Shortly after the Xbox Series Sannouncement, Microsoft explained that the lower-end console of the next generation would not propose, in backward-comable games, the same improvements already on Xbox One X, leading many to think that it would be a "second-class backward compatibility". An article published today by Digital Foundry on Eurogamer explains today that it will not be so at all and that, in several cases, the "small" Series S will offer improvements even greater than those of Xbox One X.

What Microsoft had said was mainly about resolution: many of the improved retrocompatible titles on Xbox One X have the main improvement on the 4K resolution, which is obviously not expected on Xbox Series S, being a console that aims for a maximum resolution of 1440p. But the console has several features, such as the GPU, which are absolutely superior to the Xbox One X, and these will make a difference on the back-to-back front as well.

Digital Foundy explains, for example, that the backward-compatible games of the first Xbox (the same ones already compatible today, plus others that should be added in the future) will get the triple of the original resolution,going from the original 480p to 1440p. Xbox 360 compatible titles, which have now improved to 4K on Xbox One X, will also receive an improvement at 1440p on the Series S, resulting in a doubling of the resolution from the original 720p.

But these aren't the only improvements that titles will enjoy on the low-end console: as on Series X, we'll also find an improvement in load speeds thanks to the internal custom SSD and especially the implementation ofautomatic HDR,which thanks to artificial intelligence algorithms is able to equip HDR with titles that natively do not support it.

The biggest improvement, however, is the Xbox One X's much faster CPU, but it's about increasing frame-rates. Certain titles will run on Series S (and of course Series X) at twice the original frame-rate,going from 30 fps to 60 fps or from 60 fps to 120 fps. Enabling this frame-rate increase will be extremely simple, but it will have to be game-by-game, which is why Microsoft will work with the various developers to activate this feature on as many games as possible.

Xbox Series S will also provide us with a state-of-the-art emulation experience: limited to 1440p, but in many ways higher than the Xbox One X. One more reason to consider buying this console, if you don't need the optical player and if you don't need 4K, maybe because you play on a PC monitor. Needless to say, of course, Xbox Series X will also provide all these improvements, with the added value of 4K resolution.