

The Series S and I have spent many nights together, getting reacquainted with my favourite current generational games so I could bring you the most up to date and informative insight for our community. Firstly though, a bit about the console.

The Series S comes neatly packed in the accessibility friendly packaging and brings with it:

• 1 x Xbox Series S
• 1 x Wireless Controller
• 1 x HDMI Cable
• 1 x Power Cable
• Associated quick start guide and manual

The console is quite small in comparison to the Xbox One X and S, bringing a very solid feel with a sleek looking design. It measures at 6.5cm x 15.1cm x 27.5cm or approximately 1 controller wide and 1.5 high and weighs just under 2kgs. It runs super quiet and while it pumps out some heat, it does pump it straight out through the fan favourite large black vent while the rest of the console runs quite cool. Just like the previous generation of consoles, the front contains very little with the power button, USB port and pairing button that doubles as the IR blaster, all sitting front and centre.

You can see the recent unboxing here.

On the internal, this console offers:

• CPU: 8X Cores @ 3.6 GHz (3.4 GHz w/SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU
• GPU: 4 TFLOPS, 20 CUs @1.565 GHz
• Memory: 10GB GDDR6 128 bit-wide bus
• Internal HDD: 512GB Custom NVME SSD (364GB usable)
• Visual performance targets: 1440P @ 60FPS, with support for up to 120FPS. Also supports native 4K if developer chooses to render at 4K, as well contains advanced hardware scalar if connected to 4K TV.
• Connectivity
• HDMI 2.1 with Auto Low Latency Mode. HDMI Variable Refresh Rate. AMD FreeSync.
• USB 3.1
• Wireless 802.11ac dual band
• Sounds capability: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby TrueHD with Atmos and L-PCM up to 7.1

Then there is the next-gen controller and while does not bring major changes, it still looks and feels amazing. In saying this, Xbox have improved the controller and it definitely shows in the construction. The controller feels refined and solid, with the movement of the thumb sticks and buttons feeling tighter and more controlled. It also feels sturdier, as it would not break easily if dropped. The addition of the share button is very welcomed addition, as it offers an easy to use option for those looking to capture those amazing or funny moments. There more need to rely on pressing the Xbox button and pausing the game, as capturing is done effortlessly.

On the games front, I have not had the opportunity to make a comparison between the Series S and Series X. I have been able to compare performance between the Series S and One X and the improvements are unquestionably there. Unfortunately, at the point of reviewing a lot of games are yet to receive the graphical enhancements coming for the Series S and X but this was not a problem as the power on the Series S was still on show. Those looking for the major graphical boost over the previous generation are most likely looking at the Series X but definitely don’t write this console off. The games that I had the chance to play still all looked amazing on my 4K LG TV but graphics are not the biggest selling point for this console. Those bigger selling points being:

• Price
• Speed
• Size
• Digital only

This console delivers on all of these starting with the console coming in at $250 cheaper than its bigger sibling in the Series X plus the Series S is a significantly smaller console than both the One X and the Series X. The digital-only focus of this console is also great and Xbox Game Pass helps support those looking for the lower price point of the Series S by regularly providing new content for gamers to play. My kids will survive off of this console and Xbox Game Pass alone.

I’ve covered the price, size and digital aspects of the console which are all great points but the speed is a significant positive difference between that and the Xbox One X. I’ve looked at the speed difference between the One X and the Series S in the form of the loading times. I’ve jumped in and recorded a few loading times across a few newer games, a few known for longer loading times and an old favourite and the results are as follows:

As you can see, even a game as old as Xbox 360 release title Perfect Dark Zero saw a positive effect from the power of the console, while the others saw a significant decrease in load times. You can watch the comparison of load times of these games in the video below.

https://youtu.be/ALE6I8_EIco

All of these were tested with games on the internal hard drive, connected to the internet and loaded up prior to ensure no game syncing screens were encountered. They were tested on multiple occasions and as all results were very similar across each test.

One neat feature that comes with the next generation of consoles is Quick Resume and it works beautifully on the Series S. Due to hands on time being pre-launch, there were only a small number of titles that supported Quick Resume at the time of writing but it is a great option to have. An example of this was playing Golf with Friends and then switching to Gears 5 to customise characters and loadouts between rounds. It’s a multitasking feature you feel you could live without, right up until you actually use it.

My only concern is hard drive space as we move into the next generation of games. With 364GB of usable storage and games like the next-gen version of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War coming in at 136GB, we will see internal HDD fill up really quickly. I don’t think that this will just be a concern for the Series S though; I see all consoles needing to find a way to deal with increasing file sizes. It is just that the Series S offers the smaller HDD of the Xbox consoles. Anyone picking up this console will definitely see performance improvements over previous generations though and those looking for all of the Series S/X enhancements will be required to play enhanced games from the internal HDD or the proprietary expandable memory. This is the same for both the Series S and Series X. It is just that less storage means Series S owners will just need to prioritise what games that what on their internal HDDs. There is no issues in transferring a game from your stock standard external HDD, it is only the older hardware of the external HDD that would restrict transfer speeds.

Overall, the gamer that is looking for everything is always going to pick up the top of the line in the Xbox Series X but that is not to say that gamers won’t see a next-gen improvement with the Series S. The Series S brings a decent price point, performance improvements and a sleek design that would fit in to any family or games room and offers solid performance improvements over the previous generation. For anyone that is not gaming on the Xbox ecosystem, the Series S is a serious entry point into the next generation and when bundled with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, is something that will serve anyone very well. It is definitely a console that will serve my family well for many years to come.

Xbox Gamer Dad for One More Game

* The Xbox Series S was provided by Xbox ANZ for the purposes of hands-on time and review. All thoughts on the console are ours and our alone.