Earlier this week, the next-generation video game consoles officially hit store shelves — or more accurately, they were released and sold out instantly. But even if you couldn’t get your hands on an Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, or PlayStation 5 — or you simply don’t want to spend half a grand to play the same games — it’s still a great time to be a gamer.
Although the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 offer a generational leap in terms of processing power and I/O speed, their extremely limited game libraries mean that you’re stuck playing the same previous-generation titles — while paying over three times as much! Keep reading as we take a closer look at the Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X to see how they stack up now that the next generation has arrived.
Table of Contents:
- How much is an Xbox One
- Xbox One vs Xbox Series X|S
- Xbox One Game Library
- Xbox One Exclusives
- Should I buy an Xbox One in 2020?
How much is an Xbox One?
The original Xbox One released on November 22, 2013 for $499. Since then, there have been several Xbox One price drops, eventually settling on an Xbox One price of $299 at electronics retailers before being discontinued. This Xbox One price drop certainly made the console more appealing and led to massive spikes in sales, but the Xbox One can be had for substantially less on Swappa. Current Xbox One prices start at just $115, which is less than a quarter of what you’d have to pay for a brand-new Xbox Series X.
The Xbox One received two mid-cycle console refreshes: Xbox One S and Xbox One X. The Xbox One S launched on August 2, 2016 for $299 and replaced the original console. The Xbox One X came out a year later on November 7, 2017 for $499 and served as a higher-end, 4K-capable alternative for gamers looking for the best visuals and frame rates.
Naturally, you can get these consoles for considerably less when you shop on Swappa Gaming. The Xbox One S currently starts at just $145 — and the Xbox One X price is just $190 on Swappa. This means that you can buy TWO 4K-ready Xbox One X consoles — one for you, and one to give as the perfect gift for a fellow gamer — and still have money left over to pick up plenty of games and accessories.
Xbox One vs Xbox Series X | S Specs Comparison
Although price is important, it doesn’t tell the whole story. So let’s take a closer look at all of Microsoft’s recent consoles to see how they stack up.
| Xbox One / One S | Xbox One X | Xbox Series S | Xbox Series X | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD “Jaguar” 8-core, 8-thread 1.75 GHz | AMD “Evolved Jaguar” 8-core, 8-thread 2.3 GHz | AMD Ryzen “Zen2” 8-core, 16-thread Up to 3.6GHz | AMD Ryzen “Zen2” 8-core, 16-thread Up to 3.8GHz |
| GPU | AMD Radeon GCN 2 853MHz / 914 MHz | AMD Radeon GCN 4 1.2GHz | AMD Radeon RDNA 2 Ray Tracing Acceleration 20CU @ 1.6GHz | AMD Radeon RDNA 2 Ray Tracing Acceleration 52CU @ 1.8GHz |
| Graphics Power | 1.3 / 1.4 TFLOPS | 6 TFLOPS | 4 TFLOPS | 12 TFLOPS |
| System Memory | 8GB DDR3 RAM 68.3GB/s Bandwidth (32MB ESRAM cache at 204GB/s) | 12GB GDDR5 RAM 326GB/s Bandwidth | 10GB GDDR6 RAM 224GB/s Peak Bandwidth | 16GB GDDR6 RAM 560GB/s Peak Bandwidth |
| Storage | 500GB or 1TB SATA 5400RPM HDD | 1TB SATA 5400RPM HDD | 512GB PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD 2.4GB/s Read Bandwidth (RAW) | 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD 2.4GB/s Read Bandwidth (RAW) |
| Game Disk | Blu-ray Up to 100GB/disc | Ultra HD Blu-ray Up to 100GB/disc | N/A | Ultra HD Blu-ray Up to 100GB/disc |
| Video Out | 1080p 60Hz TVs HDMI 1.4 | 4K 60Hz TVs HDR supported HDMI 2.0 | 4K 120Hz TVs 8k 60Hz TVs HDR and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) HDMI 2.1 | 4K 120Hz TVs 8k 60Hz TVs HDR and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) HDMI 2.1 |
| Audio | AMD TrueAudio | AMD TrueAudio | Project Acoustics 3D Audio | Project Acoustics 3D Audio |
| Dimensions | 333mm (h) x 79mm (w) 274mm (d) | 300mm (h) x 60mm (w) x 240mm (d) | 275mm (h) x 65mm (w) x 151mm (d) | 301mm (h) x 151mm (w) x 151mm (d) |
| Release Date | November 22, 2013 | November 7, 2017 | November 10, 2020 | November 10, 2020 |
| MSRP | $499 (as low as $115) | $499 (as low as $190) | $299 MSRP | $499 MSRP |
As you can see, the brand-new Xbox Series X console is a technological powerhouse. In fact, with a whopping 12 TFLOPS of computational power, it is currently the fastest video game console that money can buy — assuming that you can actually find one in stock anywhere.
What is a TFLOP?
Graphics power is measured in units called teraflops (TFLOPS). This represents the number of operations that a computer or game system can execute within one second, with 1 teraflop being equivalent to 1 trillion floating-point operations per second. The higher the better — and this directly translates into greater resolutions and frame rates, while simultaneously allowing developers to implement new and innovative graphical effects.
If you absolutely must have the very best graphics, highest frame rates, and fancy new effects like real-time ray tracing at a native 4K resolution, the Xbox Series X is for you. However, it’s not the only 4K-capable gaming machine you can buy. With 6 TFLOPS of graphics processing power, the Xbox One X is also incredibly powerful. In fact, even though it’s built on an older graphics architecture, the Xbox One X actually offers more raw computational performance than the 4TFLOPS offered by the newer Xbox Series S! So if you’re looking for an affordable entry into 4K gaming, there is only one choice: Xbox One X.
Xbox One Library
The Xbox One has an absolutely massive game library with over 2600 titles. This absolutely dwarfs the 33 games that are currently available for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, and it’s why these next-generation consoles are forced to rely on Xbox One backward compatibility in order to fill in the gaps.
The Xbox One’s game library will continue to grow in the coming years. In fact, Microsoft has publicly stated that all upcoming first-party titles will release for both the Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
“You won’t be forced into the next generation. We want every Xbox player to play all the new games from Xbox Game Studios. That’s why Xbox Game Studios titles we release in the next couple of years—like Halo Infinite—will be available and play great on Xbox Series X and Xbox One. We won’t force you to upgrade to Xbox Series X at launch to play Xbox exclusives.”
Source: Microsoft Xbox Blog
Since the Xbox One has been around for a decent amount of time, Xbox One games are more affordable than ever — and generally cheaper than games for next-gen consoles. For example, most Xbox One games retail for $49-59 — while not “cheap,” this is an entirely reasonable amount for a large-scale, triple-A title. Newer titles meant for the Xbox Series X are a bit more expensive, frequently going for $69 or more in many cases.
But don’t get stuck paying retail. Find even better deals on hundreds of Xbox One games on Swappa. Here, you’ll find popular Xbox One games such as Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey for as little as $16 — a quarter of the retail price you’d pay at GameFlop!
Xbox One exclusives
We all know that the Xbox One has thousands of great games. But did you know that there are hundreds of popular titles that you can only find on the Xbox One? The most notable Xbox One exclusives are staple franchises such as Halo, Gears of War, and Forza. But those willing to venture out to other genres will love titles such as Sea of Thieves, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and countless others.
Should I buy an Xbox One in 2020?
The Xbox One is undoubtedly still worth it in 2020. The Xbox Series X may have a bit of an edge when it comes to raw computational power, but the Xbox One is no slouch. And if you want a premium 4K gaming experience, consider the Xbox One X instead. It’s not only cheaper than the Xbox Series S — it’s more powerful, too. And given the limited launch titles for both the Series X and Series S, you’d be silly to pay four times as much and end up playing the same exact games.
Whichever game console you choose, you’ll always find the best deals on Swappa. Our safe and easy-to-use marketplace cuts out the middlemen to save you money. Buy with confidence because every listing is screened by our expert moderation team before it goes live.
