If you’re not sure you need the Blu-ray drive and prefer to keep your consoles streamlined, the digital-only Xbox is on the way.
There’s a new Xbox on the way, though it might not be what you’re expecting. In fact, it includes one less feature than the standard Xbox One S you can find today.
A little bit different, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is an Xbox without an optical drive, meaning it can’t take the Xbox discs nor can it take Blu-ray discs. Even though video game systems offer a pretty capable Blu-ray experience these days, the Xbox One S Digital can’t because it lacks the hardware to make it happen.
Rather, this new Xbox is all about downloads, because that’s all it can run. Forget buying used discs from your local EB, and instead look to the online Xbox store where you can expect to find downloads, or even the Xbox Game Pass with a list of games you can play for a monthly fee.
If you don’t game, you’ll find video catered for over Netflix, Stan, and Amazon, to name a few, with movies working on the console in 4K HDR, but not games.
Sadly, 4K Xbox games will only run on the Xbox One X, with the premium console keeping the Blu-ray drive with support for 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays, the only console to do so.
However what Microsoft is hoping the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition offers is value. Specifically, the Digital-only Xbox One S will arrive in stores across Australia with three digital titles (Minecraft, Forza Horizon 3, and Sea of Thieves) for $349 with a 1TB drive, a difference of about $30 for the Blu-ray equipped Xbox One S without the games or $399 with some games.
That may make the Xbox One S All-Digital a little less compelling, though if price is the deciding factor, we could see the argument. The Blu-ray version makes more sense in the long term, but if you don’t care about Blu-rays, used games, and live off the web using services such as Netflix, Stan, and plan to only buy digital games, saving a bit of money might make sense.
You’ll be able to make your own mind up soon enough, though, with the Xbox One S All-Digital landing in stores from August 1.
