On the outside, there does not appear to be much difference. If you look under the bonnet, you will see a redesigned motherboard and cooling system, new 6 nm chips, and reduced energy consumption.
The new 2 TB Xbox Series X models are slightly lighter than the original (4.14 kg vs 4.36 kg), while the all-digital Xbox Series X weighs only 3.65 kg due to the absence of an optical drive. Work in the new all-digital Xbox Series X was a doddle. Vole removed the drive and covered the hole in the shell without connectors on the motherboard for the optical drive.
Another critical hardware change is the revamped cooling. As in the original model, the updated Series X consoles use radiators with traditional copper pipes instead of a vapour chamber. The new cooler is 100 grams lighter than the vapour chamber, explaining the weight difference.
The motherboard has been redesigned. It no longer has a shield for the SSD and includes a new bracket and various changes for the smaller components. Finally, the latest consoles feature smaller 6 nm chips (the original has a 7 nm APU), requiring less power to deliver the same level of performance. This means that the new Xbox consoles draw about 10 per cent less juice.
There are virtually no differences between the consoles in terms of fan noise or heat levels, indicating that the more efficient chips compensate for the slightly inferior cooling solution without sacrificing acoustic comfort or temperature levels.
The new Xbox Series X and S consoles are now available from the Microsoft Store. The 2 TB Special Edition Xbox Series X is priced at $599, the digital-only Xbox Series X at $449, and the 1 TB Xbox Series S at $349.