Console Hardware Review - XBox 360 Slim

Way back in the distant past of 2007 when the X-Box 360 Elite was announced, many of my friends told me that this was the console that should have shipped on launch day. It had HDMI, a large hard drive and was supposed to be a lot more reliable. At that point I only owned a PlayStation 3 and had been waiting to get a 360 for some time so I decided to bite the bullet and get one on launch day.


Fast forward to E3 this year when Microsoft unveiled a brand new design 360 with loads of new features and built-in support for their new Kinnect device. Obviously, I had to have one.


I was determined to have one, and I had my elite ready to trade in along with a couple of games and an old iPod. About a week after it launched my CeX store finally got one and I instantly bought it. It was perfect, new and almost untouched. I was a very happy man.

PS3 slim & Xbox 360 slim

Now let’s get into the meat of the review and talk about the differences in the hardware. First, just as advertised it is a lot smaller. It’s not much larger than a Wii now, standing upright comfortably in the space where my old 360 had to lie down. Secondly it’s a lot quieter, the only sound the console makes when playing an installed game or an XBLA game is a tiny ping noise when you switch it on or open the disc tray. There’s so much more ventilation this time, the system is pretty much always cool even after playing Alan Wake for a whole afternoon.

There’s no real speed difference or anything like that, games don’t load faster and they don’t look better but the controller has been upgraded. It has a great all black new look with a shiny Live button and the d-pad is now much more accurate.

All in all, the new 360 S is a fantastic system. It’s sexy, small and supposedly much more reliable and is ready for Microsoft’s Kinnect device, which I will definitely be purchasing as soon as I can. As somebody who has used both models of 360 I would definitely recommend it and especially if you’re thinking about getting Kinnect as that will save you on cable tangle.

Sam Harrison, CeX UK Contributor