Xbox Series X Now $799 as Console Prices Climb Before the Holidays

Buying a game console this holiday season costs more than it did when these machines first went on sale. A price roundup from Tom’s Guide lists the Xbox Series X at $799, up from $499 for the disc version, and the base PlayStation 5 at $649. The Nintendo Switch 2, at $499, is now the cheapest of the major consoles.

Prices usually fall late in a console generation. This time both the PS5 and the Xbox Series X cost more than at launch, and the Switch 2 arrived last year priced $200 above the original Switch. Tom’s Guide puts most of the blame on higher component costs, including memory, and on tariffs in 2025.

What each console costs right now

These are the starting prices Tom’s Guide listed. Most systems also come in pricier larger-storage models or cheaper digital-only versions.

• Nintendo Switch 2: $499. Bundles with Nintendo Switch Sports Resort cost $529, and with Mario Kart World $549.
• PlayStation 5: $649 for the base model with a disc drive.
• PlayStation 5 Pro: $899, though it has been hard to find, and used units are selling for more than $1,500.
• Steam Deck OLED: $789 for 512GB and $949 for 1TB.
• Steam Machine: $1,049.
• Xbox Series X: $799 in the price table. The same roundup also refers to it as costing $789 elsewhere in the text.

How the price hikes stacked up

Nintendo made the latest move. The Switch 2 went up $50 from $449 on Sept. 1. Sony raised prices on the PS5, PS5 Digital and PS5 Pro by $100 or more in March, which followed an earlier increase in August 2025.

Microsoft has raised the Xbox Series X price three times since May 2025. The most recent increase came in June, and the company attributed it to AI and rising component costs, according to Tom’s Guide.

Valve stopped selling the LCD Steam Deck earlier this year and now offers only the OLED model. The 512GB version went from $549 to $789, a $240 jump, and the 1TB version rose $300 from $649 to $949. Valve said memory and storage costs drove the change. The Steam Machine also got more expensive before it went on sale, and it launched this past summer at $1,049.

What it means for holiday shoppers

Every major platform now costs more than it did two years ago, and the gap between consoles has narrowed. Shoppers who skipped the hardware at launch will pay more for the same machines today.

Supply is a second issue. Tom’s Guide says PlayStation availability is a big problem at the moment and that the PS5 Pro has been mostly unavailable, which explains the inflated resale prices. Both Steam Deck OLED models were in stock on Steam when the roundup was written.

Handheld PCs are an alternative, but they are mostly expensive too and run a modified version of Windows 11. The Asus ROG Xbox Ally costs $599, while the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+ costs $1,799.

Which console the Tom’s Guide team picked

Most of the Tom’s Guide staff who were polled chose the Switch 2, with the PS5 a close second, held back by its price. Phil Rodrigues called the Switch 2’s price fair, saying “$500 is pretty fair for what you’re getting.” The team also pointed to its backwards compatibility with original Switch games and its ability to run third-party titles such as Elden Ring.

For the Xbox Series X, the outlet still rates the hardware highly. It has 12 teraflops of graphics power, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD and a Blu-ray drive, and it can run games in 4K at 60 frames per second. The reviewers found the price hard to justify. The Steam Deck OLED remains the outlet’s top handheld pick, and Valve rates its battery at three to 12 hours depending on the game.

Source: Tom's Guide