Buying Guides for Microsoft's New Xbox Series X and S Consoles: What You Need to Know

What’s Different About the New Xbox Consoles?

Similar to the recent PS5 Slim, there's not much of a difference in this mid-cycle refresh of the Xbox. The Series X and Series S have more or less the same hardware under the hood. But there are a couple of small changes.

• The Xbox Series X loses the disc drive and gets a white coat of paint. As an unapologetic Xbox Series S-owner, I like the white look more, so it's nice to see it available on the more powerful hardware. This “all-digital” Xbox Series X starts at $450, about $50 less than its predecessor, a decent trade-off if you never bought physical copies of Xbox games.
• The smaller Xbox Series S never had a disc drive, so there's no drive to eliminate. Instead, for this refresh, Microsoft doubled the storage from 512 GB to 1 terabyte. The price has also gone up by $50 to $350. Given how huge AAA games can get, this seems like a no-brainer, though it's worth noting that you can easily increase the storage of the current Xbox Series X or Series S with an expansion card.
• Finally, Microsoft is releasing a special, limited-edition version of the original Xbox Series X (which has a disc drive) with a unique “Galaxy Black” paint job. This one has a space-like pattern of white and green dots with a generous 2 TB of storage. This model costs $600 and ships when the other upgraded consoles drop in mid-October.

New Xbox Game Pass and Accessories

Microsoft also recently replaced the Xbox Game Pass for Console tier of its subscription service with a new offering called Xbox Game Pass Standard. This includes the same library of console games as well as online console multiplayer service. The catch is you won't get access to day-one releases. You'll have to wait for some time to play certain games after release. Microsoft's FAQ says this could be up to 12 months or more, which technically includes all possible lengths of time, but it seems the average delay for new releases is likely around a year. This new tier costs $15 per month, while Game Pass Ultimate has been bumped to $20 monthly.

There's a new accessibility-focused controller called the Xbox Adaptive Joystick. Designed to accommodate players with limited mobility, it supports customizable button mapping. Microsoft has an impressive tool for 3D-printable thumbstick toppers, too. It's free and lets you configure a design and tweak things like its height or width. You can then download the 3D file for free to print via any service or printer you choose.

Should You Buy Microsoft’s New Xbox Consoles?

While past console generations saw substantial mid-cycle refreshes, Microsoft is sticking to the basics this time around. You won't suddenly get more frames, faster load times, or better graphics from these new Xbox models over the originals from 2020. Still, it's nice to have extra options. Plenty of gamers don't bother with discs anymore, and the new all-digital Xbox Series X can save you a bit of cash if you download all your games.

The new Xbox Series S is the more notable update. Not so much if you already have a Series S, because storage expansion cards can add 512 GB of storage for not much money. But if you don't have the console at all, the new Series S will be cheaper in the long run, as you will inevitably need more storage, and you can add more space on top of the base 1 terabyte.