Xbox One S Review

Verdict

Microsoft ‘s Xbox One S is a great entry-level console for consumers who are modern to gambling, or regard to pick up a machine which doubles as a 4K blu-ray player. however, its lack of exponent will hold it back in the years to come .

Pros

• Smaller than Xbox One
• 4K game upscaling
• It’s a cheap UHD Blu-ray player
• HDR compatible
• Improved, grippy controller

Cons

• Not native 4K in games

Key Specifications

• Review Price: £350.00
• 4K games upscaling
• HDR 10 support
• HDMI 2.0
• UHD Blu-ray
• HDR gaming compatibility
• 2TB storage

The Xbox One S is a subtle upgrade to the existing Xbox One, rather than a proper successor. Don’t be fooled, though, because it has more than a few surprises in store.
While the Xbox One S is deep down the same comfort Microsoft released in 2013, there have been significant changes. It ’ s army for the liberation of rwanda slicker and pretty, fixing many of the original cabinet ’ s aesthetic issues. It besides adds 4K and high dynamic range ( HDR ), which means your games and videos can make the most of the latest television .
It doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate offer the big graphic bulge of the PS4 Pro. Nor does it benefit from the major horsepower boost of the next-generation Xbox One X. But what it does have may make it the best-selling console of 2016 : it ’ s the most low-cost UHD Blu-ray player on the market .
The Xbox One S is the only cabinet to play 4K Blu-rays. This could make the Xbox One S a surprise hit with movie fans on a budget, who are looking for an cheap way to enjoy 4K contented. It could help rocket 4K Blu-ray sales excessively, in the same way the Sony PS3 did with standard Blu-rays. What ’ s more, it ’ s actually a adequate UHD Blu-ray player .

Xbox One S – Design and Controller

• Xbox One S is a smaller version of Microsoft’s original console
• It features a 4K blu-ray player and is capable of HDR image quality 
• Less powerful than the PS4, and its performance reflects that

The Xbox One has had a sum makeover, and it ’ s a huge improvement. Microsoft hasn ’ thymine confirmed what the “ S ” stands for, but we ’ ra taking a guess at “ slender ”. The case is 40 % smaller, which makes the Xbox One S entirely a little bigger than a PS4, and smaller than the dinkiest of mini-ITX PCs .
This is particularly impressive given that the world power supply is now integrated. No longer will you need to find extra space to squeeze in a massive might brick on the side .

It ’ s besides potential that S is for “ aphrodisiac ”. suddenly an Xbox is the most attractive matter in my AV rack, and that ’ s not something I ever expected to write. The chunky air conditioner-style grilles have been replaced with a subtle pinhole purpose. The master ’ randomness glossy black credit card, which was a scatter magnet and suffered scratches way excessively easily, has besides been ditched .
The Xbox One S is matte all over and has a Stormtrooper chic thanks to its white with black accents. I like it, but some may find a bright white box besides conspicuous. You ’ ve besides got batch of restrict edition consoles and color variants to pick up nowadays if that ’ mho more your style .
There are enough of less obvious tweaks excessively, but they ’ ra welcome however. The exponent switch is immediately a forcible push button, which is a distribute less susceptible to accidental activation than the Xbox One ’ s touch-sensitive offer. There is a USB port and a controller-pairing button at the front, where before they were hidden away at the side .
Can the fresh Xbox One please stand up ? Yes, it can. The old Xbox One could entirely be placed bland, but the One S can be flipped over onto its side. You ’ ll need a plastic foundation to hold it up for ventilation purposes. This comes bundled with the 2TB edition, but otherwise, it ’ south sold for an supernumerary £20 .

The control has been tweaked, besides. It feels halfway between the basic Xbox One pad and the super-expensive Xbox One Elite Controller. It retains the ergonomic form of the previous exemplary, but the rear now benefits from a more grippy texture. apparently, exchangeable coloring material covers are an choice besides .
I ’ m not peculiarly bothered about pimping up my accountant, but I ’ m a fan of the add grip. I played Star Wars : Battlefront plenty during testing, and I found the control upped my game. The complete made it a little easier to maintain a static handle while fighting rebel scum, and my accuracy improved. I died less in frenzied moments, where a quick combat roll can make all the difference .
The thumbsticks are made of a new material, purportedly more capable of withstanding punishment. only time ( and mistreat ) will tell how bad it is, but I didn ’ t feel any deviation in manipulation .

As for world power, the slog works on AA batteries. They last a good while, so I don ’ t mind them. Some people prefer the Sony PS4 accountant ’ s built-in battery access. It may be more environmentally friendly, but the battery has proved to be poor and I ’ m forever having to plug it in. I wish Microsoft would ship controllers with its “ Play and Charge ” kits – it would be a well compromise .
thankfully, Microsoft has finally added Bluetooth functionality to the control. This won ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate be a big batch to Xbox users but will be a boom for personal computer gamers looking for a decent gambling pad. now PC gamers can use Xbox controllers without shelling out for an Xbox USB Wireless Controller Adapter .

Xbox One S – Specifications

• New additions include HDMI 2.0 and IR Blaster 
• Memory has also been increased with a number of versions available 
• The Kinect port is no more, which isn’t surprising at all

equally far as connections are concerned, the rear of the Xbox One S is about identical to the Xbox one : HDMI out, HDMI in, two USB ports, IR out, optical audio out and Ethernet .
The HDMI output signal has been upgraded from 1.4a to 2.0. The HDMI 1.4 standard is technically capable of supporting 4K, but only at 30Hz. Films and television shows shown at 30Hz will look choppy as hell and may give you a concern. HDMI 2.0 means the Xbox One S can output proper 4K at 60Hz .
The Kinect port has gone. This international relations and security network ’ t a deal-breaker for me. It ’ s a move that besides doesn ’ triiodothyronine surprise me, considering the number of people I know who use the Kinect ( none ). Those who want to use a Kinect will besides be able to connect the peripheral via USB with an arranger. Microsoft is presently giving them away to existing Kinect owners .
An IR blaster has been added to the front. That ’ s Microsoft ’ south room of increasing the Xbox One S ’ multimedia capabilities.The IR blaster lets you set the Xbox One S to turn on other devices, such as your television receiver or home-cinema amplifier. It ’ s a decent theme, but I still found myself using the dedicate remotes as they ’ re less unpredictable .
The summation of a 2TB memory choice is another welcome change. Any Xbox One owner will tell you that evening a centrist bet on library demands plenty of space. And as such, I ’ d recommend dangerous gamers opt for the 2TB choice over the smaller 500GB and 1TB configurations. At plunge meter, 2TB was the only option available, but nowadays it ’ s a rarity .

On the inside, the One S ’ specifications mirror those of the Xbox One. It ’ second powered by an equivalently specced eight-core AMD custom CPU, clocked at 1.75GHz and the same Radeon GPU with 1.23 TFLOPS extremum shader throughput and 8GB of DDR3 RAM .
The chipset may be the lapp as before, but the GPU frequency has increased from 853MHz to 914MHz. This may allow for a minor improvement in operation, but Microsoft says it isn ’ t supposed to be a selling compass point. rather, the extra office is there to handle the strain of HDR games .
HDR is the future boastful thing in television. basically, it offers greater contrast and a wide rate of colours. We ’ re starting to see it in films and television shows, but now it ’ sulfur coming to games. The first HDR games are Forza Horizon 3, and Gears of War 4. For a report on HDR gambling, hit the link below

Xbox One S – Features

• HDR gaming is excellent, and works a treat on this console 
• A great upscaler when it comes to supersampling certain media 
• Xbox Game Pass features a bunch of games and other bonuses 

So the games don ’ t perform perceptibly better, and options are limited on HDR gambling. This means your gaming experience on the Xbox One S will be about identical from that on the Xbox One – except for extremist high-definition video recording output .
The Xbox One S automatically detects a 4K television. When you first boot up, it will ask if you want to select 4K resolution, so answer with “ hell yes ”. There ’ second a helpful screen in the Settings menu that will notify you on the worthiness of your television .
little ticks and crosses show whether your television receiver can handle 4K at 60Hz, 50Hz and 24Hz, and whether it ’ s compatible with HDR10 television. basically, it indicates whether you can watch video recording and/or play games in 4K and HDR. I used a Samsung UE49KS7000, which is one of the least expensive TVs to get ticks across the board .
Assuming you ’ re given the green light for 4K gambling, the Xbox One S will automatically output your games in 4K. But it isn ’ t native 4K, because Xbox One games only go up to Full HD 1080p. rather, the Xbox One S upscales the games, which means making up pixels where none exist .

The Xbox One S is a superb upscale. The picture is super-sharp, with some nicely defined edges and little in the way of jagged edges. entirely the fine textures appeared a little bleary. On the whole, however, the machine does an excellent problem of making 1080p contented expression good in 4K .
The alternative is to make the Xbox One S output signal a 1080p feed and let the 4K television receiver do the upscaling. I tried that and the result was perceptibly fuzzier, even though the television has no trouble upscaling movies. Stick with the on-board upscaling and you ’ ll be all right .
Is that enough ? The hard-core crowd would justifiably point out that upscaling 4K is the same thing as faking it. They may besides point out that a properly gambling personal computer could get you native 4K, which looks better .
A casual console game may not be then finical, however. If you own a 4K television and you plug in an Xbox One S, I reckon you ’ ll be impressed. My library of games has never looked this good .

Xbox One S – A fine UHD Blu-ray player

• One of the cheapest ways to pick up a 4K blu-ray player 

The Xbox One S doubles as a UHD Blu-ray musician. equally far as I ’ thousand concerned, that ’ s the real reason to consider getting one .
It ’ s a far more low-cost option than the two dedicate UHD Blu-ray players presently on the commercialize. The Samsung UBD-K8500 costs £430 and the Panasonic DMP-UB900 costs £600. Sony has one on the room, which is dainty because the PS4 Pro doesn ’ metric ton do 4K Blu-rays. As for the Xbox One S ? The base 500GB model costs £250, while the 2TB exemplar ( reviewed here ) costs £350 .
It isn ’ thyroxine merely a price thing either, since the performance is more than respectable for the money. The Xbox One S does a very well speculate handling 4K Blu-rays. Load times are fast and it produced decent pictures across all three of my quiz disk ( Mad Max : Fury Road, X-Men : Days of future Past and San Andreas ) .
The console table shows off the advantages of 4K : noteworthy clarity, minute details and lifelike textures. I could make out the consistency of the drive vegetable oil Charlize Theron smears across her side as war paint .

You besides get a perceptibly higher dynamic scope. It international relations and security network ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate barely about cutthroat bright areas and ink-black blacks : the fine increments between are subtly drawn excessively, and you get plenty of shadow detail. You besides get the wide color gamut that HDR promises. There ’ second a function in Mad Max : ferocity Road where person gets shot with a flare gun. When the red-orange smoke explodes, it ’ randomness hard not to marvel .
UHD Blu-rays represent the pinnacle of home-cinema mental picture quality, and this console table can wield them ampere well as a dedicate player. The Panasonic does look better, with more insidious process. The fine details look sharper and the colours are more achromatic, but there international relations and security network ’ t a huge difference considering the price break .
The only well-defined disadvantage to using the Xbox One S as a 4K Blu-ray actor is that it doesn ’ t defend Dolby Atmos sound recording. Well not however, anyhow – Microsoft has promised an update. For immediately, you ’ ll have to settle for regular wall audio. It ’ s a humble price, considering how much cheaper the comfort is. I ’ d besides argue that anyone who can afford a home Dolby Atmos is probably to shell out for the agio dedicated actor anyhow .
overall, the Xbox One S ’ UHD Blu-ray player will be a big sell point for AV fans. UHD Blu-ray is hush in its infancy, and this console might precisely help it grow. The Xbox One S ’ features and performance make it the best-value UHD Blu-ray player on the market .
And don ’ thymine worry excessively much if your 4K Blu-rays haven ’ thyroxine arrived in the post even. The Xbox One S ’ Netflix app is compatible with 4K and HDR straight off the bat, so you can get ogle straight away. No such fortune with the Amazon Video app, which is awaiting an update .

You should buy the Xbox One S if…

You want gaming on a budget: Microsoft ’ s Xbox One S is one of the cheapest consoles on the market right immediately, and is frequently the star of bundles featuring a phone number of bonus accessories and games. For newcomers, this is a bang-up console for jumping into the medium without breaking the bank, although its exponent is parallel to such prize. hush, it more than does the job .
You want to take advantage of Xbox Game Pass:  Xbox One S is honestly a perfect machine for Xbox Game Pass, particularly for those with a more powerful primary chopine such as PS5 or a personal computer. Microsoft ’ mho service has a excerpt of excellent titles on it right now, and all of its first-party efforts will arrive on sidereal day one at no extra cost. If you don ’ thyroxine mind compromise in visuals and performance, this is the ideal way to try them out .
You want a cheap 4K blu-ray player: It isn ’ t the best of its kind on the grocery store, but the Xbox One S includes a 4K blu-ray player for a ludicriously low price. Media enthusiasts with only a communicate sake in gaming should consider the Xbox One S as a cheap way to play 4K blu-rays, since players on their own are army for the liberation of rwanda more expensive .

You should not buy the Xbox One S if…

You want something more powerful: The Xbox One S is a decrepit console table in comparison to its stream siblings, failing to reach a 1080p solution and consistent level of performance with most modern titles. If this sounds like a genuine drawback for you, I ’ vitamin d consider the Xbox One X or possibly one of the next-gen consoles once stock returns to normal .
You’re hoping for new exclusives:  Aside from Halo Infinite, which is due former this year, Microsoft will probably abandon the Xbox One S in the coming years when it comes to raw exclusives. The cabinet merely international relations and security network ’ thyroxine mighty enough to accomodate modern games at their best, and doing thus will only hold creators back from their dependable potential.

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