Microsoft confirmed the existence of the Xbox Series S after a trailer was released revealing the price and specs of the next-gen console. The Series S is a smaller, less powerful Xbox in comparison to the Xbox Series X, which will also be releasing this holiday season. But with a price tag of $299, the Series S is an attractive alternative when compared to the Series X, which sits at a cool $499.
There are important differences between the consoles that players will want to take into consideration when making a decision between the two. For one, the Series S is sixty percent smaller than its more powerful counterpart. It also lacks a disc drive, whereas the Series X has a 4K Blue-ray player. But one of the most important differences is that of power. The Series S features fewer teraflops of GPU; it has 4 TFLOPS, while the Series X has 12. It also features less ram. The Series X can manage 4K gaming at 60 frames per second. The Series S, on the other hand, delivers 1440p at 60 frames per second, leaving it the least powerful option.
But truly one of the most important differences between the consoles comes down to their storage. It’s not only the size of the console that’s smaller than players may be used to. Players will be sacrificing a lot of space with the Series S, and in the end, may incur additional costs should they choose to upgrade their storage options.
How Many Games Will The Xbox Series S Fit?
The Xbox Series X features a comfortable 1 TB of custom NVMe SSD. However, with the Series S, this storage is slashed in half at 512 GB, which makes the cheaper price tag understandable. For players that prefer to keep a wide selection of games downloaded on their console, this will be a problem. The average game is roughly 30-50GB, meaning the Series S can only fit a maximum of 10 averagely sized games, and even that’s pushing it. These number becomes even smaller for players that play bigger games. Some popular games, like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Warzone, need 100GB of space or more, so the Series S could only hold up to 5 big games at a time.
It hasn’t been confirmed if the Xbox Series S will be compatible with external storage, though it’s expected since it’s a feature with the Series X. Microsoft may also hope that the lack of storage will incentivize players to turn to their xCloud streaming service, which allows gamers to access over a hundred titles without needing to download the game, thus saving precious space. In either case, however, players need to be prepared to spend additional money aside from the initial cost of the Series S, whether through a one-time purchase like a hard-drive or signing up for Microsoft’s subscription service. The Xbox Series S may seem like a more affordable option, but its lack of storage can cost players in the long run.