Microsoft's $499 Xbox Series X and $299 Xbox Series S

A mere day after leaks compelled the sudden reveal of the beforehand unrevealed $299 Xbox Series S, Microsoft has drawn the curtain totally again on its next-gen console. The firm introduced Wednesday that the flagship Xbox Series X console will price $499 when it launches alongside the Series S on November 10. Preorders open on September 22. That’s an insanely good value for a backward-compatible console that in all probability places your PC to disgrace, however Microsoft’s elective fee plans make the worth much more reasonably priced in an unsure world.

In addition to the flat $299 and $499 sticker costs for the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X, respectively, Microsoft is providing each consoles by way of its Xbox All Access fee plans. These plans require no cash down, and Microsoft’s providing the Xbox Series S for $25 per thirty days for 24 months, or the Xbox Series X for $35 for 24 months.

Paying $35 a month for what seems to be to be the world’s strongest console doesn’t really feel dangerous on the floor, however somewhat back-of-napkin math reveals you’ll wind up paying way more with these plans than you’d in the event you purchase the consoles outright. Multiplying the month-to-month prices by 24 months brings the Xbox Series S’s whole to $600, and the Xbox Series X’s whole price to $840. Oof. Then once more, $25 or $35 a month is much more doable for lots of people than dropping $500 upfront, particularly in right now’s world.

Microsoft

To sweeten the deal, Microsoft is throwing in month-to-month entry to each Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and EA’s rival EA Play subscription, following Microsoft’s announcement that the 2 providers are merging at no extra price. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers you all of Xbox Live Gold’s advantages (like free video games and multiplayer help) and unlocks the deep, wonderful Xbox Game Pass library on each PCs and your shiny new Xbox. The EA Play subscription likewise works on each Xbox and Windows 10 PCs and offers you all-you-can-play entry to over 60 EA video games, together with heavy-hitters like FIFA 20, Battlefield, Mass Effect, Titanfall 2, Need for Speed Heat, and extra.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and EA Play price $15 a month, which immediately makes these $25 or $35 Xbox All Access funds for the next-gen consoles look far more palatable, particularly for the reason that twin providers provide effectively over 160 video games that you could play instantly. Factoring within the subscription price of $360 over two years, you’re saving $60 on the Series S and $20 on the Series X by choosing the fee plan.

It’s a daring transfer from Microsoft. With all of the fierce {hardware} contained in the Xbox Series X, I anticipated the console to price nearer to $600 and even $700 at launch. Sony has but to disclose pricing for its rival PlayStation 5, which can even be powered by AMD chips and ultra-fast storage when it launches this vacation season.

Microsoft

You’ll discover a recap of the Xbox Series X’s daunting specs beneath. 

• CPU: 8x Cores @ 3.eight GHz (3.66 GHz w/ SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU
• GPU: 12 TFLOPS, 52 CUs @ 1.825 GHz Custom RDNA 2 GPU
• Die Size: 360.45 mm2
• Process: 7nm Enhanced
• Memory: 16 GB GDDR6 w/ 320mb bus
• Memory Bandwidth: 10GB @ 560 GB/s, 6GB @ 336 GB/s
• Internal Storage: 1 TB Custom NVME SSD
• I/O Throughput: 2.Four GB/s (Raw), 4.eight GB/s (Compressed, with customized {hardware} decompression block)
• Expandable Storage: 1 TB Expansion Card (matches inner storage precisely)
• External Storage: USB 3.2 External HDD Support
• Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-Ray Drive
• Performance Target: 4K @ 60 FPS, Up to 120 FPS

In a submit additionally printed Wednesday, Microsoft revealed extra Xbox Series S particulars as effectively. The “smallest Xbox ever” contains the identical 3.6GHz AMD Ryzen CPU as its greater brother, together with a 512GB customized SSD powered by Microsoft’s Xbox Velocity Architecture and an RDNA 2-based AMD GPU that also helps real-time ray tracing…