Xbox One S: Should You Buy An Xbox One Now Or Wait Until The Holiday Season?


Since its initial release on November 22, 2013, Microsoft’s Xbox One has been beaten rather handily by Sony’s PlayStation 4. In addition to a starting price point of $499, which was $100 more than the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One has been viewed as an inferior console among gamers.

In order to increase its share of the market, Microsoft released the Xbox One S 2TB Console Launch Edition on August 2 for $399. On August 23, they will release the Xbox One S 500GB Console for $299 and the Xbox One S 1TB Console for $349. While there are not a ton of differences between the new Xbox One S and the original Xbox One, it does have the advantage of being smaller, slimmer, and lighter. Additionally, select games will perform slightly better when played on the Xbox One S as opposed to the original Xbox One.

While it is not performance related, the color has also been changed from Black to White. The slimmer design, new color, and ability to put the console in a vertical position are all important factors among gamers who are potentially going to shell out a few hundred dollars for a new gaming console.

Even though Microsoft has made its fair share of mistakes in the past with the Xbox One, they finally may be turning a corner. As GameSpot reports, the Xbox One actually outsold the PlayStation 4 in the month of July, a feat that is fairly rare and has not happened since last October.

“Xbox One was the best-selling console in the United States during the month of July, Microsoft announced today. This news come as part of the NPD Group’s monthly report for July. We won’t be getting our hands on the report until next week; this is due to a change since the addition of digital data to NPD’s sales data. Regardless, this is an unusual milestone, as the PS4 has routinely outsold Xbox One since their respective launches. There have been months where Xbox One topped PS4 in the US, but it hasn’t happened since last October. PS4 has led every month since then, though that isn’t necessarily a reflection on Xbox One sales–December was its best month ever up to that point.”

Since the Xbox One S had not yet been released in July, everyone was purchasing an original Xbox One. With all the versions of the Xbox One S launching this month, it may seem strange that people were buying the original Xbox One in apparent record numbers. Regardless, a quick glance at the price cuts that the original Xbox One has undergone explains everything.

As Windowsreport noted, Microsoft actually cut the price of the original Xbox One in late July to $249, which marked the third reduction in a matter of months. Previously, Microsoft cut the price to $299. A few weeks later, they cut the price to $279. The current price of $249 is the lowest that it has ever been, and it is probably going to remain there until the entire remaining inventory is sold out.

Whether or not Microsoft continues to manufacture the original Xbox One remains to be seen, but you now have two different options if you are in the market for an Xbox One. Your first is to simply purchase the original Xbox One for $249 or one of the Xbox One S models for $299, $349, or $399. Remember, the $299 and $349 versions of the Xbox One S will not be released for 11 more days, but you can place your pre-order now.

Your other option is to wait until Black Friday and the holiday season. Last year on Black Friday, the original Xbox One was widely discounted from $349 to $299, which was a discount of $50. Additionally, certain stores bundled gift cards or store dollars, which made the net purchase price close to $225 at certain retailers.

With Black Friday becoming much more of an online event, you should be able to get an even better price if you wait until November. Stores such as Amazon are sure to have discounts on the original Xbox One and the new Xbox One S, and you could potentially save an additional $50.

Either way, if you cannot wait, now is still a better time than ever to get a new Xbox One.

[Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images]

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