XBOX Series S or XBOX One

[Legend83]

Sorry to cross what is probably a well-worn path but I am looking at getting an XBOX of some flavour for my sons. I have zero experience of them being a Sony man but their friends have them so seems sensible to get the same so they can game together.

My understanding of the Series S is it is digital only? This puts me off as my boys like to have physical games and trade them at CEX etc. However understand the technology is a big step up. Would we be disappointed with the One? I think not given all we have ever had is a PS3 . But prepared to be corrected here.

The S seems to be at a great price right now and not much more expensive than a decent second hand One. But the digital-only is a put-off.

Opinions?

[Amateurish]

Personally, I would go latest gen i.e. Series S or Series X. The whole industry is going digital only. If you get a subscription to Games Pass at the same time, that gives you access to a huge library of good games. I haven't bought a physical game in years.

[Jugosaurus]

Have a look at the Xbox all access programme.
Interest free over 24 months, choose your flavour of Xbox series s or x and you also get game pass ultimate which is 100+ games, live gold and also the PC game pass all for about £22 or £28 a month over 24 months.
Saves about £3 over the current pricing.

[Mammasaid]

Here's the console comparison table;

https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/consoles/compare

If it were me, I'd get the Series X to futureproof his experience,

[Motorman74]

I'm assuming you mean Series S/Series X - Microsoft have made it confusing with the stupid naming...

The Series S is great value and if you aren't worried about 4K, then it's a great console (to be fair it looks great at 1440P on a 4K TV anyway)

For me the biggest issue with the S is storage - with games the size they are it's limited - if you have fast broadband (like 500Mbps+) it's not too bad waiting for a game to download, so uninstalling/reinstalling isn't too bad.

The physical media thing is another one to consider - I've got a Series X and between Gamepass, and being able to buy games from places like CDKeys (which you can't do with Playstation as it's a closed shop) my Xbox is totally digital, I haven't bought a single physical disk.

[Deep Thought]

Motorman74 said:

I'm assuming you mean Series S/Series X - Microsoft have made it confusing with the stupid naming...

The Series S is great value and if you aren't worried about 4K, then it's a great console (to be fair it looks great at 1440P on a 4K TV anyway)

For me the biggest issue with the S is storage - with games the size they are it's limited - if you have fast broadband (like 500Mbps+) it's not too bad waiting for a game to download, so uninstalling/reinstalling isn't too bad.

The physical media thing is another one to consider - I've got a Series X and between Gamepass, and being able to buy games from places like CDKeys (which you can't do with Playstation as it's a closed shop) my Xbox is totally digital, I haven't bought a single physical disk.

I would concur with this.

I've just bought a Series S and downloaded a few games. Already i've filled up the 380GB or so free space. Which leaves me either shuffling games (which take quite a while to download) or paying £185 or so for the official 1TB card (to download Series S games on to).

Its a definite consideration, particularly if the O/P's kids enjoy the buying / swapping and trading in of physical games.

In their circumstance, i'd probably spend the extra on a Series X - more storage, 4K, capability to use physical discs.

[Legend83]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Just to be clear, the Series X is outside of price range so it's a straight shoot out between Series S and XBOX One.

[Motorman74]

Legend83 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. Just to be clear, the Series X is outside of price range so it's a straight shoot out between Series S and XBOX One.

Series S then for me. Just be aware that is has less storage and the expansion cards are eye-wateringly expensive!

[ecsrobin]

Legend83 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. Just to be clear, the Series X is outside of price range so it's a straight shoot out between Series S and XBOX One.

Has to be an S then. One is old tech and you will just end up upgrading sooner.

[Deep Thought]

Legend83 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. Just to be clear, the Series X is outside of price range so it's a straight shoot out between Series S and XBOX One.

Another vote for the S then.

[OpenToeSlipper]

Motorman74 said:

Series S then for me. Just be aware that is has less storage and the expansion cards are eye-wateringly expensive!

You don't need to use the official cards from Microsoft, you can plug in a compatible third party SSD via USB.

[Deep Thought]

OpenToeSlipper said:

Motorman74 said:

Series S then for me. Just be aware that is has less storage and the expansion cards are eye-wateringly expensive!

You don't need to use the official cards from Microsoft, you can plug in a compatible third party SSD via USB.

Correct, however you cant play Series X / S games from to them. You can play Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox games from a regular USB 3.1 drive though.

[OpenToeSlipper]

Deep Thought said:

Correct, however you cant play Series X / S games from to them. You can play Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox games from a regular USB 3.1 drive though.

I've got a Series X and x/s games are all stored on external USB SSD and work no bother.

[Deep Thought]

OpenToeSlipper said:

Deep Thought said:

Correct, however you cant play Series X / S games from to them. You can play Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox games from a regular USB 3.1 drive though.

I've got a Series X and x/s games are all stored on external USB SSD and work no bother.

Then they're not Next Gen Series X / S games. Which is probably fine, most arent.

[OpenToeSlipper]

Deep Thought said:

Then they're not Next Gen Series X / S games. Which is probably fine, most arent.

Call of Duty, Flight Simulator, Forza Horizon 5? They all work just fine. The icons show X/S.

Where are you getting your information from?

[Deep Thought]

OpenToeSlipper said:

Deep Thought said:

Then they're not Next Gen Series X / S games. Which is probably fine, most arent.

Call of Duty, Flight Simulator, Forward Horizon 5? They all work just fine. The icons show X/S.

Where are you getting your information from?

Everywhere i've looked?

https://www.lifewire.com/use-external-hard-drive-w...

"You can use any USB 3.1 external drive with Xbox Series X|S, but only the Seagate expansion drive lets you play Xbox Series X|S games."

"You can play Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox games from a regular USB 3.1 drive."

Happy to be told otherwise. I dont fancy paying £185 for a 1TB SSD.

[Deep Thought]

And here...

https://www.pocket-lint.com/games/reviews/xbox/154...

"However, an external drive cannot play games with the sort of optimisations common to next-gen technology - such as ray-tracing, 4K 60fps graphics, and the like. If you store Xbox games on an external USB drive, you will have to forego any next-generation enhancements.

Only the official Storage Expansion Card works with those - beyond the internal storage itself."

[gregs656]

Legend83 said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. Just to be clear, the Series X is outside of price range so it's a straight shoot out between Series S and XBOX One.

Get the S if that’s your choice. It is a very capable machine. I have an X with Game Pass and don’t own a physical game.

[OpenToeSlipper]

Deep Thought said:

And here...

https://www.pocket-lint.com/games/reviews/xbox/154...

"However, an external drive cannot play games with the sort of optimisations common to next-gen technology - such as ray-tracing, 4K 60fps graphics, and the like. If you store Xbox games on an external USB drive, you will have to forego any next-generation enhancements.

Only the official Storage Expansion Card works with those - beyond the internal storage itself."

Looks like you are correct. I think what I may have done (it was a while a go I purchased it) is split the games between the internal drive and SSD. X/S on internal and remainder on external SSD. That way you'd be saving £££ on the external storage cost and all next gen games will play as intended.

[Deep Thought]

OpenToeSlipper said:

Deep Thought said:

And here...

https://www.pocket-lint.com/games/reviews/xbox/154...

"However, an external drive cannot play games with the sort of optimisations common to next-gen technology - such as ray-tracing, 4K 60fps graphics, and the like. If you store Xbox games on an external USB drive, you will have to forego any next-generation enhancements.

Only the official Storage Expansion Card works with those - beyond the internal storage itself."

Looks like you are correct. I think what I may have done (it was a while a go I purchased it) is split the games between the internal drive and SSD. X/S on internal and remainder on external SSD. That way you'd be saving £££ on the external storage cost and all next gen games will play as intended.

Ah. Thought i was going mad

Found a 500GB SSD i had taken out of a laptop at one point, so bought a £10 SSD case off amazon. Thats me sorted then - i'll do what you did.