But just how accessible is Microsoft's latest console and what have they done to develop the hardware and software further compared to previous designs?
I personally got sighted assistance to cut these seals, as they are very strong, but if you can't do that or are comfortable giving this a go yourself, there's one on the top, one on the bottom and two on one side of the box to your left, if you position it as I did. There are no defining markings to allow me to provide a greater reference point than this unfortunately. It would've been good to have some kind of aid to orientation, even if it said "this way up, front of box" or similar in Braille for those who can read it.
Once all the seals are cut, rotate the box so that a large flat face is on the bottom and the section the seals were holding in place is facing to your left. If you gently lift the top of the box to your left as if opening a book, you should see that the right-hand side of the now open package contains the large cuboid shape of the console (more on that shape once we've unwrapped it later.
Now, back to the rest of the box.
Extracting the controller is as simple as pulling the tape from where it meets the wrapping and lifting the controller out of the resulting hole. There are also a pair of batteries here that can be placed into the controller if needed, wrapped in the same material. I did not actually need these myself.
The power and HDMI cables, which were somehow partially entangled with each other during my unboxing, can be found underneath the controller and are both sealed with ties that can be removed by pulling their respective tabs. You can put these to one side as well, especially if you're going to use your existing setup.
The method I used was to hold the console in one hand and move the foam inserts away from the underside of the console with the other, carefully lowering the console down afterwards to place it gently on a flat surface.
The next step is to remove the cardboard band surrounding the console (which, according to sighted assistance, says "power your dreams" on it). This has a tab that can be pulled outwards, allowing the band to move aside.
Finally, we have to unwrap the console itself from the same material as the controller. There are two tape seals, one at the top and one at the bottom. Reaching underneath the tape with a thumb and finger and holding the console still with your other hand, you should be able to break one of the seals. Once done and the material is moved away from the unit on that side, you should be able to stand the console vertically on the end you just worked on and, again holding the console still, remove the material using the tape as leverage.
If done correctly, you should now have an Xbox Series X standing proudly with no wrappings attached.
If you want to use the console vertically, as an aid to orientation, feel around your console and you'll find a square face of the unit with numerous holes. This is actually the top of the console when positioning it vertically.
If you want to use it horizontally, however, you can find 4 rubber feet along one of the sides. These domed-style feet are not like those seen on the One S and One X and are less likely to physically separate from the console.
When laid horizontally on the aforementioned feet, with this "top" face directly in front of you, the right-hand side is where you'll find the various ports and connections to hook your console up to whatever setup you're using. In an interesting move, partially an evolution from the raised line above the HDMI in port on the One X models, a number of raised, easy-to-locate dots indicate what port you'll find below said tactile markings on this side of the unit: USB ports have 3 dots, the HDMI in port and Ethernet connection each have 2 dots and the power cable has a single solitary dot above it.
On the left-hand side of the console, rather than being at the bottom edge, the power button is at the top corner, with the eject button and the disk drive being along to the left relative to it. The sync button for pairing controllers, as well as the third and final USB port are found at the bottom of this face of the Series X, towards the left-hand side. I've used the Series X this way through the entirety of my testing as the size of the unit did not let it easily fit into my existing space and have had no noticeable issues so far.
As I found out during my unboxing, positioning the console vertically, though it might seem confusing at first, is as simple as placing the unit with the large, rubberised circle facing downwards. This keeps it stable and prevents it from moving too much, whilst also allowing the heat to exit the unit at the top, through the previously mentioned holes.
Getting sighted assistance to set up the console with the mobile app, I found Voiceover on IOS to work very smoothly with it. Entering the code read out to me wasn't difficult, though a lack of narration from the console at that point in time was disconcerting to say the least. Once done, I used the console for a while (more on the testing side of things later in this review), but I wanted to see if there was a way round this issue so that those who wanted to use their consoles without needing assistance to get started could do so.
Fortunately, as you'll see below, you can still have Narrator as a part of the setup process, though you don't unfortunately get to use the same workflow involving the mobile app.
Initially, my controller wasn't paired with the Xbox, but doing that was as simple as turning on the controller by pressing the "Xbox"/"guide" button (the circular one directly above the Share button) and holding the sync button on both the console and controller for a little while until I thought they'd connected, as there is no sound cue for pairing of controllers.
At that point, press and hold the guide button again until you feel a slight vibration or hear a UI sound from the console. Then press the menu button and you should hear Narrator say "dialogue, no button" or similar. This means that Narrator has kicked in and is asking you to enable it (you can choose whether to turn it on and not have this prompt display again if you prefer, which I did).
Once you enable Narrator, you can select a language with up and down on the DPad. The languages are even identified as "not supported by Narrator" where necessary too, which is useful for players in regions that might not have support for the feature just yet.
As I chose English, I then met with what was described as a "variety of English" prompt, to which I responded with UK.
The voice then changed to a British accent as it started "checking your connection", with the response that it was connected to the internet.
Next comes the "where do you live?" screen which, though it might sound a little scary for those concerned about privacy and the like, is just a location check (likely for what store you're looking to use).
Selecting UK told me "you do not need an update. Restarting." This is probably because all the updating happened the first time I booted up the console and set it up with the mobile app as above. If this is your first time setting up the console though, be prepared for an update. Once the restart happened, I was met with a prompt saying "to continue, connect a controller and press the A button" as well as a similar option for keyboard users.
Pressing this took me to a sign in screen. Filling in the required information was relatively easy even on controller, a testament to just how fluid the UI is on this new hardware and how comparatively easy the new DPad is to get used to.
Now comes a screen that doesn't read automatically for some reason, informing you that Microsoft collects required data, giving you the opportunity to learn how that data is used. I simply just pressed next during my setup.
Now we have the option to send Microsoft additional data to "help make your Xbox experience better", which in this instance, I opted not to do. There is also, again, a "tell me more" button on this screen. Both this and the previous screen worked with left and right rather than up and down arrows for navigation.
The final data screen concerns usage data shared with publishers, which, again you can learn more about via the similarly named button on this screen.
Given I'd plugged in a hard drive with a backup of previous settings on, I received a prompt to apply my settings or not, as per my choice.
After opting to apply my settings, knowing I can change them later, I then moved on to a screen where you choose whether you instantly sign in, sign in when a linked controller is turned on, or to skip.
The final screen in the setup process shows an offer for Game Pass Ultimate, the ability to "use a code" and a no thanks button. Since I didn't have any codes, I selected "no thanks". The equivalent of a "finish" button in an installer appeared, with the words "take me home", spoken in the US voice that suddenly reappeared and persisted with no way to change it, oddly enough.