Best Xbox Series X and Series S deals: discounts and bundles

The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have been out for a while now, which means that this generation of consoles has managed to rack up a great selection of games for you to pick from, making it a good time to pick up a console if you’ve always wanted one. Even if you don’t plan to buy a lot of physical discs or go for the Series S, there are some great Xbox Game Pass deals that you can take advantage of, which give you access to a pretty massive digital library. Of course, if you prefer physical discs, then there are a lot of great video game deals you can check out besides the console and accessory deals below, and if you’re also on the fence about an Xbox, then maybe check out these PlayStation deals too.

Xbox Core Wireless Controller — $44, was $65

Whichever Xbox you buy, you get a standard controller but how about having one that shows off some of your personality? Or one that means you can play games on the couch with your buddies or family. That’s where the Xbox Core Wireless Controller is so useful. Available in many different colors, you get all the benefits of an ergonomic design with sculpted surfaces and refined geometry for enhanced comfort. Up to 40 hours of battery life is convenient while it connects via Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth so you can use it with your PC, phone or tablet too.

$100 Xbox Gift Card — $94, was $100

It’s often far more convenient to buy games digitally so you simply wait for them to download rather than need to head to a store or wait for delivery. As well as that, you can buy in-game currency, memberships, movies or TV shows, so an Xbox Gift Card is a must-have. Buy this deal and you effectively get free money too with 6% off proving far better value than spending the regular way. There’s no need to spend it all at once either so you could use it as a gift that keeps giving over time.

Seagate 1TB Storage Expansion Card — $140, was $220

Unlike the PS5, you can’t just plug in one of the best SSDs and enjoy extra storage for the Xbox Series X|S. Instead, you need an expansion card. The handy thing here is it’s even quicker to install than a SSD as it just plugs into a slot at the back of your Xbox very neatly. You don’t even need to switch your console off to do so. 1TB gives you plenty more space for all your games which is particularly useful if you’re a keen Xbox Game Pass user and regularly download new titles.

Microsoft Xbox Series S with 1TB Storage Expansion Card — $440, was $500

The Microsoft Xbox Series S is a super small console. You can easily toss it in your bag to take elsewhere with it having a very small footprint under your TV. While you can’t play games at 4K quality, you can enjoy up to 120 FPS as well as other Xbox benefits like Quick Resume and super fast loading times. It’s the perfect entry into Xbox gaming without costing a great deal, and it also includes one controller.

What is the Xbox Series X?

Microsoft’s Xbox Series X is the more powerful of the two latest versions of the gaming powerhouse’s consoles. The Series X has an eight-core AMD Custom Zen 2 CPU running at 3.8GHz, an AMD custom RDNA2 graphics processing unit that runs 1.825GHz, and 12GB of RAM. A 1TB solid-state drive is standard, as is a 4K UHD Blu-Ray optical drive. The Series X outputs up to 8K video and ships with a 4th-generation Xbox wireless controller and an UltraHDMI cable. Of the two new consoles, the Series X is the only one that plays game media.

Theoretically, the Xbox Series X sells for $500, although availability is very tight, and resellers often list new units for more than twice the list price. You can also sign up for a 24-month Xbox All Access subscription that includes an Xbox Series X console and the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $35 a month. If you don’t want the more powerful of the latest Xbox console with no compromises, the Xbox Series X is your choice.

What is the Xbox Series S?

The Microsoft Xbox Series S plays all the games and other content you can play on the Series X, only slower. The Series S is slightly down-specced from the Series X, with a slower CPU and GPS, a bit less memory, half the storage space, support for 4K video max, and no optical drive. The Series S can stream content for games but cannot play hard media you already own or buy.

The Series S console lists for $300, or you can buy it with a 24-month, $25-per-month Xbox All Access subscription. The Xbox Series S console is a lower-priced choice for players who don’t want to spend $500 on a game console or who are more casual about their gameplay. With the current shortage of available Xbox consoles, you’ll probably have to pay close to $500 to buy a Series S console anyway, unless you luck out by finding one during the brief availability windows when a new shipment arrives at a retail store or website.

Should you get an Xbox Series X or Series S console?

In a head-to-head evaluation of the Xbox Series X and Series S, Digital Trends praised the Series X for its “cutting-edge gaming experience from Microsoft, delivering games in resolutions up to 8K in a compact, minimal form factor.” The same evaluation pointed out the Series S price point allows more players to get into the Xbox world without breaking their budgets.

So, which should you buy? Assuming you could actually buy both consoles, the extra $200 list price cost of the Xbox Series X is totally worth it. The Series X console is more powerful than the Series S overall, including a faster CPU, 8K video supported compared to the Series S 4K limit, more memory, and twice the SSD storage. In addition, the Series X console has a 4K UHD Blu-Ray optical drive. The drive has two huge advantages: You can play games on physical media, plus you can play Blu-Ray media.

The Series S lets you play all the new Xbox games, so if that’s your sole motivation to buy the latest generation Xbox console, it makes sense to save the $200. If you want to play games with the most powerful console and the highest video resolution, however, the Xbox Series X is still the smarter choice.

Another way to score a Microsoft Series X or Series X at a great price

Microsoft has a second way to buy Series X or Series S consoles in addition to outright console purchases. If you sign up for a 24-month subscription to Xbox All Access, you get a Series X or Series S console plus the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Game Pass Ultimate includes a library of more than 100 games, including online multiplayer games and EA Play, a second library of Electronic Arts titles. In addition, with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you can play Xbox Game Studios games immediately after release, plus you can play Xbox games on compatible smartphones or tablets. The Xbox All Access subscription for the Series X console costs $35 a month for 24 months, and the Series S All Access subscription is $25 a month.

If you were going to subscribe to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription anyway, the normal cost is $15 per month. With the Xbox Series X and Series S 24-month Xbox All Access subscription, you save $20 for the Series X and $60 for the Series S. Buying an Xbox All Access subscription in hopes of getting your hands on a Series X or Series S console earlier doesn’t work, however, because Microsoft sells the Xbox All Access packages through the same retailers that sell the consoles for a single purchase cost.

If you want to purchase an Xbox Series X or Series S console immediately, you may have to buy one of the price-inflated deals. We found Series X consoles on Amazon, for example, for $1,099 and $1,149, more than twice the $500 list price. Xbox Series S consoles have similar markups. Resellers barely sweeten the pot by throwing in a second Xbox wireless game controller, an extra HDMI cable, a USB memory thumb drive, or an inexpensive water bottle.

So the deals we list below aren’t really Xbox Series X or Series S deals or sales, but they are the best prices we could find. We don’t realistically expect Microsoft to catch up with the massive demand for the Xbox Series X or Series X consoles until sometime in 2022. Until then, we’ll continue to monitor retail channels and update this article with the best Xbox Series X and Series X prices we can find. We’ll also continue to include Series X and Series S accessories, some of which do have slight discounts.