The Xbox Series S has held onto its role as the budget option in Microsoft's current console lineup, despite recent price increases across the industry. While the Series X now starts at $750, the Series S remains at $500, tying it with the Nintendo Switch 2 as the most affordable modern console. That gap is not a marketing decision, but a reflection of what is inside each machine.
The Series S is digital-only, omitting a disc drive entirely, and its internal hardware is significantly less powerful. It offers 4 teraflops of processing power and up to 1440p resolution in most games, compared with the Series X's 12 teraflops and native 4K support. The S also has less RAM, a slower CPU, and fewer GPU compute units, though both consoles can hit 120 fps in compatible titles.
These trade-offs make the Series S a smaller, cheaper machine, but the price gap has narrowed as component costs have climbed. Both consoles have gone up in price since launch, and the PlayStation 5 and Switch 2 have seen similar hikes amid the ongoing RAMaggedon crisis. For buyers who mainly play via Game Pass and do not need physical media or maximum graphical fidelity, the Series S remains the value pick; for performance-focused players, the Series X justifies its higher price.