As a busy father that works full time , sitting at my PC feels very unappealing these days , going to bed an hour early with my steam deck is my favourite thing to do in the evening now .lol
@@ruggerprogavlar8866 preaching to the choir brother enjoy after a long day some gaming portable. Sitting on the chair on the pc seems too much effort lol
I had to RMA my Steam Deck back in April due to a volume bug. The thing was, my warranty expired 2 months prior. Money was tight, so I wasn’t sure if I should even contact customer support, but I contacted them anyways. They said, “We see that you’re outside the warranty period, but as a customer service gesture, we will send you a replacement”. I couldn’t believe it. They sent me a brand new unit free of charge! (all I had to do was ship my old one - they provided a shipping label too) Not only was it a brand new unit, but the unit they sent me was the refresh! Meaning that it had the new heat shield, better shell, better buttons, etc. I bought mine in Feb 2023, so I had the older model with the aluminum shield. Valve are the freaking BEST when it comes to customer service! Which other company would have done that?
I love your way of speaking man, so clear, no bullshit and straight to the point with a lot of personality and uniqueness in your script, looking forward to more content!
Thank you for your kind words! I try to make these as entertaining and digestible as possible, and so hearing from people like yourself that it's working really brightens my day!
ABSOLUTE BANGER OF A VIDEO. It takes a lot for me to watch a full 1 hour and 40 minutes, but the jokes, the cuts, the content. It was great! You got my like, comment and subscribe for sure! And you got a stuck buyer to lean on the LCD model after DAYS of thought. Thanks a ton!
I put a HUGE amount of effort into this video, and so comments like this really brighten my day. I am thoroughly glad you enjoyed it. Most of all, though, I hope you enjoy your Steam Deck!
Just bought a limited edition white steam deck and I’m super stoked to get it and start playing. Your video helped me make a decision, so thanks a bunch.
The deck itself is fine, what makes it really important is actually making linux a viable gaming platform of the future, and breaking the windows stranglehold. No other company could have done that.
Watched the whole thing to get that delicious confirmation bias, thoroughly enjoyed it. It's always interesting to hear perspectives from people who are unfamiliar with Linux or PC gaming in general. One of us, one of us...
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've been tempted to get into Linux a bit more by utilising it on some old phones. If anything can perform as well as the steam deck can with its specs, then it might be worth looking into. Valve has made Linux a real contender with this device, and it's great to see!
It really is such a magnificent little device for portable gaming. I play almost everything I used to play on my Switch on this and its so much better. especially when its portable
This is a great video. And I’m sure you have lovely hands. Be proud of them. Even IF they were gnarly and nasty you speak so well guarantee you 99% of your audience wouldn’t even notice
Very comprehensive video about SteamDeck and the handheld space in general. A significant step above most videos on this topic. wanted to play rocket league but will have to install windows or an epic store app. worried it might not be an ideal setup.
Thank you! I thoroughly appreciate your kind words. I did put an enormous amount of research into this, so hearing people enjoy it makes me incredibly grateful. If you want to play Rocket League, you kay want to go the Windows route as I'm 99% sure that it has anti-cheat measures in place. Linux has a fond distaste for some anti-cheat measures, so you may want to err on the side of caution and just do windows. It might be worth looking into though as it might work
Absolutely I'd agree with that. There are so many fantastic games that run amazingly on it. Even going back and playing some things that I once played on a desktop just felt so much better on the Steam Deck with its unique form factor
@@GrenadeCeption Hi I just found your video and watched your 1 Hour plus very long video by the end of it. *I completely agree with you Steam Deck is amazing* and I'm trying to get a Deck myself on 'Black Friday'. I'm too poor for Steam Deck OLED but I'm getting LCD Deck model. I can't wait to play so many games on my Steam library. And love the part someone infinitely intelligent than myself and then 😂😂 the wevy wav 🤣🤣🤣 I subbed by the way pal!
@nepaliprayasgurung2594 I thoroughly appreciate your kind words! As someone with an LCD Deck in a world in which the OLED exists, it's still a magnificent device that's well worth the money. I hope you enjoy it!
@@GrenadeCeption I appreciate it man let's see what happens on 'Black Friday' they'll be getting major discounts on eBay, Amazon, Argos, PC World, Curry's. But I'm going to buy from eBay cheers mate have a wonderful day!
That's definitely where it excels. As someone who also got theirs when it became available, it's still doing exactly what I want it to do the way I want to do it. Valve have already said that they're in it for the long haul and so I bet it'll continue doing so for a few years yet!
Love my LCD especially for the price I paid for it. I have an OLED as well. I never really play favorites between the two. I just pick up what is charged. Both are now upgraded with a 2TB SSD and a 1.5TB microSD. I adore my systems, both running dual boots and just being all around great systems.
Absolutely love this device. The 1 TB Deck OLED has been my primary gaming device since March, when my husband got it for me as a birthday gift. It's honestly shocking to me how this tiny thing can run some games better than my gaming laptop which cost twice as much. The only times I game on my laptop these days are to check something I got on Epic or that the Deck can't handle at all, like Dragon's Dogma 2. Otherwise, I play everything on the Deck whereas I just have my laptop on to browse the web, google some information I might need about a game, and browse Steam's storefront, which is a bit of a nightmare to navigate on the Deck. Also, thanks for the plugin tips! I've seen some of those when browsing Decky Loader, but didn't give them much thought. Well, I installed Audio Loader and I think that was the last thing I needed to make the Deck feel truly mine. I definitely recommend anyone who gets a Deck to fiddle around with CSS Loader until they can make Steam OS uniquely theirs. It's so satisfying!
Your husband clearly has amazing taste in gifts! I'm glad I could help with making your Steam Deck personalisation experience better though. As I say, maximising your deck in any way, whether it be personalising it or getting the best performance profile for you, can make it all feel so much more worth it! The power this device has is amazing and can make playing anything on it feel new and fun!
I picked up my steam deck a year and a half ago and I have put many of hours into it. Play through the entirety of Red Dead Redemption 2, elden ring, Street fighter 6, cyberpunk 2077, add breath of the wild. I really love steamos if there weren't for just a tiny selection of applications that are locked to Windows I would ditch it entirely. I built myself a PC a little under a year ago, using the 7900 XT, I installed an operating system called Bazzite, which is a recreation of steamos that can run on any basic PC with an AMD GPU. Anyone that says that couch gaming isn't possible on pc, I'll gladly show them with mine can do. You can even steam link your deck to the main PC and use it as a controller
My favorite part of the Steam Deck is what Valve is doing to make gaming on Linux feasible to everyone. Windows is getting worse and worse at the moment and people are jumping ship, and it's good to know that a great majority of games will work great.
Exactly. Even though the games I want to play are not verified on the Steam Deck (and in fact are tougher to play due to the anti-cheat issue) I still am sticking with Steam Deck rather than going with a Rog Ally or Legion Go. All the other platforms are either not as good or are trying to exploit their customer in some way.
I’m not sure if I just missed you mention it or if someone else already did, but be sure to remove your SD card before you open the deck up as you can snap it. Especially important as you inserted one right before you opened it up. (Nvm I should’ve kept watching, you did mention it🤣) Thanks for the great video!
I’ve watched this video from beginning to end, I too wanted a rog ally for some time but after getting my steamdeck I’ve changed my mind. I love the steam deck and never knew about decky loader feature but thanks to your video I’ll give it a go. Thanks
Great video! Your justification for recommending the lcd over the oled is definitely cope (jk). It's amazing how low cost steam decks can be had for and I agree that windows on a handheld is an abomination.
I've had three decks 😂, had an LCD, updated to an OLED, sold it thinking I didn't meld with it, then really missed it so got another 😂 and I've played it a lot since. It just needs more power. Fingers crossed for a Deck 2 in 2025.
Thanks for this video. I'm new to gaming. Have played a c64 nes way back in the day and the odd game or two on my brother's ps. Actually want my own console. A father and working full time I don't have much time but do want something to get into. I like the switch idea but this looks amazing. Any advice?
It's always nice to introduce someone to the hobby! I would say it all depends on what you want to play. If you're looking for some nostalgia, the Steam Deck will have emulators for the C64, NES and the PlayStation. Plus, you also get almost every single PC game available. The Switch definitely has a smaller game library that favours first-party titles more so than the third-party ports it sees. If you're looking to really get into the hobby, I'd personally say the Deck is a better shout for you as it'll enable you to have access to a wider range of games across many different genres that the Switch doesn't cover nearly as extensively. Most first-party titles on the Switch will be easy for you to just pick and play through as a beginner as that whole device is made to be as user friendly as possible. While the Deck is definitely a bit more of a learning curve for a beginner, it would be extremely easy to get used to over a short amount of time. Of course, I've been playing for about 90% of my life and so maybe I'd be wrong in this case, but I personally believe that the Steam Deck with its extensive library plus the emulator libraries definitely wins over the Switch. As I say in the video, though, SteamOS is incredibly easy and intuitive to use, and so you'll probably have a very similar experience to the Switch anyway. It's definitely worth doing a bit of research on games that look interesting and see if they're on the Switch and/or the Deck and make your decision from there. As a beginner, you definitely won't be as picky as me when it comes to graphical fidelity or performance. Especially if you're coming from the NES and PlayStation era, and so it just simply boils down to which game library you will prefer. They will both offer extremely fun and easy to use experiences in their own ways Edit: The Steam Deck is also a far more modern device with new titles that will be released for years to come, improvements with upscaling will mean that even newer titles will run a lot easier on the older hardware in the coming years also, making this device more usable even when the hardware starts to really lack behind. However, on the Switch front, with the Switch 2 around the corner, it may either be worth waiting for that and getting that or picking up a Switch 1 on the cheap. You could also simply just get a Deck and not have to worry about upgrading the hardware for a few more years. If the Switch is better suited to your tastes, however, chances are that a lot of games will still be released for it after the Switch 2 is released, just probably not the first-party releases or some higher end third-party ones
I travel for work and work 12 hour days regularly for 10+ days at a time. The Steam Deck is amazing for indies and even triple a titles. Running through Witcher 3 at decent settings again. Such a small screen looks great even at medium and low.
I preordered mine day 1. Got the 256g model because I figured the etched screen would be ruined by a screen protector and we didn't yet know if the 64gb model would be upgradable... I almost immediately upgraded it to 1tb and a 1tb sd card. This thing is amazing when I travel. Because it's so easy to dock and play with a controller it's also great in the hotel for rainy days. I've played everything on it including (some) ps3 roms. It's both a console and a pc at the same time. It's amazing.
What about the bigger fan and better thermals on the OLED? Would that change your opinion about purchasing a LCD vs. OLED? Also, sorry I didn't understand, is OLED more sensible if one is to mainly play less straining games on the Deck?
Honestly, I didn't realise that the OLED had any adjustments or improvements to the thermals in any capacity. I feel like I would've heard huge things about it if the differences were major. Still though, the thermals aren't really gonna be overly better over the LCD model. They are both gonna run very hot in almost all scenarios if you are running the max power draw. I still personally wouldn't upgrade if it had better thermals as there are things I can do with the LCD model that allow it to run slightly cooler such as changing the thermal pads on the APU etc. I would personally say that the OLED is better for the less straining games as that is where the extra 30hz is gonna make a huge difference. Also with the art styles some of these less demanding games have, the OLED is really going to make colours pop and make everything seem way more vivid to look at. I can't speak for everyone but I personally think that the OLED isn't going to be great in the more modern and intensive titles. The performance you are going to get in more demanding titles means you are going to have to lower settings if you want to take advantage of the higher refresh rate, at which point the games are going to look much worse and then not take full advantage of the OLED screen. Your best bet if you want to truly take advantage of the new hardware is to play games which can comfortably perform at 60fps or over but at the end of the day, it is all down to personal preference. I hope this helps!
I own a steam deck and a legion go, I'm im itching waiting for the 2nd gen versions when all the companies work out how to get the performance with the battery life! My go to is the legion go, much better screen, and less hand cramp. Sadly the legion go speakers are a joke and the battery life only lasts about an hour. The steam deck standby mode is absolutely amazing and reminds me of the ps vita days! Linux definitely isnt that nice to deal with (I work in the tech sector and the normal person would have an absolute nightmare in the back end) windows isn't flash either but just works like a computer, legion space streamlines a lot of driver support too which helps. Definitely going to be interesting to see where these machines go in the next 5 years!
When I was younger I used to be a power user. A specs junkie. I needed the most powerful, the latest and greatest no matter the cost. As an adult with a job and other obligations, I appreciate compromising raw power for user experience and accessibility. From android to iOS and choosing the steam deck, ostensibly the most underpowered of the mainstream PC handhelds. But what it lacks in specs it more than makes up for in ease of use. It gets out of its way and lets me play my library; that’s what’s most important to me. Certainly though, if you want the best graphical fidelity or performance, look elsewhere.
The accessibility is the absolute best thing about this device. Something that might seem daunting to use with the amount of features it offers but is actually really simple once you use it. Somehow, that ease of use really just makes me forget about the fact that it's one of the least powerful handhelds on the market
decades ago the generational jumps used to be much larger, and power was always scarce - now that the improvements are small being humble is much less restricting
@GrenadeCeption Also how easy it is to use Game pass on it. I know you can get windows on the deck but I'm a PS5/Series X guy, so not that savvy with a lot of the PC stuff.
@@artvandelayRFC That is very true. Some things that don't work straight out of the box do require some strange and complicated workarounds. The Legion GO is still a fantastic device if you are used to Windows so if that works for you then thats great!
I love the steamdeck its my favorite handhelf off all time but i dont think you give the Switch enough Credit the Nvidia Tegra chip goes back 2008 and the custom version inside the switch has 1 teraflops in undocked mode thats on par with a ps4 graphically, inside a handheld, at the time this was absolutely astounding.
Sti ll watching this. You made a long video lol. Windows on steam deck isn't the same as windows on Rog Ally and with Bazzite you can have steam OS experience on Rog but you lose access to half your library. The best option is to have both if you can. Imo. But you did make me break out my Steam deck and play Rog Ally. Ooh he's got his gun out now.
I'd never actually heard of Bazzite before I made this video, I might give it a look! I'm glad I got you to take another look at the Steam Deck. As you say in one of your other comments, neither device is perfect, and they excel at different things. I would say in some cases, the Ally is actually better but can be a bit more difficult to use over something as simple as Steam OS. The Deck is fantastic for people to just pick up and play without many or even any alterations other than in-game settings
Sorry about your anxiety brotha try some black & blossom tea or a blunt, I hope you get that under control for yourself drink a gallon of water a day and eat less sugars
I'm glad you're finding that the LCD is great for you! It's still an amazing device, and the fact that it can be far cheaper means the price to performance ratio is a lot better than the OLED in some circumstances
@@GrenadeCeption honestly I almost buckled for the beautiful OLED screen but my 512 lcd works so well for the games I enjoy there was no need. I def will update to a SD2 or a powerful revision if they do one.. yes to you point from a price ratio just incredible
@nickk3403 I agree with you for the LCD. It works so unbelievably well in the games that play on it. If it was so much of a worthwhile upgrade, then I think you'd see waaay more people jump ship. There are plenty of things you can do with your LCD to make it worth it. There's even another Decky Loader plugin that can increase colour vibrance a little bit. It's hardly noticeable after a little while of play, but it's a great addition if you want to maximise that LCD screen. It's called Vibrant Deck, if I remember correctly. It should allow you to customise colour correction per game, which is nice for an LCD screen
Well, it definitely excels in those. Half Life 2 actually runs incredibly well on it. I'd say that's one of the games that would actually be good for the little 90Hz OLED screen
@Jeremiah59 Hardware has come an incredibly long way. You can run Half Life 2 in something like 8K with a GTX 1650 at close to 60fps. The hardware improvements combined with the optimisation it's still getting 20 years later, just makes for an incredible experience. If thar isn't a testament to how good Valve is, then I don't know what is!
I just hate that's it's out of the my price range at the moment, 😭 Plan on picking me up one for my birthday next February. I've heard nothing but amazing things about the steam
Deck is great. Beat all ffxiv on it. But then wanted to play dragon quest x online. And that's window only atm... So yea i play meha backlog but bummed no dqx
Why don't I use mine then I have a 2 terabyte one and mostly use my 2 terabyte ROG Ally for gaming or my Quest 3. The steam deck just gets switched on when I have to remember how to use the thing when my nephew has problems with my 2nd steam deck I gifted to him for his birthday. Nah Rog Ally is the king. Steam deck struggles to run anything high end. Fact
That's fair enough. If the Ally works better for you, then that's great! It's a great device at doing what it does, and people definitely prefer windows on a device of this form factor. I will argue the fact that the Steam Deck can't run anything high-end. My Steam Deck has run things like RDR 2, Cyberpunk and Death Stranding, etc, at a steady 45-50 fps with them sometimes being able to reach 60 fps after adjusting the settings. Also, with FSR 3 Frame Generation being made available in more and more games, these devices can run these high-end games a lot easier, especially now that it's available in Cyberpunk. Easy 60 fps on some higher settings
@@GrenadeCeption yeah can run that but not starfield shattered space and a lot of other games least at playable frame rates. I forget the ones I tried that performed badly but there are a few. It is a good device don't get me wrong. I just like the extra power in the Rog and with my 2 power banks battery life is good. It's all the games that steam deck can't play. I am always having to tell my nephew sorry mate but that one isn't supported and it makes me feel kinda shitty tbh. I give him a device and he can't play his games one after the other. I tell him stick to the green ticks. But ten year olds ain't going to remember that lol.
@@GrenadeCeption I just shared my Library with him in the end lol. He has 100s of games now and I went and took out all the ones that aren't supported or take a lot of tinkering so he has plenty to play now. 😀
@@GrenadeCeption haven't tried cyberpunk since FSR3 was added. But that is a good point actually hopefully things get better. It didn't really help starfield on the steam deck though did it. Saying that.
Love my oled it's superb it plays what I want to play and plays them well, I'm not interested in all upcoming games pushing consoles to the limit I'll just play my ps5 for the bigger games my handheld can't manage.
I read todays article by forbes, "deck wont survive 2025 without serius upgrade", its somewhere true but i love this machine, i returned ally just after using 2 days, performance of z1 extreme is good but pathetic battery life. Unrefined haste hardware.
Honestly an upgrade at this point is pretty pointless. Valve themselves said that they wont be releasing another until they can get a major boost in battery and performance, while also keeping it affordable.
As I stated within the video, it's not always just about the hardware. Yes, the hardware is lacking compared to other competition devices on the market, but the repairability due to Valves partnership with iFixit, the cheaper price point, the usability of SteamOS, the ergonomics as well as Steam support among other reasons make this the best device for overall usability. The Steam Deck is so easy to use compared to a lot of other devices with windows installed. It is never usually just about the hardware
The Steamdeck's resolution is turned down, and some games make it obvious how washed out the graphics can be. I'm happy Steam made Linux a more viable gaming platform, proton is amazing. But the Linux experience on the handheld was rough for me. It wasn't difficult to overwhelm the low clock speed ram in desktop mode. I learned to enjoy Linux more going through the trials and tribulations of distro hopping. The reality is that most of the components inside are throttled in some way to control how bad battery life can be, and it's still pretty bad. It's truly the nintendo Switch of PC gaming by optimizing the games to the limits of the hardware.
You do make some valid points. As I say, It isn't perfect in many ways but I suppose like the Switch, it came along at such a perfect time that people just see it as an amazing device despite its glaring shortcomings
Having used both a Deck and Ally X, the individual use-case is extremely important. I absolutely hate the Ally X and Windows handhelds. Sure it’s more powerful and would suffice as a desktop replacement for most users, but the user experience is maddening with Armory Crate and Steam constantly fighting for Overlay and Controller input control. I have a desktop built for gaming, when I use a mobile / portable device, it is meant to be a dedicated mobile device with a mobile UI, regardless of whether it’s docked to my TV so I can step away from my desk, or in handheld mode. The Steam Deck does this, supports wake from wireless controller, and supports suspending games quickly so I can resume play later - making it equivalent to using a typical console, albeit with slightly worse graphics. The Ally doesn’t support ANY of these, and neither device is comfortable to use handheld long-term. The beauty in the Deck is how simple it is to use, the hardest thing to do is check protonDB and swap between proton versions. On the Ally, plugging my laptop into my TV is easier and more reliable than plugging in the Ally.
Nobody plays their steam deck, or any other handheld for that matter. Nice try, though. The steam deck and switch are sold secondhand more than any other modern console.
While I appreciate the tech isn't for everyone, the switch is the second best-selling console of all time for a reason. There's also a reason as to why so many big names in the tech industry have jumped on the bandwagon and made a handheld PC. It seems like the natural evolution of handheld gaming until the next thing comes along. I get that the tech isn't perfect and as I say, it isn't for everyone. There are tons of people, however, that pour tons of hours into them as these devices allow those with tight schedules and whatnot to enjoy their libraries
@@MathewWeaver73 you absolutely could if you installed Windows on it. That's how I used to play CoD portably a year or so ago. You have to understand that people aren't buying this device for CoD. I wouldn't even recommend playing it on the more powerful competition. CoD is just not one of those games really suited to a handheld. If you do buy one for CoD then great! The Deck and other handhelds are just not really meant for more competitive games as they will always lack power and usability over a home console or a desktop PC
I heard that Sexy Red and Bad Bunny are going to be operators in COD 6! So excited! 😮 Na, fuck that wokefest gambler shooter. Much rather play a real FPS like CS or indie offerings like "ready or not."
This video is heavily based on my opinion on the device. In fact, I say in the video that if you prefer the competition, then that's great for you! I just don't, Windows on a device like this just doesn't work for me. As I also say in the video, I am aware that the Steam Deck is now probably one of the least powerful PC handhelds on the market. The hardware isn't the only thing that makes this device what it is. The operating system it uses as well as how easy it is to repair makes this the best device for me and tons of other people. The safety of Valve having made this device as well as their technical support also make this a very easy device to use. It ain't all just about the hardware
But windows, on a handheld... The main reason I like Steam OS is because I hate navigating windows. I'll just turn my PC on at that point. Windows is way more user friendly, but with a keyboard and mouse. And I get paranoid enough bringing a $400 handheld to work for during lunch sometimes.
I'm curious in how you got Astral Chain running twice as good on the deck when the lenovo legion go is significantly more powerful than the deck and even that doesnt run it better than switch
I got a 60 fps patch as well as a fix for the cutscenes being sped up. Without that, it'll run at the stock 30 no matter the hardware being used. If you did all of that, however, if have to say that Steam OS definitely helps in this area. It's so lightweight compared to Windows, which definitely allows for a bit more hardware legroom
As a busy father that works full time , sitting at my PC feels very unappealing these days , going to bed an hour early with my steam deck is my favourite thing to do in the evening now .lol
Yet another reason as to why the Deck is absolutely amazing. Its the busy mans PC!
Specially when your wife is watching her girly show 😂 I just put my AirPods on and game on !!
Nice bro, whatchu play? Been getting down on hades lately and warframe goes hard on steam deck with cryoutilities
@@Imslowasfboi kingdom hearts 1.5 2.5 collection lol been playing a indie game called Sanabi aswell
@@ruggerprogavlar8866 preaching to the choir brother enjoy after a long day some gaming portable. Sitting on the chair on the pc seems too much effort lol
I had to RMA my Steam Deck back in April due to a volume bug. The thing was, my warranty expired 2 months prior. Money was tight, so I wasn’t sure if I should even contact customer support, but I contacted them anyways. They said, “We see that you’re outside the warranty period, but as a customer service gesture, we will send you a replacement”. I couldn’t believe it. They sent me a brand new unit free of charge! (all I had to do was ship my old one - they provided a shipping label too) Not only was it a brand new unit, but the unit they sent me was the refresh! Meaning that it had the new heat shield, better shell, better buttons, etc. I bought mine in Feb 2023, so I had the older model with the aluminum shield. Valve are the freaking BEST when it comes to customer service! Which other company would have done that?
Had the same thing happen, I was out of warranty by about 2 weeks and they sent me a brand new replacement.
The steam controller died so the steam deck could fly.
no lmao
I love your way of speaking man, so clear, no bullshit and straight to the point with a lot of personality and uniqueness in your script, looking forward to more content!
Thank you for your kind words! I try to make these as entertaining and digestible as possible, and so hearing from people like yourself that it's working really brightens my day!
ABSOLUTE BANGER OF A VIDEO. It takes a lot for me to watch a full 1 hour and 40 minutes, but the jokes, the cuts, the content. It was great! You got my like, comment and subscribe for sure! And you got a stuck buyer to lean on the LCD model after DAYS of thought. Thanks a ton!
I put a HUGE amount of effort into this video, and so comments like this really brighten my day. I am thoroughly glad you enjoyed it. Most of all, though, I hope you enjoy your Steam Deck!
Just bought a limited edition white steam deck and I’m super stoked to get it and start playing. Your video helped me make a decision, so thanks a bunch.
I'm glad I was able to help! The white Deck does look really neat as well, so it's a great choice! From here, I can only hope that you enjoy it!
decided to watch a video about deck
didn’t expect to watch a comedy special, and I’m all here for it
you’re very funny man
Thank you for this, I thoroughly appreciate it! I try to make my videos as entertaining as possible, and I'm glad to see it's paying off.
The deck itself is fine, what makes it really important is actually making linux a viable gaming platform of the future, and breaking the windows stranglehold. No other company could have done that.
Facts!
Watched the whole thing to get that delicious confirmation bias, thoroughly enjoyed it. It's always interesting to hear perspectives from people who are unfamiliar with Linux or PC gaming in general.
One of us, one of us...
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've been tempted to get into Linux a bit more by utilising it on some old phones. If anything can perform as well as the steam deck can with its specs, then it might be worth looking into. Valve has made Linux a real contender with this device, and it's great to see!
After buying Steam Deck a year ago, I rarely using my PC for playing game.
Best device for traveling indeed.
It really is such a magnificent little device for portable gaming. I play almost everything I used to play on my Switch on this and its so much better. especially when its portable
This is a great video.
And I’m sure you have lovely hands. Be proud of them. Even IF they were gnarly and nasty you speak so well guarantee you 99% of your audience wouldn’t even notice
Very comprehensive video about SteamDeck and the handheld space in general. A significant step above most videos on this topic. wanted to play rocket league but will have to install windows or an epic store app. worried it might not be an ideal setup.
Thank you! I thoroughly appreciate your kind words. I did put an enormous amount of research into this, so hearing people enjoy it makes me incredibly grateful. If you want to play Rocket League, you kay want to go the Windows route as I'm 99% sure that it has anti-cheat measures in place. Linux has a fond distaste for some anti-cheat measures, so you may want to err on the side of caution and just do windows. It might be worth looking into though as it might work
The steam backlog alone justifies the price valve asks for and even then you can do so much more
Absolutely I'd agree with that. There are so many fantastic games that run amazingly on it. Even going back and playing some things that I once played on a desktop just felt so much better on the Steam Deck with its unique form factor
@@GrenadeCeption Hi I just found your video and watched your 1 Hour plus very long video by the end of it. *I completely agree with you Steam Deck is amazing* and I'm trying to get a Deck myself on 'Black Friday'.
I'm too poor for Steam Deck OLED but I'm getting LCD Deck model.
I can't wait to play so many games on my Steam library.
And love the part someone infinitely intelligent than myself and then 😂😂 the wevy wav 🤣🤣🤣 I subbed by the way pal!
@nepaliprayasgurung2594 I thoroughly appreciate your kind words! As someone with an LCD Deck in a world in which the OLED exists, it's still a magnificent device that's well worth the money. I hope you enjoy it!
@@GrenadeCeption I appreciate it man let's see what happens on 'Black Friday' they'll be getting major discounts on eBay, Amazon, Argos, PC World, Curry's. But I'm going to buy from eBay cheers mate have a wonderful day!
i own the original steamdeck and still going strong , my first choice for indies and retrogames
That's definitely where it excels. As someone who also got theirs when it became available, it's still doing exactly what I want it to do the way I want to do it. Valve have already said that they're in it for the long haul and so I bet it'll continue doing so for a few years yet!
Love my LCD especially for the price I paid for it.
I have an OLED as well. I never really play favorites between the two. I just pick up what is charged.
Both are now upgraded with a 2TB SSD and a 1.5TB microSD.
I adore my systems, both running dual boots and just being all around great systems.
Absolutely love this device. The 1 TB Deck OLED has been my primary gaming device since March, when my husband got it for me as a birthday gift. It's honestly shocking to me how this tiny thing can run some games better than my gaming laptop which cost twice as much. The only times I game on my laptop these days are to check something I got on Epic or that the Deck can't handle at all, like Dragon's Dogma 2. Otherwise, I play everything on the Deck whereas I just have my laptop on to browse the web, google some information I might need about a game, and browse Steam's storefront, which is a bit of a nightmare to navigate on the Deck.
Also, thanks for the plugin tips! I've seen some of those when browsing Decky Loader, but didn't give them much thought. Well, I installed Audio Loader and I think that was the last thing I needed to make the Deck feel truly mine. I definitely recommend anyone who gets a Deck to fiddle around with CSS Loader until they can make Steam OS uniquely theirs. It's so satisfying!
Your husband clearly has amazing taste in gifts! I'm glad I could help with making your Steam Deck personalisation experience better though. As I say, maximising your deck in any way, whether it be personalising it or getting the best performance profile for you, can make it all feel so much more worth it! The power this device has is amazing and can make playing anything on it feel new and fun!
I picked up my steam deck a year and a half ago and I have put many of hours into it. Play through the entirety of Red Dead Redemption 2, elden ring, Street fighter 6, cyberpunk 2077, add breath of the wild. I really love steamos if there weren't for just a tiny selection of applications that are locked to Windows I would ditch it entirely.
I built myself a PC a little under a year ago, using the 7900 XT, I installed an operating system called Bazzite, which is a recreation of steamos that can run on any basic PC with an AMD GPU. Anyone that says that couch gaming isn't possible on pc, I'll gladly show them with mine can do. You can even steam link your deck to the main PC and use it as a controller
My favorite part of the Steam Deck is what Valve is doing to make gaming on Linux feasible to everyone. Windows is getting worse and worse at the moment and people are jumping ship, and it's good to know that a great majority of games will work great.
Exactly. Even though the games I want to play are not verified on the Steam Deck (and in fact are tougher to play due to the anti-cheat issue) I still am sticking with Steam Deck rather than going with a Rog Ally or Legion Go. All the other platforms are either not as good or are trying to exploit their customer in some way.
I did not have "pulls out a glock" on my bingo card when I clicked on this video.
Hey, what can I say. I like to be surprising!
Looking forward to getting one soon! Can't wait to try out emudeck and my steam library
I’m not sure if I just missed you mention it or if someone else already did, but be sure to remove your SD card before you open the deck up as you can snap it. Especially important as you inserted one right before you opened it up. (Nvm I should’ve kept watching, you did mention it🤣)
Thanks for the great video!
I’ve watched this video from beginning to end, I too wanted a rog ally for some time but after getting my steamdeck I’ve changed my mind. I love the steam deck and never knew about decky loader feature but thanks to your video I’ll give it a go. Thanks
Great job. Very in depth
Would say it pretty close! Shows how properly designing a product with amazing software support can be a good ground breaking perspective
That is true! Valve really knocked it out of the park with this
Great video! Your justification for recommending the lcd over the oled is definitely cope (jk). It's amazing how low cost steam decks can be had for and I agree that windows on a handheld is an abomination.
W opinion for windows on a handheld lol. Also, I'm glad you enjoyed!
I've had three decks 😂, had an LCD, updated to an OLED, sold it thinking I didn't meld with it, then really missed it so got another 😂 and I've played it a lot since. It just needs more power. Fingers crossed for a Deck 2 in 2025.
Haha, same bro
Thanks for this video. I'm new to gaming. Have played a c64 nes way back in the day and the odd game or two on my brother's ps. Actually want my own console. A father and working full time I don't have much time but do want something to get into. I like the switch idea but this looks amazing. Any advice?
It's always nice to introduce someone to the hobby! I would say it all depends on what you want to play. If you're looking for some nostalgia, the Steam Deck will have emulators for the C64, NES and the PlayStation. Plus, you also get almost every single PC game available. The Switch definitely has a smaller game library that favours first-party titles more so than the third-party ports it sees. If you're looking to really get into the hobby, I'd personally say the Deck is a better shout for you as it'll enable you to have access to a wider range of games across many different genres that the Switch doesn't cover nearly as extensively. Most first-party titles on the Switch will be easy for you to just pick and play through as a beginner as that whole device is made to be as user friendly as possible.
While the Deck is definitely a bit more of a learning curve for a beginner, it would be extremely easy to get used to over a short amount of time. Of course, I've been playing for about 90% of my life and so maybe I'd be wrong in this case, but I personally believe that the Steam Deck with its extensive library plus the emulator libraries definitely wins over the Switch. As I say in the video, though, SteamOS is incredibly easy and intuitive to use, and so you'll probably have a very similar experience to the Switch anyway.
It's definitely worth doing a bit of research on games that look interesting and see if they're on the Switch and/or the Deck and make your decision from there. As a beginner, you definitely won't be as picky as me when it comes to graphical fidelity or performance. Especially if you're coming from the NES and PlayStation era, and so it just simply boils down to which game library you will prefer. They will both offer extremely fun and easy to use experiences in their own ways
Edit: The Steam Deck is also a far more modern device with new titles that will be released for years to come, improvements with upscaling will mean that even newer titles will run a lot easier on the older hardware in the coming years also, making this device more usable even when the hardware starts to really lack behind. However, on the Switch front, with the Switch 2 around the corner, it may either be worth waiting for that and getting that or picking up a Switch 1 on the cheap. You could also simply just get a Deck and not have to worry about upgrading the hardware for a few more years. If the Switch is better suited to your tastes, however, chances are that a lot of games will still be released for it after the Switch 2 is released, just probably not the first-party releases or some higher end third-party ones
I travel for work and work 12 hour days regularly for 10+ days at a time. The Steam Deck is amazing for indies and even triple a titles. Running through Witcher 3 at decent settings again. Such a small screen looks great even at medium and low.
I preordered mine day 1. Got the 256g model because I figured the etched screen would be ruined by a screen protector and we didn't yet know if the 64gb model would be upgradable... I almost immediately upgraded it to 1tb and a 1tb sd card. This thing is amazing when I travel. Because it's so easy to dock and play with a controller it's also great in the hotel for rainy days. I've played everything on it including (some) ps3 roms. It's both a console and a pc at the same time. It's amazing.
New subscriber fan of the deck and the mighty switch
Thank you! You must have some good taste yourself if you also like these 2 magnificent machines!
That’s all it takes
Yeah, i love mine.
In fact, i'm thinking about ordering the new white one, even though i don't really need it.
Praise be upon mighty Lord GabeN.
Great video! 🐧
Great video. On a technical side though, please get a light or two to remove the noise in the vid
What about the bigger fan and better thermals on the OLED? Would that change your opinion about purchasing a LCD vs. OLED? Also, sorry I didn't understand, is OLED more sensible if one is to mainly play less straining games on the Deck?
Honestly, I didn't realise that the OLED had any adjustments or improvements to the thermals in any capacity. I feel like I would've heard huge things about it if the differences were major. Still though, the thermals aren't really gonna be overly better over the LCD model. They are both gonna run very hot in almost all scenarios if you are running the max power draw. I still personally wouldn't upgrade if it had better thermals as there are things I can do with the LCD model that allow it to run slightly cooler such as changing the thermal pads on the APU etc.
I would personally say that the OLED is better for the less straining games as that is where the extra 30hz is gonna make a huge difference. Also with the art styles some of these less demanding games have, the OLED is really going to make colours pop and make everything seem way more vivid to look at. I can't speak for everyone but I personally think that the OLED isn't going to be great in the more modern and intensive titles. The performance you are going to get in more demanding titles means you are going to have to lower settings if you want to take advantage of the higher refresh rate, at which point the games are going to look much worse and then not take full advantage of the OLED screen. Your best bet if you want to truly take advantage of the new hardware is to play games which can comfortably perform at 60fps or over but at the end of the day, it is all down to personal preference. I hope this helps!
one thing
the design (MUAAAHH!!)
I love my steam deck, alread swapped SSds, temped to do more to upgrade it, but the shell swap seems like a nightmare.
I own a steam deck and a legion go, I'm im itching waiting for the 2nd gen versions when all the companies work out how to get the performance with the battery life! My go to is the legion go, much better screen, and less hand cramp. Sadly the legion go speakers are a joke and the battery life only lasts about an hour. The steam deck standby mode is absolutely amazing and reminds me of the ps vita days! Linux definitely isnt that nice to deal with (I work in the tech sector and the normal person would have an absolute nightmare in the back end) windows isn't flash either but just works like a computer, legion space streamlines a lot of driver support too which helps. Definitely going to be interesting to see where these machines go in the next 5 years!
The gun was a shock lol, as a steam deck user and american i haven't thought about composting how both feel in my hand yet lol
When I was younger I used to be a power user. A specs junkie. I needed the most powerful, the latest and greatest no matter the cost.
As an adult with a job and other obligations, I appreciate compromising raw power for user experience and accessibility. From android to iOS and choosing the steam deck, ostensibly the most underpowered of the mainstream PC handhelds. But what it lacks in specs it more than makes up for in ease of use. It gets out of its way and lets me play my library; that’s what’s most important to me. Certainly though, if you want the best graphical fidelity or performance, look elsewhere.
The accessibility is the absolute best thing about this device. Something that might seem daunting to use with the amount of features it offers but is actually really simple once you use it. Somehow, that ease of use really just makes me forget about the fact that it's one of the least powerful handhelds on the market
decades ago the generational jumps used to be much larger, and power was always scarce - now that the improvements are small being humble is much less restricting
I had a deck but sold it for the Legion Go. I mostly play it when I'm on the nightshift, so prefer the larger screen.
That makes a lot of sense. The bigger screen is definitely a selling point. The 1600p screen is definitely a bonus for that as well
@GrenadeCeption Also how easy it is to use Game pass on it. I know you can get windows on the deck but I'm a PS5/Series X guy, so not that savvy with a lot of the PC stuff.
@@artvandelayRFC That is very true. Some things that don't work straight out of the box do require some strange and complicated workarounds. The Legion GO is still a fantastic device if you are used to Windows so if that works for you then thats great!
If steam deck had the same power of atleast series s then steam deck will be unstoppable.
That is very true. Heres hoping the Steam Deck 2 has that kind of power!
I love the steamdeck its my favorite handhelf off all time but i dont think you give the Switch enough Credit the Nvidia Tegra chip goes back 2008 and the custom version inside the switch has 1 teraflops in undocked mode thats on par with a ps4 graphically, inside a handheld, at the time this was absolutely astounding.
bro is glazing for a sponsorship 😂.
Good video though.
I would totally never do that 👀 I'm glad you enjoyed!
Sti ll watching this. You made a long video lol. Windows on steam deck isn't the same as windows on Rog Ally and with Bazzite you can have steam OS experience on Rog but you lose access to half your library. The best option is to have both if you can. Imo.
But you did make me break out my Steam deck and play Rog Ally. Ooh he's got his gun out now.
I'd never actually heard of Bazzite before I made this video, I might give it a look! I'm glad I got you to take another look at the Steam Deck. As you say in one of your other comments, neither device is perfect, and they excel at different things. I would say in some cases, the Ally is actually better but can be a bit more difficult to use over something as simple as Steam OS. The Deck is fantastic for people to just pick up and play without many or even any alterations other than in-game settings
Sorry about your anxiety brotha try some black & blossom tea or a blunt, I hope you get that under control for yourself drink a gallon of water a day and eat less sugars
Glock 18 Comparison was Priceless Mate 😂😂😂
Still enjoying my 512 LCD will upgrade when SD2 comes out
That may not happen till 2026 if valve sticks to their timing, not sure, ill bet the oled goes on sale for cyber monday, ill be snagging one myself.
@@HazardWolfCorp honestly love my lcd and will be patient. I hope sooner but excited for the future of SD
I'm glad you're finding that the LCD is great for you! It's still an amazing device, and the fact that it can be far cheaper means the price to performance ratio is a lot better than the OLED in some circumstances
@@GrenadeCeption honestly I almost buckled for the beautiful OLED screen but my 512 lcd works so well for the games I enjoy there was no need. I def will update to a SD2 or a powerful revision if they do one.. yes to you point from a price ratio just incredible
@nickk3403 I agree with you for the LCD. It works so unbelievably well in the games that play on it. If it was so much of a worthwhile upgrade, then I think you'd see waaay more people jump ship. There are plenty of things you can do with your LCD to make it worth it. There's even another Decky Loader plugin that can increase colour vibrance a little bit. It's hardly noticeable after a little while of play, but it's a great addition if you want to maximise that LCD screen. It's called Vibrant Deck, if I remember correctly. It should allow you to customise colour correction per game, which is nice for an LCD screen
You remind me of Dankpods if he was a little more well spoken
Dankpods was the exact sort of style I was going for so I am thoroughly appreciative of this!
Hey man, Dank is very well spoken?
@@MediocreTCG my bad, I actually meant that these videos have more structure than dankpods, while feeling the same.
@@GrenadeCeptionyour style is perfectly cromulent
lol love the persona music
Yes. And yes.
if it can play half life 2, and retro games, I am sold lol
Well, it definitely excels in those. Half Life 2 actually runs incredibly well on it. I'd say that's one of the games that would actually be good for the little 90Hz OLED screen
@@GrenadeCeption i managed to get half life 2 working on a core i5 and the integrated graphics. I'm shocked how far hardware has come.
@Jeremiah59 Hardware has come an incredibly long way. You can run Half Life 2 in something like 8K with a GTX 1650 at close to 60fps. The hardware improvements combined with the optimisation it's still getting 20 years later, just makes for an incredible experience. If thar isn't a testament to how good Valve is, then I don't know what is!
I just hate that's it's out of the my price range at the moment, 😭
Plan on picking me up one for my birthday next February. I've heard nothing but amazing things about the steam
It is an absolutely brilliant device. Hopefully, come February, it'll be well worth the wait!
I mean you can get the refurbished ones for under 300$. But i heavily reccomend the oled model if you can afford it, its amazing.
I hope valve releases a steam os laptop, maybe 12 inch screen with integrated controller buttons
Just ordered my 1 TB with Jsaux accessories
probably the best thing to happen to PC gaming.
Deck is great. Beat all ffxiv on it. But then wanted to play dragon quest x online. And that's window only atm...
So yea i play meha backlog but bummed no dqx
Why don't I use mine then I have a 2 terabyte one and mostly use my 2 terabyte ROG Ally for gaming or my Quest 3. The steam deck just gets switched on when I have to remember how to use the thing when my nephew has problems with my 2nd steam deck I gifted to him for his birthday. Nah Rog Ally is the king. Steam deck struggles to run anything high end. Fact
That's fair enough. If the Ally works better for you, then that's great! It's a great device at doing what it does, and people definitely prefer windows on a device of this form factor. I will argue the fact that the Steam Deck can't run anything high-end. My Steam Deck has run things like RDR 2, Cyberpunk and Death Stranding, etc, at a steady 45-50 fps with them sometimes being able to reach 60 fps after adjusting the settings. Also, with FSR 3 Frame Generation being made available in more and more games, these devices can run these high-end games a lot easier, especially now that it's available in Cyberpunk. Easy 60 fps on some higher settings
@@GrenadeCeption yeah can run that but not starfield shattered space and a lot of other games least at playable frame rates. I forget the ones I tried that performed badly but there are a few. It is a good device don't get me wrong. I just like the extra power in the Rog and with my 2 power banks battery life is good. It's all the games that steam deck can't play. I am always having to tell my nephew sorry mate but that one isn't supported and it makes me feel kinda shitty tbh. I give him a device and he can't play his games one after the other. I tell him stick to the green ticks. But ten year olds ain't going to remember that lol.
@GrenadeCeption I do like my Steam Deck. Rog Ally isn't perfect either, they both have flaws. But they are both awesome in their own ways.
@@GrenadeCeption I just shared my Library with him in the end lol. He has 100s of games now and I went and took out all the ones that aren't supported or take a lot of tinkering so he has plenty to play now. 😀
@@GrenadeCeption haven't tried cyberpunk since FSR3 was added. But that is a good point actually hopefully things get better. It didn't really help starfield on the steam deck though did it. Saying that.
It's like the missing link between consoles and PCs 😂
1:29:38 no fucking way i expected that twist of comparisons
Love my oled it's superb it plays what I want to play and plays them well, I'm not interested in all upcoming games pushing consoles to the limit I'll just play my ps5 for the bigger games my handheld can't manage.
I read todays article by forbes, "deck wont survive 2025 without serius upgrade", its somewhere true but i love this machine, i returned ally just after using 2 days, performance of z1 extreme is good but pathetic battery life. Unrefined haste hardware.
Honestly an upgrade at this point is pretty pointless. Valve themselves said that they wont be releasing another until they can get a major boost in battery and performance, while also keeping it affordable.
It's plays wukong
it's not its actually pretty weak for a handheld there's so many more better options out there
As I stated within the video, it's not always just about the hardware. Yes, the hardware is lacking compared to other competition devices on the market, but the repairability due to Valves partnership with iFixit, the cheaper price point, the usability of SteamOS, the ergonomics as well as Steam support among other reasons make this the best device for overall usability. The Steam Deck is so easy to use compared to a lot of other devices with windows installed. It is never usually just about the hardware
brits
Amen to that
The Steamdeck's resolution is turned down, and some games make it obvious how washed out the graphics can be.
I'm happy Steam made Linux a more viable gaming platform, proton is amazing. But the Linux experience on the handheld was rough for me. It wasn't difficult to overwhelm the low clock speed ram in desktop mode. I learned to enjoy Linux more going through the trials and tribulations of distro hopping.
The reality is that most of the components inside are throttled in some way to control how bad battery life can be, and it's still pretty bad. It's truly the nintendo Switch of PC gaming by optimizing the games to the limits of the hardware.
You do make some valid points. As I say, It isn't perfect in many ways but I suppose like the Switch, it came along at such a perfect time that people just see it as an amazing device despite its glaring shortcomings
Having used both a Deck and Ally X, the individual use-case is extremely important. I absolutely hate the Ally X and Windows handhelds. Sure it’s more powerful and would suffice as a desktop replacement for most users, but the user experience is maddening with Armory Crate and Steam constantly fighting for Overlay and Controller input control. I have a desktop built for gaming, when I use a mobile / portable device, it is meant to be a dedicated mobile device with a mobile UI, regardless of whether it’s docked to my TV so I can step away from my desk, or in handheld mode. The Steam Deck does this, supports wake from wireless controller, and supports suspending games quickly so I can resume play later - making it equivalent to using a typical console, albeit with slightly worse graphics. The Ally doesn’t support ANY of these, and neither device is comfortable to use handheld long-term. The beauty in the Deck is how simple it is to use, the hardest thing to do is check protonDB and swap between proton versions. On the Ally, plugging my laptop into my TV is easier and more reliable than plugging in the Ally.
Nobody plays their steam deck, or any other handheld for that matter. Nice try, though. The steam deck and switch are sold secondhand more than any other modern console.
While I appreciate the tech isn't for everyone, the switch is the second best-selling console of all time for a reason. There's also a reason as to why so many big names in the tech industry have jumped on the bandwagon and made a handheld PC. It seems like the natural evolution of handheld gaming until the next thing comes along.
I get that the tech isn't perfect and as I say, it isn't for everyone. There are tons of people, however, that pour tons of hours into them as these devices allow those with tight schedules and whatnot to enjoy their libraries
Jake - you’re hilariously wrong. They’re secondhand everywhere because of our love of upgrading.
My Legion Go says otherwise
Can I play COD 6? NOPE
@@MathewWeaver73 you absolutely could if you installed Windows on it. That's how I used to play CoD portably a year or so ago. You have to understand that people aren't buying this device for CoD. I wouldn't even recommend playing it on the more powerful competition. CoD is just not one of those games really suited to a handheld. If you do buy one for CoD then great! The Deck and other handhelds are just not really meant for more competitive games as they will always lack power and usability over a home console or a desktop PC
I heard that Sexy Red and Bad Bunny are going to be operators in COD 6! So excited! 😮
Na, fuck that wokefest gambler shooter. Much rather play a real FPS like CS or indie offerings like "ready or not."
Why would you buy an entire gaming device to play such a shit game.
It was. Until ROG Ally X. Don't spread misinformation:)
This video is heavily based on my opinion on the device. In fact, I say in the video that if you prefer the competition, then that's great for you! I just don't, Windows on a device like this just doesn't work for me. As I also say in the video, I am aware that the Steam Deck is now probably one of the least powerful PC handhelds on the market. The hardware isn't the only thing that makes this device what it is. The operating system it uses as well as how easy it is to repair makes this the best device for me and tons of other people. The safety of Valve having made this device as well as their technical support also make this a very easy device to use. It ain't all just about the hardware
But windows, on a handheld... The main reason I like Steam OS is because I hate navigating windows. I'll just turn my PC on at that point. Windows is way more user friendly, but with a keyboard and mouse. And I get paranoid enough bringing a $400 handheld to work for during lunch sometimes.
Said nobody ever 😂.
WORST DEVICE EVERRRRRR
I'm curious in how you got Astral Chain running twice as good on the deck when the lenovo legion go is significantly more powerful than the deck and even that doesnt run it better than switch
I got a 60 fps patch as well as a fix for the cutscenes being sped up. Without that, it'll run at the stock 30 no matter the hardware being used. If you did all of that, however, if have to say that Steam OS definitely helps in this area. It's so lightweight compared to Windows, which definitely allows for a bit more hardware legroom