Xbox Series S [XBSS] [Release November 10 2020]

[iroboto]

I'm hoping it was due to needing to get it ready for launch and not having time to get smart delivery texture pack together for it.
So finger crossed it gets reduced post launch.

Yea, I'm not a huge COD fan but my cousin is. Wanted to surprise him with a new console since he's probably spends more time waiting for loading than playing COD. I pre-order XSS for him but upon the storage issues, and the expansion costs, I rather just pay the extra 200 get him more storage and stronger systme.

Though honestly, XSX won't fit in his condo as well as the XSS would. But w/e I'll let him deal with it.

It’s fair to say that both are pleasing achievements of engineering. The Series S is the easier console to love of the two – it somehow feels a little chubbier than the One S, but is ultimately more than modest enough to slip comfortably into any TV unit. The trade-off in performance seems more than worth it for the price and the convenience of its size, and it feels like the S could become the champion of a more casual gaming market that just wants to play new games and isn’t too fussed about if they’re running at native 4K or not. The one major downfall of the S is its paltry 500gb hard drive – which is under 400gb after compulsory system files. When the only super-fast storage is proprietary and expensive, that damages the value proposition of the S significantly.

oh boy.. lol.
really hoping he can handle the XSX. lol

After spending over a week with the little go-getter, I consider that something of a miracle. This is a machine that offers an honest-to-god generational leap forward, and it's on shelves for $299. As many folks around the world look towards the holidays with a sense of financial trepidation due to COVID-19, the Series S could become the console of choice for players keen to make the next-gen switch without breaking the bank, or parents attempting to put a shiny new box under the Christmas tree.

 

[cheapchips]

DF included this bit in their X review:

Software will be coming in at the very last minute - hardly an ideal state of affairs in reviewing Xbox Series X as a game machine, and even less helpful in assessing Xbox Series S, which has it all to prove in making its case as an actual next-generation console. The lack of games, combined with late arrival of a retail console, means we won't be reviewing the junior Series hardware today - but I can tell you that the form factor is cute to the point of being almost irresistible, the interface is essentially identical, it has the same display controller (meaning it can address a 4K display at 120Hz!) but you only get a paltry 364GB of useable space on the SSD vs the Series X's 802GB, which is problematic. Quick Resume is part of the package there, but even at this early stage I feel Microsoft's positioning of the machine as a 1440p alternative to Series X is failing to convince, with even older titles like Forza Horizon 4 and Sea of Thieves topping out at 1080p.

 

[zed]

From arstechnica

In the upcoming Ubisoft game Assassin's Creed Valhalla, the performance gulf is currently drastic: 60 fps on Series X, and 30 fps on Series S. In this case, players cannot go into menus and toggle boosts or gains on Series S to claw those frames back. This game was provided to Ars Technica without formal acknowledgement about that difference, and as of press time, its publisher hasn't responded to questions about whether Series S players should expect a 60 fps toggle at any point.

Same deal with Gears 5 cut scenes 60fps, series X, 30fps series S

 

[Unknown Soldier]

From arstechnica

Same deal with Gears 5 cut scenes 60fps, series X, 30fps series S

Ouch. So much for XBSS is going to be a cheaper choice with 60fps

 

[Insight]

From arstechnica

Same deal with Gears 5 cut scenes 60fps, series X, 30fps series S

That's why they sent the console so late to DF?

 

[dskneo]

can't see any review on DF youtube.

 

[cheapchips]

[

Ouch. So much for XBSS is going to be a cheaper choice with 60fps

Bit premature to know really.

Gears is still 60/120 in game, so wonder what the setting differences are with the cutscenes?

 

[Insight]

Ouch. So much for XBSS is going to be a cheaper choice with 60fps

Maybe it was running on BC?

 

[iroboto]

Way premature. Even then, XSS is likely to reduce in price in a hurry compared to the bigger consoles. It will hit a viral price given it's performance.

 

[Jay]

I'm actually expecting XSS to see the greater gains in the short term, as it seems the GDK was late, and everything around it will impact the XSS more than XSX.

Need to see if they've talked about any of the system level double resolution and framerate titles yet.
Still think they could've instead of x9 resolution increase make it do x4 for the enhanced x360 and og xbox games. Maybe in the future.

 

[AzBat]

Jeff Grubb's Review at GamesBeat....

https://venturebeat.com/2020/11/05/xbox-series-s-review-perfect-is-the-enemy-of-good-enough/

Should you get an Xbox Series S?
When are you reading this? If you’re checking out this review on launch day because gaming is one of your primary hobbies, you don’t need an Xbox Series S. Get an Xbox Series X for the “full-fat” experience.

If you’ve found yourself reading through this review after the fervor for new hardware has waned because you want an affordable way to play some Xbox games, the Series S is great for you. The reality is that it takes someone who’s really paying attention to see the differences between what the Series X and S offer. If you only play games occasionally, the Series S has plenty of power and performance at a more affordable price.

MSPowerUser...

https://mspoweruser.com/xbox-series-s-review-magic-microsoft-next-gen/

In our testing, we switched from game to game without issue. Watch Dogs Legion to Gears 5 to Forza Horizon 4 to The Touryst and back to Watch Dogs. It felt as simple as alt-tabbing between programs on PC, an impossibility for five AAA games without hitting some seriously low performance values. On Series S, performance is kept at perfect levels, it feels like magic....

Overall, the Xbox Series S is a remarkable little machine made outstanding by its price. It may not have the sheer staggering performance of its big brother Series X, but for only £250 you have an incredibly quick machine for a generation of gaming that doesn’t require you to run out and buy a 4K TV to make the most of it. With full backward compatibility, Quick Resume and the backing of Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s Xbox Series S is certainly worth the entry into Xbox’s ecosystem.

Just a few reviews I've found.

Tommy McClain

 

[BRiT]

EuroGamer's review in article form @ https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-11-05-xbox-series-s-impressions

Xbox Series S impressions: good things come in 364GB packages
Library Pass.

"Thank goodness you're finally getting rid of that", my flatmate said as I hunched over our TV cabinet, mid-way through the ceremonial process of changing out my Xbox One for the Series S. A little harsh on the poor old Xbox One, perhaps, but I could understand the sentiment. Demanding a large amount of horizontal space - and by this point in the generation struggling to keep up with more demanding titles - I'd begun to neglect it in favour of the bright RGB lights of PC gaming.

In its place now rests a compact white box, and an altogether different vision to what Microsoft presented at the start of the previous generation. The digital-only Xbox Series S is the smallest console Microsoft has ever produced, and probably the most affordable. Coming in at £249, it's even undercut the Nintendo Switch by £30. It's a staggeringly accessible gateway to next-gen gaming, all for £200 less than a Series X: but the question is whether you're willing to pay for it in a lower max resolution, reliance on digital downloads, and - crucially - only 364GB of usable space for games and apps. Perhaps more than anything, the Series S requires a shift in the way we consume our games, encouraging a high turnover of a few titles at a time rather than storing dozens away for a rainy day.

I'm by no means a hardware specialist (and I'll leave the in-depth performance analysis in the very capable hands of Digital Foundry), so like our Xbox Series X impressions written by Chris Tapsell, consider this more an account of what it's like to live with a Series S. And despite some concerns about storage, I will say this: the Series S has made me more excited for console gaming than I have been in a very long time.

...

 

[cheapchips]

Star Wars Squadrons is going to be dynamic 1440p/60 on the S vs dynamic 4k60 the X.

 

[dobwal]

crucially - only 364GB of usable space for games and apps. Perhaps more than anything, the Series S requires a shift in the way we consume our games, encouraging a high turnover of a few titles at a time rather than storing dozens away for a rainy day.

I don't understand this notion. The S doesn't require a shift in how most people store titles. Buy a SSD drive and you have 1.364 TBs of space. Don't want to spend $200 on an SDD then buy a cheap HDD as cold storage. The S is relatively not that much different than the Xbox One 500 GB sku which only made 362 GBs available for user storage.

 

[AzBat]

Star Wars Squadrons is going to be dynamic 1440p/60 on the S vs dynamic 4k60 the X.

That's quality mode. There is also a performance mode that allows 1440p/120. Not sure if that's dynamic, but wouldn't surprise me.

Tommy McClain

 

[AzBat]

Here's C|Net's review. Evidently Phil Spencer liked it enough to share it on Twitter.

https://www.cnet.com/news/xbox-series-s-review-the-console-making-next-gen-gaming-more-affordable/

There's a 5:19 video there, but it's not a YouTube video & I haven't seen it share there either.

On my test TV, a 65-inch 4K LG OLED, I saw minimal difference between the Xbox Series X and Series S. The main thing to keep in mind is that the Series X can render a game at 4K resolution (whether it will always do so is another question), while the Series S is rendering at a lower resolution -- it's not always explicitly stated what that resolution is, but the Series S will render games at a maximum of 1440p, which is 2,560x1,440 pixels, still a small step up from full HD, which is 1,920x1,080.

If you have a smaller TV or a non-4K TV, I don't think you'd ever notice the difference. The most I got out of it was a slightly softer look to games like Gears 5 on my 4K TV when flipping back and forth between the Series S and Series X.

But that lower resolution means it can still handle the ray tracing and other new game eye candy, despite a less powerful GPU. The Series S also lacks the optical drive, but I'm an optical drive skeptic, preferring to skip complex mechanical parts that spin around and are more likely to break down.

Media apps can still output at 4K from the Series S, although in their prerelease state, I found some of the apps, including Netflix, to still be a little buggy, kicking out a signal with a big motion-smoothing effect to it, perhaps because they're defaulting to a higher refresh rate. Hopefully that will be resolved by the Nov. 10 launch date.

Now, I can't promise that future games won't eventually split off into Series X and Series S versions, with different visual features for each -- but if you're a casual gamer, have a smaller TV or just want to spend less, I'm very comfortable recommending the Series S.

Tommy McClain

 

[Jay]

I don't understand this notion. The S doesn't require a shift in how most people store titles. Buy a SSD drive and you have 1.364 TBs of space. Don't want to spend $200 on an SDD then buy a cheap HDD as cold storage. The S is relatively not that much different than the Xbox One 500 GB sku which only made 362 GBs available for user storage.

He's replacing his XO, with a XSS, sounds like the XO is a launch one, if so not 1TB so why would it be different for him?
(Edit guess difference is if he was playing games from external drive)

My nephew uses an XO launch edition with no external storage, and I would call him a 'gamer'.
When I get him a XSS I'll probably give him my external 512GB ssd.

 

[dobwal]

He's replacing his XO, with a XSS, sounds like the XO is a launch one, if so not 1TB so why would it be different for him?
(Edit guess difference is if he was playing games from external drive)

My nephew uses an XO launch edition with no external storage, and I would call him a 'gamer'.
When I get him a XSS I'll probably give him my external 512GB ssd.

Yeah, my son has a 500 GB Xbox one. And he manages it just fine. He deletes games to make rooms for other titles and simply redownloads if he finds the urge to play those titles again. He has friends who obviously have usage caps because they are judicious about downloading. So its not like the XSS represents a drastic change from the current environment.

I could literally give my son my external drive because I just keep games that I have convinced myself I will want to play in the future but haven't played in months or years. LOL.

 

[AzBat]

Another review. Can't watch this one at work, but evidently he's using some opensource video analysis tools called trdrop

Tommy McClain

 

[Jay]

Another review. Can't watch this one at work, but evidently he's using some opensource video analysis tools called trdrop

Tommy McClain

Video posted bottom of previous page.
I think it had about 5 seconds of a framerate graph in it.

Was just thinking how Forza:H will be 1080p60.
Shame it doesn't have a 1440p unlocked framerate mode for use on VRR displays.
Wonder how it would hold up, even better if it had DR (I'm guessing it doesn't) so if fps dropped bellow 55 it would drop resolution.

Be nice for a DF review to see if they use VRS. Or xbox wire blog post etc.