The deck allowed me to play a backlog that was just sitting there, you get older and your time for gaming gets really limited with what life throws at you, the steam deck just allowed me a new kind of access to my extensive steam library and rekindled my love of gaming. I was able to 100% Sable while I traveled or while keeping an eye on my toddler.
Sable, man... I gotta get back to it! One of the first games I added to my PC library, last year, and I was really enjoying my time with it. But as is the case, it got dropped for something new.
@@piotr78 It wasn't that great on PC, either, truth be told. The port to home console was supposed to fix all of that, was the hope of the fans, but I guess not. Sable's world was quite unique, but I doubt I'mma buy anything else from Shadworks
I have my deck for over 18 months and I am still a happy customer. Currently I am running steamOS 3.5 from the preview channel with a build in option to change the color saturation, similar to vibrantDeck. Although the screen quality was never an issue for me, the now richer colors are nice. Also the performance of demanding games is now slightly improved. This is exactly the continued software support the I am looking for. I had a hardware defect recently and Valve send me immediately a new Deck after I returned mine. So far a pleasant customer experience for me! Totally off topic: I was visiting friends last week in Swizerland and we had Fondue and it was amazing!
@@doooouge1136 my Deck stopped charging and did not turn back on after a restart, although the battery showed >50% charge. I don’t know what exactly was defect.
I stopped buying 3rd party games on Switch after getting a SD. When the hardware is long gone I'll still have my steam library, can't say the same for the Switch years later.
I’ve had my deck for a year and love it. I had a switch before and sold it. The deck is way more comfortable than the switch and valve has better sales on games. I’m happy handheld gaming PCs are becoming big.
While I understand why one would sell their switch, I find that every 3 months, I pick it back up start a new game and enjoy for the next 2 weeks or so.
I had my Switch laying around for close to 12 months without really touching it. Games were just to damn expensive, and I'm not into the first party stuff as much as I used to be. It was very frustrating how janky some of the games I actually liked (Ninja Gaiden Master Collection, Doom Eternal, Witcher 3, MK11) looked or performed, and I was equally frustrated at having NO virtual console, and having to pay a monthly subscription for the right to play games I don't own. The Deck solves all the issues I had with the Switch and the added benefit all the games I had purchased on Steam when I used to have a gaming PC back in 2009-2014 where all available for me to play at no extra cost.
So you bought the cheapest available Steam Deck knowing ahead its size and capabilities, you say you really like it, and then you make a video about how it doesn't fit perfectly in your personal backpack which you customized for something else. And you have to wait 3 seconds until it uploads your saves to the steam cloud. Did you think about buying a bigger backpack? And if you don't want to use it at home because you have a desktop pc (good for you, but didn't it cost at least 5 times more than your deck?), then why does it bother you that it doesn't work exactly like the switch? I simply don't understand. What exactly did you expect?
I got mine in September 2022 and still love it and use it every day. I just wish I wasn't surrounded by cameras at work so I could do something more useful with my time and finish Yakuza 0 while being paid.
Ironically, if you played games on your phone, you are less likely to get called out. But, doing _anything_ on something that resemble a gaming handheld is a big no-no at the office
As an owner who ordered the deck day one; I had a similar question, but the device is technically timeless. It runs ps4 era and before flawlessly, if you’re like me; you’re always going to have a near-infinite back log of games from those times to play. On top of that new 2d indie games will not be a challenge for the hard ware.
for sure, thousands of games are supported and that's not even counting emulation or other game launchers. being able to run so many games portably is awesome
Always had the plan to buy a Steamdeck but was never in a hurry. My friend decided he wanted the OLed version once it released so he sold it to me for a bro deal. Now that I have this thing, I can't imagine life without it. When they come out with a new gen of Steamdeck, I'm getting it right away.
I don't have a deck, but as a linux gamer the existence of the steam deck brought compatibility forward leaps and bounds. Most games I try pley either seamlessly or just need some minor tweaks, it's great!
The main things that keep me glued to the Steam Deck over other handhelds is the controls. I was a big fan of the Steam Controller back in the day, and this just feels like the natural evolution of that concept. That, and it's one of the only handhelds on the market not prepackaged with Windows 😮💨
This is a big one for me and It's unbelievable how many options you're given with controls. I can't play Elden Ring on a regular controller anymore. I also managed to create a full scheme for Diablo 2, which has a dumbed down control scheme for it's console counterparts, but the Steam Deck makes it possible for me to play like I would on a keyboard. Whoever was in charge of controls *REALLY* gets it. I've spent the better part of a decade remapping buttons in favor of always having access a game's camera movement, and the Steam Deck just lets me do that for free. That was the thing that really felt next gen about Steam Deck to me.
Coming up on a year owning my deck, and with being a much older gamer 40+ 😬 the ability to just pick up and play is a win. I’ve seen a couple others mention with having kids, the deck is a dream come true. I honestly don’t know much of anything about computers/the lingo so I’m sure I’m not using it to it’s totally potential, but being able to play RDR2 makes it worth the price. I hope to learn how to download/use mods and enjoy this gem even more.
The price aspect is a bonus i didn't initially foresee. I felt like owning a switch and a steam deck was a bit lavish to begin with (and it is, I'm very lucky). But the amount I've saved through frequent 80-90% discounts on steam is crazy
ya the nintendo store is such a rip off!! everytime i go on the store in the mood to buy something, i leave frustrating thinking "no fucking way im paying that". their flagship titles never get on sale. their sales in general are a sick joke (being very small, or discounting shovelware). when i look elsewhere its so much better. i HATE nintendos e store with a passion
@@phillystevesteak6982 It's like I realized even just nintendo games in general are sort of meh and it's either mario, zelda, pokemon, or indie games. And they become all the same like odyssey, breath of the wild, arceus are just open world games but with different skin lol i know it's a portable low powered console but it only has rdr1 but ps4 gets rdr2 for like $20 even lol
It brought me back to gaming. Simple as that. I built a cutting edge gaming pc with 3080 the moment it was available here. However, job + marriage + degree caused me to have only short sessions for free time. I was looking at the deck for almost a year before buying it, fearing it will just collect dust. And let me tell you that, not only that ot got me back to gaming, being daily, it also made me play much more on my gaming pc. The fact that now when I finaly have a time for a longer session I can play on the pc without the overhead of retuening to a game after a month. They realy function as an ecosystem.
See, this type of comment right here is what initially sold me on the deck as a new father. However, the reality of it turned out to be pretty awful. Wifi connectivity sucks, Steam OS sucks, cloud sync works like 20 percent of the time, the ergonomics are poor, the buttons grind and get stuck, the analog sticks are slippery, the battery is almost nonexistent, and lots of games have abysmal performance overall. I ended up booting my Xbox 360 instead on so many occasions. Total waste of money for me.
@The_Cadaver oh wow. I'm close to buying ine and in same situation. I have a 3090 pc so decent. I'm worried that this will collect dust. Is the graphics really poor?
@@markymoo22 (LCD model obv.) WiFi connectivity sucks, making it worthless as a PC streaming device. Cloud sync function only works about 20% of the time (due to potato WiFi chip). Syncing saves across devices becomes a manual chore if you add this thing to your ecosystem. And the shader cache updates go straight to internal storage, regardless of your SD card size or speed -- making the 64 GB model completely useless for SD cards over 512 GB. Poor performance when running semi-modern titles natively. You'll have to lower your settings until it's a mess of blurry pixels, or stick to indie 2D games if you want 60 fps gameplay. Older stuff runs fine, but is mostly un-optimized, and makes the device run hotter than necessary -- if it's even supported at all. The face buttons grind and get stuck. The analog sticks are slippery, with a rubberized outer ring. And the d-pad is poorly placed. High skill floor genres and games are borderline unplayable. And peripheral support is pretty bad too. It's the worst controller I own, and the most frustrating PC/console I've ever had to deal with. All that said, I am pretty anal about controllers and performance, and haven't really messed with consoles since the late 2000's. So your mileage may vary. Really depends on what you're playing and what you can tolerate.
@The_Cadaver Same problems. Steam deck is overblown. The sticks are clunky and the triggers feel awful to use with such a heavy device. On a controller your thumb pads rest over the sticks and yet most people use the tips of their thumbs on deck sticks because it's so poorly designed. Great for old games, bad for anything new and yet the fanboyism surrounding this device would make anyone think it was a handheld 4090. Ended up selling mine a couple months later and felt like I was lied to by everyone online.
The Deck is just perfect for my needs, I have a PC to play AAA with full fidelity on a big screen, but with the Steam Deck I can play Metroidvanias, JRPGs, tactical RPGs, visual novels, isometric RPGs, retro games, basically everything that can be played more laid back and usually aren't heavy to run. Plus it's cheaper than other UMPC, just perfect for my need. I'm definitely getting the OLED once it gets cheaper.
Thanks for the impressions. I've had my deck for about a month and it's been a very positive experience overall. I've owned and sold two Switches before but couldn't get into most of the Nintendo style games and balked at the typical store costs and lack of good discounts. You are right, there's something very special about being able to have your Steam library in a portable device. I have even been playing my deck in the room where my gaming pc is. Some games I prefer to be on the deck, lounging comfortably on a couch seat vs upright at a desk. Even if that means not playing on a big OLED with high refresh rates. Oh and playing a bit something in bed for 30mins before going to sleep has been great!
@@juzeljames7793 No I play it exclusively in handheld mode. There are some games that I prefer to play on my gaming pc with the big screen (like some fps games and GTA V)
i've had about the same experience with the deck. even now when i'm not going out as much as i did when i got it around a year ago, i'm enjoying my time hooking it up on the dock to my 144hz monitor and having fun with new, old, and emulated games alike. at this part the biggest con for owning a steam deck is being stuck and unable to make a choice what to play
I’m now in the boat of considering buying a steam deck OLED, I have the switch OLED but hardly play it to be fair as I’m not into a lot of the games and don’t have a lot of times with working full time and being a parent outside of that. So considering selling the switch and putting the cash towards a deck, also I love the thought of being able emulate games from back when I had a game boy. As this would be fun and casual without being too intensive once you’ve got it up and running.
I got lucky, had mine over a year now, still 0 problems, ive only had to factory reset once. I love that it also doesnt just limit you to steam games, i got gog, epic, and battlenet running np.
I just gotten my hands on a Steam Deck recently and it's just awesome. My kid has always wanted me to be by her side while she watches TH-cam until her bedtime, so I was only able to scroll through my own phone & unable to game on my desktop PC at the living room. I can now play my games with the Steam Deck while accompanying her by her side. She even watches my gameplay at times too.
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716nah man the custom chip is fine, because with the custom chip they know how much power you can give it to it efficiently, instead of using a non custom chip
Cosign on the Slim. Sold my SD a yr ago; was comfortable but felt it was a bit too wide . Was looking for solutions but nothing matches the ease of the Deck. I may end up buying one again and docking it to stream to a slightly smaller device.
i think it'll last a long time. it's the only handheld that can do it all for $300-400. sure it has cons but nothing can beat playing any game from your steam library handheld for that cheap
I bought mine maybe half a year ago just so I could play my steam library while lying in bed, since I increasingly found myself distracted by other things while at my pc and also having a harder time to sit comfortably for extended periods than I used to. So far it has pretty much made me enjoy gaming more than I had for the better part of a decade.
I had mine for almost year. I love it so much cuz on some games you can play offline which huge plus for me when im traveling and sleeping in my van. For performance wise, i tend play on medium or low settings to help it run longer. I don’t really care about graphics long as game is fun to play.
For me, the deck has been perfect. I had a gaming PC, but then I accepted a job overseas and was unable to take my gaming PC with me initially. So to still have access to my steam library even with thousands of miles away, has been very comforting. I was able to bring a steam dock and some accessories, so I basically have a desktop setup that is home away from home. While I love my Switch, there's no denying that the plethora of steam games makes this an indispensable part of my travel tech.
I plan on picking one up. I’m not going to be able to have a full desktop setup with me anymore. I stopped playing overly competitive games so I think this helped further my decision. Thank you! Also I’m getting one of those battery banks they looks dope
omg yea comp made me a toxic person. now i play comp games how people did when they were my taemmates. trying my best but not really caring if i win or lose. as soon as i get my lenovo legion go I will never touch another god damn comp style game for the rest of my life. so muhc wasted time doing a Sisyphean level task that was depending on random people
Same, I stopped playing competitive games almost entirely. Besides the whole toxic people/stress stuff, those games usually happen to be the ones people dump the most time into while also being the most repetitive. I learned a while ago that if I have 1,000 hours to game, I would rather spread it over 50 games than 1. The experience is richer and more rewarding that way. Also, it's the only way I'm going to be putting a dent in my 700 game backlog.
I'd recommend to wait and see as far as the Legion Go is concerned (look at the Ally recent update for example), the Steam Deck is proven hardware and is very well supported by Valve and the community.@@SWOTHDRA
I do think it's sometimes useful to use a handheld even if you are at home. Big handhelds like the Deck or a Switch with a large grip are actually very good for that use case. A gaming PC or a PS5 are great, but they really do need 100% of your attention. But when you are say... waiting for Unit Tests to finish or watching something on the TV, you can still play something on your handheld device
@@ehsanghazavi470 a psvita or Nintendo switch isn't something you only play outside either. Or is it. It's a console, the same way the steam deck is. Portability is one factor, but primarily it is treated such as a console and thus, is being played anywhere
The steam deck really brought forward the handhald market by a large margin. Before there were slight improvements with the new version of the handheld but are more typically emulation devices. Now some are able to run wii u, ps2 resource demanding games at roughly the same cost of devices back then that could only run small amounts of n64 games. I'm hype for a handheld being shipped out in November the GPD Win Mini. It is the size of two switches (without joycon) stacked together or bigger than a 3ds xl.
Hell yeah, i'm hoping it incentivizes companies like Nintendo and Sony, maybe Microsoft too to take the market seriously, it's insane how few crumbs we've been getting since the Vita.
Hope you don't get the GPD with a faulty battery. They did that with Win 2 and refused to replace the battery. Never buying from GPD again because of it.
yeap, size is really what killed it for me, ended up with gpd win4 instead which actually goes in a pocket (and has twice the performance as a bonus) good use of real estate is make or break.
I think the Steam Deck is the best gaming system I've ever purchased. It has allowed to bring more games with me when I have to be on the road and the experience is really good with doing the "hand off" between the Deck and my home PC just like you mentioned. I got the Tom Toc case for the Steam Deck and I think while it was a bit expensive, its perfect because it holds a controller, batter pack, the original power chord, and has a good divider to keep the Steam Deck from sliding around.
Ive had mine since this past Spring (2023) and i love this thing, ive had and old pc that died many years ago and a gaming laptop that finally gave up about a few months after december (2022) after that died i was convinced to get steam deck. Its crazy because it plays better than the gaming laptop i had lol. Thing is great on dock as well. Great video! 👍
Another thing on the deck's prize that doesn't get talked about often is the fact that it comes with your steam library included. That is such a no brainer but it makes a big impact, I have more than 100 games on steam and 80% of those are playable on the deck, at least! While the Steam Deck is double the upfront cost of a switch, With just 5-6 switch games it will cost the same as my deck. Also I will need to rebuy a lot of games that I already enjoy on pc for the switch, like Skyrim (happy todd noises).
I love my steamdeck because it's comfortable and basically wide open for customization. Had a couple junk emulation handheld devices before the deck, always had odd hardware/firmware issues. The emulation community basically went all in on this hardware/os and it's in a great place. For emulation alone this thing is a staple now in the community, it's here to last. PC games are just a bonus 😂
People say the steam deck is not worth it. This kinda hurts my feelings, because for I had a blast with that machine for the last 12 months. I had so much fun. Money can't buy that. And I think people can still have a similar experience with the deck now. You can play Starfield on it. Something that Bethesda deemed to be not possible on the ps4. And still it running on deck ... The device is cheap, the games are cheap, you can easily upgrade/repair it and valve is standing behind it. They do their best to give us the best experience on that power level. This is outstanding. Admirable... That being said ... I got myself a Rog ally and I love that machine too 😅
I agree with you, you can't anticipate the fun the deck brings Me and every friend that owns one has tried it, went "alright cool", put it aside for a lil while and then got back into it. After that break, we used it as our main device ever since. It's lovely, fun, good enough and just works
I have had mine for over a year and have played the absolute living christ out of the steam deck. Gives me so much time to game where otherwise I wouldn't with a full time job and family. The backlog I had once given up on has had a massive chunk taken out of it.
Had it for one full year and after escaping the switch-only ecosystem, had time to explore and enjoy all those timeless/legendary last gen titles too powerful for the switch like Death Stranding, Apex Legends, Resident Evil 2+3, Monster Hunter World and The Outer Worlds, as well as open me up to TONS of incredible indie games ive never heard of before! This was the entry level PC I've been dreaming of. I finally feel like me and my group of friends are IN SYNC with what games we can all play, now that we don't have to pay some ridiculous online subscription for multiplayer 🍻
I've had my Steam Deck for 13 months and it allowed me to get so much more gaming done. I was beating games left and right. It's also a god tier emulation machine. PS2 and PS3 performance is fantastic on this thing. It is starting to fall behind a bit though. Some recent games have looked a little too ugly for me to want to play on the Steam Deck. Games like RE4 Remake and Lies of P. They're still 100% playable but I ended up going back to my PC for most releases this year. I'd buy a new Steam Deck model in a heartbeat, hoping that announcement is right around the corner. The current size is an issue but I do find it comfortable at least.
Careful when comparing colors on the Switch OLED and VibrantDeck. By default, the Switch OLED is set to "Vivid" colors and yields unaccurate boosted colors. Once set to "Standard", color accuracy is much closer to reference and this is what you should be comparing it to using VibrantDeck.
I agree very much with you in the size argument. I have rather large hands and no problem with grip, however the weight of the device bothers me. It is especially noticable when lying in bed and trying to play something. My arms get sore pretty quick and I have to change positions frequently. Using a Switch afterwards makes you appreciate the low weight of it a lot more. I always ask myself, is there any way (and even if it involves black magic) to reduce the weight, or at least felt weight of the deck? It is the only thing holding me back from using it a lot more.
Just received my deck 3 days ago and must say... It looks like the only way forward for the gaming industry, is a true delight for these hands to hold.
@@SWOTHDRA I love my Steam Deck, but desktop gaming won't die out. Portable gaming may become enough for most people, but there will always be a niche wanting the higher performance ceiling of non-portable hardware, the large number of bindings you can only do with keyboards (important for flight sims), and large screens. There are a large number of games I've ruled off of playing on my Deck because the experience is too much of a downgrade from my desktop PC.
Just something point out, the saturation can be done on any LCD screen, heck I can even do that on PSvita. So the key advantage of OLED is the contrast and the pure blacks which CANNOT be done on a LCD due to it having a backlight
I've got cerebral palsy and sometimes my back hurts. So Steam Deck gives me the opportunity to play while lying on the couch, streaming the picture from the main PC to its display via Sunshine and Moonlight. Plus I've started playing games from my backlog that have been untouched for a long time. Best purchase I've ever made in my life I think. Thank you Valve, AMD and other Linux community users for investing in Open Source to improve the Linux gaming experience.
Best gaming purchase I've ever made. $400 for a handheld that, with $25 in cables I could quickly hook it to my gaming monitor and then unplug and continue at work. This alone would be worth the price. But it's EmuDeck that makes this the best tech purchase ever.
If Steam Deck had Windows instead of Linux, I’d consider it buying. Recently I learned that some games ban your account for installing it on steam deck (like genshin impact) because it’s a Linux. Steam Deck is an amazing product at an amazing price, but relying only on Steam platform limits the infinite PC games library that it could run. Also my country doesn’t have official support of Valve.
I got my Steam Deck 3 months ago and so far I'm pretty happy with it. Before, the only thing I had to play games on was a switch and the Deck enabled me to get to play some games I knew were good but that just weren't available to me before. It has it's little kinks here and there but all in all I'm just happy that I didn't have to invest in a whole gaming rig and am still able to play most high end games on it. The portability is another bonus, especially for a switch owner :)
I love the idea of being able to play on the move. Play while laying in bed without having the laptop heating me or moving it every time I have to get up. For me the steam deck is out of my price range for now. But it seems like the perfect system.
Also, in regards to the dbrand case, I'll add that the material they used for the grips is rough. The feel of it reminds me of that anti-scratch, abrasive foam stuff some folks would spray onto their truck beds. My hype for this case (which I had just spent $75 on) was instantly curtailed once I touched it, it felt so awful. So, if you're sensitive to those kinds of things like I am, just be warned.
Overly long? Oh heck no! Just the right length and excellent pacing to boot. Your voice is very soothing yet not boring and certainly not monotone. Content was well delivered and very even handed - good balance between what you liked and didn't like about the Steamdeck as well as some good experiential observations i.e. Steamdeck is large and chunky for trying to carry it everywhere and the lack of accommodating carrying options or fiddly things you have to do when docking it. I've only had my Steamdeck for a little over a month and really like it so your observations and suggestions are excellent advice for how to proceed. I just subscribed to your channel and look forward to more. Ciao for now and keep up the awesome work.
Love your videos! I'd watch any video you'd make about the Steam Deck OLED and the Nuphy Air V2 lineup. Just bought these and I am curious to hear your take on the improvements
This is a great video. My gaming laptop died about 7 years ago and i never bought a new one because i was broke at the time. When i did have money i just couldnt justify buying a new one since i already had a ps4 with alot of games and also felt like it would be waste because i wasn't gonna use the pc side of it at all. I really missed all the games you could play on steam compared to ps. And also all the sales. This is a great combination of pc and console gaming. Hopefully it goes on sale for black friday. If not ill still buy it
I bought a Steam Deck a few months ago. I bought it to play games on the go, as more as a hobby toy then anything. I think its really great. Its basically a GameBoy for adults. As far as this thing being your only gaming kit, I think if you are a hard core triple A game gamer that likes 1st person shooters you won't use this. Its plays all the older games great but newer games it struggles. I still love this for my older steam games and newer casual games like Dredge.
Honestly the "too big" arguement will fall on deaf ears to a person like me, who likes to take goddamn fight sticks on trips. "Ill just grsb another back back" i say
The steam deck can not replace your main console, but if you want to use this as a secondary device and appreciate portability you will enjoy it 100 percent. The real question is, when is the steam deck 2 coming out? How long will they support this version?
Hmm, I suspect those are RAM sticks perpendicular to the GPU block at 8:00. Have you moved your PC out of the Meshlicious? Or am I too eager to see another PC related video?
That is some knowledgeable observation 👏 it has been moved, there will be a video about it next month (I hope 🤔) but long story short, water leak and a fried mainboard 😬
It's always sad when electronics break to such issues. But I'm certain it'll make for an interesting video, your project and videos have a very unique style, which is what draws me to the channel. Thankfully I haven't had things outright break, but so many of my electronics were glitchy and hard to debug. My PC for example has an APU with a weak memory controller, had to drop it's RAM speed from 3200MHz to 3000MHz to solve random and inconsistent crashes. And my Unicomp New Model M keyboard, ooh boy does it have issues, both with the controller and matrix. Though I'm receiving a full warranty replacement on Monday. The only thing that hasn't been giving me any trouble is my now 6 year old phone, which I am still using for this reason. Android 7 and all.
I recently lost all of my stuff in an apartment fire, including my high end gaming pc. After getting my life mostly in order, I bought another Steam Deck before any other gaming device. I love this thing and having access to my Steam library again after my life basically fell apart has been so amazing and really helps me feel like my life is more normal again
I love my steam deck, I've bought so many games over again because of the steam deck which I didn't think I would be doing but the portability and power made it so worth it
@@SWOTHDRA 1. it has enough power for me to play most my games at 1080p including newer titles like Resident evil 4 remake 2.I play on multiple systems so I ended up repurchasing some games because console does not carry over to PC. Hope this clears things up 😁
I think he means games he bought from past consoles. Like for me, i own bf1 and bfv on ps4, and i just recently rebought them on steam for steam deck (which runs pretty good to me)
@@mikereyes2488 That's probably the biggest reason I never buy games for consoles outside the odd used exclusive now and then. Console games only last for the life of the console. Backwards compatibility isn't guaranteed. The only way you'll lose Steam games is if Valve dies, and that probably won't ever happen outside all of society collapsing. Games you buy now will still work for the Steam Deck 2, 3, etc.
Having held one, its too big for me to actually take anywhere. Id just use it at home. I do want one, but would probably only get it if they made a smaller version
The size is a very real concern, at least for me... But fortunately it's my only gaming console. So i don't have to take it anywhere to be worth it for me. I don't own any other gaming consoles or gaming PCs. I have macbooks and while yes the gaming scene is getting MUCH better now with game porting toolkit, it's still not anywhere near as complete as the selection available on the steamdeck. Basically, the deck stays docked on my TV and that's where it is played. I play baldurs gate on my mac because it can play it at maxed out rez, but everything else is played on the steamdeck. Gaming sure is great right now and getting better every day. it's a wonderful time to be alive.
Can't really call it a portable handheld if you need to carry a battery pack around to keep it from dying after 2 hrs. My PSP Go was so ahead of its time 13 years ago. Futureproof you could call it. Battery lasted all day. Allowed bluetooth ps3 gamepad integration and headphones. 64gb micro sd storage. And it fits in your damn pocket. I play it on the way to work, during my lunch hr, and on the way home, dock it like a switch and continue playing on my tv with a ps3 gamepad. Did that routine during the entire 2010s. 13 years and that sucker is still going strong. Aside from the 3 batteries ive replaced in its lifetime, its my perfect portable emulator. 6+hr battery life with an entire PSP, PS1, SNES, NES, and arcade cabinet library to boot. Modern handhelds look interesting, but they turn into bricks way too quickly for the job they're advertised to do. At least if my GO dies, i just stick it back in my pocket and continue throughout the day.
It's been an amazing couple of years or so, almost 2 years. I am starting to run into some issues with games I want not working, like Returnal, Lords of the fallen, starfield, and Remnant 2. I'm going to get the Legion Go, but keep the deck since it is still a masterpiece of a handheld.
Nice "mixed bag" video, and I too tend to leave my Deck at home too often. 😅 I still have the very same opinion as day one though: - The APU isn't powerful enough, and not just because development got delayed by two years. It probably should have 6 cores, not just 4, but the real issue is the GPU which should be 1080p level and not just 720p for both those who use it on 1080p but most notably to have a bit of buffer - min. performance levels required haven't changed much since 2015, and likely won't in the near future either, but barely reaching them from the get-go is a mistake. As it is, it needs active community and Steam / Valve support, possibly including developments kits and titles, to keep it alive. - Hall Effect Sensor Joysticks should have been provided from the start. - The Deck should have been designed for docking, and with USB-C + PCIe 8x + SATA at that. This way you could do quick switching in between console and PC mode, possible even with a different OS and an eGPU. The dock should also have added to the cooling to allow for the Deck to run full power in desktop mode. Sure you could argue that the Deck is a console, but I still feel it a waste that despite being to close to cover both console and PC mode they fell short due to simply connectivity. - The Deck should not have used multiple partitions since it wastes available space, and especially not using BTRFS due to its sensitivity in case of a crash / low power hard shutdown. - The Linux provided should have come with a "limited rights safe" user account / profiles if switching to desktop mode, that only provided access to standard applications and options, while allowing adding full multiple full-rights accounts / profiles using chroot. This way the Deck is protected against accidental OS damage, but still provide all features and options instead of the mixed one account bag you have now. - The display used it wasting space especially regarding its borders. - There is enough free space for bigger form factor M.2 SSDs. Only allowing the small ones limits capacity and drives the price up - a bad concept, since many switched theirs out.
8:06 I love how you started using your computer like a some Playstation 1 NPC, in the background, there (or... More precisely... Like characters while hacking in X-perts on megadrive)
i'll be honest, i had originally invested in a Steam Deck mainly because I just really like getting new tech stuff. I just think its fun to see and mess with new technology, but i really had little to no plans to USE the deck. Now i have to fight back against taking it with me everywhere, and I find every free moment I get to just pull out my deck and play some fun little games. I love it, and it surprisingly became something I just really like and care for now.
GE Proton is almost a requirement to add non steam games, and Valve does support this going so far as to give instructions on getting it and some of the games going. I love that I can play the non steam FFXIV relatively easily without worries.
For me the deck has actually been mostly an at-home device. There's a bit of on-location play like waiting for an appointment or at a coffee shop, but very little on buses and trains. It's not a size thing I think I'm just focused or anxious during travel It's a great couch/bed machine, including some local streaming from the pc
I found the Steam Deck's size and battery life to be a deal breaker as well. I don't have a constant insatiable desire for mobile gaming. I have a solid desktop setup and when I'm on the go it's because I have something else I'm going to want to be present for. The few times I need a distraction, I can get by with my phone or a small-inexpensive retro-handheld. If I really think I'm going to need extended portable gaming, I'll bring my Switch which lasts 2-3 times longer and is much more portable... or a laptop/tablet with a gamepad which is a better experience in most regards. I've struggled to find a use case that justifies the Deck for me. On my last long flight, I brought a tablet (with a cover-stand) and controller. I was gaming / watching videos the entire time without issue. A passenger with a deck (one of the few I've seen in the wild) seemed to get eye / arm / neck fatigue pretty quickly (like ~40 min) and just went the rest of the six hours without anything. If he had been playing an intensive AAA title without a battery bank, his time would've been only a few minutes longer than that anyways (he could use the seat charger, but the low watt warning would keep popping up). I'm glad others are enjoying them. For me it's a solution to a problem I don't have. It's still a stellar piece of kit and industry impact, but I've fallen into the "yeah, I'm not bringing it" loop you describe.
I ran into that scenario as well (the Deck scenario on the plane) it's heavy alright, without constantly resting on the tray table, it quickly becomes unbearable over time. Big chunky battery solves the power problem but I also have an iPad and sometimes envy the playtime time I get out of it 😅
As a parent of two little ones (4y and 1y old), I'm seriously considering getting one, stopped playing my library and even sold my gaming pc like 3 years ago, and I want to take advantage of my 400+ game library, my wife also used to play, now the little we have is like 40 or so minutes at night, possibly with the baby while getting him to sleep... Yes, Steam Deck is the option for us. Thanks for the video.
For me, it’s a life saver. I have college during the day and work at night so playing games, even just for an hour without having to boot up my pc, is perfect.
I've got my deck last year in june and I've seperated my library into a desktop and a deck section And I'm just switching between the two depending on what I want to play, or when there are evenings where the kids aren't sleeping to good, I don't want to leave my desktop running, the deck got that super cool sleep option And biggest advantage is portability in the house and garden I just love it and I'll get the Deck 2 for sure
Same, i made a category titled 'deck' and put side scrollers in it, action adventure, jrpgs, even some shooters and stealth games like postal 2 and metal gear solid 5, and all the games im emulating
I got mine literally yesterday, and it downloads steam for set up perfectly, but then it keeps failing to install. I can't get past the set up phase...
I'm definitely gonna pick one up one day as I currently don't own a laptop and having a steam deck and portable monitor + a mouse and keyboard will be the solution I've been waiting for, for both productivity and gaming. (In a portable sense)
With the fact that I basically don’t play any new games anymore, it’s great for the backlog and the games I always dreamed of having on the go. Big ups for the trackpads for things like the Sims 2 or Tropico. The OLED would be a pleasant albeit hard to justify upgrade
@ 7: 00 just get a thinner case or a hardshell case with a front cover to make it fit. The default Steam Deck is bulky as it is. For the charger, I would bring a 65W charger with 2-3 cables for the Steam Deck, phone and other junk.
15:52
Do I have a surprise for you my friend lmao
bahahaha
Im happy that they didnt rise the prise
@@svexon they did by 50 dollars
I don't understand
hahahahaha lmao thanks for the laughter xD
The deck allowed me to play a backlog that was just sitting there, you get older and your time for gaming gets really limited with what life throws at you, the steam deck just allowed me a new kind of access to my extensive steam library and rekindled my love of gaming. I was able to 100% Sable while I traveled or while keeping an eye on my toddler.
Sable, man... I gotta get back to it! One of the first games I added to my PC library, last year, and I was really enjoying my time with it. But as is the case, it got dropped for something new.
Want to love Sable but it had horrible and frequent stuttering on the XboxSX. Still waiting for news of them fixing it :(
@@piotr78 It wasn't that great on PC, either, truth be told. The port to home console was supposed to fix all of that, was the hope of the fans, but I guess not. Sable's world was quite unique, but I doubt I'mma buy anything else from Shadworks
Facts man, you took the words right out of my mouth!
ever heard of a laptop moron?
I have my deck for over 18 months and I am still a happy customer. Currently I am running steamOS 3.5 from the preview channel with a build in option to change the color saturation, similar to vibrantDeck. Although the screen quality was never an issue for me, the now richer colors are nice. Also the performance of demanding games is now slightly improved. This is exactly the continued software support the I am looking for. I had a hardware defect recently and Valve send me immediately a new Deck after I returned mine. So far a pleasant customer experience for me!
Totally off topic: I was visiting friends last week in Swizerland and we had Fondue and it was amazing!
Fondue 👍
Why did you visit Switzerland? Why not Mumbai India
@salvadoreamadeo2288 under Settings -> Display -> Adjust Display Colors
What was the defect?
@@doooouge1136 my Deck stopped charging and did not turn back on after a restart, although the battery showed >50% charge. I don’t know what exactly was defect.
I stopped buying 3rd party games on Switch after getting a SD. When the hardware is long gone I'll still have my steam library, can't say the same for the Switch years later.
I’ve had my deck for a year and love it. I had a switch before and sold it. The deck is way more comfortable than the switch and valve has better sales on games. I’m happy handheld gaming PCs are becoming big.
While I understand why one would sell their switch, I find that every 3 months, I pick it back up start a new game and enjoy for the next 2 weeks or so.
Did the same, sold the switch with a dozens games, and had enough money to buy a refurbish 64gb SD AND A 512gb ssd to replace the original one.
I will never sell my switch oled, especially not for a deck 🤡
@@SWOTHDRAsteam has 5 times more power can emulate all till ps 3 and Switch emulator works great too, switch run games on 10 fps max😂
I had my Switch laying around for close to 12 months without really touching it. Games were just to damn expensive, and I'm not into the first party stuff as much as I used to be. It was very frustrating how janky some of the games I actually liked (Ninja Gaiden Master Collection, Doom Eternal, Witcher 3, MK11) looked or performed, and I was equally frustrated at having NO virtual console, and having to pay a monthly subscription for the right to play games I don't own. The Deck solves all the issues I had with the Switch and the added benefit all the games I had purchased on Steam when I used to have a gaming PC back in 2009-2014 where all available for me to play at no extra cost.
So you bought the cheapest available Steam Deck knowing ahead its size and capabilities, you say you really like it, and then you make a video about how it doesn't fit perfectly in your personal backpack which you customized for something else. And you have to wait 3 seconds until it uploads your saves to the steam cloud. Did you think about buying a bigger backpack? And if you don't want to use it at home because you have a desktop pc (good for you, but didn't it cost at least 5 times more than your deck?), then why does it bother you that it doesn't work exactly like the switch? I simply don't understand. What exactly did you expect?
Glad i read this comment first. I paused the video, disliked it, and closed it immediately.
same! thanks for this , i love my steam deck and not gonna let this goof try to ruin my image of it@@johnconnor5157
I got mine in September 2022 and still love it and use it every day. I just wish I wasn't surrounded by cameras at work so I could do something more useful with my time and finish Yakuza 0 while being paid.
That’s basically my situation at Work 😂
Perfect excuse to learn how to hack CCTV!
Ironically, if you played games on your phone, you are less likely to get called out. But, doing _anything_ on something that resemble a gaming handheld is a big no-no at the office
Haha 😂
As an owner who ordered the deck day one; I had a similar question, but the device is technically timeless. It runs ps4 era and before flawlessly, if you’re like me; you’re always going to have a near-infinite back log of games from those times to play. On top of that new 2d indie games will not be a challenge for the hard ware.
for sure, thousands of games are supported and that's not even counting emulation or other game launchers. being able to run so many games portably is awesome
Always had the plan to buy a Steamdeck but was never in a hurry. My friend decided he wanted the OLed version once it released so he sold it to me for a bro deal. Now that I have this thing, I can't imagine life without it. When they come out with a new gen of Steamdeck, I'm getting it right away.
I don't have a deck, but as a linux gamer the existence of the steam deck brought compatibility forward leaps and bounds. Most games I try pley either seamlessly or just need some minor tweaks, it's great!
Gaming on Linux after the Steam Deck released didn't feel real. It's still not perfect but it's getting real close.
The main things that keep me glued to the Steam Deck over other handhelds is the controls. I was a big fan of the Steam Controller back in the day, and this just feels like the natural evolution of that concept. That, and it's one of the only handhelds on the market not prepackaged with Windows 😮💨
This is a big one for me and It's unbelievable how many options you're given with controls. I can't play Elden Ring on a regular controller anymore. I also managed to create a full scheme for Diablo 2, which has a dumbed down control scheme for it's console counterparts, but the Steam Deck makes it possible for me to play like I would on a keyboard.
Whoever was in charge of controls *REALLY* gets it. I've spent the better part of a decade remapping buttons in favor of always having access a game's camera movement, and the Steam Deck just lets me do that for free. That was the thing that really felt next gen about Steam Deck to me.
Coming up on a year owning my deck, and with being a much older gamer 40+ 😬 the ability to just pick up and play is a win. I’ve seen a couple others mention with having kids, the deck is a dream come true. I honestly don’t know much of anything about computers/the lingo so I’m sure I’m not using it to it’s totally potential, but being able to play RDR2 makes it worth the price. I hope to learn how to download/use mods and enjoy this gem even more.
The price aspect is a bonus i didn't initially foresee. I felt like owning a switch and a steam deck was a bit lavish to begin with (and it is, I'm very lucky). But the amount I've saved through frequent 80-90% discounts on steam is crazy
ya the nintendo store is such a rip off!! everytime i go on the store in the mood to buy something, i leave frustrating thinking "no fucking way im paying that". their flagship titles never get on sale. their sales in general are a sick joke (being very small, or discounting shovelware). when i look elsewhere its so much better. i HATE nintendos e store with a passion
@@phillystevesteak6982I've heard switch emulation on the steam deck is quite good.
Saying owning a switch and a steam deck is lavish makes me feel bad abt all the money I “waste” on things 😭
@@phillystevesteak6982 It's like I realized even just nintendo games in general are sort of meh and it's either mario, zelda, pokemon, or indie games. And they become all the same like odyssey, breath of the wild, arceus are just open world games but with different skin lol i know it's a portable low powered console but it only has rdr1 but ps4 gets rdr2 for like $20 even lol
@@MrLuffy9131 I mostly wanted one because of Xenoblade Chronicles. Was worth it for that.
It brought me back to gaming. Simple as that.
I built a cutting edge gaming pc with 3080 the moment it was available here. However, job + marriage + degree caused me to have only short sessions for free time. I was looking at the deck for almost a year before buying it, fearing it will just collect dust.
And let me tell you that, not only that ot got me back to gaming, being daily, it also made me play much more on my gaming pc. The fact that now when I finaly have a time for a longer session I can play on the pc without the overhead of retuening to a game after a month.
They realy function as an ecosystem.
See, this type of comment right here is what initially sold me on the deck as a new father. However, the reality of it turned out to be pretty awful. Wifi connectivity sucks, Steam OS sucks, cloud sync works like 20 percent of the time, the ergonomics are poor, the buttons grind and get stuck, the analog sticks are slippery, the battery is almost nonexistent, and lots of games have abysmal performance overall. I ended up booting my Xbox 360 instead on so many occasions. Total waste of money for me.
@@The_Cadaver oh wow. :(
@The_Cadaver oh wow. I'm close to buying ine and in same situation. I have a 3090 pc so decent. I'm worried that this will collect dust. Is the graphics really poor?
@@markymoo22 (LCD model obv.) WiFi connectivity sucks, making it worthless as a PC streaming device. Cloud sync function only works about 20% of the time (due to potato WiFi chip). Syncing saves across devices becomes a manual chore if you add this thing to your ecosystem. And the shader cache updates go straight to internal storage, regardless of your SD card size or speed -- making the 64 GB model completely useless for SD cards over 512 GB.
Poor performance when running semi-modern titles natively. You'll have to lower your settings until it's a mess of blurry pixels, or stick to indie 2D games if you want 60 fps gameplay. Older stuff runs fine, but is mostly un-optimized, and makes the device run hotter than necessary -- if it's even supported at all.
The face buttons grind and get stuck. The analog sticks are slippery, with a rubberized outer ring. And the d-pad is poorly placed. High skill floor genres and games are borderline unplayable. And peripheral support is pretty bad too.
It's the worst controller I own, and the most frustrating PC/console I've ever had to deal with.
All that said, I am pretty anal about controllers and performance, and haven't really messed with consoles since the late 2000's. So your mileage may vary. Really depends on what you're playing and what you can tolerate.
@The_Cadaver Same problems. Steam deck is overblown. The sticks are clunky and the triggers feel awful to use with such a heavy device. On a controller your thumb pads rest over the sticks and yet most people use the tips of their thumbs on deck sticks because it's so poorly designed.
Great for old games, bad for anything new and yet the fanboyism surrounding this device would make anyone think it was a handheld 4090.
Ended up selling mine a couple months later and felt like I was lied to by everyone online.
The Deck is just perfect for my needs, I have a PC to play AAA with full fidelity on a big screen, but with the Steam Deck I can play Metroidvanias, JRPGs, tactical RPGs, visual novels, isometric RPGs, retro games, basically everything that can be played more laid back and usually aren't heavy to run.
Plus it's cheaper than other UMPC, just perfect for my need. I'm definitely getting the OLED once it gets cheaper.
Thanks for the impressions. I've had my deck for about a month and it's been a very positive experience overall. I've owned and sold two Switches before but couldn't get into most of the Nintendo style games and balked at the typical store costs and lack of good discounts. You are right, there's something very special about being able to have your Steam library in a portable device. I have even been playing my deck in the room where my gaming pc is. Some games I prefer to be on the deck, lounging comfortably on a couch seat vs upright at a desk. Even if that means not playing on a big OLED with high refresh rates. Oh and playing a bit something in bed for 30mins before going to sleep has been great!
Do you dock yours? When I get mine I only want to play it on the tv or monitor
@@juzeljames7793 No I play it exclusively in handheld mode. There are some games that I prefer to play on my gaming pc with the big screen (like some fps games and GTA V)
@@zakblue oh ok cool
i've had about the same experience with the deck. even now when i'm not going out as much as i did when i got it around a year ago, i'm enjoying my time hooking it up on the dock to my 144hz monitor and having fun with new, old, and emulated games alike. at this part the biggest con for owning a steam deck is being stuck and unable to make a choice what to play
I’m now in the boat of considering buying a steam deck OLED, I have the switch OLED but hardly play it to be fair as I’m not into a lot of the games and don’t have a lot of times with working full time and being a parent outside of that. So considering selling the switch and putting the cash towards a deck, also I love the thought of being able emulate games from back when I had a game boy. As this would be fun and casual without being too intensive once you’ve got it up and running.
I got lucky, had mine over a year now, still 0 problems, ive only had to factory reset once. I love that it also doesnt just limit you to steam games, i got gog, epic, and battlenet running np.
I just gotten my hands on a Steam Deck recently and it's just awesome. My kid has always wanted me to be by her side while she watches TH-cam until her bedtime, so I was only able to scroll through my own phone & unable to game on my desktop PC at the living room. I can now play my games with the Steam Deck while accompanying her by her side. She even watches my gameplay at times too.
I'd love if Valve did a slim Steam Deck, exactly the same spec, but smaller with an OLED screen and a better battery
Rather they came out with a steam deck using the ryzen 7 7840u instead
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716 yeah that too🤣
@@gejamugamlatsoomanam7716nah man the custom chip is fine, because with the custom chip they know how much power you can give it to it efficiently, instead of using a non custom chip
Cosign on the Slim. Sold my SD a yr ago; was comfortable but felt it was a bit too wide . Was looking for solutions but nothing matches the ease of the Deck. I may end up buying one again and docking it to stream to a slightly smaller device.
@@turbomilkcrew ayaneo 2s is slimmer and smaller while packing more power than SD
i think it'll last a long time. it's the only handheld that can do it all for $300-400. sure it has cons but nothing can beat playing any game from your steam library handheld for that cheap
Man what a great video! Soooo nice production and beautiful shots!
Thank you for making this!
Thank you so much! 😄
Best thing that i own after my washing machine
Microwaves are better than washing machines
I bought mine maybe half a year ago just so I could play my steam library while lying in bed, since I increasingly found myself distracted by other things while at my pc and also having a harder time to sit comfortably for extended periods than I used to.
So far it has pretty much made me enjoy gaming more than I had for the better part of a decade.
Getting one soon so I'm just mildly hype torturing myself by watching reviews and yours is by far the best in terms of increasing my hype for it.
I had mine for almost year. I love it so much cuz on some games you can play offline which huge plus for me when im traveling and sleeping in my van.
For performance wise, i tend play on medium or low settings to help it run longer. I don’t really care about graphics long as game is fun to play.
For me, the deck has been perfect. I had a gaming PC, but then I accepted a job overseas and was unable to take my gaming PC with me initially. So to still have access to my steam library even with thousands of miles away, has been very comforting.
I was able to bring a steam dock and some accessories, so I basically have a desktop setup that is home away from home. While I love my Switch, there's no denying that the plethora of steam games makes this an indispensable part of my travel tech.
I love my steam deck and I love my switch. I hope that Valve continues releasing upgraded and slimmer steam decks long into the future.
I plan on picking one up. I’m not going to be able to have a full desktop setup with me anymore. I stopped playing overly competitive games so I think this helped further my decision. Thank you! Also I’m getting one of those battery banks they looks dope
omg yea comp made me a toxic person. now i play comp games how people did when they were my taemmates. trying my best but not really caring if i win or lose. as soon as i get my lenovo legion go I will never touch another god damn comp style game for the rest of my life. so muhc wasted time doing a Sisyphean level task that was depending on random people
Buy a lenovo
Same, I stopped playing competitive games almost entirely. Besides the whole toxic people/stress stuff, those games usually happen to be the ones people dump the most time into while also being the most repetitive. I learned a while ago that if I have 1,000 hours to game, I would rather spread it over 50 games than 1. The experience is richer and more rewarding that way. Also, it's the only way I'm going to be putting a dent in my 700 game backlog.
I'd recommend to wait and see as far as the Legion Go is concerned (look at the Ally recent update for example), the Steam Deck is proven hardware and is very well supported by Valve and the community.@@SWOTHDRA
I do think it's sometimes useful to use a handheld even if you are at home. Big handhelds like the Deck or a Switch with a large grip are actually very good for that use case. A gaming PC or a PS5 are great, but they really do need 100% of your attention. But when you are say... waiting for Unit Tests to finish or watching something on the TV, you can still play something on your handheld device
using a steam deck at home lol... makes sense
@@ehsanghazavi470 a psvita or Nintendo switch isn't something you only play outside either. Or is it. It's a console, the same way the steam deck is. Portability is one factor, but primarily it is treated such as a console and thus, is being played anywhere
My deck gets a lot of use at home as my bed/nightstand wind down console.
Amazing video quality and care both in visual and subject. Thx for your work !
Thank you! Much appreciated 🙂
The steam deck really brought forward the handhald market by a large margin. Before there were slight improvements with the new version of the handheld but are more typically emulation devices. Now some are able to run wii u, ps2 resource demanding games at roughly the same cost of devices back then that could only run small amounts of n64 games.
I'm hype for a handheld being shipped out in November the GPD Win Mini. It is the size of two switches (without joycon) stacked together or bigger than a 3ds xl.
Hell yeah, i'm hoping it incentivizes companies like Nintendo and Sony, maybe Microsoft too to take the market seriously, it's insane how few crumbs we've been getting since the Vita.
“Handheld”
Hope you don't get the GPD with a faulty battery. They did that with Win 2 and refused to replace the battery. Never buying from GPD again because of it.
@@CraWleRLT knock on wood for me 🪵so I don't get the experience
LOL delusion
yeap, size is really what killed it for me, ended up with gpd win4 instead which actually goes in a pocket (and has twice the performance as a bonus) good use of real estate is make or break.
I think the Steam Deck is the best gaming system I've ever purchased. It has allowed to bring more games with me when I have to be on the road and the experience is really good with doing the "hand off" between the Deck and my home PC just like you mentioned. I got the Tom Toc case for the Steam Deck and I think while it was a bit expensive, its perfect because it holds a controller, batter pack, the original power chord, and has a good divider to keep the Steam Deck from sliding around.
Ive had mine since this past Spring (2023) and i love this thing, ive had and old pc that died many years ago and a gaming laptop that finally gave up about a few months after december (2022) after that died i was convinced to get steam deck. Its crazy because it plays better than the gaming laptop i had lol. Thing is great on dock as well. Great video! 👍
Another thing on the deck's prize that doesn't get talked about often is the fact that it comes with your steam library included.
That is such a no brainer but it makes a big impact, I have more than 100 games on steam and 80% of those are playable on the deck, at least!
While the Steam Deck is double the upfront cost of a switch, With just 5-6 switch games it will cost the same as my deck. Also I will need to rebuy a lot of games that I already enjoy on pc for the switch, like Skyrim (happy todd noises).
I love my steamdeck because it's comfortable and basically wide open for customization. Had a couple junk emulation handheld devices before the deck, always had odd hardware/firmware issues. The emulation community basically went all in on this hardware/os and it's in a great place. For emulation alone this thing is a staple now in the community, it's here to last. PC games are just a bonus 😂
People say the steam deck is not worth it. This kinda hurts my feelings, because for I had a blast with that machine for the last 12 months. I had so much fun. Money can't buy that.
And I think people can still have a similar experience with the deck now.
You can play Starfield on it. Something that Bethesda deemed to be not possible on the ps4. And still it running on deck ...
The device is cheap, the games are cheap, you can easily upgrade/repair it and valve is standing behind it. They do their best to give us the best experience on that power level. This is outstanding. Admirable...
That being said ... I got myself a Rog ally and I love that machine too 😅
I agree with you, you can't anticipate the fun the deck brings
Me and every friend that owns one has tried it, went "alright cool", put it aside for a lil while and then got back into it. After that break, we used it as our main device ever since.
It's lovely, fun, good enough and just works
The ROG is better
I have had mine for over a year and have played the absolute living christ out of the steam deck. Gives me so much time to game where otherwise I wouldn't with a full time job and family. The backlog I had once given up on has had a massive chunk taken out of it.
Thoughts on steam deck OLED?
Had it for one full year and after escaping the switch-only ecosystem, had time to explore and enjoy all those timeless/legendary last gen titles too powerful for the switch like Death Stranding, Apex Legends, Resident Evil 2+3, Monster Hunter World and The Outer Worlds, as well as open me up to TONS of incredible indie games ive never heard of before!
This was the entry level PC I've been dreaming of. I finally feel like me and my group of friends are IN SYNC with what games we can all play, now that we don't have to pay some ridiculous online subscription for multiplayer 🍻
I've had my Steam Deck for 13 months and it allowed me to get so much more gaming done. I was beating games left and right. It's also a god tier emulation machine. PS2 and PS3 performance is fantastic on this thing.
It is starting to fall behind a bit though. Some recent games have looked a little too ugly for me to want to play on the Steam Deck. Games like RE4 Remake and Lies of P.
They're still 100% playable but I ended up going back to my PC for most releases this year.
I'd buy a new Steam Deck model in a heartbeat, hoping that announcement is right around the corner. The current size is an issue but I do find it comfortable at least.
Careful when comparing colors on the Switch OLED and VibrantDeck. By default, the Switch OLED is set to "Vivid" colors and yields unaccurate boosted colors. Once set to "Standard", color accuracy is much closer to reference and this is what you should be comparing it to using VibrantDeck.
I agree very much with you in the size argument. I have rather large hands and no problem with grip, however the weight of the device bothers me. It is especially noticable when lying in bed and trying to play something. My arms get sore pretty quick and I have to change positions frequently. Using a Switch afterwards makes you appreciate the low weight of it a lot more. I always ask myself, is there any way (and even if it involves black magic) to reduce the weight, or at least felt weight of the deck? It is the only thing holding me back from using it a lot more.
First time I've seen your channel, but this was an excellent and succinct video. Keep up the excellent work!
Thank you so much! 🙇♂️
Thank you for sharing, I recently got my steam deck and I enjoying every bit of it
Thank you for commenting 🙂
my deck did that once, googled some stuff and reset it 18 times and it came back alive and worked great since
I bought this through a friend from France (in CH too) for my daughter and she gets great use out of it! Good video!
Thank you! 🙂
Just received my deck 3 days ago and must say... It looks like the only way forward for the gaming industry, is a true delight for these hands to hold.
Thats true. Home gaming will die out, especially desktop gaming with a mouse and keyboard
@@SWOTHDRA I love my Steam Deck, but desktop gaming won't die out. Portable gaming may become enough for most people, but there will always be a niche wanting the higher performance ceiling of non-portable hardware, the large number of bindings you can only do with keyboards (important for flight sims), and large screens. There are a large number of games I've ruled off of playing on my Deck because the experience is too much of a downgrade from my desktop PC.
Thanks for sharing your RMA story again.
Ive been waiting in a out of region county and had enough. Very likely making a OLED purchase this week
Just something point out, the saturation can be done on any LCD screen, heck I can even do that on PSvita. So the key advantage of OLED is the contrast and the pure blacks which CANNOT be done on a LCD due to it having a backlight
Great editing skills and story telling!! loved the recap! greetings from the land of cheese and chocolate and TAXES 🧀🧀
I've got cerebral palsy and sometimes my back hurts. So Steam Deck gives me the opportunity to play while lying on the couch, streaming the picture from the main PC to its display via Sunshine and Moonlight. Plus I've started playing games from my backlog that have been untouched for a long time. Best purchase I've ever made in my life I think. Thank you Valve, AMD and other Linux community users for investing in Open Source to improve the Linux gaming experience.
Best gaming purchase I've ever made. $400 for a handheld that, with $25 in cables I could quickly hook it to my gaming monitor and then unplug and continue at work. This alone would be worth the price.
But it's EmuDeck that makes this the best tech purchase ever.
If Steam Deck had Windows instead of Linux, I’d consider it buying. Recently I learned that some games ban your account for installing it on steam deck (like genshin impact) because it’s a Linux. Steam Deck is an amazing product at an amazing price, but relying only on Steam platform limits the infinite PC games library that it could run. Also my country doesn’t have official support of Valve.
I was considering between buying an Asus Rog Ally and RTX 3050 laptop. But after considering much, I think a laptop would be better.
I got my Steam Deck 3 months ago and so far I'm pretty happy with it. Before, the only thing I had to play games on was a switch and the Deck enabled me to get to play some games I knew were good but that just weren't available to me before. It has it's little kinks here and there but all in all I'm just happy that I didn't have to invest in a whole gaming rig and am still able to play most high end games on it. The portability is another bonus, especially for a switch owner :)
I love the idea of being able to play on the move. Play while laying in bed without having the laptop heating me or moving it every time I have to get up. For me the steam deck is out of my price range for now. But it seems like the perfect system.
Nice video! I love the quality of your video. The overall feel and aesthetic looks soo clean and classy. More power to you, Sir!
Thank you! 🙂
Also, in regards to the dbrand case, I'll add that the material they used for the grips is rough. The feel of it reminds me of that anti-scratch, abrasive foam stuff some folks would spray onto their truck beds. My hype for this case (which I had just spent $75 on) was instantly curtailed once I touched it, it felt so awful. So, if you're sensitive to those kinds of things like I am, just be warned.
On the contrary, I loved mine, the grips were a selling point because I need textured grips on my devices. Definitely makes it heavier though
@@varaqua Well, that's you, my warning was geared towards those who hate such things.
Apart from Nintendo Switch exclusives, this handheld replaced my Switch for good in any other departments.
Weird
Overly long? Oh heck no! Just the right length and excellent pacing to boot. Your voice is very soothing yet not boring and certainly not monotone. Content was well delivered and very even handed - good balance between what you liked and didn't like about the Steamdeck as well as some good experiential observations i.e. Steamdeck is large and chunky for trying to carry it everywhere and the lack of accommodating carrying options or fiddly things you have to do when docking it. I've only had my Steamdeck for a little over a month and really like it so your observations and suggestions are excellent advice for how to proceed. I just subscribed to your channel and look forward to more. Ciao for now and keep up the awesome work.
Thank you so much! 🙂🙇
Love your videos! I'd watch any video you'd make about the Steam Deck OLED and the Nuphy Air V2 lineup. Just bought these and I am curious to hear your take on the improvements
Thank you so much! 🙂 The Switch OLED sure is tempting to get 😅
This is a great video. My gaming laptop died about 7 years ago and i never bought a new one because i was broke at the time. When i did have money i just couldnt justify buying a new one since i already had a ps4 with alot of games and also felt like it would be waste because i wasn't gonna use the pc side of it at all. I really missed all the games you could play on steam compared to ps. And also all the sales. This is a great combination of pc and console gaming. Hopefully it goes on sale for black friday. If not ill still buy it
I travel the road most of the year, the Steam Dexk has been a god send. So freaking awesome
My X,Y,B buttons are loose af like you shake the deck and they rattle 😅😢
wow man, i really like your smooth style of editing and all your fonts u use!!!! And wtf, you have only 19k subs? Man, you deserve a million mininum!
Thank you so much, working on getting more subs 😅
7:00 So it fits in the top.
I bought a Steam Deck a few months ago. I bought it to play games on the go, as more as a hobby toy then anything. I think its really great. Its basically a GameBoy for adults. As far as this thing being your only gaming kit, I think if you are a hard core triple A game gamer that likes 1st person shooters you won't use this. Its plays all the older games great but newer games it struggles. I still love this for my older steam games and newer casual games like Dredge.
Honestly the "too big" arguement will fall on deaf ears to a person like me, who likes to take goddamn fight sticks on trips. "Ill just grsb another back back" i say
The steam deck can not replace your main console, but if you want to use this as a secondary device and appreciate portability you will enjoy it 100 percent. The real question is, when is the steam deck 2 coming out? How long will they support this version?
Hmm, I suspect those are RAM sticks perpendicular to the GPU block at 8:00. Have you moved your PC out of the Meshlicious? Or am I too eager to see another PC related video?
That is some knowledgeable observation 👏 it has been moved, there will be a video about it next month (I hope 🤔) but long story short, water leak and a fried mainboard 😬
@@CheeseTurbulence jeez. The things we do to make our PC cool, but they don’t always go our way.
It's always sad when electronics break to such issues.
But I'm certain it'll make for an interesting video, your project and videos have a very unique style, which is what draws me to the channel.
Thankfully I haven't had things outright break, but so many of my electronics were glitchy and hard to debug.
My PC for example has an APU with a weak memory controller, had to drop it's RAM speed from 3200MHz to 3000MHz to solve random and inconsistent crashes.
And my Unicomp New Model M keyboard, ooh boy does it have issues, both with the controller and matrix. Though I'm receiving a full warranty replacement on Monday.
The only thing that hasn't been giving me any trouble is my now 6 year old phone, which I am still using for this reason. Android 7 and all.
I recently lost all of my stuff in an apartment fire, including my high end gaming pc. After getting my life mostly in order, I bought another Steam Deck before any other gaming device. I love this thing and having access to my Steam library again after my life basically fell apart has been so amazing and really helps me feel like my life is more normal again
I love my steam deck, I've bought so many games over again because of the steam deck which I didn't think I would be doing but the portability and power made it so worth it
It has zero power tho....and what you mean buy games again, all your steam games carry over.......your lies are sad
@@SWOTHDRA 1. it has enough power for me to play most my games at 1080p including newer titles like Resident evil 4 remake 2.I play on multiple systems so I ended up repurchasing some games because console does not carry over to PC. Hope this clears things up 😁
I think he means games he bought from past consoles. Like for me, i own bf1 and bfv on ps4, and i just recently rebought them on steam for steam deck (which runs pretty good to me)
@@mikereyes2488 That's probably the biggest reason I never buy games for consoles outside the odd used exclusive now and then. Console games only last for the life of the console. Backwards compatibility isn't guaranteed. The only way you'll lose Steam games is if Valve dies, and that probably won't ever happen outside all of society collapsing. Games you buy now will still work for the Steam Deck 2, 3, etc.
@@SWOTHDRAzero power? 😂😂 It's a hand held console that plays red read redemption 2 and any other game you can imagine. What are you on?
I hold my steam deck like a stuffed animal while I sleep.
That case is solid, I also just leave it in bed and occasionally grab onto it lmao
Having held one, its too big for me to actually take anywhere. Id just use it at home. I do want one, but would probably only get it if they made a smaller version
Just got mine, such a great portable gsme comsole! ❤
high quality content as always!
Thank you 🙏 🙂
The size is a very real concern, at least for me... But fortunately it's my only gaming console. So i don't have to take it anywhere to be worth it for me. I don't own any other gaming consoles or gaming PCs. I have macbooks and while yes the gaming scene is getting MUCH better now with game porting toolkit, it's still not anywhere near as complete as the selection available on the steamdeck.
Basically, the deck stays docked on my TV and that's where it is played. I play baldurs gate on my mac because it can play it at maxed out rez, but everything else is played on the steamdeck. Gaming sure is great right now and getting better every day. it's a wonderful time to be alive.
Yup desktoo x86 gaming is gonna die soon. Cant wait till AMD switches to ARM like Nvidia and kill desktop gaming
Ordered my deck on the 20th still waiting for it but just had an update it's leaving the Netherlands and should I'm hoping be in the UK Saturday
Can't really call it a portable handheld if you need to carry a battery pack around to keep it from dying after 2 hrs.
My PSP Go was so ahead of its time 13 years ago. Futureproof you could call it. Battery lasted all day. Allowed bluetooth ps3 gamepad integration and headphones. 64gb micro sd storage. And it fits in your damn pocket.
I play it on the way to work, during my lunch hr, and on the way home, dock it like a switch and continue playing on my tv with a ps3 gamepad. Did that routine during the entire 2010s.
13 years and that sucker is still going strong. Aside from the 3 batteries ive replaced in its lifetime, its my perfect portable emulator. 6+hr battery life with an entire PSP, PS1, SNES, NES, and arcade cabinet library to boot.
Modern handhelds look interesting, but they turn into bricks way too quickly for the job they're advertised to do. At least if my GO dies, i just stick it back in my pocket and continue throughout the day.
I had a PSP Go as well and never knew there was a dock for it 🤯
Swiss guy getting the cheapest deck, I suddenly don't feel so poor anymore :D Great vid!
It's been an amazing couple of years or so, almost 2 years. I am starting to run into some issues with games I want not working, like Returnal, Lords of the fallen, starfield, and Remnant 2. I'm going to get the Legion Go, but keep the deck since it is still a masterpiece of a handheld.
all of your example games should run, albeit with low fps, on the deck according to protondb
Nice "mixed bag" video, and I too tend to leave my Deck at home too often. 😅
I still have the very same opinion as day one though:
- The APU isn't powerful enough, and not just because development got delayed by two years. It probably should have 6 cores, not just 4, but the real issue is the GPU which should be 1080p level and not just 720p for both those who use it on 1080p but most notably to have a bit of buffer - min. performance levels required haven't changed much since 2015, and likely won't in the near future either, but barely reaching them from the get-go is a mistake. As it is, it needs active community and Steam / Valve support, possibly including developments kits and titles, to keep it alive.
- Hall Effect Sensor Joysticks should have been provided from the start.
- The Deck should have been designed for docking, and with USB-C + PCIe 8x + SATA at that. This way you could do quick switching in between console and PC mode, possible even with a different OS and an eGPU. The dock should also have added to the cooling to allow for the Deck to run full power in desktop mode. Sure you could argue that the Deck is a console, but I still feel it a waste that despite being to close to cover both console and PC mode they fell short due to simply connectivity.
- The Deck should not have used multiple partitions since it wastes available space, and especially not using BTRFS due to its sensitivity in case of a crash / low power hard shutdown.
- The Linux provided should have come with a "limited rights safe" user account / profiles if switching to desktop mode, that only provided access to standard applications and options, while allowing adding full multiple full-rights accounts / profiles using chroot. This way the Deck is protected against accidental OS damage, but still provide all features and options instead of the mixed one account bag you have now.
- The display used it wasting space especially regarding its borders.
- There is enough free space for bigger form factor M.2 SSDs. Only allowing the small ones limits capacity and drives the price up - a bad concept, since many switched theirs out.
8:06 I love how you started using your computer like a some Playstation 1 NPC, in the background, there
(or... More precisely... Like characters while hacking in X-perts on megadrive)
i'll be honest, i had originally invested in a Steam Deck mainly because I just really like getting new tech stuff. I just think its fun to see and mess with new technology, but i really had little to no plans to USE the deck. Now i have to fight back against taking it with me everywhere, and I find every free moment I get to just pull out my deck and play some fun little games. I love it, and it surprisingly became something I just really like and care for now.
GE Proton is almost a requirement to add non steam games, and Valve does support this going so far as to give instructions on getting it and some of the games going. I love that I can play the non steam FFXIV relatively easily without worries.
Great video, really enjoyed it.
Thank you so much 😊
For me the deck has actually been mostly an at-home device. There's a bit of on-location play like waiting for an appointment or at a coffee shop, but very little on buses and trains. It's not a size thing I think I'm just focused or anxious during travel
It's a great couch/bed machine, including some local streaming from the pc
The deck is fantastic. We owe it for creating and drivinbg this segment :D
I found the Steam Deck's size and battery life to be a deal breaker as well. I don't have a constant insatiable desire for mobile gaming. I have a solid desktop setup and when I'm on the go it's because I have something else I'm going to want to be present for. The few times I need a distraction, I can get by with my phone or a small-inexpensive retro-handheld. If I really think I'm going to need extended portable gaming, I'll bring my Switch which lasts 2-3 times longer and is much more portable... or a laptop/tablet with a gamepad which is a better experience in most regards. I've struggled to find a use case that justifies the Deck for me.
On my last long flight, I brought a tablet (with a cover-stand) and controller. I was gaming / watching videos the entire time without issue. A passenger with a deck (one of the few I've seen in the wild) seemed to get eye / arm / neck fatigue pretty quickly (like ~40 min) and just went the rest of the six hours without anything. If he had been playing an intensive AAA title without a battery bank, his time would've been only a few minutes longer than that anyways (he could use the seat charger, but the low watt warning would keep popping up). I'm glad others are enjoying them. For me it's a solution to a problem I don't have. It's still a stellar piece of kit and industry impact, but I've fallen into the "yeah, I'm not bringing it" loop you describe.
I ran into that scenario as well (the Deck scenario on the plane) it's heavy alright, without constantly resting on the tray table, it quickly becomes unbearable over time.
Big chunky battery solves the power problem but I also have an iPad and sometimes envy the playtime time I get out of it 😅
As a parent of two little ones (4y and 1y old), I'm seriously considering getting one, stopped playing my library and even sold my gaming pc like 3 years ago, and I want to take advantage of my 400+ game library, my wife also used to play, now the little we have is like 40 or so minutes at night, possibly with the baby while getting him to sleep... Yes, Steam Deck is the option for us. Thanks for the video.
For me, it’s a life saver. I have college during the day and work at night so playing games, even just for an hour without having to boot up my pc, is perfect.
great video a lot of effort went into this wishing you success
Thank you 🙂
I've got my deck last year in june and I've seperated my library into a desktop and a deck section
And I'm just switching between the two depending on what I want to play, or when there are evenings where the kids aren't sleeping to good, I don't want to leave my desktop running, the deck got that super cool sleep option
And biggest advantage is portability in the house and garden
I just love it and I'll get the Deck 2 for sure
Same, i made a category titled 'deck' and put side scrollers in it, action adventure, jrpgs, even some shooters and stealth games like postal 2 and metal gear solid 5, and all the games im emulating
I got mine literally yesterday, and it downloads steam for set up perfectly, but then it keeps failing to install. I can't get past the set up phase...
I own every console (Series X, PS5, Switch) and a beefy gaming PC. My Steam Deck is, by far, my most played device. I just love it.
I'm definitely gonna pick one up one day as I currently don't own a laptop and having a steam deck and portable monitor + a mouse and keyboard will be the solution I've been waiting for, for both productivity and gaming. (In a portable sense)
I have the Steam Deck solely for emulation and an Asus Rog Ally for AAA gaming. Been loving them both!
With the fact that I basically don’t play any new games anymore, it’s great for the backlog and the games I always dreamed of having on the go. Big ups for the trackpads for things like the Sims 2 or Tropico. The OLED would be a pleasant albeit hard to justify upgrade
@ 7: 00 just get a thinner case or a hardshell case with a front cover to make it fit. The default Steam Deck is bulky as it is. For the charger, I would bring a 65W charger with 2-3 cables for the Steam Deck, phone and other junk.