Xbox One S: 4K Blu-ray and more for just $549

After some rumbling and rumours, Microsoft revealed its next iteration of the popular Xbox console at the E3 gaming convention at the start of June.

It’s not a brand new generation of console, but instead a bit of an upgrade from the current Xbox One. But those little tweaks add up to a big difference!

If you’re not much of a gamer you might not know that these days videogame consoles are pretty much full blown bits of high-tech entertainment kit, that also happen to play games. The Xbox One S is a great case in point: one of the key new features is that it plays 4K Blu-ray discs.

This new format promises the Ultra High Definition of the 4K standard, along with High Dynamic Range for even more-popping visuals and puts it all on a Blu-ray disc. At the moment the only 4K Blu-ray player you can buy is the Samsung UBD-K8500. It’s a great player, but it’ll set you back $549, which is the same price of the launch edition of the Xbox One S.

For that money, the Xbox also gives you an impressive 2TB of storage, plus plays 4K games and still works with all of the titles and accessories from the original Xbox One.

If you do already have an Xbox, the One S is 40 percent smaller and does away with that massive power brick, plus it comes in a snazzy white rather than the black. There’s a new controller to go with and you can get those for $89.95 each if you want to buy one separately.

It’s all set to hit shops on August 2, although Microsoft are recommending that people pre-order as “availability is limited”.