Xbox Series S

I think Microsoft has nailed it with the affordable offering of their next gen console. This compact little thing is a BEAST of a performer to say the least. For someone coming from a PS4 console, I just loved the blazing fast performance it offers compared to the Price and Specs it has

After nearly 100 Hrs of gaming on this white beauty here’s my honest take on it:

PROS:
1) Price ( For the same performance out of a PC, be ready to shell out atleast 70 to 80K)
2) Super Fast SSD.
3) QUick resume function is a blessing really.
4) With Game pass, You get access to a library of games so vast that you can never play it all.
5) Ray Tracing……..It blows my mind as to how this thing supports ray tracing with such humble specs. But it does and how. The graphics look absolutely stunning even on a 4k TV despite the fact that It supports a native resolution of only 1440P.
6) The most portable gaming console ever. You can literally carry it in ur luggage wherever you go. which is exactly what m planning to do.
7) Supports external HDD (USB 3.0 type) to overcome space restrictions on it’s internal SSD. And infact Older generation games like Battlefield 4, Moto GP 20, PUBG etc can actually be played directly from the HDD without transferring it to the Internal storage….AWESOMEEE..
8) Whisper quiet and cool : even after 4 hours straight of intense gaming, you cannot hear the fan working even in a sound proof room. It’s that silent. And the Heat management is some sort of magic trick…It was barely warm to touch.
9) Like previous generation XBOX, this one supports keyboard and mouse set ups for a limited few games.
10) If you have a 1080p HD TV …just close ur eyes and go for it rather than spending a bomb on more powerful consoles. And even for those with 4K TV…Trust me…at 10 feet away, your eyes cannot tell the difference between 1440P and 4K. moreover none of the TVs commonly available in the market today support more than 60hz refresh rate which means you’ll never actually be able to explore the 120FPS capability of even this console, let alone the higher spec ones.

CONS:
1) The 500 GB SSD with just about 364 GB of available space ( For those who don’t wanna read point no 7 above :)…)
2) The controller isn’t as exciting as the Dualsense controller of PS5 or even dual shock of PS4.
3) No inbuilt battery in the controller. ( I simply ordered panasonic eneloop rechargeable batteries..problem solved)
4) Might not suite you if you love to have a game disk collection.
5) Doesn’t support HDR or HDR 10+ on 1080P TVs. ( Not a deal breaker)

I realized i had to really think hard for those CONS ….that’s how good this machine is. If you are someone looking to step into the amazing world of console gaming and don’t wanna spend a bomb. Just go for it’

The console is decent, game pass is undoubtedly the best thing, works well with my 4k TV, satisfied till now.

Though I have concerns about the seller “Infinity Games”, they gave me an imported console which only had 3 months left on its warranty plus the box seal was not there, other than that everything else seems fine.

Cons :

1. European plug 🔌 provided. Fits loose on Indian power sockets.

2. Something frames drop / freeze while playing farcry 5. But its not common. Happened to 3/100 times

3. Batteries run out pretty often. Better to get good quality rechargeable batteries.

4. The console doesn’t connect to any Bluetooth speaker or third party controllers wirelessly. Have to rely on your display unit for that.

5. I wish more big and famous titles were added to game pass.

6. Limited games support mouse and keyboard. Being a Microsoft device, i’d expect it to run all the pc games with MKB support, sadly that’s not the case.
So FPS gamers, don’t even try. Stick to PC, consoles are catching up very very very slowly.

Pros :

1. This thing is big power-small package deal. Casual gamers, this is your go to. I have 5-7 titles at a time always installed and this thing handles it pretty well.
(Farcry 5, Batman Arkham knight, AC origins, Watchdogs 2, Ghost recon, UFC 4, power wash) and i still have 120 gigs left, imagine.

2. The fit and finish is phenomenal. This console is something you’d show off. The design is top notch and attention to detail is through the roof.

3. Upscales to 4k. I play on a 55 inch tv, runs everything like flagship console. No compromises

4. Affordablilty to charge the controller. You can charge the controller by three different ways – batteries, usb cable, xbox’s controller dock.

5. Fits anywhere. I carry it around with my laptop and tablet in my 40L backpack, and i’m still left with a lot of room for my other stuff.