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?
"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 😂
@@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 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.
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 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 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."
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 PC that's in my home office is fitted with a 4090 + 14900K, so I get the "premium" experience at my desktop. The Steam Deck doesn't need to achieve anywhere near those results. I play indies, pixel games, retro RPGs, and the like on a handheld. And to be frank, I'd much rather support Valve, as I've been a long-time customer of their services -- nearly 15 years.
oh nice! I was considering this, but I see that they're not available right now. did you have to wait a while before a refurbished model became available?
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 .
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.
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.
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.
Man the Deck has brought back PC gaming for me. Despite I have a gaming laptop (well old now), I wanted to connect it to the TV to play all action-adventure single player games… and I couldn’t be bothered with that either! Now I’m really happy to use the Deck, it’s quite immersive with good headphones, and I can just use it in bed as well.
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
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.
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.
I picked up the legion Go for $472 from Amazon’s Black Friday week. I’m still fiddling with settings to optimize it, but I’m still attracted to the SD OLED. Should I still consider the SD OLED taking into account I got LeGo for less than a SD OLED?
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?)
The 2 questions I have is can the steam deck replace a gaming laptop ? Can you plug an hdmi cable into the steam deck and display it on a bigger screen and play with keyboard and mouse or a controller on the side ? I don’t want to invest into a monstrous setup as I have limited space and I already have a laptop although with a poor graphics card that I only use for photoshop and other cheap programs but do nothing fancy with it anyways, and I’m looking for something very portable and compact to play some games with. If the steam deck can answer the 2 questions above I might be tempted to buy one
I adore this thing. This is unironically my favorite feeling controller in general because the ergonomics of this system are so comfortable it’s so feature filled, and it’s highly customizable and fun to customize. That alone already makes it irreplaceable to me, but then you’ve also got the great modding and emulation capabilities, nice and handy Steam interface and, although compatibility can be tricky at times, I love Linux so I love the SteamOS operating system on here. Currently playing Silent Hill 2 Enhanced Edition on here and upgraded to the OLED so I could have a better experience playing that game at night, and it’s just pure bliss, same as with plenty of other games I’ve played on the thing. I know I just sound like a paid actor at this point to get Valve some more sweet bucks, but I just really support this thing and I’m a huge advocate for purchasing the Deck over anything competitors have to offer. Nothing is perfect, but this is pretty freakin’ close to me.
Excellent review update! I appreciate all the thoughts you shared I'm personally considering getting a handheld device better suited for gaming than my Samsung Galaxy and iPhone devices paired with Backbone/Razer Kishi so seeing updates like this gives me better perspective of thoughts of owners who've had one for a while.
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
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.
cheers mate, u convinced me to get one. i am a game dev im making tools that can be used on the move to make the levels for my games. so that im not stuck at the pc, i can make levels in the pub, in the plane, in the park etc. one thing im confused by, why is there a huge price difference for say a 1tb deck, when u can easily get a 256gb and just use a big memory card?
I've had the Legion Go for 20 days now, and what I've learned the most from it is to love and value my Steam Deck Oled even more. The difference in battery, sound quality, ergonomics, ease of use, manufacturer support, and community support is absurd. The value I now give to the track pads, the community templates, the ease and speed with which settings are changed, and how stable SteamOS is is impressive. Turning on the Legion Go and praying that Windows doesn't update anything is an ordeal. On the deck you press the power button and you're playing in literally 3 seconds. In the Deck is a much more immersive experience. Now I have no doubt that the Deck is by far the best handheld beyond power. The experience with the Deck and the way you enjoy games with it is something unique. I also plan to continue with the Legion because of the versatility it has and the possibility of using it as a PC and tablet. But the Deck for me occupies the first place until they launch a new Deck.
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 have an rog Ally and got the white steam deck oled pretty much only because of the battery life. It has a truly semi custom SoC designed for efficiency while the Ally and legion go have what is essentially a rebranded 7840U with features disabled.
Is it safe to buy a OLED since the SD2 isnt coming out anytime soon. I have the OG and have been trying to hold on getting a OLED for fear of getting as soon as the new one gets announced.
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 ??
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 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
I bought the Steamdeck OLED in mid 2023 and have loved it ever since! its perfect for my lifestyle travelling constantly without the need of a giant console or gaming pc
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.
the topstrap buttons (power, vol +,-) all failed on my unit in the first month. valve wouldn't send me sn audio board or a replacement power button so it has sat on my shelf for almost two years as a failed "self-repairable" device. what a shame.
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 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
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 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.
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.
Great review. I am totally going to get a Steam deck oled 1tb for Christmas to replace my current 2 year old PC and use that PC as a steam server host for our mulitplayer games like Darkness Falls 7 days to die etc. and downsize my 32 inch monitor to a 27 inch 1440p oled monitor. :)
I couldnt hold in my hands the first model, either because of the plastic build, or other issue. Felt worse after downloading something big (felt static on the plastic with my fingers). I have never experienced something similar with other handhelds and have no similar issues with Switch for example. Sadly I put it away and never used it again.
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.
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.
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.
'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
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.
The big thing about bespoke, *standardized* hardware like the steam deck means that developers can use the hardware extremely efficiently because they know exactly what they're designing for. I think that's one of the biggest upsides of console gaming, and the steam deck makes it a pc gaming advantage too
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?
"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.
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 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.
"Parterns " it sounds really platonic its more than a "partner"
Is the one you love and you cared a lot
1:44 "if you zoom out" literally zooms out. Good editing 👍
Not only support from Valve itself, but support from big steamdeck community itself will help steamdeck thrive
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.
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 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."
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 PC that's in my home office is fitted with a 4090 + 14900K, so I get the "premium" experience at my desktop. The Steam Deck doesn't need to achieve anywhere near those results. I play indies, pixel games, retro RPGs, and the like on a handheld. And to be frank, I'd much rather support Valve, as I've been a long-time customer of their services -- nearly 15 years.
Just got a refurbished Steam Oled from Valve for $439. I’m silly stoked!!
oh nice! I was considering this, but I see that they're not available right now. did you have to wait a while before a refurbished model became available?
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
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.
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.
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.
Man the Deck has brought back PC gaming for me. Despite I have a gaming laptop (well old now), I wanted to connect it to the TV to play all action-adventure single player games… and I couldn’t be bothered with that either! Now I’m really happy to use the Deck, it’s quite immersive with good headphones, and I can just use it in bed as well.
Man your editing and the quality of these videos are S tier! I was expecting to see 100k+ subs on here.
1 added. Looking forward to more videos!
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
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.
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.
It's the support or perception of it that made me get one. I don't regret it, it's changed the way I play my games for sure.
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
Playing Helldivers and Doom on the deck makes me feel like I'm 8 years old again. What a fantastic experience.
“Backlog annihilater” is a great term!
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.
I picked up the legion Go for $472 from Amazon’s Black Friday week. I’m still fiddling with settings to optimize it, but I’m still attracted to the SD OLED. Should I still consider the SD OLED taking into account I got LeGo for less than a SD OLED?
3:09 what game is this?😮
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?)
The 2 questions I have is can the steam deck replace a gaming laptop ?
Can you plug an hdmi cable into the steam deck and display it on a bigger screen and play with keyboard and mouse or a controller on the side ?
I don’t want to invest into a monstrous setup as I have limited space and I already have a laptop although with a poor graphics card that I only use for photoshop and other cheap programs but do nothing fancy with it anyways, and I’m looking for something very portable and compact to play some games with.
If the steam deck can answer the 2 questions above I might be tempted to buy one
I adore this thing. This is unironically my favorite feeling controller in general because the ergonomics of this system are so comfortable it’s so feature filled, and it’s highly customizable and fun to customize. That alone already makes it irreplaceable to me, but then you’ve also got the great modding and emulation capabilities, nice and handy Steam interface and, although compatibility can be tricky at times, I love Linux so I love the SteamOS operating system on here. Currently playing Silent Hill 2 Enhanced Edition on here and upgraded to the OLED so I could have a better experience playing that game at night, and it’s just pure bliss, same as with plenty of other games I’ve played on the thing. I know I just sound like a paid actor at this point to get Valve some more sweet bucks, but I just really support this thing and I’m a huge advocate for purchasing the Deck over anything competitors have to offer. Nothing is perfect, but this is pretty freakin’ close to me.
Excellent review update! I appreciate all the thoughts you shared I'm personally considering getting a handheld device better suited for gaming than my Samsung Galaxy and iPhone devices paired with Backbone/Razer Kishi so seeing updates like this gives me better perspective of thoughts of owners who've had one for a while.
Swiss army knife of console gaming. I think no one else could resume the Oled so perfectly 😂
What is the opening BGM?
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
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 😮
Is that the light x-ray decal on your ally x from d brand?
cheers mate, u convinced me to get one. i am a game dev im making tools that can be used on the move to make the levels for my games. so that im not stuck at the pc, i can make levels in the pub, in the plane, in the park etc. one thing im confused by, why is there a huge price difference for say a 1tb deck, when u can easily get a 256gb and just use a big memory card?
I've had the Legion Go for 20 days now, and what I've learned the most from it is to love and value my Steam Deck Oled even more. The difference in battery, sound quality, ergonomics, ease of use, manufacturer support, and community support is absurd. The value I now give to the track pads, the community templates, the ease and speed with which settings are changed, and how stable SteamOS is is impressive. Turning on the Legion Go and praying that Windows doesn't update anything is an ordeal. On the deck you press the power button and you're playing in literally 3 seconds. In the Deck is a much more immersive experience. Now I have no doubt that the Deck is by far the best handheld beyond power. The experience with the Deck and the way you enjoy games with it is something unique. I also plan to continue with the Legion because of the versatility it has and the possibility of using it as a PC and tablet. But the Deck for me occupies the first place until they launch a new Deck.
1:25 what game is this
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.
Same for the most part. Looking forward to picking up Wukong on the p5.
what game is it in 2:58 ?
Looks like "Necesse"
Terraria
I have an rog Ally and got the white steam deck oled pretty much only because of the battery life. It has a truly semi custom SoC designed for efficiency while the Ally and legion go have what is essentially a rebranded 7840U with features disabled.
Thanks for the video! Question: What's the game at 2:32?
Is it safe to buy a OLED since the SD2 isnt coming out anytime soon. I have the OG and have been trying to hold on getting a OLED for fear of getting as soon as the new one gets announced.
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 ??
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.
What thumbstick you have on your Oled model please
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
But is it worth buying at full price now with it being 2+ years old?
of course, get the oled tho
Yeah, I love mine too. One of the best things to happen to gaming ever.
What game was that FPS with the hostage grab and slow mo slide 3:55
I bought the Steamdeck OLED in mid 2023 and have loved it ever since! its perfect for my lifestyle travelling constantly without the need of a giant console or gaming pc
looking good bro 💪
What was the system playing Zelda?
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.
What game you play at 1:25?
the topstrap buttons (power, vol +,-) all failed on my unit in the first month. valve wouldn't send me sn audio board or a replacement power button so it has sat on my shelf for almost two years as a failed "self-repairable" device. what a shame.
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 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
Is the model with the translucent case / red accents a mod or a limited edition of the oled?
Lads, whats the name of the game that he is playing at 2:53 ? Thanks in advance.
Whats the game he is playing at 4:01?
Great Video!
What is that levitating orb on your desk?
It’s actually a magnetic plant holder from Amazon
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.
Can games be played off line or with no internet connection?
At 3:55 what game is that
^yea what game is that
@@GrukeLimit I found what game this is it is called Trepang 2
Sifu
have u tried the ally with bazzite? wonder what ud think
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..🤔
What game where you playing at the beginning of the video?
What game is on the screen at 0:59?
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.
So glad that I found this channel! Loved the video! :D
do you have onlifäns?
What's the game at 2:45. It looks really cool. It's not Ace Combat I'd say. Somebody knows?
Just cause 2
Could you provide captions for each game that you show in your reel?
what game is he playing at 3:56?
What is the game you are playing at 00:32 ?
Desk job
Looks like Aperture Desk Job. It's a glorified tutorial for the Steam Deck controls, released as a free game.
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.
anyone know the name of the game shown @0:32 please ?
@specter what is that game you are play at 0:36 in the video?
The game is Aperture Desk Job. It's free and made for the Steam Deck.
It's basically a demo made for the steam deck to show off its features. It's also set in the Half Life/Portal universe so it's also hilarious.
Great review. I am totally going to get a Steam deck oled 1tb for Christmas to replace my current 2 year old PC and use that PC as a steam server host for our mulitplayer games like Darkness Falls 7 days to die etc. and downsize my 32 inch monitor to a 27 inch 1440p oled monitor. :)
Does it drift though?
I couldnt hold in my hands the first model, either because of the plastic build, or other issue. Felt worse after downloading something big (felt static on the plastic with my fingers). I have never experienced something similar with other handhelds and have no similar issues with Switch for example. Sadly I put it away and never used it again.
How is your battery health and durability after a year?
Fantastic video my friend. The Steam Deck is easily one of my favorite devices I've ever owned.
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.
insane video brother, i have a nintendo switch, i even play fifa on it and i rarely play games on my pc.
Great video. Love your dog!
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.
What game is playing @5:50?
its skyrim
@@eimryuec9893 thanks! Never knew that game was so color-full
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.
what's the name of this game : 3:55
'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
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.
yes, but how did it replace everything for you?
Does it run throne and liberty?
The big thing about bespoke, *standardized* hardware like the steam deck means that developers can use the hardware extremely efficiently because they know exactly what they're designing for. I think that's one of the biggest upsides of console gaming, and the steam deck makes it a pc gaming advantage too
Is it fairly easy to emulate ps2 games on here ?