The Xbox Series S is our recommendation for the best cheap game console for several reasons, not least because it’s an excellent entry point into modern gaming. Even better, the most budget-friendly Xbox is on sale at Target. The price of a starter bundle has dropped from $300 to $220, making the Series S an even sweeter deal.
A bundle of an Xbox Series S and three months of Game Pass Ultimate has dropped to $220, making it a relatively inexpensive entry point into modern gaming.
The Xbox Series S Starter Bundle comes with three months of Game Pass Ultimate access (a value of $51). As such, it has pretty much everything you need to dive into modern games, save for a display and a decent internet connection. The latter is particularly key as the Xbox Series S is an all-digital console. There’s no disk drive, so you won’t be able to pop in an Xbox 360 or Xbox One disk and play that. Instead, the Series S relies entirely on digital downloads and cloud streaming.
The Series S isn’t as powerful as its sibling, the Xbox Series X. While you’ll often be able to play at a resolution higher than 1080p, the Series S won’t natively hit 4K visuals. The Series S has half as much built-in storage as the Series X too given its custom 512GB solid state drive.
That means you’ll either need to delete games often to make room for new ones or make more use of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate’s cloud streaming feature. The subscription service includes access to a ton of games, from first-party titles (such as the Halo series, and ) to blockbuster third-party games (various Assassin’s Creed titles, and ) to killer indies (and ).
Microsoft also just revealed when it will start bringing Activision Blizzard titles to Game Pass after completing its purchase of the publisher in October. is coming to the service on March 28, adding even more value to one of the best subscription services in gaming.