5 GREAT Xbox Series X/S Accessories!

If you’re here, chances are that you already own either the Xbox Series X or the Series S, and if you do, congrats, because it’s still relatively hard to get one here in Singapore.

But now that you have your brand new console, you might be wondering: what more can you do to make the experience better? Well, here are 5 great accessories that we think you should definitely take a look at.

1. Xbox Controller

First up, is something really simple but perhaps often overlooked in this day and age with online play. Grab a 2nd Xbox Series Controller. As simple as that. 

Yes, gone are those days where we used to bring our friends over, sit on the same couch and game together on the same console. But that’s not to say that there aren’t such games anymore. Borderlands 3 and Halo: Master Chief Collection fully support local split-screen co-op and games like Minecraft Dungeons and Overcooked 2 are pretty much designed with the couch in mind.

But if you don’t play these games, or perhaps you don’t have any friends, a second controller still makes sense because you can use it with your Windows PC, and arguably, some games just feel better to play on a controller, especially third-person RPGs like Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

If you really want the best of the best, you can also go ahead and check out the Series 2 Elite Controller. Now that’s gonna cost you quite a bit more, but will definitely offer you much more in customizability.

But in short, it’s just great to have a second controller around.

2. Xbox Play & Charge Kit

Speaking of which, Xbox controllers still use double-A batteries which have their pros and cons, but we’ll highly suggest you grab the Xbox Rechargeable Battery. Essentially, this is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery the size of two double-A batteries. Simply plug and play, and you’re good to go.

The battery has a capacity of 1400mAh and would last you roughly 30 hours or so of gameplay on a full charge. The package also includes a USB-C cable, so if you do run out of battery mid-gaming, just plug it in and continue playing. 

Now there is also another option, which is the Dual Charging Station from Power A. Although the individual battery capacity is slightly lower, at 1100mAh, you get two batteries and a charging station to boot. Honestly, it also looks great and it’s officially licensed, so no worries on that part. You might want to consider this if you already have two controllers.

3. Seagate 1TB Expansion Drive

This next item is arguably one of the most important, especially if you have Game Pass, and that’s the 1TB Expansion Drive from Seagate. Games are huge nowadays, and can easily surpass 100 GB for a single triple-A title. After eight games or so, you will have filled up the storage on your Series X. This card basically adds another terabyte of storage and will work with all Series X and S enhanced games. It’s also pretty nifty and compact, and you don’t have to disassemble the console to install it. There’s basically a dedicated port for it on the back of the console, and just like the battery for the controller, it’s plug and play.

Unfortunately, I don’t have one, because even till today, it’s really hard to get a hold of one, but definitely keep an eye out if you want more storage.

4. External SSD

Recording and sharing your gameplay videos is really simple with the new console, especially with that new dedicated share button in the middle. By default, it would save the recording into the internal SSD on your console, but as we’ve just mentioned, storage is a precious resource now.

To solve that, you just need to get an external SSD, like this WD Black that I have right here. Just make sure that it’s at least USB 3.1 and in NTFS format and leave it plugged in. Go over to Manage Storage Devices and set your external SSD as the capture location. You’ll then need to set your capture and share preferences, so set that to the external SSD. 

Once you have all of that done, you can record gameplay and not worry about it taking much space on your console itself.

5. Xbox Wireless Headset

Lastly, what completes the gaming experience has to be the audio, which speaking of, you’re in luck. The Xbox Wireless Headset just recently launched and it’s awesome.

First up, the design is actually really modern and classy, which really fits the overall monolithic look of the Series X. It is also pretty comfortable with a good amount of padding on the ear cups and the headband. Even though I’m wearing glasses, I could easily use this for hours on end, though of course, your mileage may vary. 

The sound quality is also really good, especially considering the price. Gunfire and explosions are crystal clear in Gears 5, while the melodic soundtracks and tranquil sound effects in Ori are equally as clean and melodic as well. The headset also supports spatial sound technologies like Windows Sonic, Dolby Atmos and DTS Headphone X for added immersion in the games that support it.

Mic quality is also great according to friends; they said my voice was clean and clear and I guess that’s pretty much what you want. Of course, there are many more settings you can play with for the mic and the entire headset using the Xbox Accessories App. 

But by far, the best thing ever has to be the rotating ear cup dials. Simply rotate the right dial to adjust the game volume, while rotating the left dial adjusts the balance between your chat and the game audio. This feature comes straight from their Surface Headphones and it’s downright amazing. I’m glad they did this.

But say you aren’t a fan of this design, well, there are other options out there. You can check out the Steelseries Arctis 7X or 9X, which is arguably one of the best headsets for the Xbox, or the Razer Kaira Pro, which offers a similar set of features. Whichever you choose, they will all perform great.

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Content by Soon Kai Hong