# Worth Getting Series S?



## Skeet1983 (Dec 26, 2021)

Hi guys. I am thinking about getting a Series S. Was going to try to get Series X, but wait at local game store is really long. I currently have an XBox One, is the Series S more powerful than that? Also, I have an external USB HDD, would I be able to use that with the Series S? Worth getting Series S? Thoughts and help appreciated


----------



## SG854 (Dec 26, 2021)

wait for the x if you want it. You'll regret the s


----------



## Chary (Dec 26, 2021)

The Series S runs laps around the original Xbox One, for sure. I'd even say there's a lot it does better than the upgraded Xbox One X, since it'll have better framerates, faster loading, and no shaky "4K"60 of the Xbox One X. You can use an external drive, but only for backwards compatible games on the OG Xbox, 360, or One. Series games won't work and need a special expansion drive. 

I love my Series S, and I think it's incredible value for the price, but if this is going to be your dedicated console, I'd recommend just hanging in there and waiting for the X. For me, I have a PS5 and Series S and it's the perfect balance, so it depends on what you want with it.


----------



## CoolMe (Dec 26, 2021)

The only thing you should consider is that you can't play your discs (360,One & Series games) on the Series S, as it's a digital-only system and it plays only downloaded games, but the Series X plays both discs and digital games. So you choose.


----------



## Skeet1983 (Dec 26, 2021)

Chary said:


> The Series S runs laps around the original Xbox One, for sure. I'd even say there's a lot it does better than the upgraded Xbox One X, since it'll have better framerates, faster loading, and no shaky "4K"60 of the Xbox One X. You can use an external drive, but only for backwards compatible games on the OG Xbox, 360, or One. Series games won't work and need a special expansion drive.
> 
> I love my Series S, and I think it's incredible value for the price, but if this is going to be your dedicated console, I'd recommend just hanging in there and waiting for the X. For me, I have a PS5 and Series S and it's the perfect balance, so it depends on what you want with it.


Thanks for the info! I do have a PS5 too!


----------



## tech3475 (Dec 26, 2021)

I would say the three biggest factors are:
1) Are you primarily DD or Disc? If you're currently disc then consider the cost of going DD only e.g. a physical copy may be discounted quicker than the DD version, the cost of repurchasing any games you may want to, etc.
2) Will you immediately be buying more SSD storage? If you think you'll immediately be buying the 512GB SSD for $140, then that could be money towards the Series X
3) Will you want the extra potential performance of the Series X? Maybe look at some comparison videos if you can. 

Personally, overall I see the Series S as the 'casual' console and/or the 'secondary' console for someone with Gamepass/DD collection and/or just wants it for the odd game e.g. a PS5 user who wants to play Halo Infinite on console.

For example, when they start getting discounted/deals, I might pick a Series S up for my mum so she can play Flight Simulator. 

Or one of my brothers who only buys Fifa annually at launch and plays on a 1080p screen, may be ok with the Series S. 

Where as for myself, I got a Series X because at the time I only had one console in the bedroom and I wanted 'the best I could get' whilst also offering UHD BD and the extra internal SSD storage. However, I got this on 'All Access' and pay the equivalent of about £18pm for two years, if not for this I'm not sure if I would have bothered.  

Another thing to consider, would you just regret it even if it does what you want? I'm talking in a psychological sense, so this would be personal.


----------



## TomRiddle (Jan 2, 2022)

Skeet1983 said:


> Hi guys. I am thinking about getting a Series S. Was going to try to get Series X, but wait at local game store is really long. I currently have an XBox One, is the Series S more powerful than that? Also, I have an external USB HDD, would I be able to use that with the Series S? Worth getting Series S? Thoughts and help appreciated


If you are on a budget then the Series S is a excellent bang for your buck console.

If you can afford the series x then I'd say to wait because the performance is extremely powerful especially when comparing to the series s.  

Also keep in mind that if you have a lot of physical games the Series S won't be a good option as it's digital only, and while I'm not personally against buying digital games I am really not for only having the option of digital.

Only relying on digital in the long term if you are a budget gamer isn't really great either, you are subjected to Xbox's store rather then having a ton of retail and used options that can be vastly cheaper then digital anyways 
(used is a great example of this).


----------



## jacksactual (Jan 2, 2022)

Chary said:


> The Series S runs laps around the original Xbox One, for sure. I'd even say there's a lot it does better than the upgraded Xbox One X, since it'll have better framerates, faster loading, and no shaky "4K"60 of the Xbox One X. You can use an external drive, but only for backwards compatible games on the OG Xbox, 360, or One. Series games won't work and need a special expansion drive.
> 
> I love my Series S, and I think it's incredible value for the price, but if this is going to be your dedicated console, I'd recommend just hanging in there and waiting for the X. For me, I have a PS5 and Series S and it's the perfect balance, so it depends on what you want with it.


This is a great balance example and good info on the value difference.  I concur that the S games a bit better than the Xbox One X but after you pay for the external memory, you end up losing some of that value.  

You would be ok with the PS5/S combo and not feel like you are missing out on any exclusives.


----------



## Rafciu (Jan 4, 2022)

Im having Series S and im using it on 65' TV with 60Hz. Great console with gamepass and retroarch is worth getting alone. I've seen series X in action and in my opinion there is no point in giving 2x cash for it.  My only downside is its 400gb available memory, expansion cards are too expensive at the moment so im forced to switch games often. 

Series X is for people with high and TVs with large collection of physical games. Who really cares about 120Hz and native 4k.


----------



## Jayinem (Jan 4, 2022)

Honestly neither, get a gaming PC instead then you can play all the same games (Xbox games are now always also on PC) and a ton more, even some Playstation games showing up now and tons of emulators, and practically all games that aren't Nintendo exclusive (and a few Sony) are on PC nowadays. Just get a gaming laptop with hdmi (or even a PC tower you can easily get hdmi going nowadays to hook up to TV) and buy a controller.

Especially if you don't care about discs and want to do digital only. 

For the same price as a Series X you can definitely get a solid gaming PC especially if it's a tower.


----------



## wurstpistole (Jan 4, 2022)

SG854 said:


> wait for the x if you want it. You'll regret the s


Depends. I've got a PS5 for the exclusives and a gaming PC (and a Switch, duh).
I got a Series S because it was dirt cheap and bought three years worth of Gamepass for 80€. Now I can seamlessly switch between my PC and my OLED and play everything that the Gamepass has to over.
If you get a Series S, the Gamepass is a must anyway. Makes zero sense to pay full price for digital titles.


----------



## ital (Jan 7, 2022)

Skeet1983 said:


> Hi guys. I am thinking about getting a Series S. Was going to try to get Series X, but wait at local game store is really long. I currently have an XBox One, is the Series S more powerful than that? Also, I have an external USB HDD, would I be able to use that with the Series S? Worth getting Series S? Thoughts and help appreciated



Do you already own a games console? If so play some of the excellent titles you're too busy ignoring whilst thirsting for new tech. By the time you're done the Series X will be the price of the S and the games will be floating around for pennies. 

People are in too much of a rush to upgrade just for the sake of upgrading and the leap from One to S isn't really worth it as its a half step. That and there is an immense catalogue of great games on the One that could keep you happily occupied until the refresh and price drop.


----------



## G33ksquad (Jan 11, 2022)

I think the S is an excellent deal. If you stalk Amazon Warehouse for a few days you can get a series s and seagate expansion for around $360 combined if in the US. Cheaper than an Xbox series X and a heck of a deal.


----------



## rsx (Jan 18, 2022)

I came from the Xbox One. The S Series loads everything 10x faster, very quiet,  it's about 1/3rd of the size and I love the white color. There's already knockoff expansion cards, or you can just upgrade the ssd yourself. The only bad part (and this applies to every console) is that the thermal paste it came with was pretty gross. Fortunetely, it's easy to disassemble (they recycled a lot of the design from the 360 and the xbone). Don't do it without a tx x-clamp tool. I think the whole process took 30 minutes? Also, if you plan to stand it vertical, it blocks the air intake so you'll either want to get a fan or stand it about an inch off the surface.

They're in stock everywhere now. Amazon, best buy, whatever.


----------



## godreborn (Jan 18, 2022)

I like the look of the series s (got a series x myself), but I don't like the power downgrade of it.  I think the series s/x uses more power in rest mode, if you have it in standby, over the ps5.  I think that's why it boots up faster and why the hdmi signal is never completely off.  though, on power saver, I learned that it won't download content while in rest mode, because it's sorta off.  you can use quick resume for three series s/x games, but I think it can hold more if they're xbox one or lower games.  I haven't tested that feature out yet, since I'm still in the middle of oot, and I don't want to start another game until I'm finished.  there's dev mode, which is one of the best features of the series s/x, though it takes a bit to get everything up and running.  it actually took me all day to understand retroarch, though it's easy once you figure it out.  the bc is quite nice, most of the popular games work.  plus, if you're new to gold, you can get gold and game pass for $1 for the first month, then $14.99 each month, which isn't bad, because game pass has a lot of popular games.  in fact, every xbox one and series x game I've wanted has been on it.  that's my two cents on the series s/x.


----------



## Raku3702 (Sep 9, 2022)

Skeet1983 said:


> Hi guys. I am thinking about getting a Series S. Was going to try to get Series X, but wait at local game store is really long. I currently have an XBox One, is the Series S more powerful than that? Also, I have an external USB HDD, would I be able to use that with the Series S? Worth getting Series S? Thoughts and help appreciated


If you have 4k tv and the money get XSX. Otherwise Series S is better.
BUT if you have 4k tv and you don't care about your paid games you have from the xb1 get PS5 digital edition.


----------



## CloudStrife190100 (Oct 19, 2022)

The only gripe i have for the series s is that the games i have on my external hdd from my one s some require me to update them to the series s/x optimisation... rendering my internal storage full and makes me to redownload everything again....

They should give us the option for the upgrades or not and not be forced into buying that ridiculously expensive expansion pack


----------



## godreborn (Oct 19, 2022)

CloudStrife190100 said:


> The only gripe i have for the series s is that the games i have on my external hdd from my one s some require me to update them to the series s/x optimisation... rendering my internal storage full and makes me to redownload everything again....
> 
> They should give us the option for the upgrades or not and not be forced into buying that ridiculously expensive expansion pack


The ps5 does this well as you can select either ps4 or ps5 versions of titles under edition.  The one negative is that new ps5 games, from say psn+, are forced on to internal even if you're going to move them afterwards, and discs try to copy again if you've stored the game on external, so they must be moved first or else you'll have 2 copies of the same game.  The series s/X let's you select a default hdd, and it should ask you with those games whether you want them put on internal storage, not sure if upgrades are the same.


----------



## CloudStrife190100 (Oct 19, 2022)

godreborn said:


> The ps5 does this well as you can select either ps4 or ps5 versions of titles under edition.  The one negative is that new ps5 games, from say psn+, are forced on to internal even if you're going to move them afterwards, and discs try to copy again if you've stored the game on external, so they must be moved first or else you'll have 2 copies of the same game.  The series s/X let's you select a default hdd, and it should ask you with those games whether you want them put on internal storage, not sure if upgrades are the same.



That's the thing i can't play anything that's got the s/x symbol on them that was compatible with my one s before putting my external on the series s. It forces me to update for the upgrades which i don't particularly want considering the lack of space the system has and the amount of time it takes to redownload them. I get that you can transfer them to and from but i don't want to do that 

Technically Microsoft are trying to force customers who have upgraded to buy that stupidly overpriced expansion unit


----------



## godreborn (Oct 19, 2022)

CloudStrife190100 said:


> That's the thing i can't play anything that's got the s/x symbol on them that was compatible with my one s before putting my external on the series s. It forces me to update for the upgrades which i don't particularly want considering the lack of space the system has and the amount of time it takes to redownload them. I get that you can transfer them to and from but i don't want to do that
> 
> Technically Microsoft are trying to force customers who have upgraded to buy that stupidly overpriced expansion unit


I may never upgrade my ps5 or series x with an additional m2 ssd, just too damn expensive.


----------



## CloudStrife190100 (Oct 20, 2022)

godreborn said:


> I may never upgrade my ps5 or series x with an additional m2 ssd, just too damn expensive.


Yeah I'm not falling for that bs again. The psvita was exactly the same which pissed me off


----------



## cvskid (Oct 20, 2022)

Get a xbox series x console if you can instead. Xbox series s can't play disc so 1 reason to avoid it is you would have to rely on microsoft's digital storefront and hope the games you want go on sale and usually its the same games on sale over and over. Even if the game you want does go on sale there is a chance it would be cheaper as a physical copy.

The 2nd reason is there are games that are only playable if you have the disc so you would have no way of playing some games. Off the top of my head 2 examples are teenage mutant ninja turtles mutants in manhattan and mortal kombat 9 {2011}.


----------



## mrgone (Oct 20, 2022)

i have one and i am happy with it.
i bought mine for flight simulator and forza horizon 5
since then i bought also burnout 2, radiant silvergun , ikaruga and the rare replay collection
but most of the time i play the race games
flight simulator is kinda pandemic repalcement for holiday flights


----------

