Xbox Series X|S in 2025: Specs, Game Pass Pricing , and Buying Tips

For five years, the home console market has been dominated by two systems: PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Meanwhile, PC gaming is trending toward the premium segment as GPUs continue to increase in price, basic multitasking (game, browser, and Discord) requires above-average CPUs and 16+ GB of RAM, and modern releases demand faster SSDs.

Against this backdrop, Microsoft’s strategy looks balanced: two consoles aimed at different budgets, unified cloud and local save storage, and access to a shared library through Game Pass. This hardware‑plus‑subscription model lets Xbox compete with both the PS5 and high‑end PC builds without relying exclusively on first‑party titles.

Moreover, players appreciate the “Netflix for games” approach: instead of paying roughly $60-80 for a single AAA title, they gain day-one access to dozens of new releases through a monthly subscription fee. Microsoft was the first to put its entire first-party catalogue on a subscription, which remains a key differentiator for the Xbox ecosystem in 2025.

Finally, Microsoft offers two hardware profiles under one operating system: the 4K-capable Series X and the compact, all-digital Series S, designed for value-oriented users. A shared API, unified store, and cloud saves make moving between the two systems straightforward.

Xbox Series X vs Series S: Specs and Pricing

The Series X remains the flagship model. Its 12 TFLOPS RDNA 2 GPU, 16 GB of GDDR6 RAM, and 1 TB NVMe SSD deliver upscaled 4K at 60 fps, together with hardware ray tracing and Quick Resume support, for $599.99 (up from $499.99). Series S scales those figures to 4 TFLOPS and 10 GB, but offers the same features at 1440p/60 fps for $379.99 (up from $299.99). The performance gap explains the $220 price difference; the S model is also entirely digital, as it omits an optical drive.

In 2024, Microsoft introduced hardware revisions. A white Series X Digital Edition with a 1 TB SSD launched at $449.99 ($549.99 after price increase in May 2025), and a limited Galaxy Black Series X with a 2 TB SSD arrived at $599.99 (now $729.99). Both consoles utilize a 6nm SoC and a new heat pipe cooler, which reduces idle power consumption by approximately 10W. The Series S line expanded with a 1 TB white version at the same $349.99 (now $429.99) price as the earlier Carbon Black model.

These updates address two long‑standing concerns, limited storage and high energy use, while leaving frame rate targets unchanged. Players with 4K TVs and physical game libraries tend to choose Series X, whereas Series S serves as an affordable entry point or a compact second option if a good PC or another console is already present. Because every title ships with configurations for both systems, buyers trade only resolution (and in rare cases, performance), not compatibility.

Xbox Game Pass 2025: Pricing, Tiers, and Best Value

Game Pass now spans four tiers:

• Core provides online multiplayer and a rotating catalog of approximately 25 titles for $9.99 per month.
• Standard (the successor to the old “Console” plan) delivers the back‑catalogue on Xbox consoles, plus Core’s online service, but omits day‑one releases and cloud streaming. It costs $14.99 per month.
• PC Game Pass offers the complete PC library, including day‑one releases, but no console online services. This option is priced at $11.99 per month.
• Ultimate combines every feature (console, PC, cloud play, EA Play, and day-one access to new games) into one plan for only $19.99 per month.

Content growth still outpaces price increase, which happened last year. Day‑one releases for 2024‑⁠26 include Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Avowed, Doom: The Dark Ages, Gears of War: Reloaded (August 26, 2025), Call of Duty Black Ops 7 (Fall 2025), Fable (2026), and many more to come. Add dozens of indies plus back‑catalogue drops from EA, and subscribers save tens of dollars per release while sampling genres they might never have bought outright.

Microsoft’s Friends & Family plan (one Ultimate subscription shared by up to five accounts) ended in 2024, and no new information was given. Even without it, Ultimate’s value stack is clear: xCloud streaming on phones, tablets, and smart TVs, cross‑play between console and PC, and cloud saves. For many Series S owners, the subscription replaces physical purchases entirely, and even after the latest hike, Ultimate still costs less than three or four new AAA games per year.

Xbox Series X|S Backward Compatibility and Smart Delivery Explained

Microsoft went further than basic emulation. Xbox Series X|S runs thousands of Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox titles at no extra cost, using the same emulation layer introduced on Xbox One but powered by stronger hardware. For many popular titles, the FPS Boost feature is enabled, which can more than double the frame rate in many older games without requiring additional developer work. Auto HDR also activates on supported TVs, converting SDR output to HDR10 and improving contrast and color depth.

Smart Delivery removes version confusion. Buying a supported game digitally or physically automatically grants you the build optimized for your console. If you move from Series S to Series X, the system downloads the 4K asset pack and ray‑tracing features under the same license.

Xbox Velocity Architecture and SSD Performance

Both Series X and Series S rest on Xbox Velocity Architecture: a custom NVMe SSD that sustains up to 2.4 GB/s raw (or around 4.8 GB/s with hardware decompression), a dedicated decompression block, and the DirectStorage API that shifts asset loading off the CPU. In practice, a game level loads 2 to 3 times faster on Series X compared to Xbox One X, and texture streaming eliminates pop-in.

Quick Resume writes full game states to the SSD so you can jump from Avowed to Doom and back at the same checkpoint in seconds. Since the March 2022 dashboard update, you can pin up to two games, ensuring their state will be entirely saved after a reboot or system update.

The SSD brings more than speed. Sampler Feedback Streaming, another Velocity component, allows developers to stream only the mip levels required each frame, reducing memory pressure. Thanks to SFS, Forza Horizon 5 maintains dense open-world detail at a stable FPS on Series S, despite its 10 GB GDDR6 limit.

2025 Xbox Games: Key Game Pass Releases

The first half of the year is already packed. Obsidian’s Avowed launched on 18 February and landed in Game Pass the same day, delivering a 40‑hour RPG set in the Pillars of Eternity universe. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, modern remake of a cult classic, released on April 22, 2025 is avaliable in Game Pass day-one too.

Microsoft’s portfolio also grows through studio acquisitions. Id Software’s DOOM: The Dark Ages arrived on 15 May as a Game Pass release, and Activision Blizzard is keeping the Call of Duty series annual: Black Ops 6 launched day‑one in 2024, and Black Ops 7 will follow the same pattern this year. With new entries included in a monthly Ultimate sub, many players find a subscription cheaper than paying $60-80 per AAA game, a calculation that is especially persuasive for all‑digital Series S owners.

Microsoft broadened its action line‑up. Compulsion released South of Midnight, while MachineGames confirmed that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will add its story expansion, The Order of Giants, on 4 September, also day one for Game Pass Ultimate. Looking to the second half of 2025, Ninja Theory is rolling out a 60 fps performance mode and new content for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II ahead of its summer PlayStation 5 debut, and 11 bit studios’ narrative survival title The Alters (released 13 June) has already collected good reviews.

Indie and smaller-scale games

Finally, the indie pipeline remains strong under ID@Xbox. Fresh day‑one hits sit alongside evergreen favourites like Stardew Valley, while Mega Crit’s Slay the Spire 2 enters PC early access later this year with a console release to follow. Together, these titles demonstrate that Game Pass is becoming a showcase for every scale of development, not just headline AAA blockbusters.

Xbox Accessories Guide: Controllers, Storage, and xCloud

• The primary input device is the fourth‑generation Xbox Wireless Controller. It keeps the familiar ergonomics while adding a hybrid D‑pad and a Share button. Current retail units support Xbox Wireless and Bluetooth LE.
• For competitive play, the Elite Series 2 remains the flagship, offering metal thumbsticks, adjustable triggers, and extensive profile tuning. Microsoft has confirmed that a successor is in development; however, so far, only unconfirmed rumors about the Elite Series 3 have surfaced, and no launch window has been announced.
• Players who want deeper customisation can turn to licensed third‑party gamepads. The Victrix Pro BFG for Xbox, for example, features swappable stick modules, five‑position trigger stops, and optional clutch locks for faster resets.

Peripherals connect either through Bluetooth 5.2 (on revised consoles) or the low-latency proprietary Xbox Wireless protocol, so recent headsets pair cable-free. A 3.5 mm jack on every controller still supports wired headphones, a staple for streamers and competitive players.

Xbox storage upgrade

For storage, Microsoft backs Seagate’s Storage Expansion Card, the only plug-in SSD that preserves Velocity Architecture throughput. Official capacities are 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB. Vendor prices continue to fall: during Prime Day 2025, the 1 TB card dropped to about $125 and the 2 TB model to roughly $210, although list prices remain higher than those of standard NVMe drives. External USB SSDs still work well for archiving or backward-compatible titles, but Series‑optimized games must be moved back to internal or expansion storage before launch.

Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) turns a Game Pass Ultimate subscription into a portable console. A Bluetooth controller and a solid Wi-Fi or 5G connection are all that is required. Native apps now cover Samsung Smart TVs (2022 and newer), Amazon Fire TV Sticks (since July 2024), and LG webOS 24 sets so that you can start any game directly from the TV’s remote. Streaming also works in the Edge browser, the Xbox app on Windows, and the dedicated web client for Android/iOS, all powered by Azure.

Xbox Series X|S Pros and Cons in 2025

Advantages of Xbox consoles and Game Pass

• Low entry cost and compact hardware. Even after May’s retail bump to $379, the 512 GB Series S is still the least‑expensive route to current‑generation gaming and undercuts any mid‑range PC build. It’s small and fits any dorms and bedrooms where a full tower PC or the larger Series X would look out of place.
• Game Pass Ultimate value stack. For $19.99 per month, the top-tier subscription folds day‑one first‑party releases, EA Play, cloud streaming, and cross‑platform play into one licence. Even with July 2024’s price rise, three or four new AAA games finished per year offset the subscription cost for most users.
• Deep backward compatibility. The entire Xbox One library, as well as thousands of Xbox 360 and original titles, launch natively. Auto HDR adds modern contrast and colour while FPS Boost doubles FPS in supported games.
• Cohesive ecosystem. Smart Delivery selects the optimal assets for each console; cloud saves synchronize progress across Series X|S, Windows, and xCloud; Quick Resume enables several games to be ready in seconds. Together, these touches eliminate the friction that can deter players from using dedicated hardware.

Disadvantages of Xbox consoles and Game Pass

• Small internal SSD of Xbox Series S. Only about 364 GB of the 512 GB drive is user-accessible; modern games can easily exceed 100 GB, forcing users to choose between which games to play and SSD upgrades, while these upgrades can cost up to a third of a console’s value.
• No free DLCs in Game Pass and a rotating catalogue of games. Game Pass does not include free DLC, and its rotating catalogue means you must buy expansions separately and risk favourite titles disappearing.
• Subscription inflation. The prices of the Game Pass subscription increased once, and the recent wave of developers’ layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations under Microsoft does not inspire confidence that there will not be another price increase. Customers who previously redeemed codes are now facing higher renewal costs.
• No first‑party VR. Microsoft has shuttered its own Xbox VR ambitions and instead promotes partner devices, such as Meta’s Quest 3S Xbox Edition bundle. Players who want a native headset or exclusive XR software must look elsewhere.
• xCloud is still capped at 1080p 60 fps. Streaming is convenient on phones, Fire TV sticks, and recent Samsung or LG sets, but picture quality lags behind GeForce NOW’s 4K option and relies heavily on a robust Wi-Fi or 5G connection.

Should You Buy an Xbox Series X|S in 2025?

Casual gamers and first-time buyers

An Xbox Series S, combined with Game Pass Core or Standard, offers a low‑cost entry point. The subscription unlocks a rotating catalogue of more than 25 titles and enables online multiplayer in free-to-play games without additional charges. At $9.99 per month, Core is still less expensive than purchasing two new full‑price releases, and family‑oriented games join and leave the library often enough to keep everyone interested.

Enthusiasts and competitive players on a budget

For displays that support 4K, the Xbox Series X remains the most cost-effective solution. It includes a 1 TB NVMe SSD, a UHD Blu-ray drive, and sufficient processing headroom to run upcoming exclusives at 60 FPS. When Game Pass Ultimate is added, the subscription cost is generally recouped.

TV‑integrated streaming

Many 2022 and newer Samsung displays, LG webOS 24 televisions, and Amazon Fire TV devices include the Xbox application. In these cases, a console is optional; pairing any Bluetooth controller with a Game Pass Ultimate subscription provides cloud streaming of several hundred games at 1080p/60 FPS. The $19.99 monthly fee is broadly in line with competing cloud platforms and grants access to the same day‑one catalogue available on local hardware.

Storage considerations

Modern shooters and live-service games often exceed 100 GB. After system files, the Series S provides approximately 364 GB of usable space, so owners may need to delete titles or purchase additional storage. Official Seagate and Western Digital expansion cards maintain full Velocity-architecture performance but remain relatively expensive.

Choosing the right option

Consider how frequently new releases are purchased and whether the existing TV already supports game streaming. If cloud streaming meets resolution and latency expectations, Game Pass Ultimate alone may be sufficient. Otherwise, purchasing a console with adequate SSD capacity will provide a smoother, less restrictive experience for the remainder of the generation.

Summary: Best Gaming Ecosystem in 2025

In 2025, the Xbox Series X|S is no longer just a pair of consoles, but a tightly integrated console, cloud, and subscription ecosystem. Game Pass remains the headline draw, making outright game purchases optional and more about collecting than a necessity. The latest Series X|S revisions address earlier noise and storage complaints, while xCloud streaming erases the boundaries between TV, laptop, and phone. With a low cost of entry, seamless cross‑device features, and a library that spans four generations, Xbox remains one of the strongest options in 2025, whether it is a household’s first console or a supplement to PS5 or PC.