Xbox Series X vs. Series S in 2026: Which One to Buy

Following Microsoft's August 1, 2026 price increase, the 1TB Series X (disc) costs $799.99 and the 512GB Series S costs $499.99 — a $300 gap, up from the $200 gap at 2020 launch. Microsoft attributed the increase directly to component costs: "console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x."

The performance gap isn't proportional to price

Series X runs a 12 TFLOPS GPU targeting native 4K; Series S runs a 4 TFLOPS GPU targeting 1440p upscaled to 4K — a 3x difference in raw throughput for roughly 1.6x the price at current figures.

Where the Series S actually costs you: RAM

Series X has 16GB of unified GDDR6. Series S has only 10GB total, split awkwardly — 8GB usable for games at 224GB/s, 2GB reserved for the OS at a much slower 56GB/s. This has caused documented, real problems: some multiplatform titles shipped with reduced texture quality or delayed Series S patches specifically to accommodate the memory budget.

Storage

Series X ships with 1TB, Series S with 512GB — modern installs routinely run 80-150GB each, so a Series S owner hits the ceiling fast.

Buy the Series S if

You play primarily at 1080p, care most about Game Pass access, and are buying for value. **Buy the Series X if:** you have a 4K TV, want physical disc support, or follow major multiplatform releases where the Series S's RAM constraint has caused documented compromises.