Cheap X Box for my son…which one?

[Hard-Drive]

OK, I’m not a gamer…the only console I’ve ever owned was the original PlayStation!

My son (6) was recently in hospital after being bitten by a dog and was super brave during his stay and surgery (he’s all good now). The hospital brought an X Box to his room and he loved playing Forza 4, Minecraft, Roblox and some Lego games. I promised to buy him one as a reward for being a brave boy.

I want to get a second hand one, that he can play those games on. I don’t want to spend a lot, and I don’t want to pay subscriptions. The ability to work with a wireless controller and add a steering wheel/pedals would be good too.

Having done a bit of research I think I need an X Box One X 1TB, which allows him to just play games off a disc with no subscriptions, and will support a normal 4K TV and the wireless controller etc.

Is this what I need? Thanks in advance.

[TimmyMallett]

For 4k, yes, the One X is the one you need. Having said that, you could save a bit of money and get a normal one it will just do 1080 on your 4k telly. Forza 4 looks very pretty @4k and runs quite well but for some other games I run it at 1080 for a faster frame rate, but for a 6 year old its overkill to mess about like that.

[Hard-Drive]

That’s great, many thanks.

[gregs656]

I would consider a Series S (which you can now get trade in deals on through game, which makes it cheap) and doing the Xbox Live Gold to Game Pass upgrade for a quid - that would see your son through to 9 for less than 250 depending on the trade in deal you get.

[Mr E]

Warning, Xbox names are bloody confusing.

As mentioned by a poster above, series S is the default. ~£250 new.
Consider the all access; £21 a month for the console and game pass (like Netflix for a pile of games)

Series X is the more powerful version. More space, 4k, faster graphics etc. I suspect you won’t notice the difference 95% of the time.

The Xbox One (or One S / One X) is last generation and will run quite a lot of fun stuff; just not quite as well as the newer kit. New games might be limited on the older consoles.

[dai1983]

Loaded up my sons One S 1tb to wipe it before I sold it for £120 and it felt painfully slow booting up.

Get a Series S.

[aaron_2000]

As above, get the Series S. If the console generation lasts 8-10 years then it should carry him all the way through childhood and his teens without needing to be replaced whereas if you get him an Xbox One, he'll eventually want to upgrade to the Series S anyway.

[TimmyMallett]

I didn't think the Series S did native 4k? Something like......goes off to Google......1440?

Not that it matter for a 6 year old. Or anyone really

OP wanted 'cheap' and '4k' of which the SS is neither compared to the One X.


Plus, the games are digital only, which, if you want cheap gaming, is the very opposite of getting a console with a drive that allows you to buy second hand games at half the price, 6 months after they come out.

Digital downloads are about the most expensive way of gaming. Even using CD keys is still not cheap.

I do agree on the ease of use and buying a last gen console though. I just wouldn't advise a digital only console if you want cheapo gaming. There rally isn't that much difference between a XB1X and a Series S.

Plus, new prices appear to be (after quick Google) £250 for SS and £150 for XB1X

Edited by TimmyMallett on Tuesday 17th May 09:33

[rustyuk]

If you live anywhere near the Derbyshire Dales I have a Xbox One X 4k he can have for free.

[the-norseman]

I'd pick him up a cheap previous gen Xbox for now, One S or One X.

i've got one, I use mainly for Sky (you can use Sky go on it as if its a Sky box) but the missus 10 year old lad uses it for Fortnite/Minecraft/COD.

[gregs656]

TimmyMallett said:

I didn't think the Series S did native 4k? Something like......goes off to Google......1440?

Not that it matter for a 6 year old. Or anyone really

OP wanted 'cheap' and '4k' of which the SS is neither compared to the One X.


Plus, the games are digital only, which, if you want cheap gaming, is the very opposite of getting a console with a drive that allows you to buy second hand games at half the price, 6 months after they come out.

Digital downloads are about the most expensive way of gaming. Even using CD keys is still not cheap.

I do agree on the ease of use and buying a last gen console though. I just wouldn't advise a digital only console if you want cheapo gaming. There rally isn't that much difference between a XB1X and a Series S.

Plus, new prices appear to be (after quick Google) £250 for SS and £150 for XB1X

Edited by TimmyMallett on Tuesday 17th May 09:33

I was pretty specific with my rationale though -

Right now Game are doing a trade in deal - https://www.game.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/H...

and the Game Pass thing (36 months of gold converted to 36 months of Game Pass) makes digital gaming cheap.

Sure you don't get 4k, but that is enormous value for current gen. I am thinking of sending my brother down with my One X original to trade it in for me.

[Hard-Drive]

Thanks for all the input guys. It's all a bit of a minefield, but I found an X Box One X very locally, with a few games, wireless controller and all boxed in nice condition for £150 so job done. It's just something simple to get him going on, and he will be more than happy with it as a 6 year old. Looks like I can get some VPN game pass thing for £65 so I'll probably just do that. I need to get it all set up and working and I'll go from there.

Thanks again!

[Hard-Drive]

rustyuk said:

If you live anywhere near the Derbyshire Dales I have a Xbox One X 4k he can have for free.

That was an incredibly kind offer, and if it was a few weekends ago when I was in the area I'd have absolutely gone for that! Thanks anyway, bleddy love PH!

[TimmyMallett]

gregs656 said:

and the Game Pass thing (36 months of gold converted to 36 months of Game Pass) makes digital gaming cheap.

That is very true, I'd forgotten about that 'loophole' that isn't a loophole.