I was watching the WD footage thinking "OK. I can see the difference. But... would I even notice?".
Only three things put me off:
1. Storage.
2. The lack of meaningful enhancement for most Xbox One titles. Right now, that means it isn't really a huge upgrade from One S. Not to the extend that the Series X is over One X, anyway.
3. Concerns over how well supported it's going to be when it comes to third-party titles. I expect Microsoft will spend time optimising for Series S. But will others? Or will they just to a quick hack job on the Series X/PS5 versions and then say "that'll do"?
1 - Depends on if you want your entire library ready to go on demand, so this comes down to user preference, I feel this has been overhyped as in reality you not going to need more than 10 games ready to fire up (which on average game size is what you can fit on the S). I think its a case fo either getting used to redownloading, or sharing storage with external. I for sure prefer a lower cost of entry with less storage. vs more storage from the get go and a higher cost of entry, 100% on that.
2 - Frame doubler is coming so 30fps one S games boost to 60.
3 - This I dont see as an issue, when I got my base ps4, I used it for 2-3 years, then replaced it with a pro, S owners could do the same at a future date if they decide they need to. That is still better then having to spend more now. The S will outsell the X, so if a developer decides to not support the most popular xbox console, and instead just got for market hype of the top product, then they may pay the price of less copies of their games been sold, I think at the very least they will make sure their games run at a stable frame rate. The S shouldnt need games been recoded, or any other significant work, it will be akin to downscaling visuals like on PC with weaker GPUs.
Series X owners will en masse replace their units anyway when the X pro or X slim is released.
It seems so many enthusiast gamers care too much about visuals now, I still remember the RDR2 release thread, first couple of weeks praise for how beautiful it looks, then after that a realisation that after the initial excitement of how it looks many didnt like the game. I am enjoying lost oddysey and it looks worse than most xbox one games in terms of jaggies, shadow quality etc. Which goes to show its about the game for me, not the graphics.
Also the question? what is a meaningful enhancement to you? It sounds like you are a graphics guy.
One S titles on the series S have more stable framerates, have faster loading times, both of these are meaningful to me. When the update is released it will also have a higher frame cap. Some 'one' games on the series S run smoother than the X ironically because the X has to do 4k vs 900p or 1080p on the S. Unstable frame rate really grates me, its one thing that historically has put me off consoles.
If visual quality is important to you, get the X, if it isnt the S should be fine.
For me, The Series S isn't really next gen, its like a half step.
why? is next gen just dependant on tflops or something?
It has the newer tech cpu, nvme technology, and latest rdna2 gpu tech.
Your argument is a bit like saying a rtx 3060 is last gen because it cannot outperform a 2080ti.
The series S is better than previous model at the same price point. Thats all that matters, its a different market to the £400-500 market.