Every Xbox Console Ranked From Worst to Best

When Microsoft entered the video game console market, it did so with the Xbox in 2001. The system was a huge success, taking the software company in new directions as it carved out a significant niche in the marketplace. The company has released numerous consoles over the years, including the recent ASUS ROG Ally X, but we wanted to take a look at its home consoles and rank them. We’ve done so by looking at their video game libraries, consumer popularity, and industry impact. We’ve excluded slim models and other variations to focus on the following six Xbox consoles.

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6) Xbox One

For many gamers, the Xbox One was a swing and a miss, as Microsoft began shifting its home video game console into a multimedia entertainment center. It was initially released with the much-derided Kinect sensor, as Microsoft embraced an accessory that few consumers actually wanted. As a result, the Xbox One wasn’t as huge a success as Microsoft likely hoped, and all told, the company sold 58 million units. When compared to its contemporary rival, the PlayStation 4, that’s pretty bad, as the PS4 sold over 117 million units. In terms of games, the Xbox One’s best titles were also released on the PS4, which didn’t make it an incredibly desirable system to own.

5) Xbox Series S

For Microsoft’s fourth-generation console, the company opted to release two distinct versions. The Xbox Series S is the cheaper model because it’s a digital-only device. It lacks an optical media drive of any kind, which reduces its cost when compared to its larger counterpart. The system is good at what it does, and while some fans enjoy a digital-only device, many weren’t enamored with an inability to play games they owned physical copies of. Since its release in 2020, Microsoft hasn’t sold many Xbox Series S units, though it has outsold its counterpart by 3:1. While it’s not the most successful console, it does have a good digital game library thanks to backward compatibility.

4) Xbox One X

While we aren’t including most Xbox console models, we couldn’t keep the Xbox One X off the list, as it’s a significant improvement over the original. The system is a high-end revision of the Xbox One, offering a significant upgrade across the board. It can play 4K games, and its hardware improves existing titles, making them run considerably better on the Xbox One X than on the Xbox One. Additionally, it’s backwards compatible with pretty much everything previously released. It is truly a major improvement, making it a standout as it’s more of a completely new, better console than its predecessor.

3) Xbox

For many fans, the original Xbox console is a favorite, thanks as the nostalgia surrounding its impressive library of exclusive titles. It competed with the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, coming in second behind the PS2, and it was an excellent system. Sure, its controller was bigger than most people’s heads, but that only helped in future designs. Microsoft didn’t keep the device on the market for long, as it soon shifted to its second-generation console, but while it was available, it sold 24 million units. Not only that, but it also established the company as a major player in the industry, a significant achievement for any debut console.

2) Xbox Series X

The counterpart to the Xbox Series S is the Xbox Series X, a larger system that includes an optical disc drive. The system is powerful, supports 4K gaming, and is a bit faster than the Series S, thanks to more memory and a faster CPU. In terms of its game library, it is backwards compatible with many Xbox One titles. It has a fairly decent capacity for digital games, which is two to four times as much as the Series S. Of course, the more robust system costs a lot more than the alternative, which is why it hasn’t sold as well as the Series S. It’s unclear how many of each system has been sold, but combined, the X|S sales amount to around 34 million consoles.

1) Xbox 360

Microsoft’s second console is arguably its best: the Xbox 360 was a massive improvement over the Xbox, integrating online play and other elements the previous system couldn’t match. It’s also the most successful entry in the line, as Microsoft has sold over 85 million units of the different varieties released over the years. On top of that, it features a significantly improved controller, a vast library of games, many of which are excellent, and a system that was highly influential in the marketplace, driving competition for years. Microsoft sold the Xbox 360 for 11 years, showing how much faith the company had in the hardware, and it’s easily the best system in the Xbox line (to date).

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