A few weeks ago, a friend of mine finally managed to buy an Xbox Series X. However, though you’d think he’d be delighted, he was actually a little bit concerned:
You see, he works shifts so he’s not always in when parcels arrive. To counter this problem he’s installed a parcel safe box (A bit like this one) outside his house so that delivery people can safely store parcels.
But he was worried that the new Xbox Series X box might be too big to fit in his parcel safe box. An understandable worry, considering both the Xbox Series X and Playstation 5 are pretty large consoles, by console standards.
So, I said to him not to worry and that I’ll look into the size of the box for him.
This is what I found:
How big is the Xbox Series X box? The Xbox Series X box is 11.5 inches high, 8.5 inches long, and 15 inches wide. In metric that equals 30cm high, 22cm long, and 38 cm wide.
Ok, now you know the size of the Xbox Series X’s box. In the next few sections, I’ll take a closer look at the size of the box. Then I’ll look at why the box is so big, whether you should keep the box, and how you should go about storing the box.
Ok, let’s get started…
How big is the box?
The size of the Xbox Series X box is:
- 11.5” high
- 8.5” long
- 15” wide.
In good-old metric,
- 30cm high
- 22cm long
- 38cm wide
That makes the box 1466 cubic inches or 25,000 cubic centimeters in volume.
To give you some idea of size for comparison, The PS5 box is
- 17 inches or 43cm high
- 7 inches or 18 cm long.
- 18.5 inches or 47 cm wide
So the Xbox Series X console box is far smaller than a PS5 box.
Why is the Xbox Series X box So big?
The simplest and most obvious reason is that the Xbox Series X is quite a big, bulky, and monolithic console.
Plus, the box doesn’t just have to hold the console.
The box is the snuggly home for one Xbox Series X controller, a power cable and plug, an HDMI cable, manuals, and other paraphernalia.
However, all this together only takes up around half the volume of the Xbox Series X box. So what’s going on? Why such a large box if only half of it is full?
Well, the other half of the volume is used for protection.
The box is as big as it is so that plenty of cardboard inserts can be used to hold the Console and its accessories firmly in place when in transport. More on this in the next section.
Why should you keep the Xbox Series X box?
There are a couple of reasons why you should consider keeping your Xbox Series X box:
One, the Box can be used to store your console safely if you move house.
From experience when moving my own consoles, I thought my consoles would be safe if I just transported them in a normal bag or standard cardboard box. However, this is not the case. As I found out for myself, these consoles are delicate machines and the slightest knocks can easily scuff or dents the outer case of the console.
A slightly larger knock while in transport can easily damage the internal components, especially moving internal components such as fans and Blu-Ray drives.
The box, and its cardboard filling, acts as an all-important shock absorber.
When your console is in transit in its original box, the console box can be bumped around a bit and the console won’t be harmed. This is because the box and the filling will act to dampen any force acting on the box and stop it from transmitting to the console and its accessories.
Of course, you could always buy an Xbox Series X transport protection case, which will act to protect your console and, in many cases, a number of your accessories and games far more effectively.
I bought a CASEMATIX protective travel case that has a custom-made hard foam core insert that offers the ultimate protection for your console. If you want to transport your console worry-free knowing your Xbox is secure in a bespoke bag, then I’d recommend the CASEMATIX case.
The second reason why you should keep the box is to retain the resell value of the console. Consoles, phones, Laptops, all used electronics tend to sell for more money when they are resold in their original box.
For example, I recently sold my 2019 iMac and I’d kept not only the iMac box but the delivery box it came in.
When I came to sell it, the Mac ended up selling for around 15% more when compared to like for like iMacs that didn’t come with their original packaging.
I know, you probably don’t intend on selling your Series X any time soon.
But if the previous console generation has told us anything is that we can expect both Sony and Microsoft to release a mid-generation upgrade to their consoles. So in 3 years’ time, when you choose to upgrade to the Xbox Series Z (or whatever) you could sell your Xbox Series X in its original packaging in the knowledge that you’ll get 30-50 dollars more. And simply because you chose to keep the original box. This cash could then be put toward buying the new upgraded console.
What’s the best way to store the Xbox Series X box?
So I’ve made a point that keeping your Xbox Box Series X box is probably a good idea. But how exactly should you go about storing the box? Can you keep the box outside? Can you fold the box flat?
Well, over the years I’ve stored my console boxes in two ways.
- 90% of my console boxes get flattened
- 10% of my console boxes don’t get flattened.
I flatten most of my console boxes and that includes my Xbox Series X box.
Console boxes are very bulky. And once you’ve removed the console, the cardboard or foam inserts take up a fraction of the space inside them. So I’ve found the best way to store 90% of the boxes from my old consoles is to unfold them and flatten them.
This way you can keep the boxes and file them away for future use. The inserts can be kept in a smaller box elsewhere. Just be sure to label what console the inserts fit.
Another thing I try to do, because I’m an organizational geek, is to leave a note inside the flattened box that provides key information for when/if I need the box.
This note will tell me:
- Where the inserts are in my house
- What inserts need to be in the box
- What peripherals should be included in the box
That way I know exactly what needs to go in the box and exactly where to find them. Yes, I know, I’m sad. But it works really well!
For the 10% percent of boxes I can’t flatten, I either store them in my loft, my basement, on top of cupboards or under beds. Basically anywhere I have space that can be dedicated to the box for the next few years.
A little tip for you though: Don’t store the boxes outside, or anywhere that gets damp. The boxes will degrade quickly in anything less than dry conditions.
Also, be careful in basements and cellars as rats seem to love cardboard like I love cheesecake: they’ll go through a box in a few hours.
So keep your boxes away from places where vermin like to dine.