Xbox One S vs. Xbox One: Specs comparison

Xbox One S is the smaller version of Xbox One. According to Microsoft official, Xbox One S will be avaialble in 25 different countries on August 2. These 25 countries include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK and the US.

Before the Xbox One S hits the market, it is better for you to figure out the differences between Xbox One S and Xbox One. Here is the right place for you to visit in order to learn the differences between these two console devices.

Xbox One S FAQ:

1.  Q: What is the release date of Xbox One S? A: Confirmed by Microsoft, it is August 2, 2016.
2.  Q: Does it support 4K? A: Yes, it does, for video and Blu-ray, but not for games.
3.  Q: Is it more powerful? A: Yes, a slight boost to processing power over the Xbox One to accommodate HDR gaming.
4.  Q: Is a controller included? A: Yes, contrary to early reports, one is included in the price.

Xbox One S Price: $399/£349 for 2TB launch edition, 500GB and 1TB models also incoming

There are three different capacities. Prices start at $299 for the 500GB version, moving up to $349 for the 1TB and $399 for a massive 2TB. When it comes to UK and European pricing, here's what you need to know. The 2TB launch edition Xbox One S will cost £349/399 Euros, while the 1TB will be £299/349 Euros and the 500GB £249/299 Euros. That's pretty sweet for a 4K Blu-ray player let alone one that also plays games.

Xbox One S is 40% smaller, has built-in power supply

The Xbox One S is 40% smaller than the original – it's a huge reduction. Given how big the original Xbox One is – at 333mm x 276mm x 78mm, it dominates the comparatively slight PS4 – it's an important change that could entice potential buyers.

What's doubly impressive, however, is the power supply is now built-in. The bulky power brick on the Xbox One was a serious pain and was another con against it given the PS4 has it built-in. Therefore a smaller size yet with power supply built-in will definitely be a hot sale.

4K Ultra HD, 4K Blu-ray and High Dynamic Range support

This is huge. Not only does the Xbox One S support 4K video playback from streaming services like Netflix and Amazon, it also has a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray built-in.
This is especially good news for AV fans and the announced $299/£249 starting price makes it good value compared to dedicated Ultra HD players currently on the market, which at this time cost anywhere from £400 to £650.
In fact, if you have a 4K TV, we'd argue it's a must-have to enjoy the full potential of your TV.

While the original Xbox One is technically capable of supporting 4K gaming and video, it comes with an HDMI 1.4a port, which means it can only output 4K at 30Hz, which is useless for games and problematic for some video. The Xbox One S adds support for HDMI 2.0a, so it now supports proper 4K 60Hz output.

HDMI 2.0a, with its capacity for a deeper colour space, also allows for High Dynamic Range (HDR).

In short, you can expect more natural colours, deeper blacks, and brighter whites from an HDR image, providing you have a compatible TV. It could be great for games and video, so this is another major plus point.
There's been some talk that old Xbox Ones could be upgraded to the new HDMI standard through a firmware update, but we've heard nothing since E3 so it seems a distant hope now.
 

Plus, it can upscale games to 4K

When the Xbox One S was first announced, Microsoft neglected to mention that the new console is also capable of upscaling games to 4K.
The upscaling capabilities were revealed by Jeff Henshaw, Group Program Manager at Xbox at an E3 session (via TechRadar).

Henshaw said: "It's not native 4K, but the Xbox One S can upscale games from 1080p to 4K."
It means the Xbox One S will be able to offer a taste of gaming at a higher resolution than its predecessor, although it won't quite be as good as native 4K.

It can be stored upright

Yes, that's right, you can store the Xbox One S upright. That's great news, though the stand is an optional extra, unless you buy the 2TB model, which comes with the stand bundled. As it only costs $20, however, it's not a huge imposition.

There's no dedicated Kinect port

Not a huge surprise here. The Xbox One S removes the dedicated port for Kinect. Given its increasing irrelevance this isn't a huge loss, though owners who want to use one can do say via a USB adapter. We assume the adapter will be sold separately, too.

But there is an IR blaster

In the place of a dedicated Kinect port, the Xbox One S comes with an integrated IR (infrared) blaster. That means you can configure your Xbox One S to turn on other devices, like your TV, audio/video receiver, and cable or satellite receiver.
The idea is that you can reduce the number of remotes you need to control your stuff. Pretty neat.

Xbox One S vs Xbox One: Should you upgrade?

There's no doubt the new Xbox One S is a better all around console than its predecessor. Not only does it slim down what was an unbelievably bulky case on the original console, and by 40% no less, the Xbox One S comes with a load of features that make it a desirable device regardless of comparisons with the previous model.
Firstly, you get a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player built in. Currently, those things will cost you upwards of £400 on their own. Secondly, you can stream 4K at the proper 60 Hz in HDR from apps such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video. Plus, there's even a slight performance boost. The console benefits from extra processing power which will be used to run games in HDR.
All told, Microsoft may just have done enough here to warrant an upgrade from the original console. While the Xbox One will run all the games you can play on the S model, the extra features and reduced form factor make the new version a tempting offer.