Xbox Series X vs. Series S - Which one are you getting and why?

[Landy828]

Series X for my 65" 4k HDR TV in our main room.


I love the way the S looks though, and the whole 1440p gaming for $299 is just crazy. I may buy one, in time, for the bedroom.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Them Load times have sold me on the X. I need that.

 

[Puroresu_kid]

X most powerful and I want a disc drive.

 

[KazeSim]

I can't believe I forgot about the biggest reason which is the disc drive, I've been wanting to replay KOTOR. I've been pretty much all digital this gen for game sharing, but I need the drive for my old games.

 

[Firefox]

Series X around launch. The Series S is not a good value when considering all the trade offs. (no disc drive, less than 500 GB usable space, limited / no ray tracing in the future regardless of what Microsoft have said etc..)

It is a good system for those who only play Sports games, only COD/Apex etc... but not for someone like me who is interested in the entire game pass library / big third party titles.

 

[Deadlast]

X is the cheaper long run value. The X will most likely last all gen. If you get the S, you could find yourself in the likely position of having to upgrade.

 

[Pulp]

I am getting the Series X. Have been unsure about getting the Xbox this gen because I have a pc, but the backcompat has really impressed me. With a 4K bluray drive as well it will be used for sure.

 

[dep9000]

XSX. My PC is getting a bit old now so I would like to take advantage of a more powerful machine. I may end up with the XSS down the line for my office. I'm currently rocking the Xbox One in my office and just started using it again due to subscribing to Game Pass, but it's past it's prime and I don't enjoy using it.

 

[Marshall]

That's my thinking. If and when the Series S starts struggling with the later part of the gen, the Series X will be cheaper and probably have a smaller model or bigger SSD or something by then anyway. No need to rush to X for me.

Click to shrink...

Same. I play on a 1080 TV, and paying $200 more for hardware that'll essentially be idle is not a good spend for me.

 

[Nexus2049]

Right now I'm getting the S but the better BC with the X is really tempting. I just don't know if its worth the extra $220 CAD for me.

 

[t67443]

S because I don't have a 4K tv and don't have a need for one in the near future

 

[Mona]

i sure as heck aint getting the S

 

[Jet Jaguar]

Series X as it'll be more cost effective than upgrading my PC but I'll be jumping in next year (have a bunch of digital titles spanning OG Xbox to XB1 so want for that too).

 

[Mona]

A because I don't have a 4K tv and don't have a need for one in the near future

Click to shrink...

Xbox Series A?

 

[antispin]

The S is so cute, and looks apart I think it's a valid purchase especially if you're gaming at 1080p. But I went with the X. Not for future proofing, cause I'm sure there'll be a 'pro' before the X is tapped properly... I just wanted that extra punch at the start of the gen.

 

[Creed Bratton]

Series X for me. I'm going digital with my PS5, I want that true next gen power, and I have several physical XBox and Xbox 360 games that I still want to play.

 

[Heynongman!]

Both, X for living room, S for office. X will be the primary obviously, but my fiance will play on the S if she happens to be playing something at the same time as me.

 

[t67443]

Xbox Series A?

Click to shrink...

iPhone doean't like the letter S

 

[Nephtes]

If Series S could do the Xbox One X enhancements at 1440p, I'd be all over that.

But since I have a One X and moving to Series S I'd lose out on those One X features, I have to go Series X.

 

[Gestault]

Both, X for living room, S for office. X will be the primary obviously, but my fiance will play on the S if she happens to be playing something at the same time as me.

Click to shrink...

Similar for me. I'm looking forward to being able to get a sense (first-hand) how closely the Series S ends up holding up compared to Series X and PS5, as the gen goes on.

If Series S could do the Xbox One X enhancements at 1440p, I'd be all over that.

But since I have a One X and moving to Series S I'd lose out on those One X features, I have to go Series X.

Click to shrink...

The disc drive and HDD space really does make the Series X the better choice, assuming the disposable income is there.

 

[Zutroy]

I was going to get the S, but now undecided and considering the X. Might wait a bit for some impressions on the S first.

 

[Deleted member 17092]

If Series S could do the Xbox One X enhancements at 1440p, I'd be all over that.

But since I have a One X and moving to Series S I'd lose out on those One X features, I have to go Series X.

Click to shrink...

I thought it came out that it could do that...

 

[Dr. Ludwig]

I'm really digging the small form factor of the S.

 

[Nameless]

I'm in the camp that sees the Series X as the much better overall value proposition despite the higher price. $300 is nice on paper, until you see the amount of key sacrifices the S makes to meet that number.

 

[Renteka-Bond]

The X Because $300 and $500 aren't that big a difference to me to justify the power difference. Plus, the XSX / PS5 are basically my interim upgrades for this gen to last me at least half the Gen until I upgrade my PC for the latter half of the gen (not gonna get the mid Gen upgrades like I did Pro this time). They're roughly equivalent to my PC as is, so XSX is basically my Gamepass/Multiplat console, while PS5 is just for Exclusives.

 

[Nephtes]

The disc drive and HDD space really does make the Series X the better choice, assuming the disposable income is there.

Click to shrink...

Normally, the income would be there, but my wife lost her job in the whole pandemic thing and there's no room in the budget for Series X and PS5 at launch. So it's going to be PS5 first if I can secure one for that one exclusive I want at launch (Demon's Souls) and a wait for the Series X till we have more income rolling in since again, the S will lose out on One X benefits I already have.

But the Series S really is an attractive little machine... and honestly the only next gen system that will fit in my entertainment center...

 

[Urbannomad123]

Was going to get an S with a PS5 to follow in a couple of years. The price of games for PS5 has completely turned me off so I am now saying goodbye to Sony and am going full power series X. I also have a 4K TV which I bought for my Pro.

 

[jroc74]

Disc drive and the Series S just seems like too much of a compromise overall.

IMO, the better buy is the Series X, despite the price difference.

 

[Nephtes]

I thought it came out that it could do that...

Click to shrink...

My understanding is that in backwards compatible mode (what runs by default without developer intervention), the Series S will run under the One S profile for games, so any of the specific resolution and effects enhancements like improved textures and shadows won't be there even if the frame rates will be improved.

Developers CAN make patches for their games for Series S to take advantage of the new GPU capabilities of the Series S, like Gears 5 will apparently be doing... but I doubt many devs will take the time to patch specifically for Series S.

 

[Serious Sam]

Getting the X because

 

[Grimmy11]

Went for the X. The BC is important to me, I've got a ton of physical BC 360 games and a few xbox one games on disc (Including some delisted ones). I've also got a 4K tv, and don't fully believe that the resolution will be the only difference between S and X games once we're a few years into the gen.

Oh and if £70 games are the norm then I want more options on where I buy them from.

Series X as my main, PS5 for exclusives.

 

[Shark]

I'll get a X when the Bethesda/Obsidian/Ninja Theory stuff starts dropping.

 

[turbobrick]

Series X, but only because it has a disc drive. I have a 1080p TV, so I'm sure the series S is powerful enough for me, but I don't buy digital games.

 

[lilojigsaw]

Disc Drive is the number one as I like to get certain games in physical copies. Will also be enjoying the power that comes with the Series X.

 

[Mugy]

Series S looks nice for the few of us still rocking a 1080p screen!

 

[bastardly]

X all the way, i dont care about 4k at all, but im fully expecting towards the end of this gen we'll get some games that will really push even the X and i dont even want to think how poorly it will run on an S.

 

[Raide]

Have a One X, so Series X was the logical jump in point due to BC support and nextgen performance. Nice and easy.

 

[defaltoption]

I always try to get the best version of tech that I want, within reason. I rarely spend extra money on other things so I like to I guess you can say "treat" myself when it comes to this stuff. If there were higher end versions I'd have even gotten those. XSX and PS5 non digital for me.

 

[andresmoros]

I'm getting an XSX. Also, I'm going to say it: the Series S is a terrible value for non casuals. I said it (my opinion of course). Yes, its 300, but you also have half the storage space, and lowers specs. XSX for the win.

 

[Arctic Chris]

I need another option, both. One for my home theatre room (4K, HDR) and one for my 1440p gaming monitor.

 

[Dunlop]

X as I have not wasted money on myself in a while, but I would have been fine with Series S as well

 

[Jaded Alyx]

I have a PC.

So Series S.

 

[dem]

Preordered an X..

Honestly.. only because i need a disk player for my kids' movies. I would have been fine with an S if it played disks.

I have no idea where I'm going to stuff the thing. It won't fit where it should in my tv stand. The size is really annoying.

 

[Urishizu]

Both. Need each for work to test on retail hardware, but my day-to-day time is likely firmly on the Series X.

 

[Hey Please]

 

[Serpens007]

I'm gonna play on PC, but the home console we'll share in the family is probably an Xbox Series S. I hope we can get the X, would be dope. Unless PS5 announces something truly out of this world with a price cut in the local market.

 

[Chip Chanceworth]

Series X because i'm still not sure how the Series S will even run games compared to the X. Same graphics and framerate at 1080p would be fantastic, but i'm starting to have my doubts.

 

[HeRinger]

Still debating myself. Right now I'm leaning towards Series S because by the time I buy a 4K TV, I might just get a X or a new revision.

What is giving me pause is memory space. Though, to be fair, Series X and PS5 are also going to have trouble in this department, and if the promise of 30% smaller downloads on S pan out, it might not be that bad.

Hopefully games can stick within the 100gb range this generation.

Another concern is the resolution side of things. I assume a lot of developers will target 1440p for their games on Series X. What does that mean for Series S? 720p?

 

[nib95]

If I could only keep one for the rest of the gen, it would without doubt be the Series X. For just $200 you're getting 3x the performance if not more, double the storage, more ram, faster ram etc. It's just far more future proof.

With that said, I actually ended up pre-ordering both systems, the Series X for my main room, and the Series S for the second room or bedroom, or to sell or return.

As there aren't really any(?) new exclusive launch games for the XSS/XSX besides Falconeer, if Digital Foundry shows multi-platform games are very close between the PS5 and XSX, I might just keep the XSS as a Game Pass machine for now, sell my XSX, but buy another one again several months later for cheaper for the main room.

 

[bes.gen]

if i go with xbox, instead of pc as gamepass machine,
it will be series x, and not even a close call.

crazy how much more power you get for extra200.
on top of that;
thinking about the ssd size issues,
good possibility of series s becoming a sub1080p machine when demanding games hit in couple of years, yeah don't see any point really.