Thinking about getting a 4K TV for the holidays? You may want to snag an Xbox One S along with it
Amara Fofana knew exactly what he was going to do with his Xbox One S as soon as he got it home. He had just bought a 4K TV, and he couldn’t wait to bring the two together so he could stream some of his favorite shows, such as “Bosch,” “Narcos” and “Marvel’s Luke Cage” on his new ultra-high definition display.
The Xbox One S, the only console with a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player and with High Dynamic Range capabilities, was the perfect choice to help him do that, he says. It gives him a way to experience a 4K display in all its glorious detail – four times the resolution of HD – and also take advantage of the console’s HDR capability which provides deeper colors and richer contrast.
Plus, “the Xbox One S was very important to me because it allows me to have a media center where I can do everything that I want through one device,” says Fofana.
“If I want to watch Netflix, I can watch Netflix in 4K. If I would like to watch a hard copy of an ultra HD movie, I’m capable of doing that – all on one device. So, it became a solution. That’s truly why I enjoy the Xbox One S. It’s not just a game system. You can do pretty much anything you need on there.”
The slim, compact device, which starts at $299, serves the purpose of three devices that Fofana says he’d otherwise need to get: a separate 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray player for movies on discs, which could cost between $200 and $300; a device to stream 4K content, for around another $100; and a console for playing available games. Xbox One S offers High Dynamic Range support for video and gaming, so you can experience richer, more luminous colors in games like “Gears of War 4,” “Forza Horizon 3” and “NBA 2K17.”
Fofana, who lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, works as a field and user services analyst for a cellphone carrier. He’s a tech enthusiast, but he’s also an entertainment enthusiast. He shares his thoughts on a variety of topics, from sneakers to sports, on his YouTube channel, Amara’s Logic, that he started in the past year.
In one of his videos, Fofana guides Xbox One S users on how to make sure the HDR feature is enabled on a TV like the one he bought. (HDR is available in two formats: HDR10 and Dolby Vision. To display HDR content from an Xbox One S, the 4K TV needs to support HDR10.)
4K TVs are on the wish lists of many consumers this holiday season, and with good reason. Prices have dropped significantly, and more content is available now that shows the stunning displays to full advantage.
“The reason that Xbox One S is such a great choice is that it is the only device that really does everything to get the most out of your 4K TV,” says Albert Penello, senior director, product management and planning at Xbox.
“Instead of having to go purchase a variety of different devices that support different types of 4K entertainment experiences, you have a device that plays games in 4K, that supports high dynamic range, supports streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu in 4K, and we’re adding more of these services over time.”
Team Xbox, he says, “is really, really excited about what this technology brings to customers.”
The Xbox One S is also the “only game console that supports 4K UHD Blu-ray discs, which is really the highest quality way you can watch 4K movies,” Penello says. “So really, it’s an easy choice because the Xbox One S does everything you need for games and entertainment in 4K.”
Fofana is such a 4K enthusiast that when he heard about the Xbox One S last summer and its 4K and HDR capabilities, both he and his brother traded their other consoles to get the new S as soon as it was out.
It was “a no-brainer to me,” he says. 4K, he says, “is like going from standard definition TV to high definition, where you just notice so much difference, impeccable detail in surroundings and extreme details. I feel 4K is the same type of leap in quality.”
Learn more about Xbox One S and read a HDR and 4K Gaming Primer.