Let's pull out some quotes then, shall we? Here are some things we said, and how we feel about them now:
"One of the reasons the Xbox Series X blends in so well is that it makes very little noise whatsoever, even when playing games optimised for the next generation. It's hard to tell the giant fan is even spinning unless you're literally sitting right next to it, and while it remains to be seen how quiet the system will prove in years to come as dust build-up and gradual wear-and-tear becomes a factor, we can say that for now, this is a very quiet console."
This has rung true as the years have rolled on! Sure, we're seeing more and more stories about dusty consoles that have to be cleaned (I've cleaned mine on more than one occasion as well), but the Series X remains a quiet console for the most part, It's followed in the Xbox One's footsteps in that regard!
"There were also plenty of rumours earlier this year that the Xbox Series X might give off an excessive amount of heat , but again, based on our experiences with it to date, this isn't the case. We've been running it daily for two weeks, sometimes for the entire day, and while it does emit an obvious warmth from the top of the fan (which is hotter when you're playing more intensive games), it's nothing unexpected. It's toasty, yes - but we've never felt like the system is straining itself under the weight of anything we've thrown at it."
Again, regardless of what those rumours might have said, excessive heat has never seemed to be a major issue for the Xbox Series X. Some games definitely result in a more toasty console than others, but the Series X generally handles most things with ease, and only occasionally do you hear of it shutting down due to overheating issues.
"The new Xbox Series controller isn't a major overhaul compared to the standard Xbox One design, but it adds plenty of quality-of-life improvements that result in a more comfortable and enjoyable next-gen experience. For example, the new Share button allows for quick screenshot and video captures at the click of a button, while the revamped d-pad now shares more in common with the Elite Series 2 controller with its rounded design. We're actually the most impressed by the new bumpers which feel more robust and responsive compared to their Xbox One counterparts, and textured grips have also been applied to both the handles and the triggers, which adds further comfort and ensures your fingers don't slip too often."
For the most part, it seems people have been pleased with the upgrade from the Xbox One controller to the Xbox Series controller, and I personally try to avoid using last-gen versions as much as possible. It's not that they're bad by any means, but the textured grips in particular make the Xbox Series controller a more comfortable fit.
"Like the controller, the Xbox Series X user interface and dashboard is again very similar to that of the Xbox One, with some minor next-gen specific improvements thrown in. Navigation is still handled the same way, from installing games to managing your settings, but keep in mind that Microsoft recently applied a new Microsoft Store experience and dashboard update for Xbox One - these were clearly built with the next generation in mind, and perform much faster and smoother on the Xbox Series X."
This is an interesting one. Looking back at how the dashboard appeared in 2020, it was obviously still reminiscent of what we have today, but it's changed a fair bit in terms of the main screen on the top. In some ways I prefer it and think it looks cleaner than what we have now, but I'm not sure I've liked any of this generation's interfaces that much.
"It's a given that we're going to experience a boost in visual quality on the Xbox Series X, but as pointed out by Xbox boss Phil Spencer on numerous occasions throughout the past year, it's the feel of playing games and using the Xbox Series X in general that might surprise you. The games we've tested on it so far run at highly stable framerates and boast very short loading times, with everything feeling snappier and more responsive as a result. The sense of immersion is heightened, and you're no longer reaching for your phone every time a loading screen pops up."
The first few games that were made available to us on Xbox Series X were mostly enhanced versions of first-party titles from the Xbox One era, such as Forza Horizon 4 and Gears 5 . Those games ran (and still run) incredibly well on the system, but we inevitibly ran into some roadblocks with later games where "highly stable framerates" and even short loading times weren't always possible to achieve.
We also mentioned how the target for Xbox Series X games was 4K at 60FPS (and 1440p at 60FPS on Xbox Series S), which obviously hasn't always been the case. On the whole though, most games have performed just fine on Xbox Series X over the past five years, and have at least achieved parity with the PS5 when they've struggled.
"That's not to mention the new Quick Resume feature , which allows you to switch between various titles near-instantly without having to load them again from scratch. This can save massive amounts of time in the long run if you're constantly jumping between the same three or four titles, and it even survives the console being turned off for days at a time, which is really impressive. The only downside (at least for now) is that it doesn't provide any indicators as to which games are currently utilising the feature, and we've also suffered a few issues with some titles due to a pre-launch bug which Microsoft had made us aware of."
Quick Resume has undoubtedly proved a useful tool since it was introduced five years ago, and nowadays it does provide indicators for which games are currently utilising the feature. Something we hadn't anticipated at the time of review was how certain games would struggle with it, either crashing or failing to reconnect to online servers, but that's also something we've seen rectified to a degree over the past five years.
"We've sampled plenty of older titles that now run much better on Xbox Series X, including some notoriously janky games that even struggled on Xbox One X, which years later are now finally able to achieve a consistent framerate on console. There are limits with these older titles in terms of framerate caps and visual quality, but you can rest assured that the Xbox Series X gets as much out of them as it possibly can. Microsoft has even gone the extra mile to make older games look more impressive with techniques such as Auto HDR . This is a feature which applies HDR to games that never received it the first time around, making them appear more vibrant."
It was great to see Team Xbox pushing the whole backwards compatibility initiative so strongly back in 2020. In addition to adding more games to the program, they also implemented the aforementioned Auto HDR to make games look better on Xbox Series X and S, and improved the performance of many older games through FPS Boost . It's just a massive shame they couldn't continue with this - it all wound down a couple of years later.
"Microsoft has really built up the hype and made a lot of promises with this system over the past year, and based on our experiences with it so far, it definitely appears to have been worth the wait. It's evidently powerful, super responsive, virtually quiet at all times, and most importantly, makes playing games across all four generations of Xbox more immersive and enjoyable than ever before. For us, the Xbox Series X is ticking all the right boxes. We're really impressed with the design and functionality of the system, and can't wait to see how developers harness its potential in the weeks, months and years ahead."
As you can see, we had very positive things to say about the Xbox Series X when it launched in 2020, and it certainly did seem like an extremely promising time for the brand in terms of its hardware output. There was a feeling that the failures of the 2013 Xbox One launch could be righted with the Series X and S, and from a hardware standpoint the team delivered two fantastic consoles that are still holding up extremely well in 2025.
There's no getting away from the fact that sales have dropped off in recent years though, and Microsoft's "This is an Xbox" strategy has placed less focus on the Series X and Series S since then. These are still brilliant machines that we'd absolutely recommend to anyone who's interested in them, but we can understand why some might be hesitant now.
And of course, there's a lot of talk about the next Xbox console already, with speculation that it could be announced in 2026 and released in 2027. The Xbox Series X and S will live on well beyond that point, but if the next Xbox console includes PC integration as rumoured, it could end up being a very different beast to this generation's two systems.
