Microsoft’s Xbox One S has been confirmed to release on August 2nd 2016. For Blu-ray and other videos it supports 4K recordings. With accommodation of HDR gaming it seems to be more powerful than Xbox One. Read on to know how Xbox One S stands better than Xbox One. 

Xbox One S Price: A 2TB version is available for launch in $399. The 500GB and 1TB versions will be followed later.

Smaller Size: The original Xbox One is at 333mm x 276mm x 78mm which is slightly in the dominating size of a PS4 but the Xbox One S is 40% smaller than its predecessor which entices the buyers in the market. The inbuilt power supply makes it doubly impressive compared to the painful brick power supply in Xbox One.

4K UHD and HDR: You can now play videos from playback streaming services like Amazon, Netflix, etc., with the help of 4K video playback option. Now enjoy the Blu-ray videos too in your TV because the Xbox One S has 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray built-in. For AV fans, this feature makes it a must-buy that too with a smaller range of pricing. To gain the full potential of your TV, anyone would say, the Xbox One S would be a jackpot. The original Xbox One is also capable of 4K gaming and video, but with HDMI 1.4a port that results in problems for some videos and some games are unsupported with 4K at 30Hz. But now, the Xbox One adds support for HDMI 2.0a with 4K at 60hz output, which means deeper color space which allows the HDR for a full rundown.

Performance: On a less happy note, the Xbox One S will not mark to be a new generation console architecture. The new Xbox One S has an additional CPU and GPU power that only improves the frame rates, but the graphics remain intact as in the predecessor. The extra processing power helps in games that want to run in HDR. Other than this, it isn’t more powerful than the Xbox One.

Upscaling Games: Microsoft neglected to mention the ability of the Xbox One S of upscale games to 4K which means it will be able to offer a level of gaming at a higher resolution than its predecessor, but it won’t quite be as good as native 4K.

No Kinect Port: The Xbox One S ditches the port for Kinect. This isn’t a huge loss, assuming that the USB adapter will be sold separately for the buyers who want to use.

Presence of IR Blaster: Instead of the Kinect port, the Xbox One S comes with an integrated IR blaster which helps you to turn on devices like TV, AV, receiver, etc. The target is to reduce the number of remotes, which is quite neat.

Bluetooth in the new Controller: Incredible Xbox One S controller has a textured grip with exchangeable covers to feel its new all the time, now has Bluetooth to use it as a wireless PC. Awesome, right? There is a built in controller, but you can buy one separately too.

So should you upgrade? No doubt, the Xbox One S is overall qualified for an upgrade, with slim case, better console, making it a desirable device, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player built in.

Microsoft has given convincing features for you to upgrade from the old Xbox One, with a tempting offer and extra features, unless you want to wait for solid take on Project Scorpio.