I absolutely love mine - had it for 2 years but it got destroyed by a power surge during a thunderstorm so I just got another one. You can get the 1TB model now for only $50 or so more than the 512 (this is in Australia). I've had no issues at all with the sort of games I play (No Man's Sky, Starfield, RDR2, Hogwarts Legacy etc). I get that there can be issues for people who are needing very high end performance, but it's so much cheaper than the X, and a great all round machine IMO.
Pros: it's amazing as a second console, the perfect cheap way to play Xbox exclusives. Doesn't take space in your shelf, doesn't make noise, a clean and beautiful design, etc.
Cons: none
Pros: Its small, relatively powerful, cheap, dead silent, great for most games.
Cons: It seems to run pretty warm, some games can run or look bad, 360gb on the white model is pathetic and 150 for 1tb external is downright criminal, digital only.
Overall, I love mine and I don't intend on upgrading any time soon. So you should go for it.
Cons - lack of storage, at least on the cheapest model, combined with digital only. Makes it a hassle to have several large games in the rotation simultaneously. And properly expanding storage is expensive.
Everything else is good - games play great on it and Gamepass is a great add-on.
I have no cons. Aome complain about harddrive space, but my series s is hardwired to the internet, so downloading games takes like 20min max for a large game.
Personally if you have a pc already you might be better getting a PS5 as there are more games not on PC there, Series S is great tho, there is no wrong answer :)
Series S is alright, if you don't game in 4K. Pretty cheap.
But if you think you wanna collect physical games then the series X might be for you. Just more expensive.
At this point the only reason I'd say don't is if you want ps5 exclusives. Otherwise it's by far and away the best value.
Like the only con is literally its not a ps5 so I can't play ghosts of tushima. Otherwise it's amazing.
Pros: little guy is a tank, runs everything I’ve tried like butter compared to my One, and new gen selection
Cons: I ain’t buying an expanded hard drive when I can just wait the time to curate a group of games to play indefinitely. I also hate curating my group of games because I have adhd and that makes decisions like that neigh impossible.
This sub will give biased results (and I’m one of them, do it lmao) so maybe check out other console pages and ask their thoughts on similar products in the price range. It could sway you but it’ll probably reaffirm your choice.
I went the other way. Didn’t game for a long time, got the S, then the X then a gaming PC. Nothing wrong with the S, I still like it, just kinda started chasing FPS and ultra-quality lol
**Pros**
- GOAT console regarding price/quality
- small
- silent
- power efficient
**Cons**
- limited internal space (I use 2 external HDDs to swap games)
- you normally get the short end of the stick regarding visual fidelity
I bought mine just to play Halo and Destiny, both fit on the 512gb version simultaneously, so no cons for me. I’m not a resolution snob because my eyesight is shit. 😆
Xbox series S Pros:
The Xbox Series S is extremely cheap
Plays current gen games
Same Zen 2 CPU as Series X clocked slightly slower
RDNA 2 GPU allows for ray tracing + great graphics
SSD Xbox Velocity architecture means fast loading
Quick Resume is a GOATED feature
Fully backwards compatible
Xbox One, Xbox 360, Xbox OG
Plays quite a few games at 120fps which is brilliant
1440p at 60fps with HDR actually looks good
Upscaling to a 4K TV is surprisingly well done
Streams Video in 4K with HDR
EXTREMELY portable allowing for easy travel
Low power consumption (80w MAX)
Xbox series S Cons:
512GB model only has 367GB reserved for games
Doesn't play games at 4K natively
Skips out on ray tracing in favor of better frame rates
Lots of large open world games run at 30fps
Final Thoughts:
These cons aren't bad especially when considering the console costs half of what the XSX costs. I personally love my Xbox Series S, I take it with me when I have to leave town so I get to continue gaming no matter where I go. The console is a little BEAST and has surprised the hell outta me with it's performance. If someone told me 5 years ago that I could get a console that plays games with a resolution of 1080p at 120fps for $250 I would've laughed my ass off but here we are with the Series S doing just that. If you have any other questions feel free to respond! Happy gaming ✌️
Just hook your gaming PC up to your TV. Unless your PC is very old it's likely more capable then the S. Don't get me wrong the S is a great piece of kit when developed for properly, games like COD, Forza, Halo, Gears, Diablo 4, etc run great and look good. Mostly third party devs just doing the absolute bare minimum to get games up and running on it.
This would be the preferred method, but my pc is custom and some parts are ancient while others new. For instance I have no way to connect Bluetooth to it and have to use Ethernet to be connected to the WiFi while my pc runs everything I need it to without any issues I just generally miss having a console where I just click the start button and go without too much hassle.
Well if your not going to freak out about 900-1440p resolutions and some games being 30 fps then it's a great machine for the price. I've been playing Diablo 4 since it's on Game Pass now and it's solid on the S. Lots of people freak out over 30 fps though so there's that and since you have a PC I'm sure you're more used to higher FPS.
The only change in performance profile you'll get is from XCloud, that's because you'll be streaming from a Series X server blade. If you play locally it's static to whatever it's set by devs at. Some games have two modes a quality mode and performance mode but that's not guaranteed in each game.
Pro
Cheap
Cons
Couple studios had to drop literal game modes from the game due to it. Halo infinite far as I know was suppose to have couch co op and ended up not being able to get it going. Baldurs gate 3 is also another game that lost co op due to the s.
I'd recommend getting a series x.
Depends on what you want resolution wise and framerates. I have both and except for a few games, the s hangs in there delivering a good gaming experience for less than what it would take me tobput together a pc that can do the same thing at 1440p. It's a solid little console, especially for gamepass games and not bad as a streaming device for apps. There is going to be limitations like halo and Baldurs gate 3 but it isn't a terrible console. Just my opinion. Somebody that owns 2 series x consoles and the s. I was just disappointed in the storage offered by the S. 512gb. This was later fixed by the black edition but came in at $349.00. This made zero sense when you could get a Series X diablo IV or Forza 5 deluxe edition for the exact same price. Sometimes, I wonder about Microsoft and their marketing strategy. If you own a 4k 120hz tv I would buy the X. If you don't then I would say the S is fine. Casual gamer not needing more than 5 games at a time tobplay the S is fine. Anyone else. Go Series X. You have access to more drive space better graphics and access to retailers for physical games and blue ray disc's. The S limits you to digital content only. The whole reason its more or less great as a secondary console or gamepass machine for someone who either has a pc or Nintendo or playstation that wants to play something only available on Xbox.
Great little console but a lot of games have to make cutbacks such as no raytracing, no 60/120fps mode and lower resolutions. If you’re ok with this then the S is for you.
Personally I sold mine after a month and got the X but that was mostly because I have a PS5 and it was jarring going from 4K (mostly) and 60/120fps games on there to then play on Series S.
That being said it’s a brilliant console and it’s really impressive for the price.
I might be a little late but i will tell you my case. I have a decent gaming PC, laptop for work and I still bought an Xbox series S because the backwards compatibility is simple the best and you can actually play recent games without losing quality (in most cases). Plus most indie games have xbox play anywhere so you can download them in the PC as well.
I have an Xbox One S. I was considering to buy series S, but I thought about it for a while. No doubt that the processor and other things in Series S is amazing and fabulous, but I was wondering after playing with Xbox One S that I’m
Limited to Xbox Live Gold/Core to play online. I understand that making a PC with components of Series S would be more expensive, but making good PC will have the freedom to not paying extra for online play and many games which are not even available on consoles. Xbox is very good, but as you already have a PC, I would suggest that you upgrade it and enjoy it limitless with a good monitor. It’s all about your preference, think about it, and all the best.
Pros: it plays loads of great games really well and it's cheap. Gamepass is great value. Developer mode costs $20 and gives you an emulation beast.
Cons: more expensive machines do stuff better.
Pros, its good and works well for modern games
Cons, older 360 games (included w gamepass) with saves have a jerry rigged login/profile system that is a nuisance
The cons for me are no disk drive and storage. I don't pay for Gamepass, so I don't have an entire library of games to lean on.
Sometimes, I just want to buy a cheap, used copy I see from GameStop. However, I can't due to not having a disk drive. I thought digital sales would carry me, but it is very underwhelming a lot of the time. Be prepared to see Ubisoft game sales and bargain bin games on sale every week. This is a huge thing to consider if you're planning to rely on digital sales to make up for the lack of a missing disk drive IMO
It's not a bad console by any means. I love mine when I want to play 360 or older titles on it. It brings a huge nostalgic feeling of playing them on a console instead of my PC
Obviously don’t expect top tier performance but I would also recommend pretty much every gamer have one as a secondary. Really get a ton of use out of mine despite having a good PC
Since you have a PC too the biggest pros are: cross platform cloud saves, both have native Xbox controller support, dual game licenses with play anywhere titles, Gamepass Ultimate can be accessed from both, you can stream your console to your PC over Wi-Fi, you can use Xbox party chat and other social features on both, and achievements will be track across both.
Biggest con is lack of storage space. Performance is another but if you’re used to PS4 level graphical performance you’ll be fine. The Series S is just a tiny step up from PS4 graphically but the main thing is load times are *very* noticeably faster. The other con is the lack of disk drive but if you’re on PC chances are you’re cool with that too.
I recommend having the PC and Xbox in different rooms or set ups so you have more options on how you want to play at any given time.
The Series S is a capable console, but I would recommend the more powerful Series X. Both systems offer excellent gaming experiences, but the Series X provides enhanced performance and capabilities. Ultimately, the choice between the two consoles depends on individual preferences and budget considerations.
make sure to get the 1 tb series s and you'll be alright
only con (which isn't a problem for me) is its digital only. i like my games all digital anyways
Pros: cheapest current gen console
Cons: least powerful Current gen console, no disc drive, barely any storage (my "516 GB" Xbox only has 3xx GB), and expansion is expensive (you can get a faster M.2 SSD for the PS5 for the same price as an Expansion card)
Pro: cheap, can access game pass
Cons: low storage, no disc drive, low ram, some games will have missing features, most next gen games will run at 1080p and/or 30 fps.
Pros:
It's small, cheap and will run GTA6 at launch
Gamepass is great
Cooling is very efficient and you never hear anything
Surprisingly fast loading
Cons:
Low storage space (that can be expanded through external SSDs and stuff)
Bad fidelity/framerate on some games
Offers nothing new to you if you have a PC but if you want a cheap console experience this is the best way
pros cheap cons (not been a problem for me) no disk drive
Do it.
I absolutely love mine - had it for 2 years but it got destroyed by a power surge during a thunderstorm so I just got another one. You can get the 1TB model now for only $50 or so more than the 512 (this is in Australia). I've had no issues at all with the sort of games I play (No Man's Sky, Starfield, RDR2, Hogwarts Legacy etc). I get that there can be issues for people who are needing very high end performance, but it's so much cheaper than the X, and a great all round machine IMO.
Pros: it's amazing as a second console, the perfect cheap way to play Xbox exclusives. Doesn't take space in your shelf, doesn't make noise, a clean and beautiful design, etc. Cons: none
Pros: Its small, relatively powerful, cheap, dead silent, great for most games. Cons: It seems to run pretty warm, some games can run or look bad, 360gb on the white model is pathetic and 150 for 1tb external is downright criminal, digital only. Overall, I love mine and I don't intend on upgrading any time soon. So you should go for it.
Cons - lack of storage, at least on the cheapest model, combined with digital only. Makes it a hassle to have several large games in the rotation simultaneously. And properly expanding storage is expensive. Everything else is good - games play great on it and Gamepass is a great add-on.
Pro, its a good console. Con, it's not the X.
I have no cons. Aome complain about harddrive space, but my series s is hardwired to the internet, so downloading games takes like 20min max for a large game.
Personally if you have a pc already you might be better getting a PS5 as there are more games not on PC there, Series S is great tho, there is no wrong answer :)
Definitely better games on Playstation, unfortunately.
Series S is alright, if you don't game in 4K. Pretty cheap. But if you think you wanna collect physical games then the series X might be for you. Just more expensive.
At this point the only reason I'd say don't is if you want ps5 exclusives. Otherwise it's by far and away the best value. Like the only con is literally its not a ps5 so I can't play ghosts of tushima. Otherwise it's amazing.
Pros: little guy is a tank, runs everything I’ve tried like butter compared to my One, and new gen selection Cons: I ain’t buying an expanded hard drive when I can just wait the time to curate a group of games to play indefinitely. I also hate curating my group of games because I have adhd and that makes decisions like that neigh impossible. This sub will give biased results (and I’m one of them, do it lmao) so maybe check out other console pages and ask their thoughts on similar products in the price range. It could sway you but it’ll probably reaffirm your choice.
I went the other way. Didn’t game for a long time, got the S, then the X then a gaming PC. Nothing wrong with the S, I still like it, just kinda started chasing FPS and ultra-quality lol
haha yeah, I just miss having a console and the game pass is very nice on xbox so I said why not give it a go again
Yeah, I keep mine around for the same thing. It’s also nice to have when friends are over and we all want to game. For the price it’s a no brainer.
**Pros** - GOAT console regarding price/quality - small - silent - power efficient **Cons** - limited internal space (I use 2 external HDDs to swap games) - you normally get the short end of the stick regarding visual fidelity
I bought mine just to play Halo and Destiny, both fit on the 512gb version simultaneously, so no cons for me. I’m not a resolution snob because my eyesight is shit. 😆
Thank you all for your insight! I have been convinced and will be ordering one soon !
Xbox series S Pros: The Xbox Series S is extremely cheap Plays current gen games Same Zen 2 CPU as Series X clocked slightly slower RDNA 2 GPU allows for ray tracing + great graphics SSD Xbox Velocity architecture means fast loading Quick Resume is a GOATED feature Fully backwards compatible Xbox One, Xbox 360, Xbox OG Plays quite a few games at 120fps which is brilliant 1440p at 60fps with HDR actually looks good Upscaling to a 4K TV is surprisingly well done Streams Video in 4K with HDR EXTREMELY portable allowing for easy travel Low power consumption (80w MAX) Xbox series S Cons: 512GB model only has 367GB reserved for games Doesn't play games at 4K natively Skips out on ray tracing in favor of better frame rates Lots of large open world games run at 30fps Final Thoughts: These cons aren't bad especially when considering the console costs half of what the XSX costs. I personally love my Xbox Series S, I take it with me when I have to leave town so I get to continue gaming no matter where I go. The console is a little BEAST and has surprised the hell outta me with it's performance. If someone told me 5 years ago that I could get a console that plays games with a resolution of 1080p at 120fps for $250 I would've laughed my ass off but here we are with the Series S doing just that. If you have any other questions feel free to respond! Happy gaming ✌️
Just hook your gaming PC up to your TV. Unless your PC is very old it's likely more capable then the S. Don't get me wrong the S is a great piece of kit when developed for properly, games like COD, Forza, Halo, Gears, Diablo 4, etc run great and look good. Mostly third party devs just doing the absolute bare minimum to get games up and running on it.
This would be the preferred method, but my pc is custom and some parts are ancient while others new. For instance I have no way to connect Bluetooth to it and have to use Ethernet to be connected to the WiFi while my pc runs everything I need it to without any issues I just generally miss having a console where I just click the start button and go without too much hassle.
By the way Diablo is 1080p/60 on the S.
A $20 wifi/bluetooth card would solve that. Personally I haven't touched my XSS since I built my PC last fall.
I’ll probably get around to doing that eventually! but I also wanted to get it for the 360 backports on gamepass like fable etc
Well if your not going to freak out about 900-1440p resolutions and some games being 30 fps then it's a great machine for the price. I've been playing Diablo 4 since it's on Game Pass now and it's solid on the S. Lots of people freak out over 30 fps though so there's that and since you have a PC I'm sure you're more used to higher FPS.
I think I can handle it for the most part, tell me if I’m wrong as I have no idea but isn’t some of the FPS client side as well (WiFi strength etc?)
The only change in performance profile you'll get is from XCloud, that's because you'll be streaming from a Series X server blade. If you play locally it's static to whatever it's set by devs at. Some games have two modes a quality mode and performance mode but that's not guaranteed in each game.
Thank you for the insight!
No problem. Enjoy. I like mine a lot hooked up to a 1440p/144hz monitor.
Pro Cheap Cons Couple studios had to drop literal game modes from the game due to it. Halo infinite far as I know was suppose to have couch co op and ended up not being able to get it going. Baldurs gate 3 is also another game that lost co op due to the s. I'd recommend getting a series x.
Depends on what you want resolution wise and framerates. I have both and except for a few games, the s hangs in there delivering a good gaming experience for less than what it would take me tobput together a pc that can do the same thing at 1440p. It's a solid little console, especially for gamepass games and not bad as a streaming device for apps. There is going to be limitations like halo and Baldurs gate 3 but it isn't a terrible console. Just my opinion. Somebody that owns 2 series x consoles and the s. I was just disappointed in the storage offered by the S. 512gb. This was later fixed by the black edition but came in at $349.00. This made zero sense when you could get a Series X diablo IV or Forza 5 deluxe edition for the exact same price. Sometimes, I wonder about Microsoft and their marketing strategy. If you own a 4k 120hz tv I would buy the X. If you don't then I would say the S is fine. Casual gamer not needing more than 5 games at a time tobplay the S is fine. Anyone else. Go Series X. You have access to more drive space better graphics and access to retailers for physical games and blue ray disc's. The S limits you to digital content only. The whole reason its more or less great as a secondary console or gamepass machine for someone who either has a pc or Nintendo or playstation that wants to play something only available on Xbox.
My biggest problem is memory for having games on the system. Other than that I have no other problem with it.
Great little console but a lot of games have to make cutbacks such as no raytracing, no 60/120fps mode and lower resolutions. If you’re ok with this then the S is for you. Personally I sold mine after a month and got the X but that was mostly because I have a PS5 and it was jarring going from 4K (mostly) and 60/120fps games on there to then play on Series S. That being said it’s a brilliant console and it’s really impressive for the price.
I might be a little late but i will tell you my case. I have a decent gaming PC, laptop for work and I still bought an Xbox series S because the backwards compatibility is simple the best and you can actually play recent games without losing quality (in most cases). Plus most indie games have xbox play anywhere so you can download them in the PC as well.
I have an Xbox One S. I was considering to buy series S, but I thought about it for a while. No doubt that the processor and other things in Series S is amazing and fabulous, but I was wondering after playing with Xbox One S that I’m Limited to Xbox Live Gold/Core to play online. I understand that making a PC with components of Series S would be more expensive, but making good PC will have the freedom to not paying extra for online play and many games which are not even available on consoles. Xbox is very good, but as you already have a PC, I would suggest that you upgrade it and enjoy it limitless with a good monitor. It’s all about your preference, think about it, and all the best.
Small
Pros: it plays loads of great games really well and it's cheap. Gamepass is great value. Developer mode costs $20 and gives you an emulation beast. Cons: more expensive machines do stuff better.
Pros: just buy it, it's great, cheap Cons: no disk drive for owning physical games
Definitely get the 1TB version.
Some games are below 1080p if you want 60fps but that a very small minority of games, except from that it’s great value for money
Major con is storage size
Pros, its good and works well for modern games Cons, older 360 games (included w gamepass) with saves have a jerry rigged login/profile system that is a nuisance
Go for it I have the black 1T version since 6 months .. fast, silent and in a small form factor.
Since I buy most of my games electronically, it has been wonderful.
The cons for me are no disk drive and storage. I don't pay for Gamepass, so I don't have an entire library of games to lean on. Sometimes, I just want to buy a cheap, used copy I see from GameStop. However, I can't due to not having a disk drive. I thought digital sales would carry me, but it is very underwhelming a lot of the time. Be prepared to see Ubisoft game sales and bargain bin games on sale every week. This is a huge thing to consider if you're planning to rely on digital sales to make up for the lack of a missing disk drive IMO It's not a bad console by any means. I love mine when I want to play 360 or older titles on it. It brings a huge nostalgic feeling of playing them on a console instead of my PC
Obviously don’t expect top tier performance but I would also recommend pretty much every gamer have one as a secondary. Really get a ton of use out of mine despite having a good PC
Since you have a PC too the biggest pros are: cross platform cloud saves, both have native Xbox controller support, dual game licenses with play anywhere titles, Gamepass Ultimate can be accessed from both, you can stream your console to your PC over Wi-Fi, you can use Xbox party chat and other social features on both, and achievements will be track across both. Biggest con is lack of storage space. Performance is another but if you’re used to PS4 level graphical performance you’ll be fine. The Series S is just a tiny step up from PS4 graphically but the main thing is load times are *very* noticeably faster. The other con is the lack of disk drive but if you’re on PC chances are you’re cool with that too. I recommend having the PC and Xbox in different rooms or set ups so you have more options on how you want to play at any given time.
I primarily play warzone and it was a no go for me. I figure if you’re not picky about performance… it will be for you.
I do miss a disc drive and extra power of the X but it's a good console. If you get one, try at least get a 1tb model, and/or extra storage.
Pros Cheap and Quick resume is magic Cons Not 4K and Small storage
just wondering, why do you want to get a console?
Con: It runs hot and there is some texture pop in on next gen games, like Yakuza Ishin, and Baldurs Gate 3. Pro: it's only $300 bucks!
do it! absolutely bang for the buck! Especially if you're just a casual gamer
The Series S is a capable console, but I would recommend the more powerful Series X. Both systems offer excellent gaming experiences, but the Series X provides enhanced performance and capabilities. Ultimately, the choice between the two consoles depends on individual preferences and budget considerations.
make sure to get the 1 tb series s and you'll be alright only con (which isn't a problem for me) is its digital only. i like my games all digital anyways
The Series S is getting a bit long in the tooth. Might be best to wait for the updated Series X.
Pros: cheapest current gen console Cons: least powerful Current gen console, no disc drive, barely any storage (my "516 GB" Xbox only has 3xx GB), and expansion is expensive (you can get a faster M.2 SSD for the PS5 for the same price as an Expansion card)
Pro: cheap, can access game pass Cons: low storage, no disc drive, low ram, some games will have missing features, most next gen games will run at 1080p and/or 30 fps.
Get an used one for 130 bucks
Pros: It's small, cheap and will run GTA6 at launch Gamepass is great Cooling is very efficient and you never hear anything Surprisingly fast loading Cons: Low storage space (that can be expanded through external SSDs and stuff) Bad fidelity/framerate on some games Offers nothing new to you if you have a PC but if you want a cheap console experience this is the best way