by We reviewed the Xbox Series X on senses.se when it was released, so this review will mostly be about the difference between big brother X and little brother S.
The Xbox Series S is less than half the size of the Xbox Series X , but inside they’re still quite similar. Both X and S can play games at the latest 120fps (frames per second), but the S has a smaller processor – AMD RDNA 2GPU with 20 CUs and 1,565 GHZ versus the X AMD RDNA 2GPU 56 CUs and 1,825GHZ and 10GB RAM versus 16GB – the Series S is not able to run 120fps in full 4K (2160p), but we have to settle for 1440p instead . The GPU power(how many processes the graphics card can handle at the same time) is also lower on the Xbox Series S, which counts 4 TFLOPS and is beaten on the fingers by X with its slightly incredible 12.15 TFLOPS ( PS5 is at just over 10 TFLOPS). The biggest difference between the two consoles, apart from the size, is that the Xbox Series S lacks an optical disc reader and thus it is not possible to play UHD movies or play games that are on a physical disc.
I plug the Xbox Series S into our new gaming TV, the Panasonic JZ1500 which supports all the new features Xbox takes advantage of, and the console automatically sets the best possible setting to suit that particular TV. You need a TV capable of 120HZ (full HDMI 2.1 support) to have any use for the 120fps mode on your Series S. Once you’ve logged into your Xbox account, you can start downloading your games for the console. Xbox Series S and Game Pass are a match made in heaven, because here you can easily view and download the X/S version of the game instead of the One version, which you may have played before.
I’ll start by downloading Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 , to see how they play on the more powerful console. While these are downloading, I’m getting familiar with the menus and content. Most things are exactly the same here as on the now defunct Xbox One and all the games are playable if you own them on your old console. Except for the games that you have on physical disc, of course, but in all honesty there are very few games that I can’t play. Some games that don’t get free next-gen patches – such as The Quarry – there are often reasonably priced updates available to download, so even those games become the enhanced Series X/S versions.
The Xbox Series S controller is very similar to the Xbox One and indeed the Xbox 360 , because Microsoft got it right from the start. The control is super nice in the hand and the buttons are wonderfully distinct. It is a very nice surface finish on the control that gives a little extra, luxurious feeling. Now Halo Infinite is downloaded and I start the game. What strikes me right away is how incredibly fast it loads compared to how it was on the Xbox One X. It’s not many seconds before I’m back in the Halo world. My save file has been transferred over automatically and I can pick up where I left off on Xbox One.
In the beginning of time, it was calculated that 24 frames per second was some kind of absolute minimum to get a steady and fluid image, which did not flicker. That standard then became 25 frames per second when the PAL system and VHS entered (or 29.9 frames per second, if it was American NTSC ). Peter Jackson experimented with HFR, 48 frames per second, when making The Hobbit trilogy to get better fluidity. The problem is that on film, more frames per second means that it normally looks smallerreal and nice looking (the so-called “soap opera effect”, something James Cameron wants to remedy when he releases his two classics later this year in 4K with new technology ). That is not the case when it comes to games, and there is a sweet spot of 60 frames per second (a doubled 30fps, that is).
I had never actually experienced 120fps before and I can honestly say it’s like night and day. Everything moves super smoothly and in these two cases there are no signs whatsoever of the game lagging (however, the excellence of the 120fps implementation can vary from game to game…). As we know, Halo is filled with enemies that attack from different directions. There were some situations when it was clearly too much for my poor Xbox One X, hordes of enemies piled up at the same time and then it actually hacked quite a lot at times. I can happily say nohappens on the Xbox Series S. No matter how many things are happening at the same time, it’s the same nice fluidity and clarity and I’d say that the slightly lower resolution is hardly even noticeable at that speed. Therefore, there will be no direct sacrifices on the graphics either, Halo Infinite is a sandbox game where you move through a gigantic map and not once does something “pop” into the picture that wasn’t there before.
Happy in the mood, I continue to drive a little in Forza Horizon 5 . Same thing here: loading times are a thing of the past and when I’m behind the wheel and the views are swishing past in full quality, I can’t help but smile with happiness.
Sound can now be obtained in Dolby Atmos even in games, but it requires the purchase and download of the Dolby Atmos app, which costs around SEK 150 (the license is included in some headphones you may have had previously). It’s not a huge cost, but it feels a bit sneaky to have to unlock for more money when it’s part of the Xbox’s basic specifications. Same here though; no problem at all to set everything according to your preferences.
The step between last generation’s most powerful console, Xbox One X and Xbox Series S is really both visible and audible. This is clearly a better console and definitely worth the money. A Series S goes for around SEK 3,000 today, compared to big brother Xbox Series X, which costs almost twice as much. I’ve played a bit on the Series X and it’s a more powerful console – of course – but games won’t be twice as good there as on the Series S, although the UHD 4K player will also be a big plus. But if you already own a UHD 4K player, the Xbox Series S becomes a tough option from a financial point of view. You get almost the same power and experience, but for half the money.
The only negatives I have to say about the Series S are two things. One is that it – just like the Series X – relies on old USB 3.1 technology and lacks the more modern and superior USB-C . It’s a bit of a shame that a console that is otherwise well at the forefront, becomes “old” in the connections already on day one. The other thing that is annoying is that you can only have an external hard drive connected. The internal memory on the Series S is only half as large, 500GB versus the Series X which has a 1TB. An external hard drive is practically a must, as most larger games can be 100-150GBpiece. As we mentioned in the Series X test, no Series S/X optimized games are supported from an external hard drive – regardless of the speed of this – so the only thing you can play from an external hard drive are old One (X) and 360 games via backwards compatibility. The only way to expand the internal memory is to get Seagate’s official plug-in module, which we will test shortly. But you can’t install an M.2 SSD NVMe disk yourself like on the PS5 , something that feels like a pretty big disadvantage with how Xbox has chosen to lock its hardware.
At the same time, it must be said that the lack of the physical player does not hurt as much if you use HBO Max , Disney+ , Netflix and most other major streaming services. They have really good apps for Xbox so you can still watch movies in 4K with Dolby Atmos, given in a lower bitrate that can never compare to a physical release, but still. What’s a shame is that there are no options where you can download the movie, like on mobile, before watching it. Because if, like me, you have a crazy slow internet, the image quality will sometimes drop or the film may freeze completely during playback. Otherwise, there are no performance problems whatsoever to play high-definition movies and the sound is mostly crystal clear Dolby Atmos.
In summary, I can’t award any other rating than a must. Although the Xbox Series S has lower performance compared to its big brother Series X, the price is really a deciding factor. For the same almost half price, you get a console that kicks the last generation’s ass in terms of performance and gameplay, and Game Pass gives you access to hundreds of high-quality games for a very reasonable monthly cost.
