On the road to 4K

Microsoft Xbox One S

byAaron Yip February 2017

Microsoft Xbox One S by Aaron Yip (GameAxis).

Pictures microsoft

The Xbox One S is finally here, and the new white box is approximately 40 per

cent smaller than the old model – a remarkable feat considering the power supply is now inside the unit. Gone is the enormous power brick. The One S can sit upright too, although you are going to have to fork out extra cash for the optional stand. Other notable improvements include physical disc eject and power buttons; the older model’s capacitive buttons were prone to accidental activations. There are three USB 3.0 ports on the console and one of them is now tucked away on the front of the box, rather than the side. This makes it much easier to access when in a small cabinet, for example. The gamepad pairing button has also made its way around the front. The rear pretty much mirrors the standard Xbox One’s line-up of connections but with one glaring omission. Gone is the input for the Kinect connectivity. Microsoft is still not admitting it, but the One S has all but spelt the death knell of the Kinect. Improvements have also been extended to the bundled controller, being a little sleeker and sexier. It feels similar in the hand to the Xbox One Wireless Controllers, but has grippier surface. It also adds Bluetooth support, allowing for wireless connection with a Windows 10 computer and at a greater distance. It’s still nothing like the incredible Elite controllers, but at least One S players will know their controller is noticeably better than first-gen Xbox One owners. Technically, the One S’ specifications aren’t that much different from the Xbox One. It’s powered by an equivalent eight-core AMD custom CPU, clocked at 1.75GHz, the same Radeon GPU and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. The magic lies in the increment of the GPU frequency from 853MHz to 914MHz, and a small but critical boost in the memory speed from 204GB/s to 291GB/s. The extra power isn’t enough to deliver 4K native gaming, but sufficient to deliver 4K upscaling for games as well as handling the strain of HDR. Now, if you have a 4K display, the One S will automatically output your games in 4K, with a caveat. Because Xbox One games are natively 1080p, the One S only upscales them. Still, in my experience, games look noticeably sharper with defined edges and little in the way of jagged edges. Only the finer textures appeared a little blurry. While it can’t play games on 4K natively, the One S does provide true 4K HDR video playback from either UHD Blu-ray discs or streaming services like Netflix. If your 4K TV supports HDR too, then you can enjoy the best of the One S’s content delivery capacity. UHD Blu-ray content from the One S renders particularly well and the HDR content of movies like Mad Max will blow you away. Since this is a 4K content

AT A GLANCE:

CPU Custom AMD, 1.75GHz 8-core

GPU AMD Radeon, 914MHz

RAM 8GB DDR3

Media 4K UHD Blu-ray, HDR

Price $499 (1TB)

Conclusion

"A beefier, more capable and more compact redesign of the original Xbox One."

platform, it should be noted that the Xbox One S comes with HDMI 2.0a instead of the dated HDMI 1.4 of the

older Xbox One. The One S is an interesting machine. It is an excellent UHD Blu-ray player and 4K media setup box, and At $499, it’s quite possibly one that offers the best value on the market. For these reasons, even if you aren’t a major fans of console gaming, the One S is tempting. It may not be able to handle 4K gaming but the One S does deliver a very robust experience when it comes to HDR gaming at normal resolutions and this counts for a new take on game quality. The preference of 4K UHD support for movie buffs over gamers on the One S does raise an interesting point, however. Microsoft seems contented to have hardcore players who want 4K

gaming within its Xbox ecosystem, to enjoy that on its Windows 10 platform via the Play Anywhere initiative. The

choice of making the new console an affordable and powerful media center seems to be a calculated gambit to drive the Xbox as a brand and entertainment system, not necessarily as a gaming console. Microsoft is not oblivious to the fact that they have all but lost out to the PlayStation 4 Pro, and the One S is a stop-gap measure until the true next-generation Scorpio console emerges next year. These factors don’t make the Xbox One S any less compelling, but it would have benefitted more if released a few months earlier.

The new Xbox Wireless Controller comes with a slightly tweaked cosmetic design, but much welcomed wireless connectivity and a textured rear for better grip.

Size comparison between the Xbox One (bottom) and Xbox One S (top). It’s even more compact when you consider that the One S doesn’t need a power brick too.