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XBOX Series S - Impressions a few months after launch

OrtizTwelve

Member
Was able to purchase a Series S on launch day back in November. Here are my impressions a few months later, in bullets for simplicity. I think there's a lot of undue criticism and controversy over this console, and maybe I will help some people make a better decision should they choose to buy one in the near future.

  • Love the design still after a few months. When placed vertically, looks great. I know the "speaker" vent rubs some people the wrong way, but it doesn't look as bad in person. If placed vertically with the front of the console facing you, looks like a super nice piece of modern slender tech. Also, the matte white on this is beautiful. A+.
  • Still super quiet after these few months. This console emits no noise, even under load I haven't heard the fan once. Same thing for temperature, it tends to get warm near the vents but nothing to be concerned about. Usually we don't see these kinds of revisions until later in a console's life, so it's good Microsoft nailed down the sound and thermals first round. A+
  • Build quality is fantastic. No creaks or odd sounds when being handled or placed around the entertainment center. The console is equally weighted so you don't feel any empty spaces inside, it doesn't feel like a plastic hollow console of the past. Microsoft did a good job with this as they used every single inch of space. A+
  • Storage will be an issue for most people with just 512GB of onboard memory, but it is still very fast. I ended up buying the 1TB expansion memory card and thank god I did. With just onboard storage, you can basically only fit like 2 large games. I get the cost savings factor, but it will be an issue for most people within a short period of time. B
  • Performance is fine. I know I am not seeing 4K textures or whatever. Games still look and play great, and the enhanced versions of some games look really, really good. Haven't noticed any slowdowns or chug, I sorta just play games and forget about specs. I have played a lot of games and never once thought "man I wish I had an X or PS5". B
  • I think for most people looking into next gen without spending too much money and gamepass, this at $299 is a no-brainer. I don't feel like I am "missing out" by not having a Series X. I will probably upgrade to a Series X in the future, but right now I am happy with what I have, and I believe a lot of people will feel this way too. B+
 

Portugeezer

Member
Why did you choose it, as you already plan to upgrade to an X, was it just what was available?

Seems okay if you play on a smaller 1080p TV. The 1440p dream is dead seeing as a lot of games aren't even native 4k on the more powerful consoles.
 

Desudzer10

Member
My impression is if you had the original Xbox one and didn't want to spend $500, the series S is an ok deal. But if you had a One X, then getting the series S would be kinda a lackluster upgrade in my opinion. It's a great gamepass machine, but if you want true next gen experiences i think we've seen it isn't going to give exactly that.

Saying that i have a series X and a ps5 as my main consoles in my game room and a series s in my living room for apps, movies, and relaxing games and i enjoy it.
 

AppleBlade

Member
I have a Series X and a Series S and in a way I love my Series S more. It's so damn sexy and honestly we love to obsess over Digital Foundry frame-measuring and pixel counting but regular people won't notice a huge difference between games on Series S and the XSX/PS5. Even given the fact that it plays the Xbox One versions (instead of 1X) of back compat games is not as a big an issue as I thought it would be. I play on a 4K TV and once games hit 900p, they look fine, the jump to 1080p is noticeable and nice but after that we get into the territory where the difference is minimal. Frame-rate is definitely more noticeable but the system was designed to give the similar frame-rates at lower resolutions and I believe this will largely hold true once we move on from the cross-gen titles and start to use the true muscle of the Series S in games (it's CPU which is roughly on par with the PS5 and XSX).

Thankfully I have the disposable income to buy all of the systems and any games I want but if all I had was a Series S and GamePass (and Microsoft Rewards to buy the a few 3rd party non-gamepass titles here and there) I'd be perfectly happy.

As for the storage, I guess it depends on your habit but I have over 30 games installed on my Series S and it's more than enough for my game play style since I usually play one single player game until I beat it and then never replay it again. Besides that I'll have a few games that I go back to frequently (i.e. Sports Titles, Racing Games), some party games and a few games that my kids play (i.e. Minecraft, Super Lucky's Tale, Sea of Thieves).
 
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I member when some were trying to convince themselves that if a game runs on series X at 4K than SS will somehow manage to push 2560x1440 at the same settings evven though everyone were telling them it's not happening and so here we are.
 

D.Final

Banned
A g
Was able to purchase a Series S on launch day back in November. Here are my impressions a few months later, in bullets for simplicity. I think there's a lot of undue criticism and controversy over this console, and maybe I will help some people make a better decision should they choose to buy one in the near future.

  • Love the design still after a few months. When placed vertically, looks great. I know the "speaker" vent rubs some people the wrong way, but it doesn't look as bad in person. If placed vertically with the front of the console facing you, looks like a super nice piece of modern slender tech. Also, the matte white on this is beautiful. A+.
  • Still super quiet after these few months. This console emits no noise, even under load I haven't heard the fan once. Same thing for temperature, it tends to get warm near the vents but nothing to be concerned about. Usually we don't see these kinds of revisions until later in a console's life, so it's good Microsoft nailed down the sound and thermals first round. A+
  • Build quality is fantastic. No creaks or odd sounds when being handled or placed around the entertainment center. The console is equally weighted so you don't feel any empty spaces inside, it doesn't feel like a plastic hollow console of the past. Microsoft did a good job with this as they used every single inch of space. A+
  • Storage will be an issue for most people with just 512GB of onboard memory, but it is still very fast. I ended up buying the 1TB expansion memory card and thank god I did. With just onboard storage, you can basically only fit like 2 large games. I get the cost savings factor, but it will be an issue for most people within a short period of time. B
  • Performance is fine. I know I am not seeing 4K textures or whatever. Games still look and play great, and the enhanced versions of some games look really, really good. Haven't noticed any slowdowns or chug, I sorta just play games and forget about specs. I have played a lot of games and never once thought "man I wish I had an X or PS5". B
  • I think for most people looking into next gen without spending too much money and gamepass, this at $299 is a no-brainer. I don't feel like I am "missing out" by not having a Series X. I will probably upgrade to a Series X in the future, but right now I am happy with what I have, and I believe a lot of people will feel this way too. B+
A good impression indeed
 

NullZ3r0

Banned
The upgrade path for Xbox gamers:

  • OG Xbox One --> Xbox Series X
  • Xbox One X --> Wait a year, buy Xbox Series X
  • Casual Xbox One S --> Xbox Series S
  • PS5 Owner --> Xbox Series S
  • Minecraft, Apex Legends, Fortnite kid --> Xbox Series S
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Was able to purchase a Series S on launch day back in November. Here are my impressions a few months later, in bullets for simplicity. I think there's a lot of undue criticism and controversy over this console, and maybe I will help some people make a better decision should they choose to buy one in the near future.

  • Love the design still after a few months. When placed vertically, looks great. I know the "speaker" vent rubs some people the wrong way, but it doesn't look as bad in person. If placed vertically with the front of the console facing you, looks like a super nice piece of modern slender tech. Also, the matte white on this is beautiful. A+.
  • Still super quiet after these few months. This console emits no noise, even under load I haven't heard the fan once. Same thing for temperature, it tends to get warm near the vents but nothing to be concerned about. Usually we don't see these kinds of revisions until later in a console's life, so it's good Microsoft nailed down the sound and thermals first round. A+
  • Build quality is fantastic. No creaks or odd sounds when being handled or placed around the entertainment center. The console is equally weighted so you don't feel any empty spaces inside, it doesn't feel like a plastic hollow console of the past. Microsoft did a good job with this as they used every single inch of space. A+
  • Storage will be an issue for most people with just 512GB of onboard memory, but it is still very fast. I ended up buying the 1TB expansion memory card and thank god I did. With just onboard storage, you can basically only fit like 2 large games. I get the cost savings factor, but it will be an issue for most people within a short period of time. B
  • Performance is fine. I know I am not seeing 4K textures or whatever. Games still look and play great, and the enhanced versions of some games look really, really good. Haven't noticed any slowdowns or chug, I sorta just play games and forget about specs. I have played a lot of games and never once thought "man I wish I had an X or PS5". B
  • I think for most people looking into next gen without spending too much money and gamepass, this at $299 is a no-brainer. I don't feel like I am "missing out" by not having a Series X. I will probably upgrade to a Series X in the future, but right now I am happy with what I have, and I believe a lot of people will feel this way too. B+

glad your enjoying the console of your choice. seems like it fits what you want well
 

OrtizTwelve

Member
Why did you choose it, as you already plan to upgrade to an X, was it just what was available?

Seems okay if you play on a smaller 1080p TV. The 1440p dream is dead seeing as a lot of games aren't even native 4k on the more powerful consoles.
My intent was to buy a Series X, but then I thought about it --- $499 for a next gen console out the gate was a decent price for the specs but I just didn't want to spend $500 right NOW for what was available in terms of game selection.

I actually thought I wouldn't be happy with the Series S, but I was wrong.

I will likely upgrade to a Series X in a few years when there's a more established catalog and games actually start using the full power.

Yeah, I am aware I paid technically more for a Series S with the expansion card over a Series X, but that's fine, they were purchased separately over a period of a few weeks. I REALLY like the S and the design.
 
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