The longer the console generation goes on, the less people should be recommending the switch. I recommend the Xbox considering:

1. His friends have Xbox.
2. The games you mentioned (as far as I know) are on both consoles, and since the Xbox has better hardware, go with that.
3. The switch is pretty niche with it's focus on portability. If he has no interest in taking games on the go, see if he has any interest in playing Nintendo exclusive IPs.

Some side notes,

• you mention that he has been having issues with his current Xbox one, why? Does he want to play better exclusives? Is the hardware dying?

• if he plays PC games on steam, consider looking into the steam deck with the TV dock rather than the Switch. This is if he has any interest in portable handheld gaming. The Switch is around 6-7 years old I believe. It's reaching it's end, and every recent major Nintendo release has been met with complaints on how poorly games run on it.

Hope this helps.

In fact, it depends from what he prefers and in fact it's hard to say who would enjoy what.. My SO plays all the time on her phone, I did wanted her to get in console gaming, bought her NDS, she has similiar/same games on it, but can't force to play on them.. I personally have few Sony, few MS & BigN products, all of them has down and upsides.. Personally, I would check his wishlists, but.. tbh.. If you're not sure.. Give him funds or buy it "for him".. That's what I would suggest. On other hand if he has Xbox already, he has games library, so new device won't be equal with investment big amount in games, and if he plays any "progress to gain" titles, he won't loose it. And only on that base I will vote for Xbox Series S

I feel like I can’t vote because its down to his preference: Xbox One can do most of the things a Series S can do, there’s not a lot of exclusives that he needs it for, but it is fast, and great to have. One important note though: does he use disks to play his games? Because the Series S DOES NOT HAVE A DISK DRIVE. Very important to know.

Switch is just all round great, perfect for playing games together or for him to play alone (Get Zelda: Breath of the Wild - this is the reason people usually buy a Switch).

Frankly, either choice is a good choice, so you can’t lose!

You have to bare in mind that the xbox S is digital only also, so if he had the discs for the games on his xbox one he won't be able to play them. If he's keeping his xbox one then I'd say get the switch so then he'll still have his xbox one until able to upgrade to the X. Me personally don't see the point in the S if you have a one, the X is so much better.

I agree with this comment.

Just want to add, unfortunately the steam deck is very expensive, anything more then 64GB(anything worth buying) is more expensive then Xbox X.

Get him an xbox series x.

Thank you, this helps a lot! I think it’s just becoming slower and he wants more storage or something idk I should’ve listened better :,) lol

I think he only has digital games but this is definitely something to keep in mind wow

Thank you! Love the optimism here hahaha I think he only has digital games but that is important to note! So his main complaint is his Xbox One being slow. His roommate has a series S and he loves it but like others have said, I feel like the X is just the better buy but I am really struggling with the price/availability of the X :,)

If he had an Xbox to start with, what makes you think he will want a switch ( an even more downgraded version of an Xbox one)

As mentioned above, lots of my guy friends have told me they wished they had one! My brother has one and we enjoy playing it so it was just an idea.

I can’t afford one unfortunately :(

Your “guy friends” mislead you into an awful decision

Have you tried second hand.

Series S is a safer pick.

He has all his friends on it and he gets the benefit of improved graphical fidelity but most importantly the speed of the SSD.

This just generally makes your gaming much more pleasurable as everything is so snappy!

Ofc the series s is a digital only console so bear that in mind also.

The switch is, well the switch?

Does he have an interest in Pokémon? Mario? Zelda? I find it rather pointless buying a console that’s just as much or near enough as much a series S when in reality it’s offering you less value for your money.

He also wouldn’t be able to play many of those games with his friends aside from possibly rocket league?

But ultimately value for money is something only you will know.

Friends and if he plays with them a lot are a huge value, let alone the technical improvements of the newer console on its own!

Not necessarily. I have a PC (with a 3090), Series X and a Switch and they get equal playtime...

Just because the switch doesn't have the newest hardware, there is something to be said for being able to have a portable console like the switch. Another reason I play the switch is for Switch exclusives. They are the only ones that never make it onto the xbox or PC, unlike a lot of PlayStation exclusives.

Thank you so much! This is very helpful. I guess a Switch is just something new that I thought he might like but ultimately, he’d use the Series S more and I think he’d be happier with that.

This also gives me relief in the sense of not having to get the X! I would assume the S runs faster, but just didn’t know if it was much of an upgrade from the Xbox One. Ultimately, I just cannot afford the X.

I was just asking for advice and opinions. Hence why I made this post. Thanks for the input!

Switch!!!!!!!!!

Series x and s bday blozzer. Obviously...

The Switch is nice because it opens up a lot of new games and a new experience. Switch has a lot of fun exclusives and it's portable.

But... hes complaining about his current Xbox experience (where his friends play) so he probably wants a better Xbox experience rather than an entirely new experience. Plus, the Switch isn't a powerhouse.

Xbox 110% and I'd go as far as saying that if you ultimately decided on the Switch, it'd be better to spoil the surprise and ask what he'd want before getting it. That's how confident I am the Xbox is a better option for him.

Incredible! Just what I needed to hear. Thank you so much! And the series S is fine?

S is fine. X is preferable but out of many people's budgets. Unless he has a nice 4K TV he ain't misisng out very much anyhow.

Point is he'll be thrilled but don't be offended if he ever swaps it for an X :P

The S alone is a huge upgrade from the standard Xbox one and definitely noticeable.

From all you've mentioned the Xbox would he the best choice for him. If you're able to I'd recommend going with the Series X over the S, it's a bit more but will last longer and run games considerably better as time goes on.

If you think the X is what he really wants, you could offer to pay for half of it. That’s already a huge gift! :)

If you want to keep it a surprise, you could give him a $250 gift card and he can then either just get the Series S with it or fork over the extra money for the X.

If you want to impress your boyfriend, forget both of those options and get him a Steamdeck.