The very first thing to know in regards to the Steam Deck OLED is that it’s not the Steam Deck 2. The Steam Deck OLED is a mid-cycle refresh from Valve, just like the Swap OLED improve, however there’s much more occurring internally right here. Its display is best, its battery life is best, its thumbsticks are higher, the haptics are higher, and its chip and thermals are higher. One factor that hasn’t modified is its kind issue — that is nonetheless one of many largest infants on the hand held block.
The brand new Steam Deck’s principal improve is its OLED display, which replaces the unique LCD and, crucially, has native assist for HDR and sooner body charges. The OLED additionally has smaller bezels, making the show bigger at 7.Four inches, in contrast with the unique 7-inch display.
OLED display
The HDR OLED show appears to be like incredible. It contains a wider P3 shade gamut, pure blacks and a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, in contrast with the unique max of 400 nits. In motion, this implies the display’s bezels meld with the black of any recreation, making a extra polished body for retro side ratios and offering room for higher-contrast colours. The display on the brand new mannequin doesn’t assist variable refresh charges (VRR), nevertheless it now tops out at 90Hz, whereas the unique might solely hit 60Hz. The up to date show is clean, crisp and vibrant, like an ideal lemon tart. (Even then, I don’t suggest licking the display.)
Battery life
One of many downsides of the primary Steam Deck was its quick battery life, which maxed out at eight hours, and that was solely underneath excellent circumstances. Valve says the brand new Steam Deck battery will final 30 to 50 p.c longer, relying on the way you’re taking part in, and it prices sooner — the corporate claims it’s going to go from 20 p.c to 80 p.c in 45 minutes.
Customized AMD APU
The Steam Deck OLED has a die-shrunk model of the customized AMD APU discovered within the authentic Steam Deck — identical CPU and GPU, simply extra environment friendly. That is the method Sony takes benefit of to construct the PS4 Slim and PS5 Slim, however as an alternative of collapsing the Steam Deck round smaller {hardware}, Valve selected so as to add an even bigger battery and bigger fan to its current chassis. For builders, this implies the gadget has the identical efficiency targets as the unique and there’s no must create video games particularly for the brand new {hardware}. Ultimately, the gadget weighs about 30 grams lower than the unique mannequin, or the equal of 5 quarters.
In use
Which leads us to the dangerous information for my tiny hand gang. The Steam Deck OLED is identical monstrous measurement as the unique: 11.7 inches lengthy, 4.5 inches tall and almost 2 inches thick. The thumbsticks on the brand new mannequin are literally 1mm taller than the primary model. This was one in every of my principal complaints in regards to the Steam Deck after I first reviewed it: I’ve smaller-than-average palms, and the Steam Deck appears to be like and feels completely ridiculous after I’m holding it. It’s simply huge, regardless of how lengthy my manicure will get. Nevertheless, the OLED mannequin feels extra balanced than the unique. It’s much less top-heavy, and it does technically weigh much less. These small changes have made a noticeable distinction throughout my playtime, and the gadget feels barely extra manageable as a handheld — or perhaps I’m simply too distracted by all of its vibrant, fairly colours to care in regards to the cramping in my palms.
The thumbsticks on the brand new handheld have an improved texture that shouldn’t flip grey after a number of months’ use, they usually really feel completely serviceable. In my hands-on time to this point, I've discovered that the OLED touchscreen responds instantly to enter, and the haptic suggestions on the built-in trackpads feels much more exact, populating in reactive pin-pricks underneath the textured plastic.
I spent a number of cozy nights on my sofa swapping between the LCD and OLED Steam Decks, and truthfully, after I’m executed with this evaluation, I’ll in all probability retire my authentic mannequin. The Steam Deck OLED is sharper and extra responsive; indie video games, AAA video games and plain previous Steam menus look so a lot better on the brand new {hardware}.
Hades is my most-played recreation on the unique Steam Deck, so I used that to check out Valve’s battery life claims. Although it doesn’t assist HDR, a recreation like Hades pops on the OLED, and its animations look extra fluid than on the LCD model. The OLED lasted 4 hours and 23 minutes earlier than dying. With the identical settings (800p with a 60 fps cap and related brightness) the unique mannequin died after two hours and 42 minutes. That’s a 62 p.c enchancment, surpassing Valve’s personal estimates, although batteries degrade and I’ve had my LCD Steam Deck because the gadget’s launch in early 2022. In a stress take a look at that concerned taking part in Elden Ring with every thing maxed out, the OLED battery lasted two hours and 20 minutes, about 40 p.c longer than the unique.
Enjoying the Steam Decks back-to-back highlighted one other vital quality-of-life enchancment: warmth administration. My palms have gotten toasty taking part in the OLED mannequin, however they haven’t damaged a sweat like they usually do with the unique. The brand new fan could also be bigger, nevertheless it’s not any louder, and it clearly works a deal with.
The Steam Deck OLED has a brand new Wi-Fi 6E module and improved antennas that ought to allow sooner downloads for anybody with a appropriate router. I don’t have a 6E router or multi-gigabit Wi-Fi, however with a daily Wi-Fi 6 router, the highest obtain velocity I noticed on the brand new Steam Deck was 562mbps, which was about 10 p.c sooner than the previous Steam Deck, and 10 p.c slower than the speeds I get on my MacBook Professional. The gadget makes use of Bluetooth 5.three and provides a devoted antenna, which ought to enhance performance when utilizing Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on the identical time.
Even with enhancements to the battery, thermals and weight distribution, the Steam Deck OLED remains to be extra of a Wii U than a Vita. It’s a beast of a handheld, and it makes essentially the most sense as a transportable console to make use of round the home, fairly than a really travel-ready gadget. The brand new mannequin even comes with an extra-long, 2.5m charging cable, designed particularly with couch-based gamers in thoughts. I didn’t take a look at out the docking station with the brand new Steam Deck, however Valve just lately launched a SteamOS replace that lets gamers reap the benefits of HDR and VRR on exterior shows, which solely drives house the Wii U-ness of all of it.
So far as software program, you recognize the drill by now. Valve has rolled out labels for Steam video games signifying how properly they’ll work on the hand held, with 4 ranges: unknown, unsupported, playable and verified. Playable video games typically include a small caveat, like having to deploy the on-screen keyboard, whereas verified video games have been absolutely optimized for transportable play. At the moment, greater than 10,000 titles on Steam fall underneath the playable or verified labels, with extra added daily.
When will the Steam Deck OLED be out there?
The Steam Deck OLED will go on sale on November 16th at 1pm ET, and Valve has models able to ship that very same day. The corporate has lowered the worth of its LCD lineup and can promote by way of its backstock of 64GB and 512GB fashions till they’re all gone. It’ll proceed promoting the 256GB LCD mannequin at a lowered value of $400, whereas the 512GB OLED mannequin will value $550 and the 1TB OLED mannequin will value $650. There’s additionally a restricted version 1TB OLED model priced at $680 that comes with a particular carrying case, a translucent grey physique and orange accents.
Wrap-up
In accordance with the builders I spoke with at Valve, that is the definitive model of the Steam Deck. The HDR OLED mannequin is what they’d have launched the primary time round, if the know-how had existed earlier than 2022. The hand held market has developed rapidly — in simply over a 12 months, the Steam Deck proved there’s widespread demand for handheld PCs, and its success helped drive chip makers and show producers to construct {hardware} particularly for high-fidelity cellular play. That is nice information for Valve and the Steam Deck, and likewise the opposite handhelds popping out of firms like Ayaneo, ASUS, Ayn, Logitech, Retroid and Razer. Hell, perhaps even Playdate will get an HDR OLED show someday. (Simply kidding; Playdate is actually good).
So, no, the HDR OLED refresh isn't the Steam Deck 2, however it’s a welcome enchancment on an already good gadget. The Steam Deck OLED is the facetuned, photoshopped, spit-shined model of Valve’s handheld, and it options tangible, intelligent enhancements. The up to date show is the spotlight of the gadget, whereas issues like sooner charging, improved antennas and smoother haptics are welcome bonuses. Extra importantly, that is Valve renewing its dedication to transportable PC gaming, and that’s a reduction to see. The Steam Deck is the granddaddy of handheld PCs and Valve has the assets to proceed innovating on this area. For now, the OLED mannequin is a half-step towards the Steam Deck 2, which often is the last model of the gadget — until Valve lastly learns how you can rely to 3.
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