Xbox Series X and S: Everything you need to know about Microsoft's next-generation console – and how it compares to PS5
Microsoft has been far more forthcoming than Sony about its new console. It has said that people in the company are already playing on it – and those people you’re playing against online could actually be using it – though plenty of details still remain unknown.
Here’s everything you need to know about Microsoft’s new and next-generation console. (You can find the same guide to the PS5 here.)
Price
As with the PlayStation, we know basically nothing about the price. Microsoft hasn’t said anything officially and there hasn’t been much in terms of leaks – it is possible that it not only unannounced, but not even fully decided yet.
Most likely, the console will be somewhere in the region of $450-$600, or perhaps the same in pounds. It will probably be very similar to the PlayStation 5.
But it is also possible that there will be another version of the console, which will be cheaper than the Xbox Series X – that could either lead the main version to be more expensive, or the less expensive one to be even cheaper than expected. (There’s more on that console, the Xbox Series S, below.)
Xbox boss Phil Spencer did tell the BBC that he was aware the console would be coming into a difficult environment, amid the coronavirus outbreak and tough economic times, and that as a result it was asking itself how to make the console as affordable as possible.
Release date
The Series X will arrive in “November”, Microsoft said in its latest release update.
Until then, it had only been referring to the release date as “Holiday 2020”, just like the PlayStation 5. That had led to speculation it could be anytime between the beginning of October or deep into December.
Rumours have suggested that the November release could be early in November – there have been reports that retailers had been told to keep devices away from view until the 6th of the month, though it’s not clear whether that will be the date that they would go on sale or just the time at which it will be fully unveiled.
How to pre-order or buy
The Xbox Series X is not yet available to pre-order, let alone buy. Microsoft hasn’t said anything about how people will be able to do so, when it is available, but there is no reason to think that the console won’t be made available in the same way as every other Xbox; either through third-party retailers or from Microsoft directly.
Sony has offered a strange pre-order process for its PlayStation 5, making the console available through its website to select people who must be chosen through a largely unexplained process. Microsoft is not offering anything of that kind yet.
Design
Though Microsoft has only spoken publicly about the Xbox Series X, it also appeared to be planning another console, known as the Xbox Series S and previously codenamed Lockhart. The existence of that console has been revealed in a range of apparent mistakes by Microsoft, including mentions of the name in official materials, but is yet to be publicly confirmed.
The Series S will presumably have the same relation to the Series X as the Xbox One S did to the Xbox One X. That is, it will be cheaper, but not as powerful and missing some features.
The different version appears to be part of a philosophical change for Microsoft, which seems to be considering the next-generation more as an evolution that an entirely new and separate revolution. That can be seen in its commitment to backwards compatibility between the current and incoming consoles, as well as in the “series" part of the name, which has led to some speculation that the company is leaving itself space for a whole host of different hardware.
Controllers and accessories
Microsoft hasn’t said all that much about accessories for the new console. While Sony has revealed a flurry of different things – from 3D headsets to cameras – Microsoft mostly hasn’t.
It has revealed the controller. Unlike the “radically different” one that Sony has released for the PlayStation, the Xbox controller will be almost identical – the major differences are better ergonomics, improved cross-device connectivity, a button to share content more easily and reduced latency.
Microsoft has confirmed that there will be complete backward compatibility with its own official accessories. Any first-party accessory that works with the Xbox One will work with the Series X, it said in a blog post, and most major third-party ones should, too.
The company has also announced that it will be relaunching its Designed For Xbox scheme, under which Microsoft and third-party companies work together to ensure that products work properly on the Xbox. Anything with the new version of the tag will work on the new console, it said.
