Xbox Series X vs Series S: Which One Should You Buy?

Let's do a deep dive into the Xbox Series X and Series S, and set the benchmark for you in deciding which console is right for you.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

I think launching the series S without a disc drive was an oversight. I have a 4k tv and lots of physical games. Therefore, despite the steep $599 Canadian price, I would personally choose the Series X. The larger SSD on series X is also a major factor to consider.

[aragon]

Agreed I’m in Canada too and the sad prices don’t look cheap for those memory sticks. But at the same time the disc is just for verification considering the game installs to your system and runs off that. I think they should have at least put in the disc drive to make it more enticing as a 4k Blu-ray player or upped the storage. Call of duty war zone and apex will pretty much shred that size hard drive

[aragon]

I’d get one of the series s for my kid or my shop. Be a nice shop toy but it probably won’t stand the winter cold.

[Automatic79]

Series X first. In a year or so Series S.

[rainslacker]

If I were to buy one, I'd get the XSX. PC I'm building will be significantly more powerful than the XSS, and I already have two current gen systems. Plus, despite seeming like its a lot more for the XSX, you get what you pay for, and I feel the long term gain to buying a better machine makes a lot more sense.

[Knightofelemia]

PS5 first then Series X I like to collect my games in physical form and Series X has better specs then Series S

[tdogg]

Series x because the specs and the disc drive

[Deathdeliverer]

ONLY reason I see to buy a S is if you can’t afford a X.

[moriarty1889]

the s should have had a disc drive with that tiny amount of memory it has.

[Christopher]

You'd still need to install and update games from disc. Discs are only valildation tools with release code on them. You still need to instal lthat data onto the drive and update it.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

I'm going with the Ryzen 3 and Radeon 6000 model.

[The_Sage]

I don't care what anyone says... Those things look like speakers.

[ThePacemaker]

Is that even a question? 🤔

[SullysCigar]

Out of those 2, definitely the series x now we know about the series s.

Out of those 2 and PS5, PS5 every time, personally.

[darthv72]

Why does it have to be one or the other? I'm getting both. The SX for the game room and the SS for the bedroom.

[Christopher]

I mean, it's your money. But, I'd rather buy two XSX over one and the XSS. I'm guessing you're worried about how it looks, though. But, I'd hide that bad boy away instead of downgrading to an XSS.

[Asuka]

Series S for me. I am not interested in 4k gaming. 1440p w/ high refresh rate is more appealing. I already own a gaming pc if i want 4k and a UHD bluray player for movies. I also haven't bought a physical game since 2015 with mgsv.

I am also aware i am not the norm, so i am not suggesting anyone purchase anything. Purchase what makes sense for you. If you want the higher end model go for it. If you want a ps5 got for it. Only thing you should consider is what makes you happy for your hard earned money. literally everything else can go f*ck off XD

[Italiano1234567]

Simple if u care about power games looking better and have a big amount of physical games then go with x. Otherwise go with s

[jznrpg]

I’m not buying either .

[strayanalog]

I would pick the refrigerator over the hot plate, because refrigerators have good things inside.

[medman]

@strayanalog
You sir, win the comment of the day award.

[Charlieboy333]

Neither

[CantThinkOfAUsername]

If the 'leaked' price of Xbox proprietary SSD is indeed $220, there's no point in skipping the Xbox Series X for the S.

[UltimateOwnage]

Seems possible. Look at what Sony did with the Vita memory cards.

[Jericho1337]

I’m not such the Series S is really the target demographic for people who visit this website.

[Christopher]

Yeah. It's for the more casual market in general I think. Those people who aren't looking for the best graphics or power, but just play a handful of games every year and aren't deciding on graphics or anything, just gameplay they enjoy from one year to the next.

[JayRyu]

Series X or Series S which one will I buy?
Me: Yes!

[4Sh0w]

Personally as a Xbox fan I always get the latest system (XSX). I dont play much these days but when I do I want to get my bang for the buck including my 4K sets. For he first time though I would not recommend it to anyone yet, not until Microsoft drops more huge games that demonstrate to the casual gamer why they should upgrade.

[ziggurcat]

Not sure which one just yet, but I don't think it'll be day one for me. I kind of actually like the Series S, to be honest.

[MetroidFREAK21]

I'm leaning towards the S because it's smaller and of course way cheaper. All my Xbox games are already digital so yeah. My own major concern is the 512GB internal SSD. It will be required to get that seagate card (which I was gonna get anyway) for storage and we don't know how much more that will cost on top of the S or X... I'm still undecided, but if I had to choose, probably S. Visuals aren't that important to me

[medman]

The seagate drives are rumored to cost over 200. That will add quite the price to a series s, putting the day one total at 500 plus, right in the series x neighborhood.
https://www.windowscentral....

[MetroidFREAK21]

Yeah, it's gonna be expensive lol

[medman]

You should buy a pc.
If you cannot buy a pc, for any reason, and your choice remains a Microsoft console, consider carefully. The next gen will presumably last at least 4-5 years. If you play a lot of games, you will need additional storage sooner rather than later. 500gb of storage for the series s isn't much, and when you consider a fairly sizable portion of that will be used for system memory and first party apps, you may be looking at under 400 gb of usable space. The seagate expansion drives of 1tb are rumored to cost over 200 dollars. I'm not so sure that spending the extra 200 for the series x and getting twice the storage now, plus having the more capable machine going forward this entire generation isn't better than choosing the cheaper option up front, only to be stuck with the less capable hardware AND less ssd storage.

External non ssd drives are always an option, but having to transfer games back and forth between an ssd and an hdd when you want to play them because you don't have space left on your ssd negates the advantages of having the ssd.

[NeoGamer232]

The S has me thinking but, at this point I am not going to the next gen consoles. Simply put there are a lack of really good games that require either Sony or Microsoft's console.

I will wait til further in the generation, when the internal drives get larger and there is a decent catalogue of games that require the next gen consoles.

[UltimateOwnage]

I dislike that the way they've positioned these two models, having access to physical media is a "premium" add, not a standard feature of both pieces of hardware that have two very different sets of performance internally. They're basically saying if you don't have a lot of money, they're going to rope you into reliance on their drip-feed monthly services and ream you on SSD expansion to store the content that would otherwise be on a disk. If you want out from under that, you gotta pay the premium console pricing. I think worst of all is that the software for the X will no doubt be limited by lowest common denominator, unlike PS5's all-digital model that has the same internal hardware other than the BD drive. This could really fuddle things up.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

The point of disc-less consoles is to push consumers towards buying from the platform specific store. Microsoft takes a 30% cut of all digital purchases made on the Xbox Live Market Place.