The new Xbox series by Microsoft was revealed quite a while back but the pricing for the same was announced just yesterday. The new Xbox Series X will cost Rs 49,990 and the Xbox Series S will cost Rs 34,990 in India. Both of these consoles are super powerful when compared to the previous generation Xbox consoles.
But what’s the difference between the two and which one is more apt for you? Let’s compare them both according to their specifications and see which one is made for you.
Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S: Display Resolution
The Xbox series X is capable of outputting 4K Resolution at 120 frames per second while gaming and that too without upscaling. As for streaming the video, the X series can output video at the default resolution of 4K and can upscale it upto 8K.
The Series S, on the other hand, can output 1440p resolution with a frame rate of 120 frames per second which doesn’t require the highest component parts and that’s why it has a smaller footprint than the Series X. For streaming video, the S series can stream videos at 1440p default resolution and can upscale it to a maximum of 4K.
A lot of this will also depend on what kind of device you will connect your console. Will it be your television, or will it be a monitor. Also, do check the resolution compatibility between the console of your choice and the device you will be connecting it to.
If you are already in the habit of playing in 4K, choosing the Series S might feel a bit weird to you as it will output 1440p, instead of the 4K on series X.
Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S: Processing Power
The Series X will be powered by a Custom 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.8GHz and 12.15 Teraflops of Custom AMD RDNA 2 graphics.
On the other hand, the Series S is powered by a Custom 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.6GHz and 4 Teraflops of Custom AMD RDNA 2 graphics.
There’s an optical drive present in the Series X while the Series S is a digital-only platform, means it doesn’t have an optical drive.
While the series S runs at slower clock speed and has a lower-powered version of the same graphics processing unit as the Series X. It still supports the same DirectX ray tracing, variable-rate shading, variable Refresh Rate and ultra-low Latency as its big brother, the Series X.
Read More: Price of New Xbox series announced for India
Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S: RAM and Storage
The Series X has 16GB GDDR6 RAM, a memory Bandwidth of 10 GB at 560 GB/s, 6 GB at 336 GB/s, and 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVME SSD.
On the other hand, the Series S has 10GB of GDDR6 RAM, a memory bandwidth of 8GB at 224GB/s is allocated to GPU, 2GB at 56GB/s (compared to 16GB of series X), and a 512GB PCIe Gen 4 NVME SSD.
While it is quite apparent that the Series X will have better RAM, the lower RAM should be fine for the Series S as it has much less to work on, than the Series X.
Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S: Games and Controller
The games that are slated to launch for the Series X, are all stated compatible with the Series S too because both of them support the same controller and there’s no difference between them.
Microsoft claims that it has also worked to reduce the wireless lag between the controller and the response time on console, resulting in better performance and responsiveness. Some games are slated for launch within one month after both the consoles are launched. These include:
Cyberpunk 2077
Dirt 5 (day 1)
Gears Tactics (day 1)
Just Dance 2021
Outriders
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
Tetris Effect: Connected
The Medium
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
The Ascent
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S: Which one to Choose?
Even though the Series S looks like a less-powerful console (which it is), it supports the same level of graphics quality and same features as the bigger brother. The main difference between the two is the output resolution, lack of optical drive and also the storage both of them offer. You’ll have to choose if an optical drive is worth more to you and if you are habitual to 4K, the Series S image quality will feel a bit soft and less sharpened and also, less storage means fewer games to store.
These days, you need a good internet connection for games to work without any issues and to access the online features. Still, if you don’t have a good Internet connection, you might want to buy the Series X as you’ll have to download games on the Series S as it doesn’t have an optical drive, which might weigh in at about 100s of GBs. But then, you will also have to shell out extra Rs 15,000.
Overall, for a new consumer or even an existing Xbox user, the Series S looks like a better deal, in my opinion. Still, as said before, it’s a decision for you to make if more storage, more processing power, an optical drive, and a better resolution is worth Rs 15,000 extra.