Steam Deck OLED

MSRP $550.00

“When you weren’t won over by Valve’s first draft, the Steam Deck OLED will turn you right into a convert.”

Pros

• Same great portable PC
• Significantly improved display
• Higher battery
• Cooler, quieter fans
• Faster download speeds

Cons

• Linux still presents hurdles

OK, consider me a convert.

Ever because the Steam Deck was an implausible rumor, I’ve viewed Valve’s experimental handheld with quite a lot of skepticism. The concept of a tool that played my PC games on the go sounded incredible on paper, but I used to be left wondering if the concept could deliver on those aspirations. When the device finally dropped in February 2022, quite a lot of my concerns were initially justified. A large form factor, poor battery, and inconsistent game compatibility made the device feel like a rough draft of an important idea. And yet, I slowly found that I couldn’t imagine traveling without it with each passing day.

Perhaps sensing that the device was right on the cusp of greatness, Valve dropped a significant surprise last week when it revealed the brand new Steam Deck OLED. It’s not a completely recent console — the design is sort of the exact same — but it surely’s the small refresh the Steam Deck needed to maintain it ahead of a growing list of competitors. With a significantly improved screen, higher battery, and small tweaks that go a great distance, the Steam Deck’s second draft makes it clear that Valve’s portable PC remains to be the king of the hill.

Design and display

By way of form factor, virtually nothing has modified with the brand new Steam Deck model. It’s the identical top-heavy design that appears and feels enormous on first impression, but becomes more natural after some time. Thankfully, it actually is a touch lighter, shaving off around 30 grams. It’s a small change, but I can definitely feel the difference – especially coming off using a hulking device just like the Legion Go. Otherwise, the one change is that it has a red power button now and a green power light. When you need a refresher on a few of its basics, refer back to my original review of the 2022 model (see link above), which has since been updated to reflect the software and game compatibility improvements remodeled the past two years.

The brilliant recent OLED screen solves my biggest problem with the Steam Deck

The principal difference — and it’s a significant one — is the display. The brand new screen is about .4 inches larger than that of the bottom Steam Deck, expanding into the bezel without changing the dimensions of the system. It’s not as noticeable a rise as on the Nintendo Switch OLED, but I’ll never complain about getting somewhat more room on a conveyable screen.

More importantly, the device now uses an OLED display as an alternative of the unique model’s washed-out LCD screen. That’s a major upgrade that was essential to maintain the system competitive. Rivals just like the Ayaneo 2S and Legion Go used that original weakness to pounce on Valve with crystal clear displays that made the Steam Deck feel low cost by comparison. I used to be able to pack up my old Steam Deck after I got my Legion Go earlier this month, but the brilliant recent OLED screen solves my biggest problem with the device.

Steam Deck LCD (top) and Steam Deck OLED Giovanni Colantonio / Digital Trends

You would possibly not notice the difference at a passing glance, but it surely becomes very apparent when placing the old and recent screens side by side. My base Steam Deck almost looks prefer it has a white veil draped on top of it, softening its visuals. That veil is entirely lifted with the brand new model, allowing games to display with much sharper contrast and brighter colours. The colourful world of Baldur’s Gate 3 involves life here, while Diablo 4 gets to point out off its deep darkness in pitch black caves.

That screen also comes with a much welcome refresh rate boost. It’s a 90Hz display, allowing games to simply push past the 60 frames-per-second (fps) bar when possible. I used to be capable of reach those heights in smaller indies like The Wreck, showing that the machine is perfectly able to delivering. For dedicated Steam Deck owners who use theirs religiously, that upgrade alone makes it price it.

Power and battery tweaks

Casual Steam Deck owners may not notice among the device’s smaller changes, but they add as much as make the refresh worthwhile. For one, the OLED model contains a barely tweaked AMD chip with a 6-nanometer process node in comparison with the bottom model’s 7. The layman’s version of that spec is that the chip isn’t more powerful, but slightly more efficient in the way it uses its power. You would possibly only get a couple of extra frames out of any given game, but that helps be certain that people who struggled to hit the 60 fps mark consistently now have a greater shot at stability.

Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Take Horizon Zero Dawn, for example. While it tops out at 56 fps on the LCD model, it now hits a stable 60 fps on the OLED. The more drastic lead to our tests got here from Dying Light 2: Stay Human, which saw a full six frame performance increase. Smaller games that push past the 60 fps mark see noticeable improvements too. Strange Brigade jumps from 79 fps to 84 fps, which is a change you’ll actually have the option to make the most of on the OLED’s 90Hz display.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

These results aren’t an enormous change, but they do put the Steam Deck more according to rivals just like the Asus ROG Ally. The Ally still squeezes out a couple of more frames in games like Returnal, however the Steam Deck OLED only lagged by three to 5 frames in our tests. Horizon Zero Dawn, then again, now performs just the identical on the OLED because it does on the Ally. With the Steam Deck’s refreshed pricing model, the additional power isn’t any longer a checkmate for pricier alternatives.

One other big change is available in the system’s battery tweaks. Poor battery was one in all the Steam Deck’s biggest issues at launch, with recent games like Elden Ring struggling to last an hour without some significant tweaking. Valve has done a implausible job since day one to squeeze more juice out of the battery with software updates, however the OLED model is a more drastic hardware update.

Those that mostly use the system to play 2D games like Dead Cells will see essentially the most returns.

A 30-minute session with Vampire Survivors running at 90 fps consumed only somewhat greater than 5% of my battery. I can get between six and 7 hours in that game, which is long enough to last a complete cross-country flight. The more expansive the sport, the less you’ll notice the change. The Wreck, a 3D narrative indie, drains the battery in closer to 4 hours while Diablo 4 kills it in around two. Granted, that is all just using out of the box settings, so there’s loads of room to squeeze far more out of games. Those that mostly use the system to play 2D games like Dead Cells will see essentially the most returns.

All of those changes go hand in hand with the OLED model’s improved thermals, which result in a couple of additional improvements that those that use their Steam Deck on daily basis will notice. It doesn’t get as hot, the fan is significantly quieter, and it doesn’t smell as bad. Yes, I sniffed fumes out of each systems’ top vents to check this and might confirm that the OLED doesn’t smell like burning plastic. A weird test, but it surely sure beats licking Switch cartridges.

Other extras

There are a couple of other extras packed in, though they’re more built for specific players. Those that like tinkering with their system will notice that it’s easier to open, but barely harder to tool around with resulting from one surprising ribbon cable change. I imagine 99% of Steam Deck owners won’t ever notice that; that’s something for techies like us to obsess over. More useful is the proven fact that the system now supports Wi-Fi 6E. When you’re capable of make the most of that, you’ll enjoy some significantly improved download speeds. It took me lower than an hour to download the big Baldur’s Gate 3, while Senior Computing Staff Author Jacob Roach installed 45 games on his in eight hours.

Giovanni Colantonio / Digital Trends

As an added bonus, the OLED model comes with a rather redesigned carrying case that features a Velcro strap on top of the skin zipper. That’s great for people like me who often toss it into the case and drop it in my messenger bag unzipped in a rush. The Velcro strap gives me a much quicker solution to secure it in those moments, though I wouldn’t line up for a preorder only for that feature alone. The within padding within the case may also be removed entirely to make it smaller, which provides it some welcome flexibility.

There’s one change here that’s perhaps more crucial than anything I’ve mentioned to date: It’s cheaper than the old version. While the LCD model still has the bottom barrier to entry with its $400 256GB variant, the OLED edition gives the hand held a price cut. The 512GB edition is $550, while the 1TB version costs $650. Previously, you were paying $650 for the 512GB LCD model, in order that’s a $100 price drop. And when you want more storage, you possibly can double it for a similar price because the old high-end version. Considering that more powerful rivals just like the Asus ROG Ally weren’t too far off from the Steam Deck’s old high-end model, the brand new price structure is crucial in ensuring the Steam Deck remains to be the perfect balance of price, storage, and power.

The Steam Deck OLED is finally the PC gaming companion I at all times hoped it could be in the future.

The last word query is more of an existential one: Does it really make sense to purchase a Steam Deck immediately? We’ve already seen competition heat up fast within the portable PC space, with devices just like the Ayaneo 2S quickly outpacing Valve in power and performance. Considering that recent big-budget games are only getting more demanding, it’s only going to get harder to run recent releases like Alan Wake 2 on the machine with each passing 12 months. Even when Valve isn’t immediately plotting a Steam Deck 2 for next 12 months, I actually have to assume one isn’t too far behind. I wouldn’t blame you for waiting.

That said, this appears like the precise right moment to hop in. With crucial changes to display and battery, the OLED model fixes the launch edition’s two most pressing issues. Your comfort will vary and its complicated Linux browser  isn’t for everybody, but try using a Windows device just like the Legion Go when you think the grass is greener on the opposite side. Even without top-of-the-line power, the Steam Deck perseveres since it’s still essentially the most convenient handheld PC in the marketplace. It has never been easier to load up a Steam game on the go and doing so looks even higher now.

After years of skepticism, the Steam Deck OLED is finally the PC gaming companion I at all times hoped it could be in the future. And it took lower than two years to get there.

Editors’ Recommendations