The Xbox Series S announcement was definitely unplanned, considering the leaks arm-twisted Microsoft to make the announcement. Imagine the extent of the content being leaked that made a multi-billion dollar company go ‘Screw it, let’s just make the announcement.’

Regardless, the fact still remains that the console now exists and it will be priced at $299 ERP. A leaked trailer for the console also gave us a closer look at the console’s specifications.

Take a look at the list below to see what the console brings to the table.

• All-Digital
• 1440p at up to 120FPS
• DirectX Raytracing
• Variable Rate Shading
• Variable Refresh Rate
• Ultra-Low Latency
• Custom 512GB SSD
• 4K Streaming Media Playback
• 4K Upscaling for Games

So far, so good. We may not see 4k gameplay for all the games, considering you can expect only so much for $299. But the Series S is still cutting-edge and will be able to run next-gen games. The question is, how many will you be able to have at a time?

ALSO READ- How Will The Xbox Series S and Series X Price Affect The PlayStation 5 Launch?

The Xbox Series S SSD is inadequate?

The custom 512 GB SSD boasts in the Series S boasts lightning-fast load times and game switching. But it is the size that we are concerned about rather than the performance.

512 GB doesn’t really cut it for the next-gen games. Forget next-gen, it doesn’t even make the cut for some of the current generation games.

The best example of this would be the largely popular battle royale game Call Of Duty: Warzone. The size of the game on Xbox is over 200 GB. Considering it is a game that players will play regularly, it will stay on the console for a long time.

Additionally, the updates that come to the game are usually larger than 25 GB. This leaves very little breathing space for other games on the console.

These so-called ‘next-gen’ games will obviously require a lot of space, and you may not be able to have more than 8-10 games at a given time.

Moreover, there is no mention of any kind of expandable storage either. This makes the SSD rather inadequate and makes you wonder if it is even worth it.

Project xCloud could be the saving grace

Although, a lot of fans might argue that the xCloud service will come to the rescue here. It will enable users to play all their favorite games on supported devices other than the consoles.

This will take some weight off Series S’ shoulders. But then, if you already have this alternative, why would you opt for a console in the first place?

The intricacies of this matter are still unclear. Hopefully, we’ll have more clarity once the xCloud service after it launches on September 15.

On the other hand, the Xbox Series X boasts a 1 TB custom SSD with loading times and game switching capabilities similar to the Series S. In addition to this, it also has expandable memory which makes it the more desirable option.

The bottom line is: 512 GB is not enough. The Series S may have an edge over PlayStation as Sony doesn’t have a lesser, cheaper counterpart of the PlayStation 5. But it doesn’t change the fact that the console’s SSD is a tad bit inadequate.

Although, if it has an expandable storage option, it will definitely be the clear winner. Microsoft will hopefully reveal more details and answer a lot of questions soon enough.