Steam Deck OLED: Two-minute overview
If all you wish to know is whether or not the Steam Deck OLED is healthier than the unique Steam Deck, then the reply is a definitive sure. That is simply the most effective Steam Deck mannequin and one of many finest handheld video games consoles available on the market proper now because of an abundance of enhancements that result in a extra comfy and polished play expertise.
Probably the most important of those is the brand new 7.4-inch OLED show. That is barely greater than the 7-inch LCD panel on the unique mannequin however provides a significantly extra vivid image with brighter distinction, higher viewing angles, and far richer colours. It’s an enormous leap and one thing that’s instantly noticeable while you place a Steam Deck OLED aspect by aspect with the unique mannequin. The intense main hues of titles like Hades 2 or Cult of the Lamb have merely by no means seemed higher.
Different adjustments listed below are extra delicate. The Steam Deck OLED is barely lighter and has been fitted with a bigger fan for higher thermal efficiency. It additionally options Wi-Fi 6E, paving the way in which for sooner downloads and extra responsive on-line play for individuals who personal a appropriate router. The Steam Deck OLED advantages from extra battery life too, with official figures boasting a “30-50%” increase. In follow, nonetheless, I quickly discovered that this was nonetheless not sufficient and I needed to ceaselessly deal with the hand held fully operating out of cost whereas I used to be away from a socket.
There have been no noticeable enhancements to in-game efficiency in comparison with the unique mannequin both. The Steam Deck first launched again in February 2022 and will nearly run most of the largest titles of that 12 months, be that Elden Ring, Ghostwire: Tokyo, or Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands. Issues are just a little totally different in 2024, nonetheless, because the Steam Deck OLED now struggles to keep up respectable body charges in main video games.
This wouldn’t essentially be an issue – there are numerous superb indie titles to expertise in any case – however I discovered Valve’s personal ‘Deck Verified’ system to be extraordinarily disappointing. In principle, ‘Deck Verified’ video games are these that may run decently proper out of the field. Totally ‘Deck Verified’ video games show a distinguished inexperienced tick on their retailer pages, whereas these which are thought-about ‘Playable’ however not excellent are marked with an orange exclamation mark.
It’s an amazing concept on paper, however I rapidly discovered that many ‘Deck Verified’ video games don’t run at an appropriate normal. Take Deathloop, for instance, which has been awarded the large inexperienced tick. It performs at a jittery 15 frames per second (fps) in its default configuration, with large drops at any time when actually something occurs on display. You may get it to run at a stable 30fps, and look fairly good, however it requires a variety of awkward fiddling round with totally different graphical choices. Not fairly the seamless, console-like expertise that many would need.
Nonetheless, if you happen to’re not afraid to tinker, the Steam Deck OLED is a formidable system that helps you expertise your present Steam library in a complete new gentle.
Steam Deck OLED: Worth and availability
- Begins at $549 / £479
- 512GB and 1TB fashions
- Cheaper LCD mannequin nonetheless accessible
The Steam Deck OLED begins at $549 / £479 and is obtainable instantly from Valve through Steam. This may get you the 512GB mannequin, which comes bundled with a fundamental carrying case. For $649 / £569, you’ll be able to decide up the 1TB mannequin that comes with an upgraded carrying case.
This upgraded case includes a detachable liner, which can be utilized as a extra compact and smooth solution to hold it protected. You additionally get some digital bonuses within the type of a Steam profile bundle, an unique Steam Deck OLED startup film, and an unique digital keyboard theme – these are good to have, however shouldn’t actually sway your buying determination.
Which version you get will primarily come right down to your storage wants. These with a lot of bigger video games ought to think about the 1TB mannequin, whereas these prone to set up smaller indie titles or only some video games at a time could be completely nicely served by 512GB. Simply word that irrespective of which mannequin you decide, when you’ve got the technical know-how you’ll be able to improve the interior SSD your self at a later date.
For $399 / £349, it’s also possible to decide up the older LCD mannequin in its 256GB configuration. Whereas this storage capability would prohibit the varieties and variety of video games that you could hold put in at anyone time, this might nonetheless be a good choice for these on a very tight finances.
Steam Deck OLED: Specs
| Worth | $549 / £479 (512GB) / $649 / £569 (1TB) |
| CPU | AMD Zen 2 4 core 2.4-3.5GHz |
| GPU | AMD RDNA 2 |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD / 1TB NVMe SSD |
| Show | 7.4in OLED |
| Ports | USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Weight | 22.58 oz / 640g |
| Dimensions | 11.73in x 4.61in x 1.93in / 298mm x 117mm x 49mm |
Steam Deck OLED: Design
- Feels good within the arms
- Few adjustments in comparison with authentic mannequin
- Loads of customization choices
There are only a few main variations between the unique Steam Deck and the Steam Deck OLED in pure design phrases. Probably the most noticeable distinction is the bigger 7.4-inch display of the Steam Deck OLED, which has a barely smaller bezel than the 7-inch show of the unique. The hand-held has the identical total type issue and glossy black colorway, although the facility button, which is positioned on high of the system, is now a brilliant orange which lends it a neat contrasting look subsequent to the plain quantity controls and a headphone jack.
On the left-hand grip, you will discover the d-pad, which is a really nice shiny plastic and a cushty barely concave form, positioned subsequent to the left thumbstick. There’s additionally a small sq. trackpad much like these discovered on most laptops. That is along with a small ‘View’ button (successfully simply the ‘Choose’ button of a normal controller) and the ‘Steam’ button – which works like a ‘dwelling’ button.
The proper-hand grip is the same story, with a thumbstick and trackpad in the identical place. The d-pad is changed with a set of face buttons, with the identical ABXY format as a normal Xbox Wi-fi Controller. Though not mechanical, they’re very pleasantly tactile and reply nicely to fast inputs. There’s additionally the ‘Menu’ (or begin) button and a ‘Fast Entry’ that calls up a small fast settings menu.
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The flat floor on the highest of every thumbstick is definitely additionally its personal enter, detecting when there’s a finger positioned on it. Whereas nearly no software program takes benefit of this, it’s a surprisingly sensible addition that’s positive to thrill those that spend a variety of time creating their very own customized enter bindings. In a first-person shooter like Doom, you’ll be able to set this thumbstick sensor to activate the Steam Deck OLED’s gyroscope for exact aiming which is delightfully intuitive.
Flipping the Steam Deck OLED over offers you an excellent have a look at the triggers and shoulder buttons, that are each extremely ergonomic and an amazing measurement, plus the 4 remappable rear inputs. These could be custom-made to your liking with the suite of instruments supplied by the Steam Deck OLED’s working system.
It’s a incredible design total and feels extremely sturdy and comfy within the arms. My solely actual criticism is the sheer measurement of the Steam Deck OLED. At 11.73in / 298mm lengthy, the Steam Deck OLED is totally huge and never portable-friendly. I struggled to suit it in my small rucksack along with the 14” Acer Chromebook Vero 514 that I take to work, leaving me nearly wishing that I had a compact gaming laptop computer quite than a devoted handheld.
Steam Deck OLED: Efficiency
- Nice for indie video games
- Strong efficiency in older AAA titles
- Struggles with new AAA releases
In the event you’ve ever used a Steam Deck, then you’ll know precisely what to anticipate from the efficiency of the Steam Deck OLED. It has not been improved in any noticeable manner, so an excellent variety of video games will run decently, however not flawlessly. Older titles are completely the way in which to go right here, with the likes of Management Final Version sustaining an impressively stable 60fps at medium settings. God of Conflict can also be a spotlight, trying good and simply hitting 30fps at excessive settings
Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice is solely flawless, with a rock-solid cinematic 45 frames per second (fps) that simply by no means dips it doesn’t matter what you throw at it. Even some newer video games, comparable to Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance and Persona 5 Tactica are phenomenal, at a buttery easy 90fps. The intense pink hues and easy animations of the latter specifically are breathtaking on the OLED show. Indie video games are additionally nice on the system. Even in early entry, Hades 2 is sort of at all times 60fps with only some small dips down into the 50s. Fields of Mistria and Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons are playable at 60fps with zero points in any respect.
That stated, there are a couple of older ‘Deck Verified’ titles which are inexplicably poor. Detroit Grow to be Human is a laggy mess, ceaselessly dropping into the 15fps vary, and Fallout 4 has some noticeable dips in built-up areas.
Newer video games are much more hit-and-miss. Regardless of being a ‘Deck Verified’ title, Deathloop is flat-out unplayable in its default configuration. It may be wrangled into an unstable 40fps, however it was a battle that took up nearly my whole hour-long commute. The framerate in Redfall was additionally atrocious, barely scraping the 20s, whereas Hitman 3 ran okay at about 40fps however seemed disappointingly blurry because of some quite aggressive upscaling.
Given the variety of highly effective handheld PCs just like the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go that are actually available on the market, it’s a disgrace that Valve hasn’t taken the chance to present even a small increase to the CPU or GPU of the Steam Deck. This may nonetheless be acceptable efficiency for many gamers, supplied they do not count on to play the most recent video games, however I’m actually hoping that an overhauled, extra highly effective mannequin is on the horizon.
Steam Deck OLED: Battery life
- Improved in comparison with Steam Deck
- Nonetheless count on just some hours
- Higher battery efficiency with indie video games
The battery lifetime of the Steam Deck OLED has been improved in comparison with the Steam Deck, however it’s nonetheless not notably spectacular. I discovered that I might squeeze simply over two hours of use out of the system whereas enjoying intensive video games comparable to God of Conflict, Deathloop, and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice with the brightness set to its center stage which is about one and a half occasions what you’d get on the Steam Deck. This quantity decreased to only over an hour with another titles downloading within the background, although that is to be anticipated.
This was nearly sufficient to occupy a prepare journey however wouldn’t be adequate if you wish to take your Steam Deck OLED on a protracted flight. You might at all times convey a separate battery pack with you however including on the sheer measurement and weight of the Steam Deck OLED would make this a large ache.
Fortunately, the battery life will increase considerably while you’re enjoying less complicated titles, particularly 2D video games. I used to be in a position to take pleasure in over 5 hours of Hades 2 with none main interruptions on the identical settings, with equally nice figures for the pleasant indie farming sim Fields of Mistria and detective journey role-playing sport (RPG) Disco Elysium. I’m positive this quantity might go even increased if you happen to lowered the brightness or imposed a strict body fee restrict within the ‘Efficiency’ part of the Fast Settings.
In the event you’re simply after a brand new solution to play your present library of indie video games, then this battery life needs to be greater than adequate.
Ought to I purchase the Steam Deck OLED?
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
Additionally think about
In the event you’re not eager on the Steam Deck OLED, then think about these two formidable options.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Steam Deck OLED | Steam Deck | Nintendo Change OLED |
| Worth | $549 / £479 (512GB) / $649 / £569 (1TB) | $399 / £349 | $349.99 / £309.99 |
| CPU | AMD Zen 2 4 core 2.4-3.5GHz | AMD Zen 2 4 core 2.4-3.5GHz | NVIDIA Customized Tegra processor |
| GPU | AMD RDNA 2 | AMD RDNA 2 | NVIDIA Customized Tegra processor |
| GPU | 16GB LPDDR5 | 16GB LPDDR5 | 4GB |
| Storage | 512GB NVMe SSD / 1TB NVMe SSD | 256GB PCIe SSD | 64GB |
| Show | 7.4in OLED | 7in LCD | 7in OLED |
| Ports | SB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD | SB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD | USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5 | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Weight | 22.58 oz / 640g | 23.63oz / 670g | 14.88oz / 421.84g |
| Dimensions | 11.73in x 4.61in x 1.93in / 298mm x 117mm x 49mm | 11.73in x 4.61in x 1.93in / 298mm x 117mm x 49mm | 4in x 9.5in x 0.55in / 101.6mm x 241.3mm x 13.97mm |
How I examined the Steam Deck OLED
- Examined for over three months
- Performed all kinds of video games
- Examined in each handheld mode and with a dock
I examined the Steam Deck OLED for nicely over three months, taking it out and about with me at any time when doable and having fun with loads of gaming time on the workplace or at dwelling plus on a spread of public transport. I skilled all kinds of video games together with loads of AAA releases and indie titles. A few of the favorites that I didn’t point out on this overview included Shenmue 3, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Identify, Dishonored 2, Grounded, Lego 2K Drive, Asterigos Curse of the Stars, and way more.
All through my time with the Steam Deck OLED, I in contrast the play expertise to my hands-on testing of different handheld techniques. I used the Last VR500 and SteelSeries Tusq earbuds for audio whereas I used to be taking the console out and about.
I additionally experimented with a couple of equipment, together with the Xbox Wi-fi Controller for once I needed to play on an even bigger display. For this goal, I used a normal laptop computer dock with an HDMI output and my Lenovo Q24i-20 monitor. Though the bump to a 1080p decision definitely did not assist efficiency in AAA video games, I discovered this to be an appropriate resolution for much less intensive indie titles.
First reviewed August 2024
