Microsoft’s Xbox One S Coming in August for $299

As expected, Microsoft has announced a new, smaller, Xbox One console that they are calling the S. The announcement was made at the company’s E3 keynote being held in Los Angeles.

The console will feature a 2TB (for $299 you get a 500 GB version, $399 for 2TB) hard drive, 4k video support, a streamlined controller, an integrated power supply and can be positioned in vertical orientation. The device will also ship in white, the original Xbox One console came in black but there were a couple of white variants with special edition models.

The updated controller has a textured grip, supports Bluetooth and has increased range.

There were rumors that Microsoft would drop the optical drive for the model to help reduce its footprint and cost but that’s not the case here. The size of the device is 40% smaller than the current Xbox One.

If you are interested in buying the Xbox One S, it will cost you $299 and is available in August; pre-orders should be opening up soon.

The question for many will be if they should upgrade their current console to this newer device. The only compelling feature is the addition of 4k video playback and the internal power supply; if that doesn’t pertain to you, then you can likely pass on this update. While the 2TB hard drive is an attractive feature, you can easily add external storage to your existing Xbox One for less than the price of this console.

With that being said, are you planning to buy the new console are you going to hold back and see what is announced next year Scorpio?