Xbox series X and S: How do they compare for the price?
The Xbox Series X and Series S are out next week and there’s an easy way to keep your kids happy and save $250 cash in the process.
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REVIEW
The long wait for gamers is finally coming to an end as the next generation Xbox consoles start arriving next week.
Xbox officially releases its new Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X consoles on Tuesday, November 10 but I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on both a week early.
When unboxing both the S and X series consoles you’re greeted with a neatly wrapped console and a box of accessories including a quick start guide, high speed HDMI cable, power cable, Xbox controller, 2x AA Batteries (for the controller) and warranty documents.
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Set up is pretty standard (and the same on both consoles) but you’re prompted to do this via the new Xbox mobile app instead of the Xbox itself, which is meant to save time.
I found this process fairly simple. The longest part was waiting for the Xbox to do its general updates before you’re able to get to gaming.
These are, of course, totally commonplace but I was just so excited to get into it that while waiting I couldn’t help but briefly reminisce of the days before console updates existed. Regardless, the updates were quick enough and once I signed in, I started downloading some games.
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I’ve been going back and forth between the consoles, leaning towards a preference of the more powerful, 1TB Xbox Series X console. My preference is mostly due to my new dream gaming set-up.
My living room has recently been decked out with a hectic new 75” 8K Samsung TV which means I’ll have the ability to game in crispy 4K resolution or even 8K at 120Hz.
An Xbox Series X paired with a TV like this gives you the best console gaming experience you can get! So you’ll be pleased to know that – yes – games look incredible on a screen like this and the Xbox does an excellent job of powering games swiftly and effortlessly. The Series X’s ‘whisper-quiet fan’ also lives up to its description while gaming.
The Xbox Series S, on the other hand, is still an amazing console and although it’s also incredibly powerful, its performance abilities are only slightly under the performance capabilities of the Series X. Though at this stage, so early in my tests, the differences aren’t very noticeable.
Besides the processing power, the biggest differences between the two are the price, internal storage size and whether you want a disk drive or not.
The Xbox Series S is $499, has an internal storage of 512GB and does not have a disk drive (all digital). While the Series X is $749 with 1TB storage and a disk drive which also supports 4K UHD Blu-ray playback.
In regards to how many games you can pack onto this console, at the moment I have four top-tier games installed on the Series X and I have 564GB of storage remaining. That doesn’t seem too bad, however, I’m always nervous about running out of storage on consoles.
If you’re the same as me or like to have a large library of games this may be a simple reason to go straight for the Series X. However, both the S Series and X Series’ storage can be expanded.
For example, there is a 1TB Seagate expansion card coming to the market that you can plug straight in. Mind you, it costs a whopping $359! So, you may want to take that into consideration when deciding which console to purchase.
If you’re still unsure (parents especially) which Xbox you should buy for Christmas, in my opinion, I don’t think everyone needs to buy the more expensive Xbox Series X console. Most people, especially your average teen gamer, can be confident that they can absolutely crush it on the Xbox Series S – and as a bonus you’ll save some cash.
However, if you’re a hardcore gamer, want the best specs, love your tech and are down to invest in a powerful hi-res TV or monitor to go alongside your Xbox, getting the Xbox Series X is an excellent choice.
Not only will you get the best out of gaming but you’ll future-proof your gaming experience for years to come.
Elly Awesome is an Aussie tech and lifestyle vlogger | @ellyawwesome | YouTube
Originally published as Xbox series X and S: How do they compare for the price?