The Xbox Series S and X reviews are out ahead of Microsoft's next-gen launch scheduled for November 10th. This also means we can confirm that the S, nominally featuring 512GB of storage space, has 364GB of usable storage; while the X, nominally featuring 1TB of storage space, has 802GB that you can actually use.
The Xbox Series S storage size might be of particular concern, as 364GB could potentially be filled with less than a handful of large games. In an interview published in the latest EDGE magazine (Christmas 2020, issue 352), Jason Ronald (Partner Director of Program Management at Team Xbox) explained that Microsoft analyzed data of the target user base and felt confident about this choice.
As we look at player patterns, there's all different kinds: some people will play ten to fifteen games a month; other players will choose to just play one game, and they play that game religiously. So obviously, in that case, they're not switching games all the time. Some people might choose smaller games, and want to hop between them. So we definitely looked at the data, and we felt confident in the 512GB of the Xbox Series S.
Whether that turns out to be the right choice remains to be seen. In Wccftech's podcast, our host Keith made the point that adding the proprietary 1TB storage expansion card made by Seagate would make the Series S even pricier than the Series X, and with a much less powerful hardware to boot; you might as well buy the X right away.
Here's an excerpt from our Xbox Series S review, where Dave rated Microsoft's cheaper, entry-level next-gen console hardware 8 out of 10.
It all boils down to what you want from your next-gen machine. If you have a big display from which you want to play a massive library of games, if you have a shelf full of physical Xbox One, 360, and original Xbox titles, if you want to see the cleanest possible image presentation, then you want the Xbox Series X, not the Xbox Series S.
If your entertainment center is more modest, you have a 40" TV at the most or a monitor, and you just want to play the digital library of games you have, in addition to those coming in the future to services like Xbox Game Pass, then the Series S only makes sense. It will still play all of the games you want, and on a smaller screen, you won't even notice the visual differences. If you're looking for a way to play Xbox Game Pass titles are seldom much more, then the Xbox Series S is a perfect choice for you, and at the price point it's at, I predict that we'll see a lot more people entering the Xbox ecosystem this generation with Xbox Series S.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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