What are your thoughts on the Series S?

I know we're still deep in the cross-gen years, but I have been thinking about picking up a Series S. I am mainly thinking of picking it up to supplement my PS5, but I am a bit worried about it's ability to maintain a higher framerate (framerate > resolution forever!). For those of you who picked one up, what are your thoughts? Should I pull the trigger, or wait for a series X?

Thank you!

I've got a Series S, but I'm not an expert on framerate stuff. Every game I've played so far seems fine to my untrained eye. I haven't noticed any difference between playing games there as opposed to on PS5. Not sure how that will change as the generation goes on, but I figure as long as it plays the smaller indie stuff on Game Pass, it was worth the price for my own needs. Plus, as of right now, Xbox has a pretty good refund policy, so even if I did purchase a game there that ran like garbage, it's pretty easy to get it refunded and buy it on PS5.

I do not have a Series S, but as regular viewer of Digital Foundry, it definitely seems like that machine is struggling to keep up with the Series X and PS5 in some pretty key ways. As someone that values framerate and image quality, I certainly would not consider getting a Series S.

For me the loss of a disc drive and getting half the hard drive space (only 512GB vs 1 TB) makes it really hard to recommend. I've been thinking about one for my daughter in the future (she's 8 years old) and I think it would be perfect for her. Anybody else though.... I don't know. I do love how they look though. I saw one in person the other day and was shocked by how small it was.

I have a ps5 and a series x. I bought my 13 year old a series s. He doesn’t complain. Though he doesn’t play too many graphical intensive games. We did play back 4 blood together and i was surprised how good it ran and looked on his S. I’d say for the price and availability it’s worth it. I will say it’s def not future proof unless devs optimize for it

I would say if you chose wisely on downloading years if’s games with gold 360 games (permanent. Not Xbox one. Since we are oldish gamers WE KNOW) you have multiple games you have yet to explore on kind of the best way to play them. The entire 360 catalog remastered. That should be enough reason to get one. Especially if you don’t have an Xbox one or 360. Play your free to play games there too. With cross play you wasn’t be missing out and you don’t need gold. Also your precious PS5 space won’t require a ssd upgrade(which is priced about the series s rate). Only the PS5 games you love earn a spot on the harddrive so you don’t have to mess with clutter

To me, it's a good looking console but I personally prefer the Xbox Series X.

Edit: I still prefer the PS5 and Xbox Series X more than the PS5 Digital Edition and Xbox Series S.

I bought mine for the backwards compatibility and the occasional indie release, and for that purpose it is spectacular. It's neat that some games that I bought over 10 years ago are still in my library. However the compatibility can be buggy, I have had many crashes and even lost my 10+ hour save in Assassin's Creed 2. You'll sometimes have to reset the games manually and go clear the cache in the system settings. Not sure if these are things Microsoft are working on fixing. But again, it's amazing that this is a feature at all.

It's hard to consider this a next-gen console when it is actually less powerful than the One X. So I wouldn't recommend this for any new AAA experiences and I suspect that even Microsoft's own studios will default to "if it launches it's good enough" when they really get going on game development and not just games like Halo Infinite that was originally planned for the Xbox One anyway. I have a powerful PC and always intended to buy the PS5 so it's not a problem for me.

If you're worried about the storage size you'll get much better value buying any USB hard drive than the Microsoft proprietary solution. You can even play previous-gen games from the external drive, it is only S/X titles that need to be installed on the SSD. But you can still store them on the external drive and just copy the files over when you want to play.

I bought a Series S for the same reason as OP. PS5 is my main console and Series S I mostly use for Game Pass.

I've owned my Series S for a year and I can't think of any problems that would make me hesitate recommending it to someone as their secondary console. Forza 5 and Halo Infinite look and run great to my eye on my LG OLED. Saving $200 and some shelf space is a big win IMO. If you're cool with less storage and no disc drive, I say go for it.

@j_unit2008: The disc / storage piece are not an issue for me, as I have been mostly digital since 2018 or so! Yes, that's the plan, to use it as a gamepass machine and for those few Xbox exclusives that won't come to PS5. I am a bit concerned as to what games on the Series S will play like post cross-gen releases. Do you think the Series S will be good enough for those, given what it does now?

Thank you to everyone who replied!

I think the biggest factor is your TV/monitor setup, because there's no point in getting a Series X if your monitor only supports 1080p, unless A) you really, really care about some backwards compatible games or B) you plan on upgrading soon-ish. That said, VRR is a game changer, and it's really nice to see on an xbox.

@prolurker:I am currently gaming on a 4k/60 Monitor. It's great for the PS5 but even then, I almost always choose performance over quality, and usually end up gaming with variable resolutions closer to 1440P anyway.

I have both a Series X and S and from my experience the Series S is a great value. Outriders was a game that struggled to play well on the S seemed to be poorly optimized in general because once I got the X it wasn't some night and day change.

I have a PS5 and I picked up a Series S a few months ago. I have seen no issues with the Series S, which includes playing more intense games like Back 4 Blood & Halo Infinite or indie games. If it was my main console, I would have gotten the Series X, but for $300, it's a fantastic Game Pass machine. I threw a 4 TB external hard drive on, so that I can download anything, and if it's Series enhanced, I just quickly move it to the internal drive. Yes, there's a little Tetris going on to prevent any future concerns about hard drive space, but no more than what I deal with on the PS5.

@conker: IMO, unless you NEED the latest, greatest, best looking version of everything, I think the Series S will be just fine as a Game Pass machine. I forgot to mention in my other post, but Forza Horizon 5 also looked gorgeous on it and ran smooth. I don't think there will be much of an issue when it comes to Xbox exclusives. I think Microsoft will make sure those run well on the S (they want people in the eco system to the point where you can play so much on the cloud, it's pretty crazy). Maybe towards the end of the life of the Series (so 2027-2029), it might start to show. There's no way to predict the future, so it's a real question of, "Is the absolute best thing possible worth $200, or is looking and running really well good enough?" Then again, the Xbox Series X Pro (or whatever they call it) will probably come out in 2025 and things will run better on that than on the Xbox Series X for those that need the best possible thing always. That's not a game for me though.

I have a Series X, but I am considering picking up an S (once they're reliably in stock in stores, I don't want to take one from someone who doesn't have a next gen console). Everything I've seen kind of points to it being a generally good way to play games, and a humongous step above the previous gen. I haven't heard of too many games supporting 60 on the X and not being able to hit that on S, though some games only support 120 on the X . As a gamepass companion it seems like a good value, especially if you didn't go with an xbox one last gen and want to catch up on some of the stuff that came out on that system.

Not too concerned about newer games running poorly on it for the forseeable future since as you said, we're still in cross-gen times. The CPU is a dramatic step up from last gen. Maybe 5+ years from now it'll be more noticeable?

Microsoft wanted a cheaper system. That would come with some trade offs, but are these trade-offs worth it? The way they make chips in a FAB means some chips are duds, sop they are using those duds to make "lesser" machine - very thrifty. But as we see above ist not just teh CUs and Graphical power that get cut off at teh knees.

Seris S has 1/3 of every metric comapired to Series X:

• 1/3 the RAM
• 1/3 the GPU Power in TFLOPs
• 1/2 the storage
• w/ No media drive

I would not want a system with less fidelity, less RAM, less storage, and less media capablities just to save $200. I'm fine with Series X existing, but a cut down Series S, just does not appeal. If the series S were $175.95 it might makes more sense.

Watched a Digital Foundry video comparing the Xbox One X to the Series S. The conclusion is that the One X is actually better than the Series S in some key areas, mainly being able to play the current gen games at 4K or close at 30FPS, while the Series S is struggling, often having many games at 1080p and maybe a smooth 60FPS if lucky. One big example is Guardians of the Galaxy, which is bad on the Series S, but decent on the One X. The main advantage of a Series S is the updated RDNA 2 graphics which render certain scenes better and the fast SSD for loading times. As someone who was thinking about getting a Series S, I changed my mind. It's been little over a year since being released and it's struggling like the Nintendo Switch to play current gen games. So I say it's not worth it. Unless, you plan to play a lot of low intense Indie games and stream the heavy games using X-Cloud Gaming because your internet connection is that good. If you can luck out, spend the extra money and get a Series X.

I came across this article about Sony manufacturing PS4 consoles until the end of 2022.

Sony keeps PS4 factories churning to relieve pressure from PS5 demand

One could argue that the PS4 is Sony's answer to Microsoft's Series S. Both

systems are easier to get after all compared to their big brothers, PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Anyway, I lucked out a year ago and was able to score both PS5 and Series X early on. Not disappointed.

@conker: it's a brilliant little console, bit I only use it to play with friends. It performs great right now, but if performance is super important I'm not sure it will hold up in the longer term.

It seems like a good idea for a pretty big group of people, especially as a console for kids. I have a One X so I know I don’t need it but I think it makes sense for a lot of people.

It only makes sense as a 2ndry console

Now people don't have a choice. Microsoft just discontinued the One X. My tinfoil hat says it was a response to the DF video showing how the One X was better than the Series S for around the same price, especially if you replace the HDD with an SSD. Funny how this happened a couple of days later.

The best way to explain the Series S is to understand the way MS looks at the console business now. They're very much likening it to how phones are sold. They know that there are about 3 "tiers" of users they need to cater to.

The main concerns with Series S are really just framerate and storage. It needs to maintain 1080p60 as a minimum going forward. I think 1440p was always a pipe dream for the system, and so many people have it attached to screens that just dont do 1440 anyway. Games get more demanding as time passes, so care needs to be taken to optimize running them on the system.

Storage is a huge problem too - but like using an SSD on a One X, if you spend more than a hundred bucks on upgrades, you're getting into "Just buy a series X" territory. I think the Series S as it is now is best used by people with uncapped high speed internet, and it would massively benefit from the 1TB drive the Series X has.

Regarding the DF video, I think the reason for the difference makes sense, the Series S is running a higher end version of the game. PS4 versions of games running on PS5 often work better than the native PS5 version as well - if you are only measuring resolution and FPS and not accounting for the other improvements made to the next gen version that you lose running the old one. How much that matters is pretty subjective, though. It could be interesting if they started letting you run One X versions on new hardware, though a lot of "last gen" games running at 4K are just being upscaled.

The Xbox One X (and One S All Digital) were both discontinued around July 2020, before the Series S|X even launched.

The Xbox One S was the only one still being manufactured at that point, and we just learned that that one was discontinued at the end of 2020. So doesn't seem like a response to any Digital Foundry video.

I personally don't see the appeal of the Xbox Series S, it doesn't seem enough savings for the considerable downgrade in power -- but supposedly the Series S is selling very well, so Microsoft clearly understands their target market better than me ;)

It's selling well, because people can't find the Series X, while the Series S is available both online and in stores like Best Buy for its proper retail price.

Bought mine as someone whose never had an Xbox but my PS4 was on the way out and I couldn't get a PS5. Used mostly for gamepads but have bought a couple of things. It's a neat little machine and as a second console it's pretty good.

I've been messing with Mass Effect trilogy which has a framerate over graphics setting and it seems very smooth.

Not an expert by any means but I haven't noticed the framerate drop to an awful level on the likes of Halo Infinite.

I bought an S for availability reasons last July. Plus, I have a feeling there will be another mid-cycle uprated console at some point and so didn't want it to hurt as much when I eventually upgrade again. It definitely performs better than a One X, which is the only comparison I can make at this point.

I'm going to throw some shade at Xbox regarding its streaming capabilities.. You'd think that the series S would work as a solid solution, but there is no Xbox media remote that does as well as the PS5 remote. I've tried several brands on my Series X and none of these remotes feel right to use. They don't feel right when holding them in my hand. None of them make it easy to navigate and select streaming services. None of them do HDMI-CEC very well. Actually, HDMI-CEC stinks on the Xbox. Sony knows how to do HDMI-CEC.

It makes me chuckle to think that back in '13, Xbox wanted to be the end all, be all media device in your living room, and yet here we are in 2022 and I'm using the PS5 as my default media streaming device.

I don't get the idea of a digital console at all. Why buy something with fewer options and power?

@ryudo: Easy, price. Its normal for laptops and desktop PC's these days not to have a disk drive, because everything is downloaded. I cant remember the last PC game that had an actual disk and not just a box with a code. The majority of my game collection on console is probably now digital. The power thing is the part that i am personally not willing to compromise on, because there are benefits. But there series S is aiming for 1080P, which a good bit of people still have im sure, so the extra power is "wasted".

Do you always buy the high end model of the car you own? Or do you spend less for the model that suits your needs?

My One X bricked, and I didn't feel like waiting for a Series X to play some of those games. It works really well as a secondary machine, as others have said, you can own it now instead of in 2024 or whenever it will be available easily next, and it's ludicrously easier to move with (I live in Korea so that last one is a big one for me...I travel from an island to the mainland like every weekend and the Series X would not be fun to lug).

Having said all of that, I plan to play all of the first party stuff mostly on my laptop which is much more powerful so, like I said, probably best as a secondary or backwards compatible machine.

I had an Xbox One but gave it to my nephew who wanted his own Xbox One. Ended up getting the Series S last year and quite amazing for it's size. I have a ton of digital games that I bought over the years so don't need the disc drive. My nephew even got a Series S which his dad bought though he wants to sell the Series S and get a Series X.

I recently bought a Series S after lucking out and finding one at my local Target. Funny thing was that I was not even looking for one when I discovered it. I'm enjoying it quite a bit with Game Pass Ultimate being a great deal. I'm not too worried about performance as that was never a big deal for me anyways. I'm one of those people who buys a launch console and never upgrade it. Only thing that bugs me a little bit is the amount of storage space. I'll most likely get an expansion card when I get some spare cash laying around.

Series S is a fantastic purchase if you're not into 4K.

I dont plan on going 4K until my kids are old enough not to touch screens with their grubby mits, so that was an easy choice.

After that it boiled down to do I want to wait until 2023/2024 to get a PS5/XSX or start using that next gen stuff now and checkout GamePass?

No regrets so far - I dont even want to touch my PS4 any more games run so smoothly and quick on the Series S.

I'll probably sell it or give to a friend once PS5/XSX are in stock and I can pick up those. I'm not holding my breath Ill be seeing one on store shelves in the Arctic anytime before 2023 though.

If you're also like me and have been absent from the Xbox ecosystem since the 360 there is a massive amount of content available for cheap each month.

I appreciate it for what it is: a gamepass box. I don't think it's marketed towards most of the GB community but I like that it exists and it makes sense as an option for some people. Over time, these things will probably sell better than the Xs, especially in the final 1/3 of this console cycle. These things would probably be like $200ish and have ALL that gamepass stuff available. Certainly not a bad deal for those looking into gaming that have limited budgets and/or time.

A few of my friends picked up the S and they seem to be very happy with it, the only thing they complain about is the lack of storage. My main gripe with xbox this gen is that I've had to replace the controller like 3 or 4 times, whether its drift or a faulty headphone jack (which sucks, because I think this is the best controller ever designed). Never had this problem with any other platform.

I have both Series S and X and really like both. There’s only been a couple games that I vastly preferred playing on my Series X due to blurry resolutions. Otherwise, I am happy gaming on either console.

I own an Xbox Series S and it's great for the price since you get next gen features: fast loading, quick resume, next gen games. I call it the Game Pass machine.

But if framerate and visuals is your priority, then consider PS5 or Series X. The Series X does things better: resolution, FPS Boost support, framerate, and flexibility (more storage and plays physical discs). My guess if you watch Digital Foundry, consider the higher tier consoles.

https://majornelson.com/fpsboost/