Xbox Series S

This is a great console. It's obviously not as powerful as the Series X, but it doesn't need to be. The size is amazing, and can fit in any space, and plays every game available digitally on Xbox very well. I have a gaming PC so having this as a secondary device is a godsend. My partner also likes it as she can use it as a smart TV box for our dumb 1080p TV - it works with Plex, Prime Video, Netflix and so on.The SSD is fast, with the system booting to the dashboard before my Logitech Harmony even fires up my TV and soundbar and sets them to the right inputs. Apps and games load very quickly, and for games Quick Resume is amazing.At 1080p, the graphics look great. Some backwards compatible games aren't improved from the One S configuration (yet), but any game optimised for Series S|X loads quickly, looks amazing and has a higher framerate than the last-gen versions. If you have a PS4 or a One S, aren't interested in 4K and want a cheap upgrade to play Cyberpunk at an acceptable performance, you can't go wrong with this system.Chances are, if you know the Xbox Series S isn't for you, you won't be reading this review. But if you're on the fence between this and a more expensive console you may want to think if the following applies to you:If you have Game Pass and another system (like a PC or PS5) and want to play some legacy Xbox games and whatever MS is providing via Game Pass, this is an awesome system.If you've got a spare room with a TV and you want an affordable games console to go in there, Xbox Series S is the way forward.If all you want is an affordable way to play next-gen games for the foreseeable future, this is the console for you.It's also great for kids who want to play Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft and not much else. It'll be a big improvement on the Xbox Series S - just be mindful that if they have disc-based games they won't be playable on the Series S.If you've got a 4K TV you probably want an Xbox Series X, PS5 or a good gaming PC, as games on this device will max out at 1080p-1440p. This console also doesn't have a disc drive so all your games and multimedia will need to be digital. Take that in mind.There's a lot of good and niche reasons to own this device over a more expensive system - if you fit into one of those niches, £250 is well worth the price.

Fantastic little Gamepass machine. And it really is little - similar in size to the Wii. It operates silently when playing games, there's no fan noise and no risk drive to spin around.Gamepass is a great deal, especially if you use the Gold to Gamepass conversion trick. I have had a great time discovering games I normally wouldn't have bothered with. Whilst Xbox is severely lacking in new first-party exclusives, the ever changing Gamepass library provides endless entertainment.Not only that but Microsoft are adding features to the Series S like FPS boost which makes older games play a lot more smoothly. I've just gone back to Battlefield 4 and the difference from the original 30 FPS version is night and day. Also, if like me you haven't owned an Xbox since the 360 and bought a lot of titles back then, thanks to the impressive backwards compatibility on the Series S, you'll find that your game library is already quite substantial.It's also worth mentioning the very fast load times, beautiful graphics with S/X optimised games (don't notice much difference with my PS5 on my 4K TV in optimised games) and the awesome Quick Resume, which lets you jump straight back in where you left a game even if you've played several other games since.In years to come there will be first-party exclusives and they'll be coming straight to Gamepass on the Series S. I bought the Series S because of this - a future-proofing accompaniment to my PS5. I honestly didn't think I'd get that much use out of it for quite a while - but there biggest compliment I can pay it is that I've played it just as much as my PS5, if not more.

Awesome value! It's tiny, practically silent when gaming, actually faster than PS4 Pro or Xbox One X as it has much newer hardware than either. It only uses about 70 watts to around 150 watts per hour when gaming, depending on the game and resolution. Much to my surprise it supports 120hz at 4k and 1080p it works well at 60hz 4k with less demanding games running at 4k and modern AAA titles being upscaled but hitting 60 FPS no issue.The only draw back is how small the 512GB super fast PCIE4 internal drive is, you only have 360GB to install games on. So if you plan on having lots of games you will have to buy the Expansion SSD from Seagate, older games can be installed on a USB stick to keep the super fast storage for modern games that need it.If you have a problem with the Series X or S (or PS5) with screen flickering when it switches from HDR modes in video apps then you must update your TVs software to the latest versions. I did have the issue when playing Netflix etc but updating the software on both LG and Samsung TVs fixed it.Don't forget if new to Xbox, buy some recharging batteries for the controller, they are not included.But the series S is basically a PS4 Pro or Xbox One X that is much smaller, quieter has double the CPU power of older models and a much newer GPU that does raytracing and better upscaling to 4k. Its probably the best value games hardware I have bought in 40 years.Don't forget you can use cheap USB memory sticks, HDDs or external SSDs to store non optomised for Series S X games no issue. The internal storage should only be used for titles optomised for Series X S as they won't run from any other storage than the internal drive or Seagate expansion card.The external Seagate superfast expansion card was idiot proof to install and transfer games to. I imagine over time they will decrease in price and increase in storage size as well. So don't let the 360 GBs of usable space put you off the Series S at all.