I was confused reading that. It says it can't do the 4k part of the One X, but can it provide the other improvements?
Xbox Series S & X Discussion Thread Xbox
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The post provides detailed technical specifications and background on the Xbox Series consoles, making it informative. However, it could benefit from greater clarity and organization to enhance readability.
- Thread starter
- #22
Digital Foundry discussed this. They basically said you shouldn't expect One X quality on the Series S - that the performance of Xbox One games will be in line with the One S instead (which you'd imagine would extend to the broader backwards compatibility as well).
Typing this was also a clear indicator of how confusing the Xbox console naming conventions are
Typing this was also a clear indicator of how confusing the Xbox console naming conventions are
I was surprised by that, strange blurring of the generational lines by Microsoft. I think most people would assume that any new console would be more powerful than one released a few years back.
I wonder if it's subsidising the Series X price? 300 for a console they can make a profit on while selling the premium one at a loss.
- Thread starter
- #24
Since the recent reveal of Xbox Series X and Series S prices and launch dates, we've known that pre-orders will kick off worldwide on September 22.
Now, Microsoft has clarified the specific times for each country/region where Xbox Series X/S pre-orders will be available, and which local retailers will offer them.
US pre-orders
Pre-orders open in the US at 8am PT, 11am ET at the Microsoft Store, Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, Target, Sam's Club, Newegg and "other participating retailers."
Canada pre-orders
In Canada, pre-orders go live at 8am PT, 11am ET at the Microsoft Store, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, EB Games, The Source and "other participating retailers."
UK pre-orders become available at 8am BST at the Microsoft Store, GAME, Amazon, Dixons, Currys PC World, Argos, John Lewis, Smyths Toys, VERY, AO, Tesco, Simply Games, Shopto and "other participating retailers."
Australia pre-orders
Australia's pre-orders go live at 8am AEST at the Microsoft Store, JB Hifi, EB Games, Telstra, Harvey Norman and "other participating retailers."
New Zealand pre-orders
New Zealand pre-orders kick off at 8am NZST at the Microsoft Store, JB HiFi, EB Games, Spark and "other participating retailers."
For non-specified countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, pre-orders will go live at 9am CEST at the Microsoft Store, Amazon, MediaMarkt, GameStop, FNAC, Elkjøp/Elgiganten and "other participating retailers."
September 22 is also the day you'll be able to pre-order Xbox All Access, the Microsoft-run service that allows players to pay off a console on 24 months, with a subscription to Game Pass Ultimate included.
Xbox All Access pre-orders are only available in the countries and retailers listed below.
Now, Microsoft has clarified the specific times for each country/region where Xbox Series X/S pre-orders will be available, and which local retailers will offer them.
US pre-orders
Pre-orders open in the US at 8am PT, 11am ET at the Microsoft Store, Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, Target, Sam's Club, Newegg and "other participating retailers."
Canada pre-orders
In Canada, pre-orders go live at 8am PT, 11am ET at the Microsoft Store, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, EB Games, The Source and "other participating retailers."
UK pre-orders become available at 8am BST at the Microsoft Store, GAME, Amazon, Dixons, Currys PC World, Argos, John Lewis, Smyths Toys, VERY, AO, Tesco, Simply Games, Shopto and "other participating retailers."
Australia pre-orders
Australia's pre-orders go live at 8am AEST at the Microsoft Store, JB Hifi, EB Games, Telstra, Harvey Norman and "other participating retailers."
New Zealand pre-orders
New Zealand pre-orders kick off at 8am NZST at the Microsoft Store, JB HiFi, EB Games, Spark and "other participating retailers."
For non-specified countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, pre-orders will go live at 9am CEST at the Microsoft Store, Amazon, MediaMarkt, GameStop, FNAC, Elkjøp/Elgiganten and "other participating retailers."
September 22 is also the day you'll be able to pre-order Xbox All Access, the Microsoft-run service that allows players to pay off a console on 24 months, with a subscription to Game Pass Ultimate included.
Xbox All Access pre-orders are only available in the countries and retailers listed below.
- US at 8am PT: Best Buy, GameStop, Microsoft Store, and Walmart.
- Australia at 8am AEST: Telstra.
- New Zealand at 8am NZST: Spark.
- UK at 8am BST: GAME, and Smyths Toys.
- Denmark at 9am CEST: Elgiganten.
- Finland at 9am CEST: Gigantti.
- Norway at 9am CEST: Elkjøp.
- Sweden at 9am CEST: Elgiganten.
- Staff
- #25
Hands-on tests of the upcoming next-gen Xbox Series X console have revealed that 20% of space on the internal SSD is reserved for system files.
According to a hands-on preview over at IGN, the Xbox Series X reserves about 198GB of the hardware's internal 1TB SSD for the operating system and essential system files.
Xbox is giving consumers the option to buy expandable storage for the hardware, but a 1TB expansion for the Xbox Series X and S will set you back an eye-watering $220/£220/€270.
It should be noted that about 80GB of any extra storage you buy will also be eaten up by system files and OS-related files.
"A more affordable alternative is to use a cheaper USB 3.1 external hard drive to store the next-gen games you're not playing and just shuttle them back and forth as you want them, sparing yourself the need to download them every single time," suggests IGN. "Besides, transferring between the Xbox Series X's NVME SSD and a USB 3.1 drive is pretty quick."
Another test over at Venturebeat showed that migrating Assassin's Creed: Origins (49GB) from an external USB 3.0 drive to the Xbox Series X only took about eight minutes.
It's worth noting you need to migrate games onto the Xbox Series X to play them if you're storing them on an HDD – hard drives aren't actually fast enough to run Xbox Series X and S games.
As game file sizes get bigger and bigger, storage may become more of an issue in future generations.
According to a hands-on preview over at IGN, the Xbox Series X reserves about 198GB of the hardware's internal 1TB SSD for the operating system and essential system files.
Xbox is giving consumers the option to buy expandable storage for the hardware, but a 1TB expansion for the Xbox Series X and S will set you back an eye-watering $220/£220/€270.
It should be noted that about 80GB of any extra storage you buy will also be eaten up by system files and OS-related files.
"A more affordable alternative is to use a cheaper USB 3.1 external hard drive to store the next-gen games you're not playing and just shuttle them back and forth as you want them, sparing yourself the need to download them every single time," suggests IGN. "Besides, transferring between the Xbox Series X's NVME SSD and a USB 3.1 drive is pretty quick."
Another test over at Venturebeat showed that migrating Assassin's Creed: Origins (49GB) from an external USB 3.0 drive to the Xbox Series X only took about eight minutes.
It's worth noting you need to migrate games onto the Xbox Series X to play them if you're storing them on an HDD – hard drives aren't actually fast enough to run Xbox Series X and S games.
As game file sizes get bigger and bigger, storage may become more of an issue in future generations.
- Staff
- #26
Further hands-on test have shown that the Series X it's a very fast bit of kit.
Over on The Verge, a whole section of the Xbox Series X hands-on preview is dedicated to the hardware's loading times, and it makes for good reading.
You will notice load times drop in "pretty much every single game" compared to an Xbox One X, according to the article (though it should be noted reviewers were limited to testing only backward-compatible games for this part of the embargo).
Loading times comparison between Series X and One X via GameSpot/CNET
The most noticeable example of the changes come in games with infamously long loading times. An example offered over at The Verge is Destiny 2, which takes only "around 30 seconds" to load a planet on the Series X, versus over a minute on the Xbox One X.
Elsewhere in the industry, Geoff Keighley was bigging up the console. "Load times VASTLY improved across the board," he tweeted. "I tested Fortnite, Warzone, Ori, Batman: Arkham Knight, even older titles like Modern Warfare 2 and Gears of War (the original 360 disc versions!)
"Load Times + Quick Resume makes moving between games almost like Alt-TABing."
Microsoft manages to achieve these improved loading speeds thanks to its Velocity architecture and the fancy new solid state drive at the console's heart.
"The Xbox Series X cuts down on initial load times by 70-80% of the time it takes for the Xbox One X," says GameSpot, summarising the result of a test that took a series of games from the title screen to a saved game file.
"This advantage extends to booting up games from the Xbox dashboard and also reloading saves. And the improvement we're seeing here is for existing games that weren't built with the tech in mind, but are simply taking advantage of the faster drive speeds."
Over on The Verge, a whole section of the Xbox Series X hands-on preview is dedicated to the hardware's loading times, and it makes for good reading.
You will notice load times drop in "pretty much every single game" compared to an Xbox One X, according to the article (though it should be noted reviewers were limited to testing only backward-compatible games for this part of the embargo).
Loading times comparison between Series X and One X via GameSpot/CNET
| Game | Xbox Series X Load Time | Xbox One X Load Time |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 38 seconds | 2 minutes, 8 seconds |
| Control | 10 seconds | 58 seconds |
| Final Fantasy XV | 13 seconds | 1 minute, 11 seconds |
| The Outer Worlds | 11 seconds | 43 seconds |
The most noticeable example of the changes come in games with infamously long loading times. An example offered over at The Verge is Destiny 2, which takes only "around 30 seconds" to load a planet on the Series X, versus over a minute on the Xbox One X.
Elsewhere in the industry, Geoff Keighley was bigging up the console. "Load times VASTLY improved across the board," he tweeted. "I tested Fortnite, Warzone, Ori, Batman: Arkham Knight, even older titles like Modern Warfare 2 and Gears of War (the original 360 disc versions!)
"Load Times + Quick Resume makes moving between games almost like Alt-TABing."
Microsoft manages to achieve these improved loading speeds thanks to its Velocity architecture and the fancy new solid state drive at the console's heart.
"The Xbox Series X cuts down on initial load times by 70-80% of the time it takes for the Xbox One X," says GameSpot, summarising the result of a test that took a series of games from the title screen to a saved game file.
"This advantage extends to booting up games from the Xbox dashboard and also reloading saves. And the improvement we're seeing here is for existing games that weren't built with the tech in mind, but are simply taking advantage of the faster drive speeds."
- Staff
- #27
Anyone got their new console?
I think I'll hold off until early next year - not sure there will be any stock before then anyway!
I think I'll hold off until early next year - not sure there will be any stock before then anyway!
- Staff
- #28
Just bought myself a Series S - my treat to me for a wretched year. Getting delivered tomorrow.
I don't really play games enough to justify buying the Series X so I'm not bothered about the power/spec difference and I only own 3 physical copies of games so being digital isn't an issue either.
Where did you find stock?
D
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In Stockton Argos at the moment, at least in my area they are
Buy Xbox Series S 512GB Digital Console | Xbox Series S consoles | Argos
Buy Xbox Series S 512GB Digital Console at Argos. Thousands of products for same day delivery £3.95, or fast store collection.
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