The console shows off the advantages of 4K: remarkable clarity, minute details and lifelike textures. I could make out the consistency of the motor oil Charlize Theron smears across her face as war paint.

Please note: Although it will still continue to receive games, with the release of the new-gen consoles Series X and the more affordable model Series S, the One S and its generation is now rather obsolete, so we would highly recommend going for the aforementioned new consoles to play the newest games with the best possible performance and graphics. There is not the same huge change in graphics as with the similarly-timed, mid-generation refresh that is the PS4 Pro, and the Xbox's mid-gen upgrade that is the One X. The graphics here are pretty much the same as the original Xbox One one and they are only upscaled from 1080p and sometimes even lower, which is certainly not “native 4K”, as it is known. The final feature worth mentioning here is Cortana, a feature that works similarly to Siri on iOS, tvOS and OSX, or Google Assistant on Android devices. Cortana can field commands like "Invite my friend Dave to a party" or "Pull up my achievements." Using Cortana is a more intuitive way of controlling and navigating Xbox One, and is a major step forward from the previous Kinect-only voice commands. The Xbox One has had a total makeover, and it’s a huge improvement. Microsoft hasn’t confirmed what the “S” stands for, but we’re taking a guess at “slim”. The case is 40% smaller, which makes the Xbox One S only a little bigger than a PS4, and smaller than the dinkiest of mini-ITX PCs.

An IR blaster has been added to the front. That’s Microsoft’s way of increasing the Xbox One S’ multimedia capabilities.The IR blaster lets you set the Xbox One S to turn on other devices, such as your TV or home-cinema amplifier. It’s a nice idea, but I still found myself using the dedicated remotes as they’re less unpredictable. Of course, the obvious downside is that anyone who recently bought an Xbox One is now faced with a difficult and expensive decision: is the upgraded performance, 4K HDR streaming and 2TB of storage worth re-buying the system? If you've already got a number of original Xbox One controllers lying around, thankfully you won't have to replace them with the new controllers: they'll work just fine with the new console. Xbox One S review - As a platform The Xbox One S is a subtle upgrade to the existing Xbox One, rather than a proper successor. Don’t be fooled, though, because it has more than a few surprises in store. The best value in games and entertainment Whether you're watching 4K movies, or streaming gameplay, there's never been a better time to game with Xbox One.

The Xbox One S is a superb upscaler. The picture is super-sharp, with some nicely defined edges and little in the way of jagged edges. Only the finer textures appeared a little blurry. On the whole, however, the machine does an excellent job of making 1080p content look good in 4K. As for power, the pad works on AA batteries. They last a good while, so I don’t mind them. Some people prefer the Sony PS4 controller’s built-in battery approach. It may be more environmentally friendly, but the battery has proved to be poor and I’m forever having to plug it in. I wish Microsoft would ship controllers with its “Play and Charge” kits – it would be a good compromise. The Xbox One S doubles as a UHD Blu-ray player. As far as I’m concerned, that’s the real reason to consider getting one. Some apps require app provider-specific subscriptions and/or other requirements. See www.xbox.com/live. The chipset may be the same as before, but the GPU frequency has increased from 853MHz to 914MHz. This may allow for a minor improvement in performance, but Microsoft says it isn’t supposed to be a selling point. Instead, the extra power is there to handle the strain of HDR games.Up to 120 FPS: Requires supported content and display. Use on Xbox Series S as content becomes available. Assuming you’re given the go-ahead for 4K gaming, the Xbox One S will automatically output your games in 4K. But it isn’t native 4K, because Xbox One games only go up to Full HD 1080p. Instead, the Xbox One S upscales the games, which means making up pixels where none exist. Advanced electrical engineering. Moore's Law. A miracle. Call it whatever you want, but the Xbox One S defies what we thought was possible, integrating a massive power supply and an expansive 2TB hard drive into a chassis two-fifths the size of the original – 17 x 11.4 x 4.4 inches (L x W x D) if you want to know specifics. How Microsoft pulled it off, we'll never know. The Xbox One S is a great match for an Ultra HD TV, although it doesn't quite have a complete edge on Sony's PS4 Pro.The biggest upgrade is a graphical one – 4K resolution. The Xbox One S can either upscale all content to 3,840 x 2,160 for you, or you can leave that to your TV. Access to Online Multiplayer: Xbox Live Gold (sold separately) required for online multiplayer on Xbox consoles.