Not gonna lie, if it had a disc drive, the Series S would be the one I'd buy as while I don't care about 4K, I do care about physical media.

As things stand, if I do buy an Xbox Series, it'll the X solely so I'm not limited to digital only.

Not true. The weaker cononsole was only a bit weaker than its competitor. There has never been a gap lile this before. Even if you wana ignore that MS dosent advertise the series s. But the series is is closer to 8th gen than it is to 9th. Thats mainly due to the release of the pro versions last gen. But the only time a console showed such a power disparity was the Wii and the Wii did its own thing it dint chace the harcore multiplatform games. The top games on it where games not available anyware else so there was never any comparisons. So the series s will not appeal to the casual market the way you are making it out to be.

I'm curious as to what specifically makes the hybrid Switch the "pandemic" console. Obviously video games as a whole have benefited, but if anything, Sony and MS's machines should benefit more as they're more centered around gaming at home while Switch is more geared towards handheld, on-the-go gaming.

It's not just kids staying home, it's essentially most people.

I guess "pandemic" is the new "teh casualz." Seems Nintendo products are always given an excuse for their success. 

Marketing can change, stock can change, casuals don’t care about performance so much as games themselves at a good price. Launch sales are dictated by enthusiasts but a year from now? Less so. 

Wii had a sizeable power gap. Switch too. PS2 maybe if just compared to the Xbox. Why would MS advertise the Series S when launch sales appeal to enthusiasts who typically get the high end model? It’s there for the long game. Series S is a big leap from base Xbox One and PS4, the vast majority of the generations user bases. 

Like I said. The Wii was the only one with such a power gap. And you ignored all my other points about Nintendo standing out outside power.

Switch is a hamdheld first so a power gap was expected. Dosent matter as Nintendo consoles sell on the back on their ips. Xbox not so much.

And you are kidding yourself if you think power diference was large between the ps2 and the competition.

And why adevrtise the series s? Because you claim is for casuals. You think casuals do research or are in gaming sites or any of the sort? No. Casuals by their very definition buy whats shown on their faces. If its not marketed they will not see it and will not buy it. 

But again. You ignore why previous consoles who had less power sold better than the competition. Price was only one factor. But they atracted customers not by power but by experiences not available elsewhere. Like games or gimicks like motion controls. The series s has no such thing that makes casuals want to flock to it. Price alone will not make it the next hot thing.

It’s not really about being the most powerful so much as the most compelling. Power, or perception of power, can definitely factor into the argument of what makes a console compelling. I am sure most didn’t realize the N64 was more powerful considering the games didn’t look as nice; of course, most of the reason PlayStation games looked much better was not because of the 3D, but rather the 24-bit colour pre-rendered art and FMVs that were either of poor quality or lacking in N64 games. PS2 games often blew GameCube and Xbox games away because PS2 is where the bigger budget games were located. With handhelds, SNES, Wii, Switch, and other consoles, Nintendo had other factors at play - most notably the controllers were superior to the competition and the killer apps for the consoles drove sales ahead of the competition. With NES, Switch, and Wii, the concepts heavily influenced sales. Sometimes it’s just the slick look, DS Lite.

Not really. The Series S is a mid range 2020 technology while the One X is a high end 2013 technology, the gap is huge.

Want a bet so?

I say the Series X remains the overall highest selling Xbox Series system for this generation (by a considerable margin - millions of units).

That's not really a bold bet