Microsoft - Xbox Series S 512GB All-Digital Console (Disc-Free Gaming) - White

This thing is great! I never expected it to perform as well as it does. I sold my expensive pc and decided to downgrade as I needed some cash at the time. I still had my 1440p monitor from my pc that I kept. and it’s perfect as the series s targets 1440p resolution. For 300 you get relatively the same experience as a series x with some compromises. Admittedly I would have gone with the series x had they been in stock. However I am not disappointed with my purchase in the least. If you are waiting for the series x you may be missing out on a great deal. We will see about the performance to come in the next few years or so. Hopefully this console won’t suffer in the performance department. It’s super quiet and you can feel the heat out of the black vent. They tuned the fan to run just fast enough. The Xbox itself remains cool though. And I haven’t had any issues with thermal throttling or overheating. You just gotta keep the vents clear. Some people think this console is for casual gamers. And it can be. I put 22 hours into Elden Ring over the last two days and this hasn’t skipped a beat. There is pop in in the textures but that’s an issue that plagues all consoles and pc when it comes to that game. Over all I think it’s a 10/10 for the price along with gamepass. I may upgrade when the next lineup of consoles come out that are more powerful. But that would only be because I want to rather than having a real reason to be honest.

The Series S has been my best investment in a console, coming from the Xbox one (2014) I was able to see a HUGE graphical and processing power difference. Games load insanely fast, the frame rate is smooth and never feels choppy like the last gen console. I play a lot of games like Modern Warfare, Battelfield 2042, GTA V, and Forza Motorsport. Having played all of them on the original Xbox One it’s actually quite nice to see these games through a new scope of color (HDR) and sound (Dolby), I feel more immersed into the scenes and appreciate the detail Microsoft put into making the Series S capable of making games enjoyable at a budget that I’m sure anyone can agree is worth the money. Also the small size makes it so easy to put anywhere in my house or put in my bag to take with me to a friend’s/family’s house and easily connect with just two cords. I love how quiet the console actually is, my old one sounded more like a jet engine whenever I turn it on or run triple A games, but this Series S reminds me more of a Tesla with its efficiency and zero noise running just about anything. I have no complaints with this console at all other than that the storage space could’ve been slightly improved, but I bought a external SSD which solved my storage issue, I have about 40 games which need a lot of space. But for the average person it has enough space for around 5-6 large games, but honestly with how fast games download you probably wouldn’t care if you had to delete one and download another in under 15 minutes haha. But yes I give the Series S a 9.6/10 in my personal opinion, if it wasn’t for the storage it would’ve been a perfect 10, but other than that I love it! Hope this helps anyone who wants to switch over to next gen if you haven’t already or planning on buying for someone else!

I was originally looking to get a PS5 but of course they were out of stock. I felt like this was more in my price range anyway, and I wasn't particular on which console brand I use (coming from Switch). I love the size. I feel like they probably really took into consideration how often people bring their consoles to their friends, family members, and general travel. It takes up such little space on my desk, and I love that I can have it standing. I did buy a less expensive external storage which only works with 360 games. I just couldn't justify the Seagate because I don't game enough to need it. The controller isn't as cool as the PS5 (which I now have) but it's cheaper, still good, and you have the Design Lab on Xbox's site. Keep in mind that you only get something like 350 GB of space because the 512 GB doesn't count the actual system, so you fill-up the remaining quickly if you want a lot of games. It's never overheated. I mostly play Fortnite (and got the Fortnite version) but have never felt like I was overusing it even after all day play. While the PS5 has a cool design, it's HUGE compared to this, and I really just like the design of the Xbox Series S more. I don't have disks though so I really get the benefit of a smaller console. Xbox Game Pass is also better to me than Playstation Plus. I feel like you have to pay more with Playstation because while you get live with the $10 subscription and 3 free games a month, you don't get access to their catalog until you pay more. And their catalog isn't as great imo. With Xbox, if you don't need live and cloud gaming, it's only $10/mo for their catalog and discounts. If you do want live and cloud it's $5 more. I compared the two and just felt like Game Pass was more suited to my needs than PS Plus. If you don't need to use disks, don't need a lot of space or don't mind buying more, want a sleek and small design, don't want to break the bank, want a console that's easy to travel with, and don't want to wait months and months for it to finally be in stock I would definitely go with the Series S!