It’s a rare feat that a company could drum up excitement around a repackaged almost-four-year-old games console, but that’s exactly what Microsoft has done with the Xbox One S. First announced early last year and then finally shipping last autumn, the Xbox One S served as a rebranding and redesign for Microsoft’s signature entertainment device.
To be fair, Microsoft warned everyone that they shouldn’t expect to see any performance improvements in the Xbox One S over its predecessor–but they also were pretty damn confident that that really didn’t matter, because they believed everyone was going to lose their $#!T over its new design.
I’ve spent the past few months playing around with the Xbox One S. So, has this not-quite-next-gen console impressed? Is it that much better than the original Xbox One? And should you get it, or hold out for Microsoft’s next Xbox console, codenamed Scorpio, which is coming in late 2017? Here’s our review.
Xbox One S review: Specs and Performance
First things, first, let's get the specs and performance out of the way. The Xbox One S features a 1.75GHz AMD 8-core CPU, a 914 MHz AMD Radeon GCN, 8GB of DDR3 RAM, and comes in 500GB or 1TB storage options (as well as a limited launch edition 2TB model, which you may still be able to find online). Given that this is seen as the successor to the original Xbox One, you might be surprised to learn that you’ll see virtually no horsepower difference between the One and One S.
Yes, technically it does have a slightly faster CPU and better GPU, but even Microsoft has said the improvements are so minute they will have "literally no impact” on gaming.
And that’s been pretty much my experience. I saw no difference in playing a huge open world multiplayer like Star Wars Battlefront on my brother’s original Xbox One and on my Xbox One S. But then again, Microsoft warned I wouldn’t, so this wasn’t a letdown. While it's true the Xbox One S adds support for HDR gaming, you need to have both games and a television that support HDR. But I’ll get to that in a bit. For now, I want to move on to one of the biggest features of the Xbox One S–its design.
Xbox One S review: Design
This is where the Xbox One S really shines. Microsoft deserves a round of applause for the design of the Xbox One S. Physically speaking, it's gorgeous. It’s not an easy feat to design a white entertainment device that doesn’t look like a bad ripoff of an Apple product, but Microsoft has done it.
The Xbox One S is beautiful and thin and a staggeringly 40% smaller than its predecessor. This is all the more amazing considering that Microsoft found a way to build in the power supply that used to reside in the external power brick. That’s right, the Xbox One S simply has a thin power cord that runs from it to the wall…just like your lamp.
But what I found myself loving even more than its beautiful, small design was the fact that the Xbox One S can now stand vertically. This gives you entire new options of fitting the Xbox into your current entertainment center setup. It’s ability to stand vertically does require that you buy an optional £15 stand, but the stand is some high-quality engineering, which feel solid and robust and won’t even cause your Xbox One S to wobble–not even a little.
The ability to stand the Xbox One S vertically also gives you a chance to show off the Xbox One S’s design a little better, if that’s your thing. You can, of course, choose to lay it horizontally if you want.
Even after owning the Xbox One S for a few months now, I’m still impressed with its design, especially whenever I go to a friend’s flat and they have the original Xbox One–the old thing just looks unwieldy and bulky now.
Xbox One S review: 4K, Blu-Ray, and HDR
Moving on from its design, two big new features of the Xbox One S include support for 4K, a built-in Blu-ray player, and HDR. Let's tackle these one at a time…
First, know that the Xbox One S doesn’t support native 4K gaming. That’s a bummer, I know, because the PS4 does. On the Xbox One S, games will only be upscaled to 4K resolution–they won’t be true 4K. Though this can make some games look a bit better, if you have a 4K television, upscaling is no substitute for full 4K gaming. If you want that, you’re going to have to wait for Scorpio.
But while the Xbox One S may not offer native 4K gaming support, it does offer native 4K streaming support and also supports 4K Blu-ray discs. The built-in 4K Blu-ray player, which supports UHD Blu-ray playback (4K Blu-ray discs) is particularly nice as it saves you from having to go out and buy a dedicated 4K Blu-ray player. It’s also nice that you can now use the Xbox to stream 4K video from supported providers including Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Video, and a few others. However, the drawback here is that you won’t get to see the Xbox One S’s 4K benefit if you don’t own a 4K telly. But at least it’s ready for when you do get one.
The Xbox One S also allows for high-dynamic-range (HDR) color support for games. So, if the developers take advantage of HDR in their games, those games on the Xbox One S will have brighter whites, deeper blacks and more natural colors. There are some games, such as Gears of War 4 and Forza Horizon 3, that offer HDR support, and if your game does, I’m pleased to say you will notice a difference in color quality on the same game played on an Xbox One S versus an Xbox One. However, just as with 4K video, you need to make sure your telly supports HDR, if not, you won’t see a lick of difference in color quality.
Xbox One S review: Controller
The Xbox One S’s design improvements aren’t limited to the console itself. The controller has gotten some nice evolutionary upgrades as well. For starters, the included controller now comes in white to match the Xbox One S’s body. It also feature a new textured grip, which makes it a lot easier to hold while playing long gaming sessions.
The new controller works via Xbox Wireless and also, for the first time ever, Bluetooth. This means that the controller can also be used with other PCs, smartphones, and tablets that support Bluetooth controllers. This is a HUGe benefit for gamers who might like to use their Xbox controller with a Windows 10 game. We’re so glad Microsoft added Bluetooth support–it goes to show just how much thought they put into packing as many missing features from the original Xbox One into the S. And they didn’t stop there: the new controller also has twice the range of the original Xbox One controller, thank to, yep, the Bluetooth connection.
The one thing I really wish Microsoft would have done with the controller is to add a built-in mic so you could issue voice commands or chat to your friends without needing an optional headset. I imagine it would have been no problem for Microsoft to added a mic button that, when pressed, allows you to give the Xbox voice commands or operate Cortana–just like the mic button on the Apple TV remote allows you to operate Siri. Well, perhaps Microsoft is saving such a feature for the Scorpio controller.
Xbox One S review: Kinect and Remotes
One thing you may not like about the Xbox One S is that Microsoft decided to ditch the dedicated Kinect port. Yep, if you have a Kinect and want to use it with your new Xbox One S you’ll need to buy a Kinect-to-USB adapter. However, as I was never a Kinect user, this doesn’t bother me one bit. Matter of fact, I think Microsoft choice of not offering a dedicated Kinect port shows you just where the company see the accessory heading: nowhere.
While the Kinect port may be gone, the Xbox One S gives you something better: an IR blaster. This means you can now configure your Xbox One S to turn on other devices including your TV, your cable box, and even your audio/video receiver. This small change really cements the Xbox One S’s place as the heart of your entertainment center. Now that your Xbox One S can control everything, is there any reason to have your television’s input set to any other device?
Xbox One S review: Price and Verdict
For being the best version of the Xbox ever, the Xbox One S’s price is pretty damn astounding. It’s only £249 for the 500GB version–though you can often find it for up to £40 cheaper via various bundle and online deals–and only £299 for the 1TB edition. You can still find places that sell the 2TB edition for £399 as well.
I won’t lie: I love the Xbox One S. It’s become the home entertainment device I use most often, thanks to its new IR blaster that allows it to control all my other home entertainment peripherals. While the Xbox One S won’t wow you from a performance standpoint if you already own an Xbox One, its design is truly something to marvel at. And if you own a television capable of 4K and HDR video, it may be hard NOT to buy an Xbox One S even if you already own the previous gen box.
While there are some things to nitpick: the fact that the vertical stand is an extra add-on and the lack of a dedicated Kinect port, in the end, the Xbox One S just has too much to offer in too beautiful a package to say this is anything less than a five-star device and Microsoft best home entertainment product yet.
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