CHEAP and cheerful is the Xbox Series S – a budget way to get this year’s next-gen console.
I’ve been testing the sleek new gaming machine, and I reckon you’ll struggle to find better value anywhere else.
What is the Xbox Series S?
Microsoft has two next-gen consoles coming out in 2020: the Xbox Series X and Series S.
The former is the proper powerhouse, with bleeding-edge specs and a £449/$499 price tag to match.
Meanwhile, the Series S is cheaper at £249/$299, but you lose some of the graphical heft – and a disc tray.
So the Series S is clearly for buyers on a budget, but is it any good? Absolutely!
Xbox Series S design
Microsoft played it safe with the black cuboid that it is the Xbox Series X.
But it went safer still with the Series S, which is a small white box with a black circle on top.
It’s tinier in real life than you’d expect – it’s more akin to a router than an older Xbox.
This is great: you’ll be able to fit this in almost any living room setup.
You may have noticed that there’s no disc tray.
That’s a big reason why Microsoft was able to make the Series S so small.
Internet is nippy these days, and most games force you to download something somewhere along the way.
So some gamers will be happy to ditch discs completely and go all-digital.
You’ll have no way of selling games on second-hand, but the lower price of the Series S may prove tempting enough.
The controller is hardly different from last year’s model.
It’s a bit grippier, with a more comfortable holding position and a lower-travel D-pad.
But it’s the same old Xbox joypad you know and love.
Xbox Series S specs and performance
The Xbox Series S cuts corners where the Series X does not.
You won’t play games at 4K – instead, they’ll be capped to 1440p resolution at 60 frames per second, up to 120fps.
That’s probably not an issue for most people, and if you don’t have a 4K TV then you needn’t worry anyway.
Part of the reason the resolution – the raw number of pixels you see – is scaled down is so that graphics can be improved.
If the graphics card is spending less time rendering more pixels, it can focus on making those pixels better, with more lifelike physics and realistic textures.
For instance, the Series S supports something called ray tracing.
This maps out the path of light and shadows to create a stunningly realistic view of a scene.
In-game reflections will go from a blur in previous generations to a picture-perfect map of your character.
You see this best in puddles, the shadows of moving objects, or light passing through windows.
I’ve been seriously impressed by the graphics on games like Dirt 5 and Forza Horizon 4.
You’ll get nothing close to this level of visual fidelity on a gaming PC for the equivalent price.
The Series S comes fitted with a 512GB SSD, which is a double-edged sword.
It’s a lightning-quick SSD that enables very fast loading – I’ve been generally impressed so far.
One of the best bits is that it allows for a new feature called Quick Resume.
You can dart between games instantly without saving, because the SSD keeps them in a “suspended” state.
So you can jump right back into the action without waiting. It’s brilliant.
The bad news is that 512GB isn’t particularly generous in terms of storage these days.
Last year’s Call of Duty game was nearing 200GB of storage on consoles, and the new Cold War title looks set to be similarly giant.
Games will likely only get bigger in the coming years, and you’ll find yourself having to delete games sharpish.
I was able install just a fraction of my games library on the Series S, which is a shame.
Of course, I only play a few games at a time on Xbox, so this isn’t a deal-breaker.