I remember when the Steam Deck released in 2022. I showed it to a friend who hadn't heard of the thing, he didn't quite get why I was excited about it. He thought a laptop would be better in every way, because "it's a portalbe PC, just like the Steam Deck". The thing he failed to realize was that the Steam Deck is easier to use around the house. A laptop is portable, but I wouldn't feel comfortable to place it on my lap while watching TV with my family (also, I would not use my laptop in public). The Deck might not be the most powerful device, but it is by far the most convinient for gaming when you don't have the time to boot up your PC. It might be the ultimate Dad-Gaming-Machine.
100% this. I have 3 brother in-laws that, when I got the Deck at launch, they just didn't see what the big deal was. Basically the same mentality as your friend. I told them over and over, "this is everything i've ever wanted (i'm a millennial) in a gaming device. This is the culmination of the entirety of gaming from the day I was born to today. This thing does it all, and does it in every and any way I want it to" Play in bed, on the bus, at the doctors office waiting room, anywhere? Yes. Play on a monitor with KB/M? Yes. Play on a TV like a "traditional" console? Yes! Play PC games? Yes of course. Play every console from the dawn of gaming to the PS4? (I know it's still early but it can do it!) YES! The Steam Deck is the omnibus gaming device. They all thought it was just "some kind of weird Switch wannabe that would never take off." Fast forward a year or so and ALL 3 of my brother in-laws have one, and have clocked more hours in the games they play on their Deck than their consoles/PC's. And even their non-gaming wives have been known to steal it from them to play the occasional Stardew Valley or Cult of the Lamb session. Most of my friends have one as well with the exception of one stubborn PC master race die-hard that thinks anything else but a "perfect rig" is compromising and not worth it. Fools! I laughed at every one of them when I saw them with their Deck for the first time, then I welcomed them to the flock with open arms. Then we kicked some ass in Nine Parchments (super fun game btw from the Trine people.) The Steam Deck was the missing link between PC gamers and Console gamers. It is fighting the war on both fronts, and it will win it. Well, more likely, steamOS will win that war since Valve is definitely going to release it for other hardware as they have said, but i'm fine with that outcome as well.
@DeathJerrie for me, it's the handheld console that isn't so weak it can't even run its own games, much less third party ones, isn't made by a morally bankrupt company, and the handheld console that lets me play the way I want to play. I've been playing a lot of indie games and even some lower-end AAA games on it, and I haven't even wanted to touch another gaming console (except maybe my gaming desktop) since the Steam Deck OLED was released; it's that good.
@@kenjitasaka this is all so fake and valve pilled it was frankly frightening reading it. if this exact same thing was made by microsoft instead of valve, but everything else was EXACTLY the same, you wouldn't care about ANY of it. That's absolute fact.
@@cameronbosch1213 valve is the greediest company. they originally gained success by forcing their anti-consumer malware/virus steam on gamers who just wanted to play half life 2. but you couldn't without installing steam. you had no choice. but of course. otherwise noone would have. the DOJ definitely needs to investigate valve for monopolistic practices and tactics. And start jailing some of their fanboys like you as well. it's not legal to lobby for a company for free. that's unpaid work for a corporation, which is illegal under labor code. also the steam deck might be the worst handheld (armheld?) of all time. despite constantly being on fire sale it sells very little. it's huge, heavy, and just a general example of a brutish, poorly designed product. oh and the topper, it cant play any games. lets not even mention valves long history of hardware failure and canceling unsuccessful hardware leaving consumers holding the bag. steam deck looks to be next?
@@brooklyn9291 Honestly, Nintendo can go fuck themselves. Ever since Iwata died, this shit keeps getting worse. That and the aging Switch hardware is why I went full-time to PC gaming after being sold a lie since well before most modern Nintendo fans were born. I won't be back.
He'll be fine. Nintendo went after Retro Game Corps because he's basically THE retro games guy and he's featured MiG flash cart a few times. I love RGC's videos but the guy was flying to close to the sun. They struck his channel to send a message to everyone else.
"The Backlog Annihilator". This right here is exactly why I'm picking up the Steam Deck, which is /finally/ getting a release in Australia next month! Woo
Yeah.. my oled has definitely helped with this. 142 games in my steam library and growing, not to mention emulation. It's been great for previous gen titles like darksiders 2, borderlands 2, shadow of war etc. Some of them can be run on high settings and still achieve 60fps. Newer titles like shadow of war need all low settings to get 60fps but it looks and plays great. Buttery smooth on the oled. I didn't enjoy playing newer AAA games like cyberpunk, detroit become human, hogwarts etc. I do have a beefy desktop PC so i prefer the performance. When the deck chugs in certain scenarios it's a no go for me. If i can't lock it in with at least 45fps, it's a pass. Spiderman remastered is a prime example.. fantastic on the deck. It locks at 45fps and plays great. You'll figure out what your preferences are. All games mentioned are definitely "playable" but i have the liberty of being a snob. Plus, i just put moonlight on the deck and sunshine on PC plus playnite.. playnite is a front end app that allows you to access all your installed games including gamepass PC games, epic etc. Playing alan wake 2 and hellblade 2 with tits out settings on the deck, streaming over local network 🤌. Fucking amazing.
It runs graphically intense games with some tinkering in graphics settings such as Black Myth WuKong, Halo Infinite, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, Space Marine 2, God Of War 2 (Verified), Baldurs Gate 3, Silent Hill 2 and more. However, it's important to look *Unsupported* games up before buying to see how it's running on Steam Deck. Bc Dragons Dogma 2 is a title it has a hard time running (at least on release).
As an Aussie, I got sick of waiting and purchased the OLED at the beginning of the year. I will say I’ve barely touched my switch or PS5 since - it is well worth the spend. Although I’m glad I can get an official charger with an actual Aus plug when it releases here 😂
I finally got my Deck a few months ago after several years of planning to buy it, only to have life happen and I kept putting it off. My main reason for even getting one was for emulation, and I haven't even bothered installing a single one yet, as I've been so busy just playing cheap Steam games. And when I say "cheap", I don't mean bad, or less than, but many AAA titles and critically acclaimed indie games. It is already a 10/10 in my book, just using it as is currently, and I haven't touch on the majority of what it can even do. For sure one of the best devices I've ever bought in all of my 53 years, and I first started gaming on an Apple II computer in the late 70's.
same here, started gaming on a xt computer, steam deck is the best i've had. it can offer a console experience AND is a open platform, no risk of the company removing support and you end up with a brick.... if valve removes support it will be still a pc
The Steam Deck OLED is quite possibly my favorite "console" of all time. Nothing else comes close to what Valve delivered in terms of good battery life, an extremely competitive price, and an awesome screen. And Valve is not a 💩 company like many other console companies.
valve is the greediest around, their hordes of fanboys rival any in the world, along with sony, nvidia, and apple (you are likely a fanboy of these brands as well). each has fanboy horde armies doing their corporate bidding.
@cryengine_x What are you going off about now? First of all, Valve hasn't done anything even _close_ to as bad to consumers as Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo has done. If a 30% cut of games is the worst thing that they've done (and you _can_ use GOG or Epic Games on the Steam Deck), then that's nothing to complain about, especially given it's not like they have a monopoly in that regard unlike the other three companies I mentioned with their consoles, in addition to Apple outside of the EU. Second, yes, there are fanboys for every major company; I hate Apple and especially Nintendo fanboys who willingly get screwed by them despite the fans showing their praises for said company. Again, Valve hasn't done anything that serious. Now take Sony with their PS5 Pro, Microsoft with their Windows 11 adware and spyware mess (and Windows 8 and its software Store actually was the catalyst for Valve to start supporting Linux in the first place), Apple with their expensive and unrepairable devices as well as their walled garden, and Nintendo for literally every decision they've made since Iwata passed away. Those are all _much_ worse companies than Valve has been.
@@cameronbosch1213 valve is much worse, valve makes more per employee than goldman sachs. but, they have a huge army of ppl like you. corporate slaves. which is fake since normally Americans hate capitalism. fake fake fake times 100. you'll beg fir valve to shaft you. you dont own anything and you love it. because this faceless corporation is the one you'll fight for, unpaid. fuck you.
@cameronbosch1213 Honestly, the only argument that people have now that truly matters these days Is the recent legal jargon of you Own your account but not the games Situation does sound bad on paper. But mostly equates to that these companies are purposely trying to get valve into legal battles since they are not a Publicly traded company. I prefer that it's not a Traded company. Companies that are publicly traded right now only care about their shareholders and not the consumers. Steam is one of the last bastions.
I am watching this video from a docked Steam Deck. It has become my main desktop PC. I love SteamOS and it has been mostly flawless for me. I will never go back to Windows if Valve continues to support this as an alternative. I really want a more powerful console-like box from them.
The Steam Deck will ALWAYS have a place in my heart as the first true gaming handheld that captivated me. The only thing I was less enthusiastic about was that low quality LCD panel. When Valve announced the Steam Deck OLED, I was initially hesitant to spend the money. It was actually my wife who pushed me to make the purchase. "You always said the only thing you would change was that screen." I took her advice and bought the 512 GB model. This thing has legitimately changed the way I play games, and it's had some incredible knock-on effects for my own relationship. Nowadays I tend to game in the evening in bed, completely captivated by that wonderful OLED panel that Valve sourced for this mid-gen refresh (if you want to call it that). Previously, I'd play a game in the evening in my office on the OLED TV I have connected to my PC. My wife and I now wind the evenings down together in bed, she sometimes gets curious about the game I'm playing, and we overall feel more connected as partners. It's a weird thing to experience unless you've experienced it yourself. The Steam Deck really does enable you to enjoy your games in so many different environments.
It’s funny you say this because, although we aren’t married yet, my gf is very excited for this purchase for this exact reason. We can wind the night down together in bed and ultimately spend more time with each other, especially when you consider we can enjoy the living room together even if we’re doing different things. Very excited can’t wait till mine arrives tomorrow.
Please keep in mind that the OLED screen in Stean Deck has a really low PWM rate which causes headaches and eye tiredness for a considerable percentage of users. You’re lucky if it doesn’t make you sick. Due to this reason I bought the LCD model. I wish Valve can put a better OLED screen with DC Dimming feature or at least with a higher PWM rate.
IM hoping to score a limited white one, although my steam account has been idle for years with no purchases or even play time this year so im unsure if my account meets the "account in good standing" sigh... if not i guess ill settle for a standard OLED... buuuut Tuesday 9am ill be all over it trying to acquire something.
After discovering Decky loader and Emudeck, the Steam deck becomes the ultimate all in one portable gaming console/pc hybrid. Not to mention it's a bonus if you have a decent chunk of games in your steam library make accessing back logs a fun experience or re experience them in another environment. Even if you don't have games on steam you can even use it for emulation which is definitely the best way to not pay for games but still be able to play good games from other consoles or older ones
My only complaint with my LCD model, which I've mentioned in the Steam Deck forums from time to time, is the ability to rollback OS versions. Because the new versions from 3.5 or higher, broke older VibrantDeck versions. And the ability to crank the saturation to the max as well as de-saturate it to the levels of black & white were mindblowing. And the Steam Vibrancy Slider doesn't go anywhere near enough or have the granular control. And the latest VibrantDeck version just doesn't do the same thing with the latest Steam OS version, as it did when it was 3.4.
Nice video, man. After being a primarily Nintendo handheld gamer since I had kids, 8 years ago, my Deck has revitalized my interest in my gaming PC and the larger gaming world in general. It's a very special device.
I have tried and bought ally , legion go , ally x and portal .Thought it will somehow replace the deck oled but only to return and sell these . Oled is just the best overall device with great screen and performance . I think the only competitor of the deck will be deck 2 .
@@alexanderkim7241 good question . Though it is not a bad device and also quite cheap but I felt the chaiki4deck works great on the deck and sometimes better than portal. For instance there are no strutters while playing games like fc24 . Also there is an actual touch pad . I just wanted one device hence sold the portal . I do miss the portal due to triggers but couldn't justify keeping it only because of that .
The Steam Deck is all about the price to performance ratio, power efficiency, and the user experience. It's deliberately designed balanced so that no one feature comes at the cost of another. For most other handhelds, that's a issue they all experience. More power for less battery, Windows over a streamlined experience, higher cost and yearly refreshes because they can't subsidise, etc, etc.
@@nathanjuan6042 There's obviously handhelds that have better specs then the Steam deck, but that's not my point. My point was that, in this case, those increased specs and flashy numbers come at a cost. Unusually to the detriment of another feature, or the user. Yes, the Rog Ally has a larger battery and higher specs, but it's still running a full desktop OS not designed for it, which is why they need that larger battery in the first place. ASUS also has abysmal customer service, and as far I know they still haven't fixed the SD card reader braking on almost every model. On top of that, it's just very expensive. About $1,500 Australian, which is $500 more then the most expensive Steam Deck. There's more to this stuff then just "bigger specs automatically = better."
The continuous optimization improvements on the Deck is pretty impressive. I have a Steam Deck OLED and an AOKZOE with the 7840U. I noticed that the Deck's performance has improved quite a bit compared to the AOKZOE over time. Last year, there were some games that the Deck had trouble with but the AOKZOE could handle fine. But now, those games play as well on the Deck.
I like it for gaming because it runs better than my old laptop and I love it for being my intro to linux right when Windows 11 looked like shit. I use the touch screen on desktop mode to draw using Krita sometimes for fun.
@@cameronbosch1213 Why is that so difficult though? They able to manage FSR1 to work through gamescope. Steam Deck is like barebones without any support from AMD.
The thing that makes the Steam Deck OLED worth it for me, is the insane battery efficiency. Sure it can't run games at as high of an FPS as the Legion GO or the Ally, but it outlasts them for on average, an entire hour longer. Insane what Valve has done with this machine, EXTREMELY keen on it's successor.
man the ergonomics on the steam deck is just so much better than its competitors. from the palm feel to joysticks and buttons being on the same horizontal line so theres balance symmetry when i hold it... just beautiful.
I bought a Steam Deck and I don’t remember the last time I turned on my PS5, Xbox SX, or Switch, it is just that good! Add to that the importance of the portability which was the main selling point for me because I have back issues and underwent 2 operations so far. Nothing beats playing while lying down anywhere inside or outside my house. The switch was brilliant for what it was, but having access to steam and its regional pricing + family share where I shared my whole library with my friend allowing us access to both play while online. If purchasing an iPad is the best purchase I made that elevated my academic studies experience, then the Steam Deck is the best purchase I made that elevated my gaming experience.
I got my LCD SD during the first wave of shipping in 2022. Loved it, but was disappointed by the screen. Then I bought the OLED SD and sold my LCD one. What an absolute game changer. I've thought about selling my high-end PC because I use my SD more, which I never thought I'd say.
Got my OLED 2 weeks ago and wanted to return it cause I wasn't pleased with the lower graphics but the portability won me over. I don't even want to be on my PC. I can't play on high graphics on recent games but I've been enjoying playing older things or the lower graphics doesn't bother me as much. I can lay in bed and chill. Been playing new world on low graphics and been chilling on couch
for the heavier games i just do remote play from my pc... Battery life goes on for much longer + much more fluid gaming since its my PC doing the work :) Have a wifi 6 router with good stable connection so no input lag or latency
Steam Deck is so cool even outside of the device itself. It is finally pushing gaming out of Windows to be competent and easy. I love mine. My only complaint is that D-pad / face buttons being so close to the edge hurts my hands (I have big hands, so I have to like, curl my thumb back toward the hand to press those buttons and it isn't comfortable. The analog sticks and touch pads are comfortable to reach). Thankfully there are grips, etc available. And while it kills the portability, you can also do something like a stand + controller. You can also use it like a PC/laptop if you want. The other handhelds do a lot of that too, so Valve's unique point is really the Linux/Steam OS stuff, but I do appreciate how versatile the device is overall just the same.
Got my OLED Deck about a month ago, and it has quickly become my favorite gaming device for general use. More powerful than a Switch, having a massive library, and can even run other launchers and games outside of Steam. And for any newer games that are inherently too demanding for the Deck, I still have my PS5.
Love my Steam Deck, wouldn't trade it for anything, but I've been playing it a lot less lately. It's kinda pointless to me when I have a perfectly capable PC like 30 feet away. I am more of a retro gamer and I find myself grabbing this cheap little Anbernic RG35XX-H when I want a quick gaming fix on a smaller, lightweight device. Playing PSP on that large Steam Deck screen is incredible though.
As a life long console gamer, I gave the SD a chance and it made me take the jump to PC all because of its ease if use. It’s the only gaming hardware piece I currently own and do not regret it at all.
'Power efficiency' is what makes a handheld good, not 'muh power' and high end specs VALVe is the first, and likely still the only, PC handheld manufacturer that DOESN'T shove in 1080p+, RGB, extreme refresh rates, or completely neglect the battery in pursuit of raw performance. They're the only ones that actually understand what "POWER EFFICIENCY" means. And in doing so, they gave us the world's first PC handheld that actually lasted more than an hour!! Handhelds with 1080p or 1440p are very poorly designed. No handheld is gonna handle 2k, especially AT 144 FPS, outside of super basic games. ROG Ally, LeGo, etc have learned absolutely nothing. You think 2k144 or 1080p120 all with RGB and whatever is new? It ain't. It's the same slop that kept the PC handheld market irrelevant The people buying them are either collectors/reviewers or completely stupid people buying handhelds for the wrong reasons over the fad of the PC handheld market that VALVe blew up. They're buying the same garbage that's been on the market way before the Steam Deck! They have no idea what they're buying! They mock weaker powered handhelds only to complain about frickin battery, that their portable device is actually flippin useless
@cqllel5186 Bingo. That's why I went for a Steam Deck OLED over something else. Shoving a 1080p or especially a 1600p screen into a device like this is wasteful and only serves to kill battery life. What's the point of a handheld you can't play away from the wall for more than an hour? Also, after the Asus microSD card issue, I don't know why anybody would buy one, especially running Windows 11 without touchpads. And yes, I use those touchpads all the time.
@@cameronbosch1213 Indeed! 720p is the minimum and maximum standard for battery powered devices. Even if 1080p gaming was the new minimum and lasted like 12h minimum, that'd just mean 720p would perform and last EVEN longer. There's no reason to ever upgrade res, especially not on a 7 inch display. I'll take a refresh rate increase of the pointlessness of a resolution increase any day Touchpads are a necessity for PCs. Without a touchpad, you're unable to actually play certain games and genres. You can't play RTS games on the Ally without a Mouse. Touch screen isn't gonna be great in those games, either OLED is also the most power efficient display. Even if the Ally was 720p, it's still worse than OLED by default
The 1080p panel in the Ally doesn't even consume more power than the 800p LCD or OLED display Valve uses. The only one that ends up being a power hungry hog is the Legion Go's 8.8in 2560x1600 screen. If you even measured power draw when TDP is equal, the OG Ally and the LCD Steam Deck end up consuming pretty much identical amounts of power. The panels aren't even poorly designed if that's your point. You have to compare them at similar TDP otherwise if you set the Ally at 25w vs the Deck's maximum 15w power draw, of course it's going to consume less power. The high refresh rate doesn't even consume that much power and that's also shown in battery tests when it comes to lowering the refresh rate from high refresh to 60hz. There's a reason why the Deck also switched to a high refresh rate panel too. No the Steam Deck wasn't the first handheld to last longer than an hour either. Some of the other handhelds like Ayaneo made handhelds with larger batteries than the deck and would last longer than the Deck if the TDP was matched. You can see this in many of Retro Game Corps reviews of these handhelds around the time of the Steam Deck's announcement You sound like someone who hasn't used the other ones. The 1080p panel on the Ally works fine as many of the games that you can play on it work at 1080p. Typically the games that need to run at a lower resolution on the Ally also aren't going to be running at the Deck's native 1280x800 resolution either
@@crestofhonor2349 I had all those retro console handhelds in mind when I made that claim. I know they exist, but they're irrelevant. They're not PCs, they don't use PC OS other than a minimlized Linux (since errything runs on linux). Designed solely for retro games. Of course they'll last more than an hour lol. They last a VERY long time, mainly bcuz they're not playing modern AAAs. IDC about them tho. I don't exactly keep up to date with PC handhelds as much anymore either, but before the Deck, they were VERY bad. Overpriced and useless Power efficiency means getting the most performance with the fewest watts possible. The Steam Deck/OLED outperforms any PC handheld at around 13W and less. IDC how high it gets, I care about how low I can get it Even if 1080p/2k display alone doesn't consume more power, running the desktop or games at the native resolutions would definitely be more demanding on battery than 720p. And for games that you're never gonna be playing at 1080p or 2k, it'd look better just playing them at 720p on a 720p display anyways. And with lower resolution comes better performance and power efficiency, it also means there's more room for higher graphical quality settings. And yes, the 1080p display on the Ally does consume more power than an OLED. Anything consumes more power than an OLED by default
@@cqllel5186 OLED displays are pretty power hungry themselves, so it depends on what you're doing. On a small scale they don't make too much of a difference though and the main benefit comes with the black pixels. Other than that LCDs tend to consume a similar amount or less power on the larger screens. Even with those tests done, the Ally still doesn't consume more power. Even then the screen doesn't consume anywhere near enough to make a big difference on power draw Also it's 12w where the Ally meets the deck and then loses at under 12w. Still the 1080p screen is well suited for the Ally and I would rather it not have a 720p or 800p screen. The extra boost in sharpness is very nice for certain games I've tested on both. Besides you can run at a lower resolution or use upscaling in those upper end games to get more performance if you need it. I like the steam deck a lot but you're overexaggerating the issues the other handhelds have
I'm deeply impressed with the OLED deck. I can play just about anything on it, even something like Command and Conquer. Some more demanding games like Cyberpunk work just fine, but if I want more horsepower I can stream my PC version. The greater power of other options just doesn't seem like it's the amount needed to sway my mind. Will definitely upgrade to whatever the newest model is, as this is a great way to enjoy my hobby now that I have a few kids.
Is that steamdeck with the orange color behind the sticks ans the unique style, still being sold? I thought it was sold out. Looks amazing (Where to find it?)
I know this video is about the SD OLED and i agree it's probably the best all round handheld out there today but this is my experience which I just have to share: i bought a second steam deck lcd and a rog ally non-extreme (to flip). Steam deck arrived damaged so had to return it (but was able to try it briefly) and couldn't wait any longer so i used the ally that i was going to sell thinking i would still sell it eventually. I installed a 2tb drive and bazzite and am dual booting (though hardly use windows). I'm no longer sure i will sell the ally. Seriously, with bazzite it's just so good. As good as a steam deck, but I'd imagine probably still behind the OLED (though I've never tried one unfortunately). The non extreme ally, it turns out, is not at all far behind the extreme when not on wall charger, which suits me absolutely fine! For those who want an OLED but like me, don't want to spend that much: if you can get your hands on a cheap lcd sd or an ally (with bazzite!) you will not be disappointed.
The simplest reason for me, “ it’s the software, dummy!” I like it simple and easy to use. So much so that I got a small mini PC and put Bazzite on it to replicate the experience on a desktop.
Steam deck replaced almost everything for me. I play switch games on it, all new games, retro games, it even replaced my workstation, my go to media streaming device and works as a ebook reader too.
Love my steam deck. Dual booting windows is amazing. The next gen will completely replace my pc. I prefer gaming on the deck compared to my pc now. Especially being a dad.
Got my steam deck oled this early month. Yes compared to rog ally which is my friend's, steam deck performance is below rog ally. But for me, because steam deck have its own os, easy to navigate and really comfortable to use, id say this is one of the best purchase ive ever made
It's absolutely fantastic, I would like to thank PS5 Pro because I wasNOT paying £700 or dollars. It pushed me to get an OLED MY FIRST GAME IN PC. I am content with the PS5 slim the Xbox series X black ops 6 is coming out game pass and the games on the Steam deck. THANKS SO MUCH
I don't think its an over exageration to compare the steam deck to the invention of the iphone! I mainly use it for retro gaming and it has been very nostalgic. Plus, I really like learning linux.
I've been experimenting with Bazzite (one of the multiple SteamOS clones now available) on a regular PC, and it probably makes more sense as a lounge room gaming console than as a handheld. Turning your PC into a hybrid of console and desktop just transforms the machine. When you're in gaming mode, it's like the difference between using a DVD player and playing a DVD on your computer -- it just feels different. I think if lounge room Steam boxes come to market, it's going to be seriously disruptive and a lot of people won't bother with consoles anymore. Or desktop PC gaming.
Heard the Wayland team has some real characters on the board that work against the Free Software standards through which Steam is able to improve upon for their needs.
Awesome review!! I heard that Valve is going to support Steam OS on ROG Ally and probably at least couple more devices. If I had to buy a handheld what would it be while still owning the og steam deck?
As someone who has both the Steamdeck and the ROG Ally, I’d recommend the Steamdeck to most people because it’s simpler to use. The ROG Ally is Windows based, and the updates tend to turn people off. Both are excellent and both can run Steam.
I'm getting a steam deck during black Friday. I'm so excited! Someday, I do think a Ps4 emulator will be awesome on it. I am also drawn to it because I primarily play indie games, and this is perfect for me. I have a baby, so the sleep mode is also a big driver.
Valve is the only company that gives its buyers a mid-gen update every now and then completely for free. Every now and then Valve ships a new update of proton or steam os that improve the performance of some games, or extend the compatibility to many other. Many times I got a boost in performance in my games. For example, just yesterday steam os 3.6 dropped on stable, and I tested it with tiny Tina Wonderlands (it gave me always many performance problems, terrible frame pacing and bugs on resolution changes). Now everything is stable, got a 6-7 fps boost in the same settings, stable frame pacing and bug free hdr experience. How about that, dear Sony, with your 800€ mid Gen update?
The best around home or on the go with good Internet is your phone or small 8in tablet using a telescopic gamepad. Steamlink app is amazing and it uses whatever's on your PC. Benefit imo is portability, one less device, and phones always with you.
Steeam Deck is great, currently i`m on Nintendo Switch OLED, and i bought it just before Deck released, and i`m totally fine with it, it's great for casual gamer like me, but since Valve made such great handheld, i'm not sure if i will be there for Switch 2 or wherever Nintendo will bring. Competition is such a great thing for us, customers :)
I got 2 on day one of release .. when it was announced at that $400 price point,I said the steam deck was the greatest leap in gaming in decades and folks called me crazy….. this is only the start… when Microsoft and Xbox finally release their own Steam Deck OS like OS, gaming will never be the same….. in a positive way….
It was released this year and I got the LCD one, because it just looks better to me. They aren't cheap, the OLED is $1,000 here. It's made me uninstall almost all games from the editing PC. The only games still there are games that are a pain on the deck. Pathfinder, Divinity, etc... It's made me play and finish more games than anything else. Also, I love Datsuns. Therefore, I love your analogy.
Steam deck definitely changed gaming for me picked up the LCD model in August 2022 been stuck to it like glue ever since. Since I was a big Nintendo fan I had missed out on a bunch of triple A titles but with the steam deck I can get everything I missed out on and more not to mention I stream my ps5 through it so I got every system in one now. Will get the oled one day just didn’t feel the need to cuz the LCD is just fine
As much as i love watching your videos, I'm someone who had a pretty bad experience with Steam Deck OLED. I was so excited to get my hands on one, but since valve does not officially sell decks in my region, I had to go through 3rd party retailers with pretty inflated imported prices. But when i finally got mine, It only last 3 days. I was playing resident evil 4 while plugged in, and it was fully charged, but as soon as i tried to unplugged it, the device turned off. since then It wasn't switching to battery power anymore. The only way to trun the deck on was by plugging in. I was so disappointed, maybe i was unlucky with my deck. But i've seen other had the same issue. I ended up returning the device, and got a full refund. But ever since I wasn't really intrested in Steam deck anymore. When i see someone bragging about how good the steam deck is It just make me SAD.😪
I already have a big expensive PC for high fps, max graphics, and k+m gameplay. It's not comfortable for smaller, simpler games. The Steamdeck LCD fills this gap. While it isn't "the best handheld" in terms of performance, or screen, it is affordable. The only real downside imo is I'd prefer a second flip-up screen.
The steamdeck is incredible and I hope Valve keeps investing into it. Otherwise I will end up buying handhelds from other companies. Steam OS is amazing, and much preferred over windows. I am a non technical casual gamer in his 30s. the steamdeck has allowed me to enjoy gaming again.
I like the Steam Deck More than Other Handheld PC's because of the Buttons Setup. Grew up with Playstation controller setup my whole life. It just feels awkward to me that the Left Joystick is Above the D-pad.
Yup thanks for the video. What I want is to play nfs unbound and fifa 25 on a handheld. Is the oled deck good for that? I'm hesitating between rog ally x and the oled deck..🤔
I am a PC gamer and I ALWAYS want the best of the best hardware. I bought a Deck day 1, now I own a ROG Ally… steam deck has worse performance… but it is the absolute better device. Steam deck is irreplaceable because of how easy it is to use at any point when you use it.
I love my deck...not even the oled. I use it, my switch (non oled) my retroid pocket 3+ and my miyoo mini plus exclusively now. I dont laptop/console/desktop at all anymore and im cool with that....
i love my og 512 steam deck got a 1 tb sd card for steam games and another 1tb card to run batucerus for my retro library haven't felt the need to upgrade and have only turned on my beast of a gaming pc a handful of times that i spent over 2k on in late 2021 it still runs everything beautifully on a 32 inch ultrawide monitor with freesync but i only run it once in a while when i buy a new triple a game to see how nice it looks with all that hardware. to me the steam deck is perfect, i can game anywhere in my house with headphones not hog the tv from my family and i could play all night without keeping my wife up all night because the gaming pc is in the bedroom. valve really knocked it out the park with this. and when they come out with a new one that is considerably better i will upgrade instead of sinking thousands into a newer gaming pc that crushes my electric bill
It makes sense when someone who has a pc does not need the best performance handheld. For someone like me who does not have a pc or console, rog ally x is the best.
I absolutely love my oled SD and now it's coming to Australia. Finally Australians may get support for the SD? I couldn't believe it actually ran Black myth wukong but wasn't pleasant like on my pc.
Not to mention as long as Steam Deck is relevant, the devs are gonna consider how their games should run on it, which is actually a good and bad thing.
With my experience with a bunch of the PC handhelds, the Steam Deck OLED and Ally X are my favorites for the many things they get right. Both feel great in the hands and have the one crucial thing handhelds should have, decent to good battery life. They other two, Legion Go and OG Ally, simply don't last long enough off a single charge in some games you want to play. Plus, with the Legion Go in particular, it's the handheld you want to take out of the house the least due to it's size over the other handhelds. It's pretty much the limit I see for the size of handhelds. Bazzite is great for the other handhelds and basically turns them into steam decks on their own so that's a great way to get that Steam like experience without needing to use windows. The only issue is that you have to know how to boot into another OS so it's not the most user friendly experience getting it setup for the first time
@@cryengine_x I've used both. The vast majority of games work on Steam OS fine. Windows only matters if you pretty much only care about multiplayer games that have anticheat that restrict Linux. I prefer SteamOS/Bazzite for the handhelds
@@crestofhonor2349 but most ppl play that type of game. for me for example, i've been heavy into destiny 1/2 for 10 yrs, its pretty much the only game i play. i couldn't play it if i buy steam deck. the fact this isnt talked about as a huge negative of steam deck more is mind boggling. out of all the most played games, cod, league, etc how many are compatible with sd? some might be idk. but i know cod and destiny arent. fix this shit valve if you ever want sd to be taken seriously.
@@cryengine_xi did returned by ally x and just installed dual boot windows on deckoled. Strangely the windows 11 behaves better on steam deck than it did on ally x . Not sure why this case . But overall deck oled is just the perfect match if you want to just play games . If you want to waste time fixing things by all means get the ally x .
How does the stream deck work to play the games..is it like the stream link app for tablets and phones or do you install games on it to play.. or can you do both on stream deck ??
Nothing wrong with wearing a tank top to show us those gains - and dont be miffed if some of us are here partially because of how you look and not all about the tech. Sex has always sold. And no one is above the fray, some just pretend to and the more they do, the more pathetic they seem to many.
If nintendo has taught us over the years, high performance and power isn't always everything as long as it plays the game decent enough. My brother and I are debating about getting steamdeck as im told its more user friendly and cost effective than the other handheld pc's that coming out.
It's like any other PC. Get a dock or HDMI adapter and you can use it on the TV. Just don't expect an experience any better than a PS4. It will look somewhere in between a PS4 and Xbox One
I remember when the Steam Deck released in 2022. I showed it to a friend who hadn't heard of the thing, he didn't quite get why I was excited about it. He thought a laptop would be better in every way, because "it's a portalbe PC, just like the Steam Deck". The thing he failed to realize was that the Steam Deck is easier to use around the house. A laptop is portable, but I wouldn't feel comfortable to place it on my lap while watching TV with my family (also, I would not use my laptop in public). The Deck might not be the most powerful device, but it is by far the most convinient for gaming when you don't have the time to boot up your PC. It might be the ultimate Dad-Gaming-Machine.
100% this. I have 3 brother in-laws that, when I got the Deck at launch, they just didn't see what the big deal was. Basically the same mentality as your friend. I told them over and over, "this is everything i've ever wanted (i'm a millennial) in a gaming device. This is the culmination of the entirety of gaming from the day I was born to today. This thing does it all, and does it in every and any way I want it to"
Play in bed, on the bus, at the doctors office waiting room, anywhere? Yes. Play on a monitor with KB/M? Yes. Play on a TV like a "traditional" console? Yes! Play PC games? Yes of course. Play every console from the dawn of gaming to the PS4? (I know it's still early but it can do it!) YES! The Steam Deck is the omnibus gaming device.
They all thought it was just "some kind of weird Switch wannabe that would never take off."
Fast forward a year or so and ALL 3 of my brother in-laws have one, and have clocked more hours in the games they play on their Deck than their consoles/PC's. And even their non-gaming wives have been known to steal it from them to play the occasional Stardew Valley or Cult of the Lamb session. Most of my friends have one as well with the exception of one stubborn PC master race die-hard that thinks anything else but a "perfect rig" is compromising and not worth it.
Fools! I laughed at every one of them when I saw them with their Deck for the first time, then I welcomed them to the flock with open arms. Then we kicked some ass in Nine Parchments (super fun game btw from the Trine people.)
The Steam Deck was the missing link between PC gamers and Console gamers. It is fighting the war on both fronts, and it will win it. Well, more likely, steamOS will win that war since Valve is definitely going to release it for other hardware as they have said, but i'm fine with that outcome as well.
@DeathJerrie for me, it's the handheld console that isn't so weak it can't even run its own games, much less third party ones, isn't made by a morally bankrupt company, and the handheld console that lets me play the way I want to play.
I've been playing a lot of indie games and even some lower-end AAA games on it, and I haven't even wanted to touch another gaming console (except maybe my gaming desktop) since the Steam Deck OLED was released; it's that good.
hi deathjerrie
a laptop is better in every way. so is a moist dog turd.
hope that helps
@@kenjitasaka this is all so fake and valve pilled it was frankly frightening reading it.
if this exact same thing was made by microsoft instead of valve, but everything else was EXACTLY the same, you wouldn't care about ANY of it. That's absolute fact.
@@cameronbosch1213 valve is the greediest company. they originally gained success by forcing their anti-consumer malware/virus steam on gamers who just wanted to play half life 2. but you couldn't without installing steam. you had no choice. but of course. otherwise noone would have.
the DOJ definitely needs to investigate valve for monopolistic practices and tactics. And start jailing some of their fanboys like you as well. it's not legal to lobby for a company for free. that's unpaid work for a corporation, which is illegal under labor code.
also the steam deck might be the worst handheld (armheld?) of all time. despite constantly being on fire sale it sells very little. it's huge, heavy, and just a general example of a brutish, poorly designed product. oh and the topper, it cant play any games.
lets not even mention valves long history of hardware failure and canceling unsuccessful hardware leaving consumers holding the bag. steam deck looks to be next?
Bro I’m scared for you, that one Zelda frame might get the ninjas after you, be careful Nintendo has been on a hit list with smaller creators.
@@brooklyn9291 Honestly, Nintendo can go fuck themselves. Ever since Iwata died, this shit keeps getting worse. That and the aging Switch hardware is why I went full-time to PC gaming after being sold a lie since well before most modern Nintendo fans were born. I won't be back.
He'll be fine. Nintendo went after Retro Game Corps because he's basically THE retro games guy and he's featured MiG flash cart a few times. I love RGC's videos but the guy was flying to close to the sun. They struck his channel to send a message to everyone else.
@blakeandcamp Nintendo and their lawyers need to take a bunch of chill pills and never wake up.
@@blakeandcamp And that's why nobody should support companies who threaten their own fans.
Nintendo can f off, never buying their products ever again, their behaviour towards game preservation is bs.
"The Backlog Annihilator". This right here is exactly why I'm picking up the Steam Deck, which is /finally/ getting a release in Australia next month! Woo
Yeah.. my oled has definitely helped with this. 142 games in my steam library and growing, not to mention emulation. It's been great for previous gen titles like darksiders 2, borderlands 2, shadow of war etc. Some of them can be run on high settings and still achieve 60fps. Newer titles like shadow of war need all low settings to get 60fps but it looks and plays great. Buttery smooth on the oled. I didn't enjoy playing newer AAA games like cyberpunk, detroit become human, hogwarts etc. I do have a beefy desktop PC so i prefer the performance. When the deck chugs in certain scenarios it's a no go for me. If i can't lock it in with at least 45fps, it's a pass. Spiderman remastered is a prime example.. fantastic on the deck. It locks at 45fps and plays great. You'll figure out what your preferences are. All games mentioned are definitely "playable" but i have the liberty of being a snob. Plus, i just put moonlight on the deck and sunshine on PC plus playnite.. playnite is a front end app that allows you to access all your installed games including gamepass PC games, epic etc. Playing alan wake 2 and hellblade 2 with tits out settings on the deck, streaming over local network 🤌. Fucking amazing.
It runs graphically intense games with some tinkering in graphics settings such as Black Myth WuKong, Halo Infinite, Dragon Ball Sparking Zero, Space Marine 2, God Of War 2 (Verified), Baldurs Gate 3, Silent Hill 2 and more. However, it's important to look *Unsupported* games up before buying to see how it's running on Steam Deck. Bc Dragons Dogma 2 is a title it has a hard time running (at least on release).
As an Aussie, I got sick of waiting and purchased the OLED at the beginning of the year. I will say I’ve barely touched my switch or PS5 since - it is well worth the spend. Although I’m glad I can get an official charger with an actual Aus plug when it releases here 😂
YESSSSSS THIS!!!
I'm happy for you guys down under finally getting to purchase Steam Decks. I love mine.
1:44 "if you zoom out" literally zooms out. Good editing 👍
I finally got my Deck a few months ago after several years of planning to buy it, only to have life happen and I kept putting it off. My main reason for even getting one was for emulation, and I haven't even bothered installing a single one yet, as I've been so busy just playing cheap Steam games. And when I say "cheap", I don't mean bad, or less than, but many AAA titles and critically acclaimed indie games. It is already a 10/10 in my book, just using it as is currently, and I haven't touch on the majority of what it can even do. For sure one of the best devices I've ever bought in all of my 53 years, and I first started gaming on an Apple II computer in the late 70's.
same here, started gaming on a xt computer, steam deck is the best i've had.
it can offer a console experience AND is a open platform, no risk of the company removing support and you end up with a brick.... if valve removes support it will be still a pc
The Steam Deck OLED is quite possibly my favorite "console" of all time. Nothing else comes close to what Valve delivered in terms of good battery life, an extremely competitive price, and an awesome screen. And Valve is not a 💩 company like many other console companies.
valve is the greediest around, their hordes of fanboys rival any in the world, along with sony, nvidia, and apple (you are likely a fanboy of these brands as well). each has fanboy horde armies doing their corporate bidding.
@cryengine_x What are you going off about now?
First of all, Valve hasn't done anything even _close_ to as bad to consumers as Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo has done. If a 30% cut of games is the worst thing that they've done (and you _can_ use GOG or Epic Games on the Steam Deck), then that's nothing to complain about, especially given it's not like they have a monopoly in that regard unlike the other three companies I mentioned with their consoles, in addition to Apple outside of the EU.
Second, yes, there are fanboys for every major company; I hate Apple and especially Nintendo fanboys who willingly get screwed by them despite the fans showing their praises for said company. Again, Valve hasn't done anything that serious.
Now take Sony with their PS5 Pro, Microsoft with their Windows 11 adware and spyware mess (and Windows 8 and its software Store actually was the catalyst for Valve to start supporting Linux in the first place), Apple with their expensive and unrepairable devices as well as their walled garden, and Nintendo for literally every decision they've made since Iwata passed away. Those are all _much_ worse companies than Valve has been.
@@cameronbosch1213 valve is much worse, valve makes more per employee than goldman sachs. but, they have a huge army of ppl like you. corporate slaves. which is fake since normally Americans hate capitalism. fake fake fake times 100. you'll beg fir valve to shaft you. you dont own anything and you love it. because this faceless corporation is the one you'll fight for, unpaid. fuck you.
How do you feel about the asus rog ally x ?
@cameronbosch1213 Honestly, the only argument that people have now that truly matters these days Is the recent legal jargon of you Own your account but not the games Situation does sound bad on paper. But mostly equates to that these companies are purposely trying to get valve into legal battles since they are not a Publicly traded company. I prefer that it's not a Traded company. Companies that are publicly traded right now only care about their shareholders and not the consumers. Steam is one of the last bastions.
Not only support from Valve itself, but support from big steamdeck community itself will help steamdeck thrive
I am watching this video from a docked Steam Deck. It has become my main desktop PC. I love SteamOS and it has been mostly flawless for me. I will never go back to Windows if Valve continues to support this as an alternative. I really want a more powerful console-like box from them.
i will buy an extra windows pc to make up. will never buy steam os. xbox is making a handheld, boo ya
@@cryengine_x Happy for you, I'm still gonna use a Steam Deck though mate.
@@cryengine_x nobody cares tho
@@inigosusaetaherrera4230you don't speak for me
@@cryengine_x Okay? It'll be overpriced and have tons of issues.
The Steam Deck will ALWAYS have a place in my heart as the first true gaming handheld that captivated me. The only thing I was less enthusiastic about was that low quality LCD panel. When Valve announced the Steam Deck OLED, I was initially hesitant to spend the money. It was actually my wife who pushed me to make the purchase. "You always said the only thing you would change was that screen." I took her advice and bought the 512 GB model.
This thing has legitimately changed the way I play games, and it's had some incredible knock-on effects for my own relationship. Nowadays I tend to game in the evening in bed, completely captivated by that wonderful OLED panel that Valve sourced for this mid-gen refresh (if you want to call it that). Previously, I'd play a game in the evening in my office on the OLED TV I have connected to my PC. My wife and I now wind the evenings down together in bed, she sometimes gets curious about the game I'm playing, and we overall feel more connected as partners. It's a weird thing to experience unless you've experienced it yourself. The Steam Deck really does enable you to enjoy your games in so many different environments.
It’s funny you say this because, although we aren’t married yet, my gf is very excited for this purchase for this exact reason. We can wind the night down together in bed and ultimately spend more time with each other, especially when you consider we can enjoy the living room together even if we’re doing different things. Very excited can’t wait till mine arrives tomorrow.
Please keep in mind that the OLED screen in Stean Deck has a really low PWM rate which causes headaches and eye tiredness for a considerable percentage of users. You’re lucky if it doesn’t make you sick. Due to this reason I bought the LCD model. I wish Valve can put a better OLED screen with DC Dimming feature or at least with a higher PWM rate.
Steam deck launches in Australia in November... 2 years late but im still excited 😂
i live in australia and brought an LCD one back from Japan. OLED was out of stock ahaha. Never looked back great price too.
IM hoping to score a limited white one, although my steam account has been idle for years with no purchases or even play time this year so im unsure if my account meets the "account in good standing" sigh... if not i guess ill settle for a standard OLED... buuuut Tuesday 9am ill be all over it trying to acquire something.
After discovering Decky loader and Emudeck, the Steam deck becomes the ultimate all in one portable gaming console/pc hybrid. Not to mention it's a bonus if you have a decent chunk of games in your steam library make accessing back logs a fun experience or re experience them in another environment. Even if you don't have games on steam you can even use it for emulation which is definitely the best way to not pay for games but still be able to play good games from other consoles or older ones
My only complaint with my LCD model, which I've mentioned in the Steam Deck forums from time to time, is the ability to rollback OS versions. Because the new versions from 3.5 or higher, broke older VibrantDeck versions. And the ability to crank the saturation to the max as well as de-saturate it to the levels of black & white were mindblowing. And the Steam Vibrancy Slider doesn't go anywhere near enough or have the granular control. And the latest VibrantDeck version just doesn't do the same thing with the latest Steam OS version, as it did when it was 3.4.
Nice video, man. After being a primarily Nintendo handheld gamer since I had kids, 8 years ago, my Deck has revitalized my interest in my gaming PC and the larger gaming world in general. It's a very special device.
I have tried and bought ally , legion go , ally x and portal .Thought it will somehow replace the deck oled but only to return and sell these . Oled is just the best overall device with great screen and performance . I think the only competitor of the deck will be deck 2 .
why sold portal though?
@@alexanderkim7241 good question . Though it is not a bad device and also quite cheap but I felt the chaiki4deck works great on the deck and sometimes better than portal. For instance there are no strutters while playing games like fc24 . Also there is an actual touch pad . I just wanted one device hence sold the portal . I do miss the portal due to triggers but couldn't justify keeping it only because of that .
Ally x is top 1 rn
@@beeb7387 😂😂😂😂
@@beeb7387 yeah but with asus garbage support
The Steam Deck is all about the price to performance ratio, power efficiency, and the user experience.
It's deliberately designed balanced so that no one feature comes at the cost of another. For most other handhelds, that's a issue they all experience.
More power for less battery, Windows over a streamlined experience, higher cost and yearly refreshes because they can't subsidise, etc, etc.
its designed to be a cheap turd. if your going for that aesthetic rog ally is better
Less battery? In all vids ally x last longer than the deck more than an hour. Do some research bud before commenting false info.
@@nathanjuan6042 There's obviously handhelds that have better specs then the Steam deck, but that's not my point.
My point was that, in this case, those increased specs and flashy numbers come at a cost. Unusually to the detriment of another feature, or the user.
Yes, the Rog Ally has a larger battery and higher specs, but it's still running a full desktop OS not designed for it, which is why they need that larger battery in the first place.
ASUS also has abysmal customer service, and as far I know they still haven't fixed the SD card reader braking on almost every model.
On top of that, it's just very expensive. About $1,500 Australian, which is $500 more then the most expensive Steam Deck.
There's more to this stuff then just "bigger specs automatically = better."
The continuous optimization improvements on the Deck is pretty impressive. I have a Steam Deck OLED and an AOKZOE with the 7840U. I noticed that the Deck's performance has improved quite a bit compared to the AOKZOE over time.
Last year, there were some games that the Deck had trouble with but the AOKZOE could handle fine. But now, those games play as well on the Deck.
Holy shit man, you're way more buff than your first Steam Deck videos.
I like it for gaming because it runs better than my old laptop and I love it for being my intro to linux right when Windows 11 looked like shit. I use the touch screen on desktop mode to draw using Krita sometimes for fun.
I'm waiting for mine to arrive, so damn excited. It already seems so good, if it ever gets OS wide fsr3 it will be unstopabble
@mategido That's on AMD to bring it to Linux; right now it's only available on Windows 10/11.
@@cameronbosch1213 Why is that so difficult though? They able to manage FSR1 to work through gamescope. Steam Deck is like barebones without any support from AMD.
@@reverieanimates887 FSR is open source. I'm not sure about AFMF.
@@cameronbosch1213 That’s disappointing to hear. I really thought AMD has a strong commitment to open-source for Linux.
I'm consoooooming
The thing that makes the Steam Deck OLED worth it for me, is the insane battery efficiency. Sure it can't run games at as high of an FPS as the Legion GO or the Ally, but it outlasts them for on average, an entire hour longer. Insane what Valve has done with this machine, EXTREMELY keen on it's successor.
“Backlog annihilater” is a great term!
man the ergonomics on the steam deck is just so much better than its competitors. from the palm feel to joysticks and buttons being on the same horizontal line so theres balance symmetry when i hold it... just beautiful.
I bought a Steam Deck and I don’t remember the last time I turned on my PS5, Xbox SX, or Switch, it is just that good!
Add to that the importance of the portability which was the main selling point for me because I have back issues and underwent 2 operations so far. Nothing beats playing while lying down anywhere inside or outside my house. The switch was brilliant for what it was, but having access to steam and its regional pricing + family share where I shared my whole library with my friend allowing us access to both play while online.
If purchasing an iPad is the best purchase I made that elevated my academic studies experience, then the Steam Deck is the best purchase I made that elevated my gaming experience.
Yeah, I love mine too. One of the best things to happen to gaming ever.
I got my LCD SD during the first wave of shipping in 2022. Loved it, but was disappointed by the screen. Then I bought the OLED SD and sold my LCD one. What an absolute game changer. I've thought about selling my high-end PC because I use my SD more, which I never thought I'd say.
It's taken owning three of them for me to finally 'click' with the Steam Deck, now I'm hooked on it. It's a brilliant device just brilliant.
Same for the most part. Looking forward to picking up Wukong on the p5.
Got my OLED 2 weeks ago and wanted to return it cause I wasn't pleased with the lower graphics but the portability won me over. I don't even want to be on my PC. I can't play on high graphics on recent games but I've been enjoying playing older things or the lower graphics doesn't bother me as much. I can lay in bed and chill. Been playing new world on low graphics and been chilling on couch
for the heavier games i just do remote play from my pc... Battery life goes on for much longer + much more fluid gaming since its my PC doing the work :)
Have a wifi 6 router with good stable connection so no input lag or latency
Steam Deck is so cool even outside of the device itself. It is finally pushing gaming out of Windows to be competent and easy. I love mine. My only complaint is that D-pad / face buttons being so close to the edge hurts my hands (I have big hands, so I have to like, curl my thumb back toward the hand to press those buttons and it isn't comfortable. The analog sticks and touch pads are comfortable to reach). Thankfully there are grips, etc available. And while it kills the portability, you can also do something like a stand + controller. You can also use it like a PC/laptop if you want. The other handhelds do a lot of that too, so Valve's unique point is really the Linux/Steam OS stuff, but I do appreciate how versatile the device is overall just the same.
Got my OLED Deck about a month ago, and it has quickly become my favorite gaming device for general use. More powerful than a Switch, having a massive library, and can even run other launchers and games outside of Steam. And for any newer games that are inherently too demanding for the Deck, I still have my PS5.
Love my Steam Deck, wouldn't trade it for anything, but I've been playing it a lot less lately. It's kinda pointless to me when I have a perfectly capable PC like 30 feet away. I am more of a retro gamer and I find myself grabbing this cheap little Anbernic RG35XX-H when I want a quick gaming fix on a smaller, lightweight device. Playing PSP on that large Steam Deck screen is incredible though.
I was thinking of trading my steam for legion go 😮
for a PC gamer like me, the tracking pad is a game changer for me, I mean if I want power I'd just play on my high end gaming rig!
And then there was the ROG Ally X
As a life long console gamer, I gave the SD a chance and it made me take the jump to PC all because of its ease if use. It’s the only gaming hardware piece I currently own and do not regret it at all.
Fantastic video my friend. The Steam Deck is easily one of my favorite devices I've ever owned.
insane video brother, i have a nintendo switch, i even play fifa on it and i rarely play games on my pc.
'Power efficiency' is what makes a handheld good, not 'muh power' and high end specs
VALVe is the first, and likely still the only, PC handheld manufacturer that DOESN'T shove in 1080p+, RGB, extreme refresh rates, or completely neglect the battery in pursuit of raw performance. They're the only ones that actually understand what "POWER EFFICIENCY" means. And in doing so, they gave us the world's first PC handheld that actually lasted more than an hour!!
Handhelds with 1080p or 1440p are very poorly designed. No handheld is gonna handle 2k, especially AT 144 FPS, outside of super basic games. ROG Ally, LeGo, etc have learned absolutely nothing. You think 2k144 or 1080p120 all with RGB and whatever is new? It ain't. It's the same slop that kept the PC handheld market irrelevant
The people buying them are either collectors/reviewers or completely stupid people buying handhelds for the wrong reasons over the fad of the PC handheld market that VALVe blew up. They're buying the same garbage that's been on the market way before the Steam Deck! They have no idea what they're buying! They mock weaker powered handhelds only to complain about frickin battery, that their portable device is actually flippin useless
@cqllel5186 Bingo. That's why I went for a Steam Deck OLED over something else. Shoving a 1080p or especially a 1600p screen into a device like this is wasteful and only serves to kill battery life. What's the point of a handheld you can't play away from the wall for more than an hour?
Also, after the Asus microSD card issue, I don't know why anybody would buy one, especially running Windows 11 without touchpads. And yes, I use those touchpads all the time.
@@cameronbosch1213 Indeed!
720p is the minimum and maximum standard for battery powered devices. Even if 1080p gaming was the new minimum and lasted like 12h minimum, that'd just mean 720p would perform and last EVEN longer. There's no reason to ever upgrade res, especially not on a 7 inch display. I'll take a refresh rate increase of the pointlessness of a resolution increase any day
Touchpads are a necessity for PCs. Without a touchpad, you're unable to actually play certain games and genres. You can't play RTS games on the Ally without a Mouse. Touch screen isn't gonna be great in those games, either
OLED is also the most power efficient display. Even if the Ally was 720p, it's still worse than OLED by default
The 1080p panel in the Ally doesn't even consume more power than the 800p LCD or OLED display Valve uses. The only one that ends up being a power hungry hog is the Legion Go's 8.8in 2560x1600 screen. If you even measured power draw when TDP is equal, the OG Ally and the LCD Steam Deck end up consuming pretty much identical amounts of power. The panels aren't even poorly designed if that's your point. You have to compare them at similar TDP otherwise if you set the Ally at 25w vs the Deck's maximum 15w power draw, of course it's going to consume less power. The high refresh rate doesn't even consume that much power and that's also shown in battery tests when it comes to lowering the refresh rate from high refresh to 60hz. There's a reason why the Deck also switched to a high refresh rate panel too.
No the Steam Deck wasn't the first handheld to last longer than an hour either. Some of the other handhelds like Ayaneo made handhelds with larger batteries than the deck and would last longer than the Deck if the TDP was matched. You can see this in many of Retro Game Corps reviews of these handhelds around the time of the Steam Deck's announcement
You sound like someone who hasn't used the other ones. The 1080p panel on the Ally works fine as many of the games that you can play on it work at 1080p. Typically the games that need to run at a lower resolution on the Ally also aren't going to be running at the Deck's native 1280x800 resolution either
@@crestofhonor2349 I had all those retro console handhelds in mind when I made that claim. I know they exist, but they're irrelevant. They're not PCs, they don't use PC OS other than a minimlized Linux (since errything runs on linux). Designed solely for retro games. Of course they'll last more than an hour lol. They last a VERY long time, mainly bcuz they're not playing modern AAAs. IDC about them tho. I don't exactly keep up to date with PC handhelds as much anymore either, but before the Deck, they were VERY bad. Overpriced and useless
Power efficiency means getting the most performance with the fewest watts possible. The Steam Deck/OLED outperforms any PC handheld at around 13W and less. IDC how high it gets, I care about how low I can get it
Even if 1080p/2k display alone doesn't consume more power, running the desktop or games at the native resolutions would definitely be more demanding on battery than 720p. And for games that you're never gonna be playing at 1080p or 2k, it'd look better just playing them at 720p on a 720p display anyways. And with lower resolution comes better performance and power efficiency, it also means there's more room for higher graphical quality settings. And yes, the 1080p display on the Ally does consume more power than an OLED. Anything consumes more power than an OLED by default
@@cqllel5186 OLED displays are pretty power hungry themselves, so it depends on what you're doing. On a small scale they don't make too much of a difference though and the main benefit comes with the black pixels. Other than that LCDs tend to consume a similar amount or less power on the larger screens. Even with those tests done, the Ally still doesn't consume more power. Even then the screen doesn't consume anywhere near enough to make a big difference on power draw
Also it's 12w where the Ally meets the deck and then loses at under 12w. Still the 1080p screen is well suited for the Ally and I would rather it not have a 720p or 800p screen. The extra boost in sharpness is very nice for certain games I've tested on both. Besides you can run at a lower resolution or use upscaling in those upper end games to get more performance if you need it.
I like the steam deck a lot but you're overexaggerating the issues the other handhelds have
Great video, I love my steam deck too
I'm deeply impressed with the OLED deck. I can play just about anything on it, even something like Command and Conquer. Some more demanding games like Cyberpunk work just fine, but if I want more horsepower I can stream my PC version. The greater power of other options just doesn't seem like it's the amount needed to sway my mind. Will definitely upgrade to whatever the newest model is, as this is a great way to enjoy my hobby now that I have a few kids.
Is that steamdeck with the orange color behind the sticks ans the unique style, still being sold? I thought it was sold out. Looks amazing
(Where to find it?)
So glad that I found this channel! Loved the video! :D
I know this video is about the SD OLED and i agree it's probably the best all round handheld out there today but this is my experience which I just have to share: i bought a second steam deck lcd and a rog ally non-extreme (to flip). Steam deck arrived damaged so had to return it (but was able to try it briefly) and couldn't wait any longer so i used the ally that i was going to sell thinking i would still sell it eventually. I installed a 2tb drive and bazzite and am dual booting (though hardly use windows). I'm no longer sure i will sell the ally. Seriously, with bazzite it's just so good. As good as a steam deck, but I'd imagine probably still behind the OLED (though I've never tried one unfortunately). The non extreme ally, it turns out, is not at all far behind the extreme when not on wall charger, which suits me absolutely fine!
For those who want an OLED but like me, don't want to spend that much: if you can get your hands on a cheap lcd sd or an ally (with bazzite!) you will not be disappointed.
The simplest reason for me, “ it’s the software, dummy!” I like it simple and easy to use. So much so that I got a small mini PC and put Bazzite on it to replicate the experience on a desktop.
Steam deck replaced almost everything for me. I play switch games on it, all new games, retro games, it even replaced my workstation, my go to media streaming device and works as a ebook reader too.
Love my steam deck. Dual booting windows is amazing. The next gen will completely replace my pc. I prefer gaming on the deck compared to my pc now. Especially being a dad.
Got my steam deck oled this early month. Yes compared to rog ally which is my friend's, steam deck performance is below rog ally. But for me, because steam deck have its own os, easy to navigate and really comfortable to use, id say this is one of the best purchase ive ever made
It's absolutely fantastic, I would like to thank PS5 Pro because I wasNOT paying £700 or dollars. It pushed me to get an OLED MY FIRST GAME IN PC. I am content with the PS5 slim the Xbox series X black ops 6 is coming out game pass and the games on the Steam deck. THANKS SO MUCH
"At the pick of this revolution" lmao, the Asus Rog Ally X, hands down the best
Why we European peasants didn’t get this awesome limited edition steam deck oled 😭
I don't think its an over exageration to compare the steam deck to the invention of the iphone! I mainly use it for retro gaming and it has been very nostalgic. Plus, I really like learning linux.
A PTM 7950 undervolted overclocked Oled deck is 🐐
looking good bro 💪
Great video, I hope you get the thousands of subs you deserve for your effort. Would be nice to see you as part of the Nerdnest podcast as well.
I've been experimenting with Bazzite (one of the multiple SteamOS clones now available) on a regular PC, and it probably makes more sense as a lounge room gaming console than as a handheld. Turning your PC into a hybrid of console and desktop just transforms the machine. When you're in gaming mode, it's like the difference between using a DVD player and playing a DVD on your computer -- it just feels different. I think if lounge room Steam boxes come to market, it's going to be seriously disruptive and a lot of people won't bother with consoles anymore. Or desktop PC gaming.
I have one, barely used it. Gaming PC just offers way more comfort for me.
Great Video!
What is that levitating orb on your desk?
It’s actually a magnetic plant holder from Amazon
Heard the Wayland team has some real characters on the board that work against the Free Software standards through which Steam is able to improve upon for their needs.
Awesome review!! I heard that Valve is going to support Steam OS on ROG Ally and probably at least couple more devices. If I had to buy a handheld what would it be while still owning the og steam deck?
As someone who has both the Steamdeck and the ROG Ally, I’d recommend the Steamdeck to most people because it’s simpler to use.
The ROG Ally is Windows based, and the updates tend to turn people off.
Both are excellent and both can run Steam.
I'm getting a steam deck during black Friday. I'm so excited! Someday, I do think a Ps4 emulator will be awesome on it. I am also drawn to it because I primarily play indie games, and this is perfect for me. I have a baby, so the sleep mode is also a big driver.
Nice watch specter!
Another Spectre video!!!
It’s not too far from the idea of Nintendo’s approach.
User experience is just as important as performance potential
I have the LCD version, really still love it. The OLED one is a little better, or so they say, but I enjoy my version to to max.
Valve is the only company that gives its buyers a mid-gen update every now and then completely for free. Every now and then Valve ships a new update of proton or steam os that improve the performance of some games, or extend the compatibility to many other. Many times I got a boost in performance in my games. For example, just yesterday steam os 3.6 dropped on stable, and I tested it with tiny Tina Wonderlands (it gave me always many performance problems, terrible frame pacing and bugs on resolution changes). Now everything is stable, got a 6-7 fps boost in the same settings, stable frame pacing and bug free hdr experience. How about that, dear Sony, with your 800€ mid Gen update?
The best around home or on the go with good Internet is your phone or small 8in tablet using a telescopic gamepad. Steamlink app is amazing and it uses whatever's on your PC. Benefit imo is portability, one less device, and phones always with you.
Steeam Deck is great, currently i`m on Nintendo Switch OLED, and i bought it just before Deck released, and i`m totally fine with it, it's great for casual gamer like me, but since Valve made such great handheld, i'm not sure if i will be there for Switch 2 or wherever Nintendo will bring. Competition is such a great thing for us, customers :)
I got 2 on day one of release .. when it was announced at that $400 price point,I said the steam deck was the greatest leap in gaming in decades and folks called me crazy….. this is only the start… when Microsoft and Xbox finally release their own Steam Deck OS like OS, gaming will never be the same….. in a positive way….
It was released this year and I got the LCD one, because it just looks better to me. They aren't cheap, the OLED is $1,000 here. It's made me uninstall almost all games from the editing PC. The only games still there are games that are a pain on the deck. Pathfinder, Divinity, etc... It's made me play and finish more games than anything else.
Also, I love Datsuns. Therefore, I love your analogy.
4:03 Nintendo ninjas coming for you my brother, amen 😰
Steam deck definitely changed gaming for me picked up the LCD model in August 2022 been stuck to it like glue ever since. Since I was a big Nintendo fan I had missed out on a bunch of triple A titles but with the steam deck I can get everything I missed out on and more not to mention I stream my ps5 through it so I got every system in one now. Will get the oled one day just didn’t feel the need to cuz the LCD is just fine
Thanks for this, I've been considering getting a Steamdeck for sometime now and this honest appraisal has convinced me!
nah he doesnt like it tbh.
As much as i love watching your videos, I'm someone who had a pretty bad experience with Steam Deck OLED. I was so excited to get my hands on one, but since valve does not officially sell decks in my region, I had to go through 3rd party retailers with pretty inflated imported prices. But when i finally got mine, It only last 3 days. I was playing resident evil 4 while plugged in, and it was fully charged, but as soon as i tried to unplugged it, the device turned off. since then It wasn't switching to battery power anymore. The only way to trun the deck on was by plugging in. I was so disappointed, maybe i was unlucky with my deck. But i've seen other had the same issue. I ended up returning the device, and got a full refund. But ever since I wasn't really intrested in Steam deck anymore. When i see someone bragging about how good the steam deck is It just make me SAD.😪
I already have a big expensive PC for high fps, max graphics, and k+m gameplay. It's not comfortable for smaller, simpler games. The Steamdeck LCD fills this gap. While it isn't "the best handheld" in terms of performance, or screen, it is affordable. The only real downside imo is I'd prefer a second flip-up screen.
The steamdeck is incredible and I hope Valve keeps investing into it. Otherwise I will end up buying handhelds from other companies. Steam OS is amazing, and much preferred over windows. I am a non technical casual gamer in his 30s. the steamdeck has allowed me to enjoy gaming again.
I’m so glad to finally break free from Micro$haft Windoze with my Steam Deck. Valve doing a great job with everything else is just the cherry on top.
But is it worth buying at full price now with it being 2+ years old?
I like the Steam Deck More than Other Handheld PC's because of the Buttons Setup. Grew up with Playstation controller setup my whole life. It just feels awkward to me that the Left Joystick is Above the D-pad.
Yup thanks for the video. What I want is to play nfs unbound and fifa 25 on a handheld. Is the oled deck good for that? I'm hesitating between rog ally x and the oled deck..🤔
Does it drift though?
4:03
Oh! oh! oh! Nintendo Lawers ATTACK! xD
I am a PC gamer and I ALWAYS want the best of the best hardware. I bought a Deck day 1, now I own a ROG Ally… steam deck has worse performance… but it is the absolute better device. Steam deck is irreplaceable because of how easy it is to use at any point when you use it.
I think that’s subjective. For you the steam deck is better but for others there are options they may prefer
Windows is the sole reason why I ignored every other handheld, props to Valve to revolutionize gaming yet again
I love my deck...not even the oled.
I use it, my switch (non oled) my retroid pocket 3+ and my miyoo mini plus exclusively now. I dont laptop/console/desktop at all anymore and im cool with that....
i love my og 512 steam deck got a 1 tb sd card for steam games and another 1tb card to run batucerus for my retro library haven't felt the need to upgrade and have only turned on my beast of a gaming pc a handful of times that i spent over 2k on in late 2021 it still runs everything beautifully on a 32 inch ultrawide monitor with freesync but i only run it once in a while when i buy a new triple a game to see how nice it looks with all that hardware. to me the steam deck is perfect, i can game anywhere in my house with headphones not hog the tv from my family and i could play all night without keeping my wife up all night because the gaming pc is in the bedroom. valve really knocked it out the park with this. and when they come out with a new one that is considerably better i will upgrade instead of sinking thousands into a newer gaming pc that crushes my electric bill
yes, but how did it replace everything for you?
It makes sense when someone who has a pc does not need the best performance handheld. For someone like me who does not have a pc or console, rog ally x is the best.
I would like to see a steam machine 2.0, at a reasonable console price with better performance, and a small form factor
My PS4 was old and loud. I got a PS five because it was quiet and could play PS4 game. 90% of my collection is still PS4 in 2024.
I absolutely love my oled SD and now it's coming to Australia. Finally Australians may get support for the SD? I couldn't believe it actually ran Black myth wukong but wasn't pleasant like on my pc.
Not to mention as long as Steam Deck is relevant, the devs are gonna consider how their games should run on it, which is actually a good and bad thing.
What thumbstick you have on your Oled model please
very nice video. Two things I really like 1) the 69 likes, and 2) subtle zoom out.
Pure class!
Yeah mines too, it replaced my gaming laptop i even SOLD IT and never looked back
The Steam Deck 2 and Nintendo Switch 2 both need to have external GPU support with full PCIe 16x capability. Their docks need to be a GPU next time.
With my experience with a bunch of the PC handhelds, the Steam Deck OLED and Ally X are my favorites for the many things they get right. Both feel great in the hands and have the one crucial thing handhelds should have, decent to good battery life. They other two, Legion Go and OG Ally, simply don't last long enough off a single charge in some games you want to play. Plus, with the Legion Go in particular, it's the handheld you want to take out of the house the least due to it's size over the other handhelds. It's pretty much the limit I see for the size of handhelds.
Bazzite is great for the other handhelds and basically turns them into steam decks on their own so that's a great way to get that Steam like experience without needing to use windows. The only issue is that you have to know how to boot into another OS so it's not the most user friendly experience getting it setup for the first time
windows is better since you can play games on it unlike steam os
@@cryengine_x I've used both. The vast majority of games work on Steam OS fine. Windows only matters if you pretty much only care about multiplayer games that have anticheat that restrict Linux.
I prefer SteamOS/Bazzite for the handhelds
@@crestofhonor2349 but most ppl play that type of game. for me for example, i've been heavy into destiny 1/2 for 10 yrs, its pretty much the only game i play. i couldn't play it if i buy steam deck. the fact this isnt talked about as a huge negative of steam deck more is mind boggling. out of all the most played games, cod, league, etc how many are compatible with sd? some might be idk. but i know cod and destiny arent.
fix this shit valve if you ever want sd to be taken seriously.
@@cryengine_xi did returned by ally x and just installed dual boot windows on deckoled. Strangely the windows 11 behaves better on steam deck than it did on ally x . Not sure why this case . But overall deck oled is just the perfect match if you want to just play games . If you want to waste time fixing things by all means get the ally x .
How does the stream deck work to play the games..is it like the stream link app for tablets and phones or do you install games on it to play.. or can you do both on stream deck ??
It feels like half PC because that's what it is. Part console and part tablet with out much issue
Nothing wrong with wearing a tank top to show us those gains - and dont be miffed if some of us are here partially because of how you look and not all about the tech. Sex has always sold. And no one is above the fray, some just pretend to and the more they do, the more pathetic they seem to many.
If nintendo has taught us over the years, high performance and power isn't always everything as long as it plays the game decent enough. My brother and I are debating about getting steamdeck as im told its more user friendly and cost effective than the other handheld pc's that coming out.
Have you docked it to a TV? Curious on how that looks/works.
It's like any other PC. Get a dock or HDMI adapter and you can use it on the TV. Just don't expect an experience any better than a PS4. It will look somewhere in between a PS4 and Xbox One