The Xbox One S is the console that Microsoft should have made in the first place. Unfortunately, it's come at exactly the wrong time for any serious gamer.
But let's back up a bit. The Xbox One S (for "slim") was revealed earlier this year at the E3 gaming convention and is now available for sale in the UK for £349 .
That price stems from the fact its got two terabytes of on-board storage. Something that becomes well worth having after you've loaded it up with a few top-tier titles.
But be warned; according to Eurogamer the 2TB model is a limited edition and Microsoft has no plans to keep making them. Instead, it'll be the standard 500GB or 1TB models launching in Europe on 22nd September.
That seems to be why GAME is currently charging £549.95 for it .
To be clear, the Xbox One S is not a brand new console. All the internals are (pretty much) the same as the original Xbox One - it's just been given a few performance tweaks and a flashy redesign.
But why the wrong time? Well, Microsoft has already announced ANOTHER Xbox coming next year . That'll be bigger, badder and able to play games in 4K resolution and VR. Which begs the question, why would you buy this one?
That's what we're here to find out.
Design
If, like me, you live in London (or any big urban conurbation) you'll understand space is very, very expensive. Therefore, any effort to reduce the amount of it that something takes up is a blessing.
Microsoft's Xbox One is a great console - but it's also a beast of a box with a gigantic power brick. It makes anyone with a living room of less-than-palatial proportions sink to their knees in terror.
The S is 40% smaller with an integrated power brick. It can also be stood vertically which gives you plenty of new ways to sneak it into your setup. The arctic white look is also very fetching.
Round the back are all the necessary ports you need, although Microsoft has dropped the built-in support for Kinect. As if finally conceding that most people don't really care about motion sensitive gaming any more.
Performance
The Xbox One S can play content in 4K (a.k.a. Ultra HD) definition, providing you've got a 4K capable telly. So it doubles up nicely as a new blu-ray player if you're in the market for one of those.
Gaming is obviously the main draw though and it plays them flawlessly - whether they're Xbox One games or some of the backwards compatible titles for the Xbox 360.
Microsoft has even slightly remodeled the controller to add textured grip. And it can be synched with a Windows 10 PC as well so you can use it to game on that.
The company's tiled user interface is back and there's also it's Cortana virtual assistant built in. It's very easy to get to grips with and previous Xbox users won't have any trouble adjusting to the new setup.
Conclusion
The ultimate question to ask about the Xbox One S is not whether it can do the job - it can - it's whether or not it's worth buying.
And that depends on what camp you fall into. If you're a serious gamer that already has an Xbox (or a PS4 for that matter) then there's really no point. Unless, I suppose, your landlord is downgrading you from a flat to a cupboard and you really need to save space. But barring that, it'd be a better idea to wait until Project Scorpio comes next year.
But, if you're a first-time buyer and not necessarily a heavy gamer then this represents a great purchase. Microsoft has stripped away the stuff you won't care about (Kinect, gigantic power brick) and included the stuff you'll want. Namely, the ability to watch Netflix in 4K and occasionally play a bit of FIFA 17 online.
And, if the £349 price still seems a bit much, the new models will likely be a bit more competitively priced.
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