Last week, we were fortunate enough to have been sent the final retail unit of Xbox’s next-generation console, the Xbox Series S.
Previously codenamed Project Lockhart, the Xbox Series S console was revealed in an unusual fashion after a series of leaked posts on Twitter forced Xbox’s hand to confirm the existence of a second next-gen console. And boy, did they really roll with the punches only to create the most thrilling gaming console announcement in history.
The Xbox Series S is essentially the smallest Xbox console to have ever been released and is a much more affordable alternative to Xbox’s new flagship console, the Xbox Series X. Whilst we will be providing a comparison between the two next-generation consoles, this article will focus solely on the Xbox Series S and what you can expect right out of the box on Day One.
What’s In The Box
Upon picking up your Xbox Series S console, the first thing you’ll notice is just how small the box is compared to any current generation console boxes. The design of the retail box itself gives away the console’s primary focus and the weight of the box certainly proves just how small the console is.
Open the box and you’ll be blown away at the amount of care the packaging team has taken in presenting a premium experience for what’s meant to be a cheap alternative. In fact, it’s difficult to truly see the Xbox Series S as just a cheaper little brother to the Xbox Series X upon first glance. If anything, one could say that the packaging itself tells a story of just how much of an improvement these next-gen consoles are.
So what’s in the box? Within the packaging, you’ll see the white Xbox Series S console, a new iteration of the wireless Xbox controller (also in white), a power cord, a high speed HDMI cable, warranty booklet and setup card.
Xbox Series S Console
The Xbox Series S console is TINY! Despite seeing comparison images online, I didn’t expect the size of the console to be THAT small. In fact, I expected it to not only be longer and wider but ‘chunkier’.
The fact that it wasn’t at all what I had imagined left me surprised, in a good way. Given how small it is, I now needn’t worry about how much space the console would take up and could, quite literally, hook it up anywhere as long as the power supply and HDMI cable was long enough.
You can see just how small the console is in these size comparison images that I took with my Cyberpunk 2077 Limited Edition Xbox One X console and standard 1.25L water bottle. For more size comparison, check out our social channels.
The console is typical of any gaming console. It includes multiple ports on its back including:
- A power supply port;
- An expandable storage slot for the Seagate Xbox Series X|S Expansion Card;
- An HDMI out port;
- An ethernet port; and
- Two USB ports
These ports are more than enough to get you going and are clearly detailed in a bold black colour that even a five year old can easily match up what needs to go where.
In terms of air flow to keep the console cool, the Xbox Series S comes with multiple vents across its body, predominantly the big circular area that prompted numerous memes about the console’s design to be generated upon its initial announcement and reveal.
Unlike the Xbox One and Xbox One X consoles however, the Xbox Series X comes with four rubberised ‘bit’s at the four corners necessary to have it positioned horizontally or vertically. There isn’t a separate vertical stand to help keep the console upright unlike previous consoles.
The front end of the console includes the typical Xbox design. This includes the power button on one end and a USB port and refresh/link button on the other.
Controller
As for the wireless Xbox Series X|S controller, there isn’t too much of a visible difference from current Xbox One controllers, upon immediate glance anyway. The only noticeable addition is that of a share button to make content sharing much easier.
Other slight changes include the D-Pad’s design, shaped much more similarly to that on the Xbox Elite Controller, as well as a more sturdy grip on the controller’s back. Beyond that, there’s very little difference when looking at the controller head on.
Of course, there are features within the upgraded controller that will be quite different from its current generation counterparts. However, that will be revealed soon in a separate article.
Power Supply Cord & HDMI Cable
There’s not much to really talk about with these cables that come within the box. The only real point to make is that while the Xbox Series S comes with a high speed HDMI cable, the console itself has a HDMI 2.1 capable port, which will allow for upgraded visual power of the console than previous iterations.
Conclusion
What else is there to say about the Xbox Series S? Not much at this stage. While we’re unable to delve deeper into the console right now, we are incredibly stoked to have been able to unbox the console and provide you with an inside look at what you can expect right out of the box.
Stay tuned for more Xbox Series X|S content! We’ve got an exciting slate coming up. In the meantime, for more Xbox Series S content, head over here.