Don't pay extra for a disc drive! The standard Xbox Series X is now the same price as the All Digital edition.

Xbox Series X laying horizontally on a glass shelf, a black standard controller propped up against it. A green light illuminates the hardware from underneath with a soft glow.
Microsoft has opted to make disc drives essentially free for the Series X by discounting the standard carbon black console with a disc drive to the same price as its All Digital counterpart. (Image credit: Windows Central)

Looking to save money on an Xbox Series X but don't want to wait until the Black Friday rush? Microsoft has discounted the console's standard, 1 TB Carbon Black edition by $50. The price change makes the standard Xbox Series X just $449, the same price as the All Digital Xbox Series X in Robot White.

Xbox Series X 1TB Carbon BlackWas: $499Now: $449 at Best Buy
Early Black Friday deal

Xbox Series X 1TB Carbon Black
Was:
$499
Now:
$449 at Best Buy

Our experience: Windows Central review ⭐⭐⭐⭐

"This is the best Xbox Microsoft has ever built, and the best way to experience the Microsoft gaming ecosystem."

👉See at: Best Buy

✅Perfect for: Physical media fans, those who want to take advantage of backward compatibility, and those who want to play new games at the highest quality.

Avoid if: You are locked in to that all digital life, want to save even more money by getting a Series S, or want more internal storage.

Return period: 15-days. Price match? ☑️ (Also applies within return period). Free shipping: $35 minimum. Membership: My Best Buy w/ free shipping, exclusive deals, 60-day return period, & expanded support.

💰Price check: $478 (Walmart) | $449 (Microsoft)

The Carbon Black and Robot White editions of the Xbox Series X may look fairly similar, apart from colorway choice, but there is one glaring difference between the two models. The Carbon Black edition of the Series X includes a disc drive, while the Robot White is the "All Digital" edition of the console.

There is no shortage of arguments over whether physical media is still the best way to play games, or if it is falling out of fashion in lieu of all digital libraries. Regardless of who is right, Microsoft seems content to appease both sides for the time being.

The price change also comes shortly after Sony revealed the PlayStation 5 Pro consoles are shipping without a disc drive. Players who want to continue using their physical PlayStation game collections have to pony up an extra $100 to purchase an external disc drive.

Doing so may be harder and pricier than it sounds, though, as scalpers have already hit the disc drive inventory hard. Some eBay listings for the add-on have prices as high as $200. With the price of a PlayStation 5 Pro already hitting an eye-watering $700 before adding a disc drive, it makes the Xbox Series X standard edition with the disc tray included at $449 the more cost-effective way to get into 4K console gaming.

Of course, with a couple of weeks to go until Black Friday, it's safe to say that this won't be the lowest price we see on the Xbox Series X this holiday shopping season. As prices drop, so does the available inventory, however. Getting in on this deal now might save you from running into low stock later. With the money you save, you can consider checking out the best Black Friday deals for Xbox controllers or put that cash toward picking up one of these upcoming Xbox games.

🎃The best early Black Friday deals🦃

TOPICS
CATEGORIES
Cole Martin
Writer

Cole is the resident Call of Duty know-it-all and indie game enthusiast for Windows Central. She's a lifelong artist with two decades of experience in digital painting, and she will happily talk your ear off about budget pen displays. 

Read more
Image of the WD_BLACK C50 Expansion Card for Xbox.
The best Xbox SSDs from WD_BLACK got surprise discounts — don't miss out
Xbox Series X|S Seagate Storage Expansion Card
Xbox Series X|S Seagate expansion card drops to its lowest price ever
Image of the WD_BLACK C50 Expansion Card for Xbox.
You got a sweet new Xbox and some Game Pass for the holidays, but now you're out of storage space—Good news, WD_Black expansion cards are on sale for a limited time
Xbox Series X console
The UK and other regions are running suspiciously low on Xbox Series X console stocks, why is PlayStation still widely more available?
8BitDo Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard Xbox Edition
Drop everything — the Xbox keyboard is on sale
Microsoft Surface Pro 11 with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite
The best Surface Pro 11 with Snapdragon deal is still almost half the price of the new Surface Pro 11 with Intel
Latest in Xbox
Spongebob meme with Xbox logo, Steam logo, and PlayStation logo
Would PlayStation block its PC Steam games from running on a future Windows-based PC-like Xbox? Let's discuss.
The Thing: Remastered key art
The Thing comes to Xbox Cloud Gaming's "Stream Your Own Game" library alongside other new arrivals
Cover art for Heroes of the Storm.
Xbox Game Pass will give you more benefits in free-to-play games like Heroes of the Storm
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 accessibility settings at launch.
Activision user research workers form union under Microsoft
Xbox Game Hubs 2025
A quick look at Xbox's new "Game Hubs," a small new feature that may be more meaningful than you think
8BitDo Retro 87 Mechanical Keyboard Xbox Edition
Drop everything — the Xbox keyboard is on sale
Latest in Deals
Lenovo 16" IdeaPad Laptop on a man's lap and displaying a video call.
Today only, this 16" Lenovo laptop is more than 50% off and comes with Microsoft 365 — Access Word, PowerPoint, and more
AMD Ryzen 5 5500
This 1080p gaming CPU is down to $76 — it doesn't get much better for budget PC builders
Crucial T500 1TB SSD with heatsink on a mechanical gaming keyboard.
I just bought this 34% off 1TB SSD for my gaming PC because it's fast, cheap, and well-rated — Now I can finally upgrade my gaming PC
ROG G22CH front side.
This tiny RTX 4060 Ti pre-built PC is now $400 cheaper
Alienware AW2725DF Baldur's Gate 3 Party.
Save $300 on Dell's amazing 27-inch, 360Hz, QD-OLED gaming monitor with this coupon code
ASUS Vivobook S 14
I'm recommending this $499 OLED laptop deal to anyone worried about the end of Windows 10 support