When Microsoft unveiled the Xbox Series X, the announcement video showed a green LED glow flooding out from the air vents at the top of the console.
This looked pretty cool.
I was, however, disappointed when I bought the Xbox Series X to realize it doesn’t have any LED light.
What you saw in the announcement video was a green piece of plastic placed inside the Xbox Series X vents to simulate the effect of internal light.
So….
Should the Xbox Series X light up? No, the Xbox Series X should not light up when turned on. Unlike the PS5, which has a blue and white LED light around the console, the only thing that lights up on the Xbox Series X is its small white power button, which hardly gives out any light.
Now that you know that the Xbox Series X doesn’t light up, read on to find out how you can add LED lights to your Series X.
Light Up Your Xbox Series X
As I said at the start, the lighting seen on the Xbox Series X announcement video was so awesome.
Many gamers have gone ahead to customize their console to reproduce the green glow in the Microsoft Xbox Series X marketing materials.
If you love DIY projects, you too can add LED lights to the air vent of your Xbox Series X.
Doing so doesn’t require any special skills and should take you less than 15 minutes to do.
For the DIY project, you’ll need a T8 screwdriver, pry tool, and an RGB LED Strip.
Here is the simplest way to add LED lights to your Xbox Series X.
1: Turn off your Xbox Series X and lay the console down horizontally with its back facing you.
2: Use the T8 screwdriver to unscrew the two screws on the back of the Xbox Series X. This will allow you to remove the console’s back cover.
3: Next, unscrew the three screws holding the Xbox Series X fan. Inside the console, the fan is located at the top next to the air vent and green plastic that Microsoft used to give the lighting effect in their marketing video.
4: Once unscrewed, disconnect the fan from its power connector and remove it from the Xbox Series X.
5: Take the RGB LED Strip and measure out a length that will run around the fan casing just above the fan.
6: Attach it around the fan casing. Ensure you attach the lights in a way that won’t interfere with the rotation of the fan.
7: Pass the LED light’s power cable through the space in the air outlet and put back the fan into the Xbox Series X.
8: Put everything back together, and connect your LEDs to the Xbox Series X using one of the console’s USB ports.
9: Turn on your console, and your lights should give you the same optical effect seen on the Xbox Series X announcement video.
The set-up is that simple. However, if you choose to modify your Xbox Series X with internal LED lights, there are a few things you should know.
- Opening your Xbox Series X could void your warranty. That means if your Xbox develops any problems, you may have to pay for repairs out of pocket.
- While the process is fairly easy, poking around your console is not always a good idea, particularly if you’re not sure of what you’re doing. For example, when disconnecting the fan, if you pull it out too hard from its connector, you could damage its wires or the connector and cause the fan not to work.
- The LEDs will generate additional heat inside the console. This heat could damage the light strip or worse cause the console to regularly overheat. Your console overheating could cause it to decrease performance or fry its circuit boards. Luckily the Xbox Series X was designed to warn you when it overheats and will shut down to protect itself from any damage. If you’re regularly alerted on the console overheating you might want to consider removing the LED lights from inside the console.
If you fancy taking on an even more advanced LED lighting project where the LED lights turn on when you power on the console check out this video tutorial by Modded Warfare:
If the above points have dissuaded you from adding LED lights inside your Xbox Series X, don’t give up on lighting your Series X just yet.
There is another easier way to light up your Xbox Series X…
The best Xbox Series X external LED lights
If you’re looking for a safer way to customize your Xbox Series X with lights, you can grab LED lights that attach to the base of your console.
There are several such products on the market but I highly recommend you purchase the eXtremeRate PlayVital RGB LED Light StripLED Strip.
This light strip sold on Amazon is specifically designed for the Xbox Series X.
They’re the LED lights I inserted into the fan of my Xbox Series X, so I can vouch for their high quality.
Don’t take my word for it though, check the reviews of the LED lights on Amazon and you’ll find the product has many five-star reviews from Xbox Series X owners.
The LED light strip can display in seven colors including, Xbox green, red, pink, and blue.
It comes with a remote controller which allows you to switch between 29 different LED effects, and adjust light brightness. So you can customize your Xbox to your liking and make your console stand out.
Installation is quite easy. To connect the light strip to your Xbox Series X all you have to do is:
- Clean the base surface of the Xbox Series X. The eXtremeRate RGB LED Light Strip comes with cleaning wipes you can use to do this.
- Tear the back paper of the light strip, and then stick the strip around the base of the Series X.
- Connect the RGB LED light strip to one of the Xbox Series X USB ports to power the lights.
The light strip works even when the Xbox Series X is off and has a memory function, which records and activates the last set color when you power on your console.