Xbox One S
Variant of Xbox One
- Manufacturer
- Microsoft
- Released
- 2016
- Generation
- Gen 8
- Type
- Home
- Launch price
- $299
- Units sold
- 58.5M
About Xbox One S
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Australia, and South America in November 2013 and in Japan, China, and other European countries in September 2014. It is the first Xbox game console to be released in China, specifically in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone. Microsoft marketed the device as an "all-in-one entertainment system", hence the name "Xbox One". An eighth-generation console, it mainly competed against Sony's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's Wii U and later the Nintendo Switch.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Library & collector facts
2,400licensed games
- North America: 2,200
- Japan: 800
- PAL: 2,100
What's different from Xbox One
- 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray playback (first console with native UHD-BD)
- HDR10 video output for games and media
- Built-in IR blaster (vs. external dongle on Phat)
- Smaller chassis (~40% volume reduction)
- Internal power supply (vs. external power brick)
- Vertical stand support
- Kinect port — dedicated Kinect connector deleted; Kinect now requires $40 USB adapter
- External power brick (improvement, not loss for most users)
- hdr gpu: Original GCN 1.2 → slightly upclocked GCN with HDR output support — most games not HDR-enhanced unless patched
- controller: Original Xbox One controller → updated controller with textured grip and Bluetooth
- form factor: Large black brick with external power brick → smaller white matte with internal PSU
Lineage
Pricing
Launch price (2016)
- 🇺🇸 USD
- $299
Controller
Xbox Wireless Controller / Kinect
Launch titles & exclusives
Dead Rising 3 · Forza Motorsport 5 · Ryse: Son of Rome · Killer Instinct (F2P) · Lococycle · Powerstar Golf · Crimson Dragon · Zoo Tycoon · FIFA 14 · Madden NFL 25 · NBA 2K14 · Call of Duty: Ghosts · Battlefield 4 · Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
FIFA 14 (NA/EU launch bundle); various Day One Edition bundles included Forza or Dead Rising 3
Halo: The Master Chief Collection · Halo 5: Guardians · Halo Infinite (also PC/Series) · Forza Motorsport / Horizon series · Gears of War 4 / Ultimate Edition (also PC) · Gears 5 (also PC) · Sunset Overdrive (originally; later PC) · Sea of Thieves (also PC) · Quantum Break (also PC) · Recore · Crackdown 3 · Ori and the Will of the Wisps (also PC/Switch)
Still receiving cross-gen releases as of 2026; Microsoft has effectively merged Xbox One and Series support timelines
Day One 2013 Edition sealed (~$300+); Halo 5 Limited Edition; Project Scorpio (Xbox One X) Day One Edition sealed (~$400+); Taco Bell limited Xbox One X (~$500+)
Hardware specs
- Cpu
- Original & S: 1.75 GHz 8-core AMD APU (2 × quad-core Jaguar (microarchitecture), Jaguar modules), X: 2.3 GHz 8-core AMD APU (2 × quad-core Jaguar (microarchitecture), Evolved Jaguar modules)
- Gpu
- AMD Radeon (built into APU), Original: GCN 853 MHz, 1.3 TFLOPS, S: GCN 914 MHz, 1.4 TFLOPS, X: GCN 40 CUs @ 1.172 GHz, 6 TFLOPS
- Ram
- Original & S: 8 GB DDR3 (5 GB available to games), X: 12 GB GDDR5 (9 GB available to games)
- Sound
- 7.1 surround sound, Dolby Atmos, DTS:X
- Os
- Xbox System Software
Hardware revisions
- Original Xbox One (Durango)(2013)
integrated Kinect 2.0 forced into every box
⚠ large boxy aesthetic, ~$499 launch
- Xbox One S(2016)
smaller redesign, 4K Blu-ray drive, HDR support, no Kinect port (adapter required)
- Xbox One X (Project Scorpio)(2017)
most powerful console of generation (6 TFLOPS GPU), 4K native target, $499 USD — first true 'mid-gen Pro' refresh alongside PS4 Pro
- Xbox One S All-Digital Edition(2019)
no disc drive, $249
Launch colorways & special editions
- Gears of War 4 Limited Edition (red, 2016)
- Halo Wars 2 Limited (blue, 2017)
- Battlefield 1 Military Green (2016)
- Minecraft Limited Edition (2017)
- PUBG Bundle
- Forza Horizon 4 Bundle
- NBA 2K Bundle
- Sea of Thieves Bundle
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Bundle
Modding scene
- Difficulty
- hard-mod
- Custom firmware
- No public CFW for Xbox One generation; Dev Mode allows UWP sideloading (limited);
Reception & legacy
Disastrous reveal — May 2013 announcement focused on TV, Kinect, and DRM (24-hour check-in requirement, used-game restrictions), causing a PR catastrophe vs PS4; Microsoft reversed nearly all DRM policies within weeks; sales never fully recovered
Kinect port removal was the final nail for Kinect — requiring a $40 adapter killed Kinect's already-fading user base; some 4K HDR-marketed games received only modest visual updates; criticized as 'half step' compared to Xbox One X just a year later
The generation that taught Microsoft to fix Xbox messaging — directly produced Phil Spencer's leadership pivot, Game Pass, and the Series consoles' cleaner relaunch; commercial loss to PS4 reshaped Xbox's entire strategy toward services and acquisitions
References
More from Microsoft
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Xbox One S in the news
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