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Xbox Series S is in stock at Best Buy

Xbox Series S is in stock at Best Buy

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Microsoft’s affordable next-gen console is available to buy right now

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Last November, Microsoft debuted two next-gen consoles — the Xbox Series X and the more affordable Xbox Series S. If you are looking for the more affordable next-gen Xbox, Best Buy has the console in stock right now.

The Xbox Series S variant costs $299, is smaller, and is less powerful than the $500 Series X. One other important thing to note is the Xbox Series S is a digital-only console, meaning it lacks a disc drive to play physical games.

The white Xbox Series S lying horizontally.
$240

The Xbox Series S is smaller than the 4K-capable Xbox Series X, but it can still play the same digital games — albeit topping out at 2560 x 1440 QHD resolution.

If you plan to buy this console, you may want to consider picking up a few accessories that will help you get the most out of your new gadget, most notably an additional controller if you are playing a game with a local co-op with a friend or family member.

$40

The official Xbox Wireless Controller has a dedicated share button for saving clips and screenshots and sharing them online, Bluetooth support, and a USB-C port for charging up Microsoft’s play-and-charge rechargeable battery.

As far as storage goes, both consoles have rather limited storage. If you plan to download some older games that do not take full advantage of the next-gen hardware and don’t want to deplete your limited SSD storage, you can grab an external hard drive. You can buy a 4TB external hard drive from Seagate for $100, and it includes two months of Xbox Game Pass, a Netflix-like digital video game subscription service for Xbox consoles. Or you can buy three months of Xbox Game Pass if you don’t have any games you’re interested in buying yet.

$109

A portable USB 3.2 Gen 1 hard drive for storing and playing older Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games on an Xbox Series X / S console. You can also store newer Xbox Series titles on it temporarily, freeing up space on the console’s internal SSD — though you’ll have to transfer them back to play them again.

Of course, you can also upgrade your SSD as well, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Seagate is the only one with an SSD expansion card compatible with both consoles. Additionally, the SSD expansion card only comes in 1TB, and it is very expensive, costing $220.

A Seagate 1TB Expansion Card plugged into the back of an Xbox Series X console.
$140

Proprietary SSD expansion for the Xbox Series X / S consoles. The plug-and-play drives are designed to be as fast as the Xbox internal SSD and are sold in 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations.