Unboxing the Xbox Series S

The Xbox Series S: A Sleek and Powerful Console

I'm sitting here with the Xbox Series S, and it's definitely a console that I think looks very cool. The white exterior with the big black vent grille on top makes it look like a speaker, which is kind of funny because the sound doesn't actually come out of there. But to me, it does - it just doesn't right now. On the front, we've got the Xbox logo, presumably for power and pairing purposes, as well as a USB port. Around the back, we've got Ethernet, two more USB ports, HDMI, storage expansion options (including a 512 GB SSD that can be expanded), and of course, power.

One of the things I like about this console is how compact it is. It's going to fit nicely under my TV, which is exactly what I'm looking for in a gaming setup. If you've got a lot of consoles and games cluttering up your space, this might be the one that solves your problems. The Xbox Series X is bigger and more powerful, but it also looks kinder of... futuristic, with its colors and design. This one, on the other hand, just feels like a console.

Now, let's get started with setting up our new friend! We've got all the necessary packaging: cardboard that's recyclable (yay!), an HDMI cable because, course we do, UK specs are the best, a power plug, and of course, the brand-new controller. I'm not going to read the regulatory guide - who cares? But I am excited to crack open this shiny new friend and get it out of its packaging.

The controller feels very nice in my hand, although I wish it had some rubberized soft touch parts for a more comfortable grip. It's all plastic, which is fine. The d-pad buttons are a welcome change from the micro-USB nonsense we used to deal with - rechargeable batteries are still not an option, though. That would be too much to ask, right?

For now, let's get rid of some packaging and focus on what really matters: playing games! I'll just move my microphone out of the way and we're good to go. The Xbox Series S is looking pretty sweet in here - it's definitely a console that will fit seamlessly into my gaming setup.

I do have one thing to say about power, though: if Microsoft could make the controller itself rechargeable, that would be amazing. Stop relying on batteries all the time! But for now, I'm happy with this sleek and powerful little number.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: eni just got the new xbox series s and i cannot wait to crack it open so i think i've got everything i need i've got of course the xbox itself still boxed up i've got mr cutty knife over here and i've also got coffee to keep me nicely caffeinated throughout perfect and where to begin okay we've got nice tabs on the side so maybe i'm not even going to need captain slice over here uh how are your dreams thanks xbox i will power my dreams okay i don't need that there's one on this side that can go as well okay here we go which way oh no there's one here too okay i think i'm opening it upside down so once these are off which they are we can flippity flip just like this and go power your dreams wow okay i so i'm not seeing this console really at all before this is so much smaller than i'm just going to push my monitor out of the way and hopefully this is how small the actual console is this is so much smaller than i thought it was look at that it's mini um yeah i was expecting this one to be maybe this sort of size you know quite a bit wider almost kind of the size of the current um uh xbox one x and maybe the series x would be even bigger so um yeah this is actually pretty cool so let's slide off the power your dreams just slide it away slide it away um wrapping with recyclable icons so that will go in the recycling good oh don't want anything going to the landfill and here we are the xbox series s white with the big black vent grille which i still think looks like a speaker so it looks like when you've got it set up your gaming sound is going to be coming out of here but it isn't but it looks like it doesn't it look at that yeah i think it does um we've got the nice front here we've got our xbox logo presumably that's for power clickety click yes it is uh pairing thing and a usb port then around the back we've got ethernet two usb ports hdmi storage expansion so yeah this is a 512 gigabyte ssd but you can expand that and get the ssd cards um and yeah uh power of course that's pretty much it because you know you know consoles don't need a lot of stuff um but yeah there we go um maybe let's get the box out of the way and have another have another look at the console by itself because i do think it looks pretty cool um it's very very neat it's going to fit under the tv in a really nice way i think if i have a sort of house where i don't really want it to be kind of scene that i've got lots of consoles lots of games and things this is definitely kind of the one that i'd want to go for because it just looks like it's gonna slide under your tv and basically sit there completely unnoticed the series x and again i haven't seen it in person yet but it is bigger and it looks like you've got a thing there so this one might be a bit um a bit more inconspicuous and i think same goes for the ps5 because it's got that quite sort of futuristic design with sort of the colors and stuff as well maybe that i think looks more like a console this kind of looks like it could be sort of anything okay right we have a getting started guys and more packaging again this is cardboard this is recyclable it's very good i am not tolerating any company which is going to ship things with unrecyclable single-use plastic that isn't okay anymore um we've got hdmi cable because of course we have we've got a power plug uk spec of course um the uk has the best plug shape and that's all there is to it that goes there and of course we've got the new controller so we can crack this shiny new friend open get it out of the recyclable packaging that's not going to stay clean and white for long that's going to have biscuit crumbs tea coffee jam smeared all over it within a few days um and then of course we've got product and regulatory guide i'm not going to read this who does absolutely no one let's get it out of here what's this though i mean it looks like one of those do not disturb signs that you hang on your hotel room door when you're uh still sitting on the toilet for 45 minutes and you don't want to come in and clean um i'm not going to read out all this because who cares i want to hold the controller though it does feel very nice it feels pretty much unchanged from the last one it is all plastic i was you know i'd quite like a nice rubberized soft touch uh feel but yeah i think i could get away with uh with using this for a little while nice d-pad buttons button usb-c for charging and connecting that's good none of this usb micro usb nonsense and takes batteries which will be rechargeable ones so although i still think that maybe they could just make the controller itself rechargeable would that be too much to ask stop people relying on batteries all the time i don't know uh tell me in the comments if you think i'm a fool a fool but that's it that's for a lot we can bring this back in let's get rid of the console the cables these they're gone uh let's get rid of mr cutty knife as well and maybe just move my microphone out of the way so we can get a a nicer top-down view it's all about the top down isn't it this is it this is the xbox series x i think it looks really nice i visually i prefer the look of the series s over the series x it looks cleaner it looks neater it's certainly smaller i like the the white controller i think looks pretty cool um but the xbox series x is of course the bigger more powerful one it does 4k or 8k it does better frame rates it does all the stuff you basically expect from proper next-gen gaming so i'm very much looking forward to getting hold of that but that is everything on the xbox series s if you have enjoyed this make sure to hit that like button subscribe to cnet for a lot more gaming stuff and i gonna finish my coffee and fire this upi just got the new xbox series s and i cannot wait to crack it open so i think i've got everything i need i've got of course the xbox itself still boxed up i've got mr cutty knife over here and i've also got coffee to keep me nicely caffeinated throughout perfect and where to begin okay we've got nice tabs on the side so maybe i'm not even going to need captain slice over here uh how are your dreams thanks xbox i will power my dreams okay i don't need that there's one on this side that can go as well okay here we go which way oh no there's one here too okay i think i'm opening it upside down so once these are off which they are we can flippity flip just like this and go power your dreams wow okay i so i'm not seeing this console really at all before this is so much smaller than i'm just going to push my monitor out of the way and hopefully this is how small the actual console is this is so much smaller than i thought it was look at that it's mini um yeah i was expecting this one to be maybe this sort of size you know quite a bit wider almost kind of the size of the current um uh xbox one x and maybe the series x would be even bigger so um yeah this is actually pretty cool so let's slide off the power your dreams just slide it away slide it away um wrapping with recyclable icons so that will go in the recycling good oh don't want anything going to the landfill and here we are the xbox series s white with the big black vent grille which i still think looks like a speaker so it looks like when you've got it set up your gaming sound is going to be coming out of here but it isn't but it looks like it doesn't it look at that yeah i think it does um we've got the nice front here we've got our xbox logo presumably that's for power clickety click yes it is uh pairing thing and a usb port then around the back we've got ethernet two usb ports hdmi storage expansion so yeah this is a 512 gigabyte ssd but you can expand that and get the ssd cards um and yeah uh power of course that's pretty much it because you know you know consoles don't need a lot of stuff um but yeah there we go um maybe let's get the box out of the way and have another have another look at the console by itself because i do think it looks pretty cool um it's very very neat it's going to fit under the tv in a really nice way i think if i have a sort of house where i don't really want it to be kind of scene that i've got lots of consoles lots of games and things this is definitely kind of the one that i'd want to go for because it just looks like it's gonna slide under your tv and basically sit there completely unnoticed the series x and again i haven't seen it in person yet but it is bigger and it looks like you've got a thing there so this one might be a bit um a bit more inconspicuous and i think same goes for the ps5 because it's got that quite sort of futuristic design with sort of the colors and stuff as well maybe that i think looks more like a console this kind of looks like it could be sort of anything okay right we have a getting started guys and more packaging again this is cardboard this is recyclable it's very good i am not tolerating any company which is going to ship things with unrecyclable single-use plastic that isn't okay anymore um we've got hdmi cable because of course we have we've got a power plug uk spec of course um the uk has the best plug shape and that's all there is to it that goes there and of course we've got the new controller so we can crack this shiny new friend open get it out of the recyclable packaging that's not going to stay clean and white for long that's going to have biscuit crumbs tea coffee jam smeared all over it within a few days um and then of course we've got product and regulatory guide i'm not going to read this who does absolutely no one let's get it out of here what's this though i mean it looks like one of those do not disturb signs that you hang on your hotel room door when you're uh still sitting on the toilet for 45 minutes and you don't want to come in and clean um i'm not going to read out all this because who cares i want to hold the controller though it does feel very nice it feels pretty much unchanged from the last one it is all plastic i was you know i'd quite like a nice rubberized soft touch uh feel but yeah i think i could get away with uh with using this for a little while nice d-pad buttons button usb-c for charging and connecting that's good none of this usb micro usb nonsense and takes batteries which will be rechargeable ones so although i still think that maybe they could just make the controller itself rechargeable would that be too much to ask stop people relying on batteries all the time i don't know uh tell me in the comments if you think i'm a fool a fool but that's it that's for a lot we can bring this back in let's get rid of the console the cables these they're gone uh let's get rid of mr cutty knife as well and maybe just move my microphone out of the way so we can get a a nicer top-down view it's all about the top down isn't it this is it this is the xbox series x i think it looks really nice i visually i prefer the look of the series s over the series x it looks cleaner it looks neater it's certainly smaller i like the the white controller i think looks pretty cool um but the xbox series x is of course the bigger more powerful one it does 4k or 8k it does better frame rates it does all the stuff you basically expect from proper next-gen gaming so i'm very much looking forward to getting hold of that but that is everything on the xbox series s if you have enjoyed this make sure to hit that like button subscribe to cnet for a lot more gaming stuff and i gonna finish my coffee and fire this up\n"