Xbox Series X users praise hidden feature you've likely never turned on

It will come as no surprise that there are plenty of little secrets hidden away on consoles such as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, even as we approach four years since both systems launched.

However, this secret that is the topic of today’s discussion is a neat little perk for owners of Amazon’s Alexa device. In a nutshell, you can turn on your Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One if it's linked to the all-hearing Alexa and is a throwback to the days of now deceased Kinect.

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“If you have an Alexa, you can connect it to your Xbox and use it to turn on the Xbox, turn it off, launch games/apps, and pause/resume playback videos,” explained Redditor AJ_Deadshow. “It's the coolest thing ever. Just go to Settings>Devices & Connections>Digital Assistants to find out how to set it up.”

AJ_Deadshow also reminded fellow members on the thread that having Alexa connected to your Xbox console is also a convenient way to pause a movie without having to switch on the controller (or via the Xbox mobile app).

I suppose, if you’re not bothered about smart devices always listening, this can be a cool and very helpful feature. Though, I think I prefer continuing to use my controller to switch on my Xbox Series X because Alexa is just Skynet in disguise (yes, I’ve watched the Terminator movies a lot).

You might also be interested to know that you can switch on your Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One with a voice command without the Alexa requirement. This feature can be turned on by going to Settings, General and then it can be found in Power Options, but the console has to be in Sleep mode for it to work.