Ever since the launch of the Nintendo Switch in 2017, the perception of what a handheld gaming device can be has changed. No longer are handhelds relegated to good hardware trapped by inherently technologically limited games. Instead, they're now capable of letting you take console-quality experiences on the go. There's been an explosion of similarly compact PC devices attempting to mimic the success of the Nintendo Switch by letting you take your PC games library with you anywhere, with some mixed results. While there are great devices out there now, such as the Aya Neo Pro, they're still limited by the capabilities of mobile hardware while also costing a lot more than its performance suggests. However, Valve's Steam Deck addresses both pitfalls entirely.
With cutting-edge hardware, thoughtfully designed ergonomics, a satisfying controller layout, and a software layer that simplifies PC gaming, the Steam Deck makes it a breeze to link to your Steam account and get started with your library on the go. Better yet, it comes in at a reasonable price, starting at $400 and reaching only $650 for its highest-tier model--essentially half the price of its closest competitors. While that alone is impressive, it's in how well the Steam Deck performs that it becomes clear that it doesn't have much competition at all. With its AMD Zen 2 and RDNA 2 APU, it's head-and-shoulders above the Intel XE and Radeon Vega-powered portable gaming devices that made it to market first, creating a situation where you shouldn't really be looking at an alternative if you can get your hands on a Steam Deck.
Physical attention to detail
It starts with the Steam Deck's design, which will catch you by surprise if you're transitioning from a Nintendo Switch. The Steam Deck is massive by comparison, with the entire device coming in wider, taller, and thicker than Nintendo's counterpart. It's also noticeably heavier, weighing in at 669g as opposed to 440g for the original Switch. This allows the Steam Deck to pack in a larger display, with the 1200x800 7-inch display most likely to be one of the first things you notice. It's big and bright, offering some vivid color reproduction while also giving you ample brightness control for gaming in numerous environments. The bezels are on the thick side, with the two on the left and right of the screen specifically wasteful of space, but it's a small price to pay for a display of this quality.
Flanking the display are two thumbsticks and two touchpads, with the former being one of the Steam Deck's strongest pieces of hardware. These thumbsticks feel remarkable, with a satisfying amount of resistance and a great size (both in width and stem length) for comfort and accuracy. The tops of the thumbsticks are also tiny touchpads, too, allowing for some fancy software controller configurations that can activate certain layers of control when your thumbs are resting on the thumbsticks as opposed to being off them. The ability to activate gyro-assisted aiming while your thumb is on the right stick, for example, is a small but immensely useful detail that I now miss on the Xbox Series and DualSense controllers.
The two touchpads beneath the sticks are less impressive but no less useful, letting you play games that require mouse input relatively easily (or play them without the thumbsticks entirely if you like). Their tactile vibration as you move your finger across them adds accuracy to your input, with software configuration letting you alter this response to help you better feel the ends of each pad with the force of the haptics rather than just feeling your finger slide off entirely.
Both the D-pad and the four face buttons are pushed out to the edges of the Steam Deck, which can look odd on first inspection. Both clusters of buttons are delightfully responsive in practice, with a good feel to each press. The overall sculpt of the Steam Deck also naturally places your hands close to each of them, meaning you likely won't be adjusting your grip or reaching out in uncomfortable ways to these buttons when holding the auspiciously large device. The additional thickness of the Steam Deck and its curved back mitigates a lot of its size and weight when you're holding it, avoiding the vice grip you need to comfortably hold other, thinner devices of this ilk. It's still a heavy device, and one that will quickly test your grip strength if you're not resting your arms on a surface to help support it, but its comfort is still one of the most surprising aspects of its design and a testament to how much thought was put into the overall shape of the Steam Deck.
Further driving that home is the intelligent routing of the Steam Deck's cooling, which never makes areas near your hands heat up during sessions. There's a single exhaust on the back of the Steam Deck and another on the top, both of which push out enough air to keep the Steam Deck cool under stressful loads. The heat pips inside have been structured in a way that avoids the left and right sides of the Steam Deck, preventing any sort of sweaty palms while you play. The fans are not too loud, but their pitch is quite high, which prevents them from disappearing into the background. You're going to hear the Steam Deck when using it, or at least bug someone nearby with your intense gaming, but it's still quiet enough to not be overly obnoxious.
Rounding out the inputs are the digital shoulder buttons and analog triggers, each of which features a satisfying little rumble at the end of each press. Four programmable grip buttons also sit inside an area where your index, middle, and ring fingers will naturally rest, making them easily accessible (more or less, depending on your hand size) and a nice feature for use in all your games. You can make use of the Steam Deck's Bluetooth capabilities to connect other wireless controllers, which will be required if you're playing while connected to an external monitor. It could also give you a break from holding the device if you simply want to prop it up and continue enjoying the Deck's great screen and surprisingly powerful front-facing speakers, both of which can get incredibly loud without losing much of their detail.
The only big miss in terms of hardware on the Steam Deck is the device's rumble, which lacks the fidelity required to really accentuate actions within your games. The vibration isn't refined enough to make distinguishing between left and right sides of the device well, is rather weak overall, and is certainly one facet that could be improved on if any future revisions of the Steam Deck are planned.
Slick SteamOS
The attention to detail doesn't stop in the Steam Deck's software, although that's mostly reserved for the stock SteamOS platform that you'll be introduced to first when booting up the device. SteamOS is a layer that sits on top of an install of Arch Linux, leveraging Proton to form a compatibility layer between it and native Windows applications. SteamOS is very similar to Steam's Big Picture mode on desktops, giving you a console-like experience when navigating through your Steam Library but offering certain customization options that remind you that you're ultimately still on a highly pliable PC.
Your entire existing Steam Library can be viewed on the Steam Deck, but not every game will be playable. SteamOS features a filter that lets you view games that have been "Deck Verified" by Valve to be compatible with the Steam Deck while also achieving various quality checks, including input support, the native resolution of the Steam Deck, Proton support, and seamless launching. Having this filter lets you quickly get going with a game that will show off the device in its best light, but it doesn't mean the rest of your library won't work. Some games miss out on some of the four quality checks, which puts them in a "Playable" but not necessarily fully supported category. Some games, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, are categorized like this purely because of in-game text that might be too small on the native display, but otherwise runs just fine on the hardware.
FAQs
Steam Deck Review - Redefinition? ›
The Steam Deck is a wonderfully constructed and powerful portable PC that can, in the right hands, be a lot more than what Valve envisions with SteamOS, given your patience to work with Linux or replace it entirely. That isn't a requirement, however, and in some cases antithetical to the device Valve is pitching here.
Is the Steam Deck actually good? ›Still, the Steam Deck is a great piece of hardware, and one that's finding its stride more than a year after its launch. The handheld is powerful for its size and price, and despite being a Linux-based device, it runs many excellent Windows games extremely well.
Which Steam Deck version is most worth it? ›For most people, the $529 256GB model is the best match for functionality and price. If your budget can handle it, go for the $649 512GB Deck because it's undoubtedly the best. And unless you're cash strapped, avoid the $399 64GB model due to its slower run and boot speeds.
How do I change the resolution of my Steam Deck when docked? ›- Click the Steam button and head to settings.
- Then click on Display.
- Under external display scaling find resolution.
- Set to your desired resolution.
The Steam Deck is not a gaming desktop or gaming laptop replacement, but rather another way to play PC games on the go if you don't want to mess with cloud gaming. It's also not a direct competitor to the Nintendo Switch, even though there are many of the same games on both platforms.
Is Steam Deck more powerful than switch? ›Connected to a dock, you can even use the Deck as a full HTPC. The Nintendo Switch Lite cannot do any of that, so by technicality, the Steam Deck wins over the Switch simply because all its models/configurations can connect to your TV. But it also wins because it supports more than one video output and resolution.
Is Steam Deck uncomfortable to hold? ›In terms of thermals, the Steam Deck is comfortable to play and hold for long periods of time.
Is Steam Deck more powerful than Xbox? ›...
Steam Deck vs Xbox Series S - how future-proof is the Valve handheld?
| Steam Deck | Xbox Series S | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory/Bandwidth | 16GB LPDDR5 at 88 GB/s | 8GB GDDR6 at 224GB/s, 2GB GDDR6 at 56GB/s |
| Internal Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD | 256GB/512GB NVMe SSD |
...
Steam Deck vs PS5: Specs.
| Steam Deck | PS5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 16GB soldered LPDDR5 | 16GB GDDR6 |
| Processor | AMD APU with quad-core Zen 2 CPU, 8 compute-unit RDNA 2 GPU (4-15w) | 8x Cores 3.5GHz Custom Zen 2 |
512GB is also a good boost of extra storage space for your Steam Deck, though if you can stretch to it the 1TB model is worth considering too.
How long does Steam Deck battery last? ›
Valve's initial claims are a vague 2-8 hours, but it's perfectly possible to drain it in less than two hours. The battery life will be worse on games that push the CPU and GPU hardest.
Can you plug a Steam Deck into a TV? ›With a USB-C to HDMI adapter, you can connect your Steam Deck to a TV or monitor, just as you would any other console.
Is the 64gb Steam Deck worth it? ›For controls, it's even better than a PS5. The only way you will feel that this system is slow is directly comparing a game on one platform to the same game on the steam deck. The fact that the other platform will only play one game better really needs to be addressed. This system is absolutely worth the money.
Is Steam Deck more powerful than gaming laptop? ›Which one is more powerful, a Steam Deck or a gaming laptop? A gaming laptop is typically more powerful than a Steam Deck, as it is designed for more demanding and professional gaming needs. It has more powerful hardware and advanced features such as overclocking and custom cooling systems.
Can stream deck run AAA games? ›The Steam Deck is a dream come true: a portable gaming device with the capabilities of a high-end PC that can play even the most technically demanding AAA games like “Elden Ring” and “Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.” You can even boot into a Linux-based desktop mode, meaning popular mods for your Steam games from ...
Is the Steam Deck good 2023? ›While the “docked" experience has improved a lot, I hope 2023 sees it become more seamless. Right now it still has a very janky feel if you do it while in the middle of a game or unplug the system from the dock with a game running. Steam Deck is available now, without a reservation!
What graphics card does the Steam Deck compare to? ›The Steam Deck's graphics processor isn't able to compete with modern GPUs. Its closest equivalent is the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost from Nvidia, which was released over a decade ago and is now discontinued.
What is the weakness of Steam Deck? ›The Steam Deck only supports up to 60 FPS, which means you'll want to cap the framerate to that at the most. There's no point in running a game at a higher FPS if the display doesn't support it. All you're doing is wasting precious battery life.
Is it bad for Steam Deck to get hot? ›The Steam Deck has a fan on the bottom of the device, but the fan is not strong enough to keep the device cool. When the Steam Deck overheats, the battery inside the device can overheat and catch fire. This can cause extensive damage to your property.
Is it okay to leave Steam Deck on dock? ›it is fine. If you are not going to use it for 2-3 days, unplug asap. So while im playing games its okay, but if its idle i keep it non charging?
Is the Steam Deck future proof? ›
Valve is confident that its Steam Deck portable PC is future proof, despite its compact size and modest hardware specifications. However, the developer is not against the idea of creating future generations of Steam Deck hardware, and even hopes other companies will get involved.
Is Elden ring good on Steam Deck? ›This brings me to the question that matters: Is Elden Ring worth playing on the Steam Deck? The answer is an easy yes. Sure, Elden Ring may not look or feel as great as its PC or console counterparts, but it's still an amazing game that's a joy to play in handheld mode.
Can the Steam Deck run most games? ›While many games run great on Deck out of the box, this shift means there are some games that, while they may be great on a desktop PC, aren't a great experience on Steam Deck. We want it to be easy for you to find great gaming experiences on Steam Deck, so we've designed a system to do just that.
Is 1TB SD card worth it Steam Deck? ›SanDisk Extreme microSDXC
In our opinion, the SanDisk Extreme 1TB Card is absolutely the best SD card for the Steam Deck. It's not exactly cheap, but you're paying for a premium product and that means you'll need to pay a little extra to get that solid performance.
Perfectly suited for the Steam Deck
The Sandisk Ultra microSDXC line is in the perfect sweet spot for the Steam Deck. The Sandisk Ultra line can add up to 1TB of expandable storage to your Steam Deck. This A1 class card will perform at maximum speeds on the Steam Deck for playing games.
Worth It: Most Indie Games
If you are someone who loves playing these games, the Deck will be your best friend! Games like Hollow Knight, Celeste, Noita, Rain World, Vampire Survivors, Hades, Binding of Isaac, Undertale, Baba is You, Rivals of Aether, and many more work extremely well on the Steam Deck.
As pointed out previously, Steam Deck is a complete PC running Linux. You can use the best Steam Deck docks or USB-C hubs to connect a monitor and peripherals and use it like a desktop. That means it also enables users to install browsers, such as Google Chrome and Firefox, to fulfill their internet browsing needs.
Can you play Steam Deck offline? ›Once a game is installed on disk, you can play while Steam Deck is offline unless the game requires an internet connection.
Is Steam Deck Dock worth it? ›The Steam Deck is freakin' awesome, it's arguably the best bang for buck portable gaming machine out right now. But with a dock, it can get even better. The Steam Deck Dock elevates the Deck's functionality to match the other major gaming handheld on the market, the Nintendo Switch.
Does turning off wifi save battery Steam Deck? ›Disable wireless connectivity – The Deck's setting menu provides am easy toggle for Airplane mode, which disables Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and thus helps stretch out battery life a little.
How many hours can you play on Steam Deck? ›
In the best of cases, you can get around four hours before charging, and in the worst, the Deck can die in as little as 90 minutes. We rounded up the five Steam Deck battery life tips so you can extend your playtime as long as possible.
Can you upgrade the steam decks battery? ›Battery degradation is an inevitable part of your gaming console's lifespan — extend it with this replacement battery compatible with a Valve Steam Deck. If your console won't turn on, won't hold a charge, or you simply experience poor battery life, this replacement battery may be what you need to fix it.
Can you upgrade Steam Deck storage? ›You can install up to 2TB inside a Steam Deck. This is due to the limitations of the 2230 NVMe that the Steam Deck requires. Framework and Western Digital currently sell the 2TB version in the Framework store.
Can you use mouse and keyboard on Steam Deck? ›Most PC gamers use a keyboard and mouse setup, so switching over to the Steam Deck can be a challenge. Different games sometimes require different controls. The good news is that you can connect a keyboard and mouse to your Steam Deck and get to playing CRPGs like Disco Elysium in no time.
Is it okay to use Steam Deck while charging? ›In that case, the answer is Yes. The charger adds charge to the battery in the electronics, while the rest of the electronics takes power from the battery. Normal charging adds power faster than the device can use it, so the battery gets charged even while the device is being used.
What is the best priced Steam Deck? ›The best price for Steam Deck is $463 for 64GB.
What is considered the most successful handheld gaming platform? ›The Game Boy (combined with the Game Boy Color) was the first console to sell over 100 million units, selling 118.69 million units worldwide. It popularised the handheld gaming market. The Nintendo DS product line are the best-selling handheld consoles, selling 154.02 million units worldwide.
Is the Steam Deck better than a PS4? ›Overall the Steam Deck is somewhere in between the PS4 and PS4 Pro, however, it supports more modern GPU features that will improve fidelity compared to the GCN architecture in PS4/Pro.
Which Steam Deck to buy 2023? ›However, our personal recommendation is to go for the 256GB one. If you're someone who isn't ready to take a screwdriver to the hardware, you'll still have plenty of storage for all the various Proton, cache files, and your games.
What is the downside of Steam Deck 64GB? ›The only downside is for those huge AAA titles like Borderlands 3 (150GB with a 15+GB shader cache) OR installing every part of the Halo:MCC all at the same time. Sure, you'd install them to an SD Card but their shader cache would take a chunk of NVMe space until uninstalled to reclaim that space.
Is Steam Deck basically a computer? ›
The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer developed by Valve and released on February 25, 2022. The device uses Valve's Linux distribution SteamOS, which incorporates the namesake Steam storefront. SteamOS incorporates Valve's Proton compatibility layer, allowing users to run Windows applications and games.
Should I buy the Steam Deck or a desktop? ›PC vs Steam Deck - Winner
If you value portability and want to play less intense games, Steam Deck could be the right choice for you. However, a gaming PC is undoubtedly better if you're after style, performance, and power.
The Game Awards 2022 is expected to run for approximately two and a half hours, which means there are 150 chances to win your very own Steam Deck.
Is Steam Deck more powerful than PS4 Pro? ›Overall the Steam Deck is somewhere in between the PS4 and PS4 Pro, however, it supports more modern GPU features that will improve fidelity compared to the GCN architecture in PS4/Pro.
Can the Steam Deck run Elden Ring? ›This brings me to the question that matters: Is Elden Ring worth playing on the Steam Deck? The answer is an easy yes. Sure, Elden Ring may not look or feel as great as its PC or console counterparts, but it's still an amazing game that's a joy to play in handheld mode.
How long does Steam Deck last? ›What is the Steam Deck's battery life? In our own testing, with Wi-Fi enabled and at 50% brightness, we have found the Steam Deck battery life ranges from just 83 minutes at worst all the way up to seven hours and nine minutes.
Can Steam Deck run most games? ›While many games run great on Deck out of the box, this shift means there are some games that, while they may be great on a desktop PC, aren't a great experience on Steam Deck. We want it to be easy for you to find great gaming experiences on Steam Deck, so we've designed a system to do just that.
Are bots winning all the steam decks? ›Bots are winning the Steam Deck giveaways at The Game Awards. I saw a bunch of decks being given away to accounts whose usernames are strings of numbers.
Is Steam Deck as powerful as a PS5? ›...
Steam Deck vs PS5: Specs.
| Steam Deck | PS5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory | 16GB soldered LPDDR5 | 16GB GDDR6 |
| Processor | AMD APU with quad-core Zen 2 CPU, 8 compute-unit RDNA 2 GPU (4-15w) | 8x Cores 3.5GHz Custom Zen 2 |
...
Steam Deck vs Xbox Series S - how future-proof is the Valve handheld?
| Steam Deck | Xbox Series S | |
|---|---|---|
| Memory/Bandwidth | 16GB LPDDR5 at 88 GB/s | 8GB GDDR6 at 224GB/s, 2GB GDDR6 at 56GB/s |
| Internal Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD | 256GB/512GB NVMe SSD |
Is Steam Deck more powerful than a laptop? ›
Which one is more powerful, a Steam Deck or a gaming laptop? A gaming laptop is typically more powerful than a Steam Deck, as it is designed for more demanding and professional gaming needs. It has more powerful hardware and advanced features such as overclocking and custom cooling systems.
What games can't run on Steam Deck? ›- Apex Legends.
- Black Desert Online.
- DayZ.
- Dead by Daylight.
- Destiny 2.
- Fall Guys.
- Hunt: Showdown.
- Paladins.
It's 2023 and Cyberpunk 2077 finally works… on the Steam Deck, I mean (it's worked elsewhere for a while now.) The open-world RPG has always been playable on the portable machine, but it's now Steam Deck verified - meaning Valve have tested it and used their almighty wisdom to determine it'll run without a hitch.
Is Zelda on Steam Deck? ›With the right mods, you can play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask in 4K on Steam Deck.