Xbox has launched its “best ever hardware” which the firm’s UK boss says will make gaming more “inclusive and accessible”.
The gaming firm says the £449 Series X is the most powerful console it has ever made, while the smaller Series S is priced at £249 and meant to offer a more accessible route into modern gaming.
The launch comes just over a week before rivals Sony release their own new console, the PlayStation 5, with both video game giants promising their most powerful systems, complete with major upgrades on current consoles.
James Butcher, head of Xbox UK, said the flagship Series X offers “the best console experience we’ve been able to deliver so far” thanks to significant internal hardware upgrades which mean the new console is faster and more powerful, as well as able to handle higher-quality graphics than ever before.
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It is being released alongside the smaller, cheaper Series S, which the company argues offers more choice to consumers.
“Really the Series X is for the gamer who wants the ultimate gaming experience – the most immersive with the highest graphical fidelity on the world’s most powerful console,” he told the PA news agency.
In contrast, the Xbox Series S is the smallest console the company has ever made and comes without a disk-drive, instead relying on digital delivery for games and other entertainment content.
“I think with Series S it is more about consumer choice and making gaming accessible. It’s the smallest Xbox we’ve ever built. It’s a digital console and it carries the same next-gen features but at a slightly lower graphical resolution,” Butcher said.
Early reviews have hailed the new consoles for the speed at which games load and launch compared with existing devices, while the introduction of technology such as ray-tracing, which enables games to better realistically mimic lighting, have also impressed.
Head to head: Series X vs Series S
Price
Series X:£449
Series S: £249
Size
Series X:15.1cm x 15.1cm x 30.1cm
Series S: 6.5cm x 15.1cm x 30cm
Weight
Series X: 4.4kg
Series S: 1.9kg
Processing power
Series X: 12 teraflops
Series S: 4 teraflops
Resolution
Series X: 4K, 60 frames per second (support for 120 frames per second)
Series S: 1440p (Quad HD), 60 frames per second
Storage
Series X: 1TB (with support for storage expansion)
Series S: 512GB (with support for storage expansion)
Disc drive?
Series X: Yes - supports 4K UHD and Blu-Ray discs
Series S: No - digital download only
Other features
Both consoles support DirectX raytracing, Quick Resume, 4K Ultra HD streaming, Dolby Vision enhanced video technology and Dolby TrueHD with Atmos audio.
Where can I buy the Xbox Series X and S?
Buy Xbox Series X now:
Buy Xbox Series S now: