The Xbox Series S mid-life refresh is a toaster?

[Cal Jeffrey]

WTF?! You can now get an Xbox Series S toaster to go with your Xbox Series X refrigerator. Microsoft quietly launched a two-slice bread toaster modeled after its digital-only console. In addition to looking like a Series S, it emblazons your toast, frozen waffles, bagels, or English muffins with the Xbox logo. Talk about product placement.

The Xbox Series S toaster was first spotted in France about nine months ago. Presumably, it did well enough there that Microsoft figured it would offer it more widely. It is currently available at Walmart for $40, which isn't a bad price for a fanboy toaster, so long as scalpers don't start buying up entire allotments and try flipping them for three times the price.

While its iconic black grill vent makes it generally look like its console counterpart, its additional width, rubber feet on the bottom, and toaster controls on the side give the illusion away. Sorry, you won't fool anyone into thinking you modded your Xbox to cook your bread.

In addition to six toasting levels, it has a defrost button for perfectly crisping your Eggos straight from the freezer. Instead of two slots, it has one slot wide enough to fit two slices of bread. A bagel button tells the toaster to cook thicker breads like rubber biscuits or English muffins a tad longer. The device also has an LED countdown timer to let you know when to have your butter knife ready.

Toasting the Xbox logo into your bread is clever but not all that unique. Two years ago, Bungie released a Destiny-themed toaster for a Saint Jude fundraiser that etched the Destiny logo on bread. The main difference is that with the Series S toaster, the Xbox emblem is inverse, so your toast is more evenly cooked than Bungie's burnt-in logo on mostly untoasted bread (below).

The Xbox Series S toaster is the second kitchen appliance from Microsoft's gaming division. Jokes and memes about the Series X looking like a refrigerator flooded social media shortly after the gaming division unveiled its two next-gen consoles. Xbox took the light-hearted ribbing in stride, even poking fun with its own meme.

However, Microsoft took it to a whole nuhva level when it gave Snoop Dogg a full-size Xbox Series X refrigerator for his birthday, packed with a Series X cake and plenty of Gin and Juice. Redmond then went on to launch a limited-edition mini fridge. Unfortunately, the $99 cooler was snapped up by scalpers only 10 minutes after going on sale and immediately began appearing on auction sites for $300 or more.

Scalper activity for the toaster has so far been low, with only a few listings on eBay selling for between $50 and $100. As of publishing, you can still pick up an Xbox Series S toaster from Walmart for $40 with free shipping, so steer clear of secondhand sales.

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[Stingy McDuck]

I think Microsoft is sending a message. I think they want to get into household appliances.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The S is just pointless. It sucks at playing games compared to the X, it hold back development with tiny RAM capacities, and it cant play blu rays or DVDs, making it terrible as a media center.

I think Microsoft is sending a message. I think they want to get into household appliances.

*please drink your mountain dew verification can to access your fridge*
*sorry, you sad the word "fudge" while playing halo 3 years ago. Your oven is now banned.*

 

[texasrattler]

The S is just pointless. It sucks at playing games compared to the X, it hold back development with tiny RAM capacities, and it cant play blu rays or DVDs, making it terrible as a media center.

*please drink your mountain dew verification can to access your fridge*
*sorry, you sad the word "fudge" while playing halo 3 years ago. Your oven is now banned.*

Is the S and X that big of a difference? I'm no console gamer but I've heard there isn't that big of a difference in the 2 consoles.

As for the lack DVD or bluray, who uses that anymore. Streaming is so big these days, most just use a fire stick to get all their content or have a smart TV that gives them the alls they need.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Is the S and X that big of a difference? I'm no console gamer but I've heard there isn't that big of a difference in the 2 consoles.

As for the lack DVD or bluray, who uses that anymore. Streaming is so big these days, most just use a fire stick to get all their content or have a smart TV that gives them the alls they need.

It's as big of a difference as a RTX 4060 and RTX 4090. Games run at 4k30/108p60 on the series X, and 1080p30 with dithering and heavily reduced details on the S with major framerate dips. Digital Foundry videos showing the two paints a nasty picture.

As for DVD, sales of physical media have held steady for years now. Marketshare has decreased, but sales have not. There are many of us that dont want to pay $20 a month to 7 different streaming services for a dithered compressed video steam, assuming it hasnt been censored or removed, when we could just own what good media exists on disk with superior video and audio quality. That's before we get to the 4k argument. Physical media is still a selling point, after all the X and PS5 both have them, and standalone players continue to sell. Some of us would like an all in one box that can do this stuff, but MS decided to release a neutered box that can barely play games and also cant run physical media. It's a failure with no purpose.

 

[yRaz]

It's as big of a difference as a RTX 4060 and RTX 4090. Games run at 4k30/108p60 on the series X, and 1080p30 with dithering and heavily reduced details on the S with major framerate dips. Digital Foundry videos showing the two paints a nasty picture.

As for DVD, sales of physical media have held steady for years now. Marketshare has decreased, but sales have not. There are many of us that dont want to pay $20 a month to 7 different streaming services for a dithered compressed video steam, assuming it hasnt been censored or removed, when we could just own what good media exists on disk with superior video and audio quality. That's before we get to the 4k argument. Physical media is still a selling point, after all the X and PS5 both have them, and standalone players continue to sell. Some of us would like an all in one box that can do this stuff, but MS decided to release a neutered box that can barely play games and also cant run physical media. It's a failure with no purpose.

I love reading the comments of people who can't comprehend that someone may enjoy something in a different way from them.

For me, it's physical copies of books. I always prefer a physical book to an ebook despite the fact that I can often get the ebooks steeply discounted or even for free. I also like going to a library or a book store with no idea of what I want to read rather than Amazon just recommend things to me.

 

[Burty117]

I love reading the comments of people who can't comprehend that someone may enjoy something in a different way from them.

This isn’t a different way though, this is a fundamentally underpowered machine that isn’t experienced in a different way from the higher powered machine.

Instead, it’s the same experience but a much lower quality to the detriment of the media it’s supposed to play (games).

The reason Baulders Gate 3 took ages to release on Xbox is because they had trouble getting it running on the S and even when they did, split-screen was scrapped for the S version.

 

[emmzo]

They probably sold more toasters than consoles at this point, so, good idea, MS! Do what you're best at!

 

[RudyBob]

I love toasters. This is cool

 

[yRaz]

This isn’t a different way though, this is a fundamentally underpowered machine that isn’t experienced in a different way from the higher powered machine.

Instead, it’s the same experience but a much lower quality to the detriment of the media it’s supposed to play (games).

The reason Baulders Gate 3 took ages to release on Xbox is because they had trouble getting it running on the S and even when they did, split-screen was scrapped for the S version.

I was responding to people liking physical media compared to streaming services. But I can agree that the Xbox series S is a stupid product especially considering that the price difference isn't that great.

 

[Nobina]

Refreshing a budget friendly console isn't so budget friendly.

 

[texasrattler]

I love reading the comments of people who can't comprehend that someone may enjoy something in a different way from them.

For me, it's physical copies of books. I always prefer a physical book to an ebook despite the fact that I can often get the ebooks steeply discounted or even for free. I also like going to a library or a book store with no idea of what I want to read rather than Amazon just recommend things to me.

Who cant comprehend anything? Anyone can have an opinion. You may not agree with it but comprehension has nothing to do with it.
If you like something good for you but others may not or don't have need for it.

 

[texasrattler]

They probably sold more toasters than consoles at this point, so, good idea, MS! Do what you're best at!

They make $, that's what they are good at. It's the whole point of business. In business you also evolve. Last I checked they have been evolving since '99. At one point no one, no one could see MS in the console market. Yet, here there are. Playing against the biggest competitor. they have one of the best online services and it makes them a lot of money. So yes they do what they're best at, making $$$.

 

[Burty117]

They make $, that's what they are good at. It's the whole point of business. In business you also evolve. Last I checked they have been evolving since '99. At one point no one, no one could see MS in the console market. Yet, here there are. Playing against the biggest competitor. they have one of the best online services and it makes them a lot of money. So yes they do what they're best at, making $$$.

They were beating the competition in the 360 days, then lost everything with the Xbox One and now they struggle to produce any games worth buying.

Oh, and their hardware is more expensive than the competitions for seemingly no reason.

Is that evolution? Or devolution?

 

[texasrattler]

They were beating the competition in the 360 days, then lost everything with the Xbox One and now they struggle to produce any games worth buying.

Oh, and their hardware is more expensive than the competitions for seemingly no reason.

Is that evolution? Or devolution?

MS has stated several times during the lifespan of Xbox, their focus was never on hardware. Sure they made a device that could compete but they weren't going for #1 or anything like that. They make money on gaming accessories and services, which is big for them.

 

[Burty117]

MS has stated several times during the lifespan of Xbox, their focus was never on hardware. Sure they made a device that could compete but they weren't going for #1 or anything like that. They make money on gaming accessories and services, which is big for them.

Yes but that’s MS’s own copium isn’t it? It’s just a lie so the share holders still feel warm inside because let’s look at my own spending habits over the years:

PS2 - bought many games and accessories, Sony made money off me.

Xbox 360 - bought many games and accessories, even a subscription to Xbox Live, Microsoft made money off me.

PS4 - bought many games and accessories, subscribed to PS Plus, Sony made money off me.

PS5 - bought games and accessories, stayed subscribed to PS Plus, Sony continues to make money from me.

You see where I’m going with this? Microsoft can say they don’t care about console hardware sales, but without them, what accessories / services are they selling? What licensing money are they raking in if there’s no games being purchased?

I think the only Microsoft Xbox stuff I’ve purchased since Xbox One is a couple of controllers for the PC and some PC ports of Gears of War? Oh and the Halo boxset on Steam.

Microsoft probably made 10x more money from me when I had an Xbox 360 and they had some good games worth buying.

 

[godrilla]

Think outside the Xbox .

 

[texasrattler]

Yes but that’s MS’s own copium isn’t it? It’s just a lie so the share holders still feel warm inside because let’s look at my own spending habits over the years:

PS2 - bought many games and accessories, Sony made money off me.

Xbox 360 - bought many games and accessories, even a subscription to Xbox Live, Microsoft made money off me.

PS4 - bought many games and accessories, subscribed to PS Plus, Sony made money off me.

PS5 - bought games and accessories, stayed subscribed to PS Plus, Sony continues to make money from me.

You see where I’m going with this? Microsoft can say they don’t care about console hardware sales, but without them, what accessories / services are they selling? What licensing money are they raking in if there’s no games being purchased?

I think the only Microsoft Xbox stuff I’ve purchased since Xbox One is a couple of controllers for the PC and some PC ports of Gears of War? Oh and the Halo boxset on Steam.

Microsoft probably made 10x more money from me when I had an Xbox 360 and they had some good games worth buying.

But they are making $. Maybe to you they don't have good games. Both consoles to me are good. Sony has been in the game a minute. They have some great games. We will see what CoD does for MS.
All I'm saying is MS makes $ and a ton of it. A lot of is from services and accessories. It's where they shine at overall. Games they don't focus on much but maybe that'll be changing, we will see.
Dropping their console to $349 was a good move and it lasted for over a month. I don't know if that helped them any, I'm sure it did some.

 

[Burty117]

But they are making $.

Of course they are, just absolutely nowhere near as much as they could be. As I said, they can pretend all they want that hardware sales doesn't matter, but it absolutely does. No services or accessories to sell if nobody bought the hardware in the first place.

Maybe to you they don't have good games.

Oh they absolutely used to, Microsoft used to produce some great games! I spent my teens years on them, Halo, Fable, Gears of War, Forza Motorsport, Mass Effect, Conker. The hardware was good for multi-platforms as well, Mercenaries, Timesplitters, Star Wars: KotOR, Bioshock. All ran really well on Xbox hardware. Xbox One kinda killed the whole brand very quickly.

All I'm saying is MS makes $ and a ton of it. A lot of is from services and accessories. It's where they shine at overall. Games they don't focus on much but maybe that'll be changing, we will see.
Dropping their console to $349 was a good move and it lasted for over a month. I don't know if that helped them any, I'm sure it did some.

Makes you wonder though, Sony are outselling what, three to one? If Microsoft are supposedly making serious money on "services and accessories", how much money must Sony be raking in?

 

[texasrattler]

Of course they are, just absolutely nowhere near as much as they could be. As I said, they can pretend all they want that hardware sales doesn't matter, but it absolutely does. No services or accessories to sell if nobody bought the hardware in the first place.

Oh they absolutely used to, Microsoft used to produce some great games! I spent my teens years on them, Halo, Fable, Gears of War, Forza Motorsport, Mass Effect, Conker. The hardware was good for multi-platforms as well, Mercenaries, Timesplitters, Star Wars: KotOR, Bioshock. All ran really well on Xbox hardware. Xbox One kinda killed the whole brand very quickly.

Makes you wonder though, Sony are outselling what, three to one? If Microsoft are supposedly making serious money on "services and accessories", how much money must Sony be raking in?

You hear all the time that MS has had very good services for awhile. They have or had better access to online, Sony has resolved some of that but MS has game pass and currently Sony has no answer to it.
Sony could be doing well with services, they don't really say nor does much get reported on.

Does MS care about hardware? I don't think so. It's not in their DNA like Sony n Nintendo. But maybe after a few attempts, their next console will be the next big thing. We will see in a few years what both do with their consoles. This is likely why their services do better and why they are better at it than Sony. Maybe hardware is just something the need time with. The past decade they have been trying, failing and succeeding.