Here are some must-have accessories for your Xbox Series X / S

The Xbox Series X and Series S are excellent machines directly out of the box, but there’s always room for improvement. Add-on accessories like the Elite Series 2 Controller and the Xbox Wireless Headset can help you get the most out of your new gaming console, while others, like Seagate and Western Digital’s expansion cards, can help ensure you have ample storage space to stow all of your favorite games.

Below, we’ve listed some of the best accessories available for the Series X and Series S, many of which often go on sale at most major retailers.

The last-gen Xbox wireless controller from the Xbox One generation is compatible with the Series X / S consoles. However, the older controller lacks a few features only found in the newer, better version. For instance, the revised controller (which comes with every new Series X and Series S) has a dedicated button for saving and sharing clips and screenshots, a USB-C port for wired use or charging Microsoft’s play-and-charge rechargeable battery, and an improved D-pad.

In addition to working with the latest Xbox consoles, Microsoft’s base-model Xbox controller also features Bluetooth support, so you can connect it to modern Android phones, Apple devices, a Steam Deck (or any competing handheld gaming PC), or a PC. If your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth, you can just plug in via USB.

The Xbox Wireless controller retails between $59.99 and $64.99, depending on the color, but we often see it on sale for as low as $40. And, for those who want something really unique, you can order a custom model through the Xbox Design Lab.

If you want the ability to customize your controller to better suit your play style, the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller might be a better fit.

Although it’s twice as expensive as the aforementioned Xbox Wireless Controller, we consider the customizable Elite Series 2 to be the best premium Xbox controller you can buy. Its thumbsticks have adjustable tension (although they aren’t drift-free Hall effect sticks, sadly), it has back paddles that support custom button mapping, and it features hair-trigger locks that enable shorter, clickier throws of the triggers. Just like the basic Xbox Wireless Controller, the Elite Series 2 offers both USB-C and Bluetooth connectivity, along with excellent battery life that should provide roughly 40 hours of playtime on a single charge. Although the Elite Series 2 has an MSRP of $179.99, it’s somewhat normal to see it dip to as low as $139.99.

Then there’s the Xbox Elite Series 2 Core, a cheaper version that comes packaged with fewer accouterments (no hard case, no extra sticks, and no back paddles). The Core version is the same controller in two-tone white, red, or blue — but again, without the accessories — and has a list price of $129.99. Thankfully, it’s common to find it for around $100, and you can always buy the accessories later via Microsoft for $59.99.

If you’d rather spend less and don’t mind using a wired controller, the PowerA Enhanced is a great budget-friendly pick. It lacks wireless connectivity, but it works just the same as official controllers on Xbox Series X / S consoles and PC. The low-frills controller comes in several colors as well as some licensed designs, and is available for as low as $27 in some instances.

Another option that typically goes for around $30 is 8BitDo’s newer Ultimate Wired Controller. It isn’t nearly as flashy as the PowerA Enhanced, but it has some features that might make it a better choice — again, so long as you don’t mind connecting to your console with a long cable. What sets it apart from other affordable options, as well as both of Microsoft’s wireless controllers, is its Hall effect joysticks and triggers. Those, unlike what you’ll find in first-party gamepads from Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony, are built to resist wearing down over time, thus preventing degraded performance.

If you’re keen on buying an Xbox wireless controller, you’re probably already well aware of another cost associated with using them: batteries. Those can get costly, but PowerA’s Solo Charging Stand is a great, inexpensive workaround. The handy stand includes a 1,100mAh rechargeable battery, two battery covers, and a USB charging cable. Amazon, Walmart, and PowerA typically sell the black and white configurations for $19.99, but you might find it for less. Alternatively, if you own two gamepads, you should opt for a $29.99 PowerA Duo Charging Station, which can occasionally be found for less than the single-controller base model.

You don’t have to miss a call while you game, thanks to Microsoft’s $99.99 Xbox Wireless Headset. When we reviewed the first-gen model in 2021, we found it to be a comfortable, intuitively designed headset that’s well worth the price. In addition to working well with Xbox consoles, it can connect to another device simultaneously via Bluetooth. That said, gamers should specifically seek out the latest model, which looks almost identical to the original headset but boasts support for Dolby Atmos, longer battery life, and improved mic performance.

SteelSeries makes an Xbox-specific version of its Nova Pro Wireless, which fans of great-sounding audio should flock to if they have the budget for the $349.99 headset. It remains one of the best wireless gaming headsets for a number of reasons: it’s comfortable, it sounds great, it features swappable batteries, and it pairs with a handy base station that lets you fine-tune the sound to your liking. The base station even allows you to connect a second device — whether it be another gaming console or a PC — and easily switch between audio sources.

Delegating your older games to a slower but far cheaper storage solution — like Seagate’s 4TB Game Drive for Xbox — is a clever way to let you have all of your games accessible without crowding your already-limited SSD space. However, it’s worth pointing out that any external USB drive will be significantly slower to load than what the Series X’s and Series S’s respective SSDs will tolerate. As such, you can only play Xbox One and earlier generation games directly from it. If you want to play a Series X game, you’ll need to move it over to the console’s internal SSD.

Of course, you can (and probably should) buy faster storage solutions, which will allow you to play Series X / S games without transferring games around. That said, the storage expansion cards that are currently available will cost you significantly more than a traditional drive. Seagate and Western Digital are, so far, the only companies that make proprietary, memory card-like SSDs that can be inserted into the rear of either Microsoft console.

The SSDs are available in multiple configurations, including 1TB and 2TB sizes (there are 512GB configurations, but they aren’t worth the money). At their standard retail price, these expansion cards are far pricier than their M.2 SSD counterparts for the PlayStation 5, but they’re the only option for Xbox owners who want additional console storage. Thankfully, they go on sale every couple of months, knocking $50 or so off the price.

While not absolutely essential, the Xbox Game Pass subscription is becoming a wonderful value for gamers who want to try a lot of games at a fixed monthly fee instead of buying them at full price. It offers access to more than 100 games from both small developers and powerhouse studios, including titles from Microsoft, Bethesda, and other Xbox Game Studios.

There are three tiers to choose from, starting at the $9.99 per month “Core” tier, which offers the fewest games but enables online multiplayer. The “standard” tier that costs $14.99 a month adds close to the full suite of Game Pass games available, but not the latest games. Stepping up to $19.99 a month grants you access to Game Pass Ultimate, which includes all of the aforementioned perks, plus day one releases, the ability to stream games over the cloud, and Game Pass access on PC as well as Xbox.

LG’s B4 OLED is a terrific, affordable gaming TV with four HDMI 2.1 ports, each of which supports 4K resolution at up to 120Hz. It also features support for Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync technologies, low input lag, and a speedy processor. It even has a “Game Optimizer” dashboard, which is a settings pane that conveniently brings together game-centric settings like refresh rate and latency for quicker access.