"position":4,
"title":"Worth absolutely every penny.",
"rating":5,
"date":"February 17, 2021",
"source":"Austen",
"provided_by":"Best Buy",
"body":"If you've wanted to truly enjoy console gaming how it was intended to be played, you haven't experienced it unless you have this Xbox. I originally was on the classic Xbox One for a while, until eventually upgrading to the Xbox One X in early 2020. While it certainly was better in many ways from the previous console, it didn't FEEL just right - it still felt like I was being held back from truly playing games the way they were intended.This is by far the complete opposite, the Series X has been my best purchase for console gaming so far. I do plan to get the PS5 down the road when it's back in stock consistently, but honestly - this is my preferred place to play, I'm only getting the PS5 for the novelty and exclusives.To start, the SSD is a game changer. If you've ever felt that your consoles have taken longer than necessary to load even the simplest tasks - i.e. checking menus across the home, loading apps, and loading times in games - you will 1000% notice and appreciate just how speedy this console is. Everything is buttery smooth. It takes quite literally 2 full seconds to go from the Xbox being completely turned off, to having full control and being able to scroll through the menus. If I had 15 seconds to spare, I could turn the console on, check for updates manually, maybe even glance through the store, and turn it off. Essentially, this thing boots up and is functional about as quickly as your phone. NOTHING STUTTERS OR BUFFERS. I am absolutely stunned at how noticeable this improvement is. This also helps an amazing amount in games. After running some tests with my One X and the Series X, EVERYTHING LOADS EXPONENTIALLY FASTER. Switching cars in Forza Horizon 4 is a breeze, photo mode in games takes half a second, pictures of anything on the console (like game icons, or pictures in games/the store) show up instantly.As for power, consider me stunned. I do have a PC with an RTX 3070, and I'm still in awe at how this this thing is on the market for just $500... If you don't care for PC gaming but want the power to run some console games, spring for it, you will NOT regret it. If developers allow, every single game has stable/improved framerates and I'm quite sure it can handle every single game at 60fps, it mostly depends on how lazy or efficient the developers of each game are. Of the developers that optimize their games, I have had practically no games run at 1080p30, everything either runs very very well at 4k, or extremely stable 60fps, on many occasions I have played several games at a buttery smooth and crisp 4k60, like We Happy Few, AC: Valhalla, Call of the Sea, Forza Horizon 4, Grounded, Rocket League, Fortnite, Rogue Company, Sea of Thieves, Tetris Effect, and Windbound. Cyberpunk runs buttery smooth, but I would wait until the glitches are sorted out, it also can tend to look funny, I don't think the graphics look as good as they can get, but it's very much playable on performance mode. Watch Dogs Legion takes advantage of Ray Tracing, which is why it runs at 4k30, but that's still fantastic. This is just in the first few months too, I cannot wait to see how many more games take advantage of the power in this system.Games are great, and if you want a good deal, look no further. I bought a year's worth of Xbox live Gold, and then bought one month of Game Pass Ultimate, applying them in that order to your account will give you over a year of GAME PASS ULTIMATE. Game pass has been an absolutely fantastic service, and I've discovered several amazing titles on there, it truly has lots of variety. As for exclusives, I honestly think this has a better footing than PlayStation this time around. Now, PlayStation had plenty of fantastic exclusives for the PS4, and I played these all on my PS4 Pro, so I would like to say I'm not biased, but I can genuinely say the Xbox has a better lineup of titles, and will continue to have better titles as time goes on, I'm very confident with the direction Microsoft is taking Xbox, and it looks very promising. I don't have a PS5 yet so of course you have to use your due diligence if you're debating between the two, but I don't see much of a benefit by going to PlayStation as far as I'm aware. I'm not even done with the review too, there's so much to talk about.The cooling system is absolutely phenomenal. Even when running games at 4k60, 4k30RT, or super intensive games, I cannot get any more than a whisper out of this thing, the fan is dead silent, it's literally quieter than my notebook laptop most of the time, even during intense gameplay. I put my hand over it to feel the heat and I hardly feel that much, especially compared to the cooling in the One X, which was far louder in comparison, with the heat making the back of the console a literal pain to touch. Even after hours of intense graphical gameplay, I don't think I could get this thing to get "hot", it hardly gets warm as it is. Microsoft wasn't lying about the cooling system, it's genuinely impressive, I can guarantee you will not hear this fan, even without headphones, it's quieter than my Switch 100% of the time.Ergonomics are not something you think about, but this design has seriously grown on me. At the reveal, I thought the console was far too basic, but right now I'm in love with how cleannnnnn it looks on my shelf. It's not too big, not too chunky, and just tall enough, although I wish the Series S was just a cube lol. If you're iffy on the design, just wait until it blends perfectly onto your shelf or stand - although I must warn everyone considering that it probably won't fit in your shelf, so you may want to think of a different spot to place it. It also doesn't look the best on its side, so I would recommend a vertical space. For a height reference, it's just above half the vertical length of my 43" TV, hope it helps. It's also a bit denser than you may expect, but it's not really "heavy."Overall, this delivers phenomenally. For $500, I can guarantee you will be happy with this for at least 3/4 more years. So if you're on the fence and want something to last, and may not usually care about the newest tech, get it - trust me. The Series S is not a wise investment as it'll just be functionally outdated soon enough, but you will not be disappointed and this thing'll last for a loooooong time. Jump the gun and go for it, yes you! The graphical capabilities are unreal for the price, the future looks very promising, and after being in love with the PS4 exclusives, I can guarantee you will likely find more enjoyment out of the Xbox this time around, it's doing very well, although I don't think the PS5 is anywhere near bad, just take my suggestion with a grain of salt. If you're sick of loading, this is your godsend, take it and run.Hope this helped anyone on the fence. I absolutely would recommend. ",