You’re not the only person still frantically refreshing the Xbox Series S product page; despite rolling out weeks ago, Microsoft’s next-gen console has been completely out of stock almost constantly through the entire month of November. It’s not hard to understand why: The Xbox Series S is not just a powerful update to Microsoft’s console franchise, it’s the smarter of the two new consoles to purchase. Priced at just $300, it’s the little brother of the $500 Xbox Series X It plays all the same games, but it’s capped at 1440p resolution (versus 4K on the Series X), lacks an optical drive, and only has half as much storage (500GB versus 1TB) — but that’s expandable with add-on drives, and Microsoft autoloads less-ambitious textures to better optimize memory space. Our advice is that if you don’t have a 4K TV, this is the better console to buy because it’s affordable and doesn’t write a lot of checks your TV can’t cash.
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The Series S sold out quickly on preorder day back in September, and most of us were consigned to waiting until launch day, Nov. 10, to claim a console. If you didn’t get one then either, you have to wonder: How much inventory will there actually be this week? That’s hard to say, because Microsoft has said little about how many units it will put on sale.
This much is true: While Sony’s PS5 launch was online-only, both flavors of the Xbox were initially available both online and in-store. The Series S sold out quickly, and we expect limited quantities through the rest of 2020.
While most retailers haven’t communicated to customers very clearly (or at all) about when they expect to have units for sale, a couple of stores have been more up-front. Walmart, for example, has been keeping customers informed about when it’s dropping new inventory via Twitter. Antonline is doing much the same, just providing less lead time to get ready for the sale. The retailer is tweeting availability at the time of drop, engaging directly with customers and gamers. Best Buy and GameStop are also teasing Xbox availability this week but have provided no specific details.
At least one CNET editor was able to score the Xbox Series S on Amazon earlier this month. Inventory there has since disappeared, but if you’d like to try your luck, we’ve rounded up all the major retailers currently offering the console for sale. Keep checking back to this page, though, because we will update this article when we know about an impending inventory drop at one of these retailers.
Here is Walmart’s Xbox Series S order page. The retailer occasionally notifies customers about inventory drops via Twitter.
Best Buy was the last retailer standing back during preorder day in September, but it’s just one of many stores now offering the Xbox Series S.
Amazon’s order page includes both versions of the next-gen console — the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
This is where to go to buy an Xbox Series S at Newegg.
If you would like to buy the new Xbox from GameStop, here is where to go.
Target has a page for the Xbox Series S, too.
Microsoft will offer the Xbox Series S for $300, or as part of the Xbox All Access plan, which includes the Series S and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and costs $25 per month for 24 months.
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Xbox Series X and Series S offer a fine-tuned, streamlined…
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