Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

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

If you’re thinking of grabbing one of the latest generations of consoles, then the Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S are a great option, especially if you combine either one with something like the Xbox Game Pass deals which gives you access to a ton of free games. Even if you don’t get game pass, it’s still a relatively powerful console with a lot of excellent games and other features that are worth having. That said, if you’re still not absolutely sure if you want to go with an Xbox, then you may want to check out these PlayStation deals instead.

Xbox Core Wireless Controller — $44, was $65

Xbox Core Wireless Controller in robot white product image.
Microsoft

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

Xbox Gift Card on a white background.
Microsoft

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 — $150, was $160

The Seagate Storage Expansion Card.
Seagate

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 — $450, was $500

Microsoft's Xbox Series S with two wireless controllers, on a white background.
Microsoft

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.

Bruce Brown
Bruce Brown Contributing Editor   As a Contributing Editor to the Auto teams at Digital Trends and TheManual.com, Bruce…
Best PlayStation Plus Deals: Save on Essential, Plus and Premium
Best PS Plus deals

Gaming on consoles can be a lot of fun, and while some gaming PCs can be a lot more powerful, they also tend to be a lot more expensive. Of course, if you're on the PlayStation 4 or the PlayStation 5, then you're likely going to need to grab yourself a PlayStation Plus subscription service from Sony directly. That allows you to play multiplayer games and access online servers and, depending on your subscription, also gives you access to a library of free games every month, so you don't have to spend your money on extra games except for titles that don't appear on PS Plus on release.

Also, while you're here, be sure to check out these excellent PS5 game deals and PlayStation deals that include some great games and accessories you can get for a great price.
What is PlayStation Plus?
Along with online multiplayer and other in-game network features, a PlayStation Plus Essential membership grants you access to exclusive discounts and other promotions. Perhaps the most notable benefit of PlayStation Plus is that every month, Sony gives subscribers one PlayStation 5 and two PlayStation 4 games that are free to download. You have one month to add these free PlayStation Plus games to your library.

Read more
Best gaming PC deals: Lenovo Legion, ASUS ROG, Acer Predator
young woman playing video games on a PC

There's a lot to love about gaming PCs, but building them can be a big hassle, especially if you're not tech-savvy or have the time to build one from scratch. Luckily, there are some great desktop computer deals on pre-built gaming PCs that you can snatch up, and with the deals we've been seeing, they can more than makeup for any cost of building it yourself. To that end, we've gone out and collected some of our favorite deals below across various categories, whether you're a budget gamer or want to play the best PC games with the highest graphics.

Once you've grabbed a pre-built, check out gaming monitor deals for a chance to save on a nice display. If the machine you pick up needs some upgrades, you can save with GPU deals, SSD deals, and RAM deals.
Best gaming PC deal for entry-level gamers
Lenovo Legion Tower 5 -- $950, was $1,330

Read more
Best Buy deals: Save on laptops, TVs, appliances, and more
best buy shuts down insignia line smart home products store 2 768x768

Best Buy is one of the biggest retailers out there, along with Amazon and Walmart, and it has a truly massive selection of products for you to pick from. Not only that, but it often offers some of the best deals you'll find out there, which is why we often draw from it for several of our roundups, such as the best TV deals, best laptop deals, and best phone deals. To that end, we've gone out and collected some of our favorite Best Buy deals across several product categories and put them for you below.
Best Buy TV deals

There may be no better place to purchase one of the best TVs than Best Buy. There is almost always some huge savings to find on TVs at Best Buy, and that’s certainly the case right now. You’ll find deals top TV brands like Sony, Samsung, and LG, and more budget-friendly brands like TCL and Hisense are in play, too.

Read more