Xbox Series X in 2026: Four Big Drawbacks to Consider Before Buying

The Xbox Series X is still an impressive piece of hardware. It remains a compact console capable of delivering 4K-oriented games, ray-tracing features and years of access to Microsoft's first-party releases, large third-party games and a substantial backwards-compatible catalog. For someone coming from an older Xbox One, or a player who simply wants a straightforward living-room machine, it can still be a satisfying way to play.

But buying one in 2026 is no longer the uncomplicated proposition it was at launch. Microsoft's flagship arrived in November 2020 at $499, a price that made it look especially attractive next to the difficult early perception of the Xbox One generation. Six years later, the wider market, Xbox's changing subscription strategy and stronger competition at the high end have changed the equation.

That does not mean the Series X is automatically a bad purchase. It means prospective buyers should be precise about what they need from it. A person who values physical discs, console simplicity and specific Xbox library features may reach a different conclusion than someone who already owns a capable gaming PC or is chasing the best available console visuals. Here are four important drawbacks to consider before spending the money.

1. The Xbox Series X costs far more than it did at launch

The clearest problem is the price. At $499 in 2020, the Series X represented a powerful current-generation system at a relatively conventional premium-console price. It offered a custom AMD architecture, support for ray tracing and the promise of 4K gaming at up to 60 frames per second in supported titles. That made the initial value proposition easy to understand.

For useful background on this topic, read WD 5TB My Passport Portable Drive Drops to $227 at Amazon.

In 2026, the cost is substantially higher. Average Series X prices sit in roughly the $725 to $900 range depending on storage and configuration. The 1TB disc-equipped model commonly sells around $799, while the digital-only Robot White edition is about $750. That is a dramatic rise for hardware that is now six years into its life cycle.

Higher component costs and the broader demand for memory and storage are major pressures on hardware pricing, with AI data centers competing for many of the same kinds of resources used throughout the technology industry. Those conditions may explain why the market looks different now, but they do not make the purchase easier for consumers.

A Series X remains the second most powerful console on the market and has a strong software library. Even so, it is much harder to frame as an obvious value at close to $800 than it was at $499. Buyers are being asked to pay considerably more for an aging platform while the next wave of console hardware remains an eventual consideration. Anyone comparing the Series X with a PC upgrade, a PlayStation 5 Pro or even a less expensive current-gen option should account for that shift.

2. Game Pass is no longer the simple bargain it once was

Xbox Game Pass was once one of the strongest reasons to join the Xbox ecosystem. When it launched in June 2017, the service cost $9.99 per month and included more than 100 Xbox One games alongside a selection of backwards-compatible Xbox 360 titles. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate followed in June 2019 at $14.99 per month, building a more expansive package around the core catalog.

The service has since become more complicated and more expensive. Ultimate rose gradually to $19.99 per month by July 2024, then reached $29.99 in October 2025. Following substantial community backlash, the Ultimate price later fell to $22.99 per month, which is the current monthly cost.

There are cheaper options, but their limitations matter. Game Pass Essential costs $9.99 monthly and includes a much smaller selection of around 50 games. Game Pass Premium is $14.99 per month and provides access to more than 200 games across Xbox Series X|S, PC and cloud devices. However, neither tier includes first-party games on release day. Players who want a new Microsoft-published game such as the upcoming Fable reboot at launch need Ultimate.

Cloud gaming has become another point of friction. Unlimited cloud streaming was previously an Ultimate perk, but streaming limits were introduced. Ultimate members are now capped at 15 streaming hours each month. Lower tiers receive less, while players who need more time can purchase additional hours.

None of that makes Game Pass useless. For players who regularly try several large releases, move between genres or would otherwise buy multiple full-price games each year, a subscription can still make financial sense. Someone who plans to play Forza Horizon 6 but does not want to spend $70 on it outright may still prefer the flexibility of a subscription. The issue is that the calculation is no longer automatic. The monthly fee, tier restrictions and cloud limits should all be evaluated against how often the service will actually be used.

3. Xbox games are widely available on PC

Microsoft's commitment to PC is good news for consumers broadly, but it weakens the argument that its console is essential. A gaming PC has long offered advantages in adjustable settings, broader storefront choices, mod support in applicable games and upgrade flexibility. In the current Xbox strategy, it also provides access to a great deal of the same software that might once have required buying a console.

PC Game Pass costs $13.99 per month and includes more than 300 titles. It also offers day-one access to major Microsoft releases, including games such as Gears of War: E-Day. The PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass libraries are not identical, so prospective subscribers should check the games that matter most to them. Still, the overlap is extensive enough that an existing desktop or gaming laptop can remove much of the urgency behind buying a Series X.

This is particularly significant for players who already own a reasonably capable PC. Rather than spending $750 to $800 or more on a dedicated console, they may be able to use their current machine, upgrade a single component or put the money toward a more substantial future PC refresh. PC players can also look beyond the Xbox ecosystem when a game is unavailable there, with regular sales on storefronts such as Steam further changing the value comparison.

The console still has practical advantages. It is easier to set up under a television, more predictable to maintain and often more convenient for local multiplayer or a controller-first experience. But exclusivity is no longer the central reason to choose it. If a buyer's primary goal is playing Microsoft games, PC may offer a better fit, particularly when the buyer already has the hardware.

4. The PS5 Pro has a meaningful graphics advantage

The other major consideration is performance positioning. The Xbox Series X is powerful, but it is no longer the leading console on raw graphical capability. Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro has a significant advantage on the GPU side, with 16.7 TFLOPS compared with the Series X's 12.15 TFLOPS.

Both machines use custom AMD RDNA-based designs and support ray tracing, but the difference in graphics performance can help the PS5 Pro render some games at higher resolutions and improve image quality. Sony's PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution, or PSSR 2.0, is also a major part of that proposition. Its image reconstruction can make a visible difference in suitable games, including Resident Evil Village.

The CPU gap is much smaller. Both consoles use AMD Zen 2 processors with eight cores and 16 threads. The PS5 Pro runs at a slightly higher 3.85GHz clock speed, compared with 3.8GHz for the Series X. As a result, games limited chiefly by CPU workloads, especially demanding open-world titles, do not necessarily receive a dramatic frame-rate advantage on Sony's upgraded machine.

That distinction is important for the looming release of Grand Theft Auto VI. Demand for PS5 Pro hardware has been intense, with used units listed for nearly $1,400 while the current MSRP is $899. The game will very likely look better on PS5 Pro than on Series X due to the former's graphics hardware and PSSR 2.0 capabilities. Yet current expectations suggest both systems may still target 30 frames per second, illustrating that more GPU power does not solve every performance limitation.

For someone seeking the strongest console graphics package, the Series X is at a disadvantage. That does not erase its strengths, and a PS5 Pro is itself expensive. But when the Series X's own price has climbed so high, its status as the runner-up in console performance becomes more difficult to overlook.

Who should still consider a Series X?

The Xbox Series X can still be the right choice for players who want a powerful, uncomplicated console, prefer the Xbox interface and ecosystem, maintain a physical game collection, or find a deal well below current typical pricing. It also remains a strong machine for Game Pass users who play enough to justify Ultimate and who value access across Xbox, PC and cloud devices.

For everyone else, caution is warranted. The hardware is markedly more expensive than it was at launch, Game Pass has become pricier and more segmented, Microsoft's games are readily available on PC, and the PS5 Pro now leads the console market in graphics capability. Before buying, compare the exact local price with the cost of a PC upgrade, a PlayStation alternative and the Game Pass tier you would realistically use. In 2026, the Series X is best viewed not as the default Xbox purchase, but as a machine that needs to fit a very particular set of priorities.