With regards to cooking area, its actually the cheaper option, the Austin XL, which provides the larger overall cooking area and the main grate with an advantage of 159 square inches over the Competition Series 850. The pellet hopper on the Austin XL is also larger, holding 30 lbs on the Austin XL and only 21 lbs on the Competition Series 850.

Really, there is only one advantage of the Competition Series 850 over the Austin XL, and its that it comes with WiFi connectivity and can therefore use the Pit Boss SmokeIT App.

Is that worth it to you for the lower overall cooking area and smaller hopper for an additional $50? Well, that's something you'd have to decide for yourself. You can compare these two pellet grills in more detail through the link to our database below.

How does the Pit Boss Austin XL Onyx Edition compare against the Pit Boss Competition Series 850?