Gardiner Bryant !!!! What you are talking about when you speak about 45w consumption on 6800u!!!! when it runs exactly the same TDP-s as Valve's one ! then Take for example Aokzoe it has 65k vs deck 40k batt .6800u can run Callisto for 3 hours + on medium settings dx12 or Witcher 3 for 5 hours + Im sorry but here i will not agree like at all
@@bobhardy5010 Agreed, I'd like some clarity on that claim, as well as the resolution claim. Unless I'm mistaken, there's only 2.25x as many pixels on a 1080p vs 720p, so are we comparing OLED? What is that comparing when it says it uses 1/4 the power?
Just a small correction: The deck uses 5500 MT/s lpddr5 and the 6800u can support up to 6400 if using lpddr5, the 4800mhz is for regular ddr5 sodimms, which iirc is a limitation on the memory kits themselves due to distance.
@@Stong1337 Me too. I regret it to have sold my old Gameboy Advanced SP only because I thought I won't need it anymore. While that's true, because of emulation, these are great nostalgic collector items.
That pretty much never happens , good products retain their value , the new one was will be priced higher , so the old one will stil have a market niche
As a steam deck owner who is continually confused with my own opinion of the device, I appreciate the concise delivery of your points, I share many myself. The deck, a console for pc-enthusiasts, really fits a niche that seems impossible to many, and I feel a bit better about my purchase every time I pick mine up.
The main thing that slightly irritates me is Steam Deck's WiFi-5 isn't connecting to my WiFi-6 router at full speed... not sure how much that mismatch contributed to a few internet multiplayer disconnects. Otherwise, it's a little weak to dock into a full desktop replacement but still does well for the price.
EXACTLY my sentiments, Gardiner. Thanks so much for being our voice for the rational PC gamers crowd lol. Been enjoying my Deck since last July! I've been dreaming of a device like this for more than 30 years!
I'm 44 years old and dreamed the same way as you SteamDeck I started to see it on youtube and because I was from Steam I was amazed but I had a passion for AYA NEO NEXT But the AYA NEO NEXT is too expensive so I got some money and bought a SteamDeck with a face and courage I took it yesterday and I'm perplexed how beautiful it is perfect in the hand and the image is more than acceptable the system is unreal I don't even think about putting the windwos This portable is great when the 2nd most powerful model comes out, it's over for all competitors now it's knowing how to cool it so that it lasts a long time because it's a portable
@@johnnymonsters9717 Exactly so am I, as I said I got this portable because it's cheaper and because it's from ( VALVE A Steam ) but now I've created a problem for myself As I will get used to others because I don't see any portable that compares to this one and this INCREDIBLE system will be difficult for me to change this Steam deck for another portable Even if others appear to be a little better because much better I don't think they will be
Good stuff. You've broken through to the core of the matter. I'm an upgrading PC gamer, but the Deck isn't just another gaming PC, it's a fixed target for developers for years ahead. It's a better mix of console rigidity and PC flexibility than I'd ever thought I'd see. And to echo your desire about TB4/USB4 - YES PLEASE. I usually use my Deck as a handheld, but I'd love to be able to dock it into an EGPU and play 4K on a big screen. Steam Link gaming has been fun for family gaming in the loungeroom, but it's really only okay for cinematic and low graphics games. Streaming lag and scaling up to higher resolutions for TVs have restricted us to pretty but slow games, like Flower and Dorfromantik.
My biggest complaint to the battery is actually not its capacity. Yes, more battery life would be great but I think more important in the long run is that it's glued into the device. I think that is a really big flaw. I would appreciate it much more if the next Steam Deck iteration comes out with a replaceable battery than with a higher capacity or a better screen. Because in the end batteries killing themselves over time is the worst factor with handheld gaming for a long time... and I could already replace any other part without too much hassle. But replacing a glued in Lithium battery... that's not something I'm looking forward too.
Honestly a really good suggestion. Technically, it can be replaced already as the parts are available, just with great difficulty. Silver lining is that if you replace it once, you never have to unglue it again.
Remember when phones had replaceable batteries? If they could do that with the next Steam deck it would be amazing. Imagine if the Deck itself had a small internal battery instead that made it possible to hot swap a battery while playing 🤯
@Bryan Kirckof There are reasons that everybody moved to internal only batteries, and they hold true for the steam deck more than ever. And if you wanted to hot-swap WHILE playing, then you'd either need to be plugged in or or have 2 separate batteries + the added complexity that comes with that.
@@SolidSt8Dj There are excuses, the only actual reason for smartphones is planned obsolescence... because lack of system updates after a year or two was not enough of an incentive for a lot of people.
@Micromation To say that the only reason for non-replaceable batteries is planned obsolescence is laughably naive because otherwise, some companies would still have them. But none of them do, because otherwise they could not compete in the market. And for a lot of companies, planned obsolescence was just a nice (for them) side-effect.
Imagine if they released the parts and they would fit in the current iteration. They could potentially do it with the Mobo too. Even if it would require some light to mid level modding I could see it making everyone in the ecosystem happy.
That's exactly what I was thinking. You want a more vibrant display which eats more battery because you use it as a couch PC? Done. More battery? There's lots of nothing on the back of the deck, someone could make a bigger battery pack with an exoticly shaped new back. Maybe that will solve the issue when you want to let go for a moment of your deck, and by putting it on the counter you press a trigger.
@@lennethwemyss3713 I would really love a bigger battery. For me it's being able to upgrade, mod or repair that has the appeal. I don't want to wait 10+ years for the deck to become retro and then get all the stuff then we want now. It does a lot great now and I'm in no rush for a new iteration. If I have to play a demanding title I'll do it on my PC but for most of the games I always circle back to the deck has me covered.
@@ronhorne4930 i mean if you're knee deep in electronics and have a 3d printer, nothing forbids you to get a big battery pack, mod the original steam deck chassis which is available as a 3d model directly from valve, slap the two togheter and maybe even give it a separate usbc port for charging. Or maybe implement the dock itself inside the chassis with a kickstand. If you have the skills, the freedom available is mind boggling 🤯
@Shaggy Rogers upgrading the whole motherboard will be costy imho, but anything screwed to it is already interchangeable :D planning to get spare sticks and trigger assemblies in advance, you never know!
What I would really like to see on a steam deck 2 is a second USB-C port on the bottom of the deck, some smaller bezels, an increase in battery life and a better cooling solution but the same SOC.
I see your point and a second is port would be welcome. I don't however think that it's quite as advantageous without USB 4 which would require a new chip. As for bezels - nice to look at but don't matter when you play because the controllers are already attached on the end and there's lots of attachments. Battery comes with weight. Would be useful but you can only go so far
@Irken Armada We currently have 2tb 2230 ssds and 1tb micro sd cards, plus whatever external storage you want. If you need more than that on a handheld, just do cloud streaming or local streaming.
I'm very happy with the steam deck. I don't want a new one, when it comes to it I just want parts to upgrade. If they can manage that i'll be over the moon. But for now most of my backlog is from before 2017.
Out of curiosity are you saying that you bought the games before 2017 or that the games just came out before 2017? There's so many old video games that people should go back and play If they can get their hands on them.
@@bland9876 Most of the games I've bought/ intend to play are from 2017 and before. I have a few games like Valhalla that I do play on the deck but that's an outlier.
Great points Gardner. The main problem with the screen is not that it is not OLED. It's the fact that it is 68% of the Wide Color Gamut. The OG Switch has Full Color Gamut. That is the reason for the muted colors. So even if it was Full Gamut LCD it would be a large improvement. That is were Valve made the largest comprise.
i disagree. i'd prefer a narrow gamut oled than a wide gamut lcd. i can tolerate the muted colors but the black shine pisses me off a lot when playing dark games, specially but not exclusive at night.
You said it best. If I plan on using a device like this for years to come, what's another year of waiting for something ever so slightly better if I haven't discovered my need for the product yet.
I'm working on a graphics array standard that uses 1280x800 as its base resolution - delighted to know the Steam Deck will display everything perfectly. Long live 800p!
The Steam Deck is the single best decision I've made in terms of gaming in the past 10 years. The second best decision was the Switch. Both devices boosted the amount of gaming I could squeeze into my daily life by magnitudes. The Steam Deck's only shortcoming to me is the missing eGPU support. If it had a better exposure we would've already seen docks with dedicated hardware that would make the Steam Deck a Switch on Drugs that could run present games at 4k. But I am sure the Steam Deck 2 will have that feature and I am looking forward to seeing Valve further pushing Proton, Performance, Linux Gaming Support for the best of GAMING in general. This little devices it the most excited I've been for gaming to grow beyond the tired Windows/Console model. This could the beginning of a true Open Platform gaming future, if the Deck continues to sell.
Think the amount of software and performance improvements we've seen is just the tip of the iceberg. Linux performance can be improved a looot more and especially on one hardware only. Looking at stuff like FSR(which isn't on the level of DLSS yet but getting there). I am sure we'll see Ray Tracing in the near future on the Deck.
@@azraeihalim It's not worth it with games that target gaming desktop PC hardware, but it may be great when making effects tailored to the Deck's capabilities.
In my opinion we can simplify the definition of a console. I'd say whatever device you boot up and always go a "Game Library UI" like Steam Deck's UI, or in a laptop I go only and directly to some Big Picture Mode or GOG Galaxy, or if I have a small RPi box and always boot it up into EmulationStation. That's a Console. The fact that it's a PC just because you have a "Restart to Desktop" option is just an additional feature of the console.
I think that Valve has done amazing work with support so far. Hopefully, Valve can squeeze systemwide FSR 2.2 somehow before iterating on the hardware. I found out that most games running at 1152x720 can be used with FSR with little visual impact with good gain to battery life
I can't go so far as to say I am the ideal demographic for what Valve had in mind with the Steam Deck, but I'm dang close if I'm not. I've been on console for decades, using my PC for photo and video editing as well as surfing the web. I fell in love with the portability and form factor of the Switch. When the Steam Deck announced I lost my mind. Prayers were answered! Here it is now, and I love my Deck. So much so I now even have a custom gaming PC as well because I found the ecosystem and form factor so inviting. I have increased my Steam library from two games to a lot of games, and I get to play them anywhere thanks to the Deck. Two months ago I was on my Switch and I was happy with the performance. The Steam Deck does everything that did, but better. I sit on the couch playing RDR2 while my wife hogs the tv with the PS5 and I love every second of it. There are people that will never be happy and that's okay. I am happy as long the hardware can do what I want it to do. I don't care about specs, I care about results. And the Deck definitely gives results.
This video made me finally push the trigger on the Steam Deck. As someone who’s not big on PC specs I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to play games that come out in a year or two from now. Even if I can’t though, I’m gonna order a steam deck now and I’m gonna enjoy the hell out of it!
The 800P is the magic number for steam deck. If it was 1080P or even 900P, I think it would have struggled with a lot of games at higher settings. Right now with the help of Proton GE you can run Elden Ring at high setting from top to bottom for around 40 to 60 FPS. It's perfect for handheld gaming as it is.
@Arty S OK so playing at 4k native would also be better no? Most people with the Steam deck drop res or cap frame rate or do something depending what game they play. I'm sorry but a screen with 67% gamut can not be better natively than something with 100 gamut and deep blacks and 1080p screen even if you drop that screen the to the 800.
I think the Steam Deck 2 will just be more modular and easier to switch things out. The internal SSD will have a simple panel to unscrew and switch out, the analogues could maybe be hot swapped and a official extra battery case that behaves like a regular case grip but comes with a battery built in that needs to be plugged in via the type c port. Simple things like that. Could maybe even have an eventual OLED model.
Just read this article yesterday and I really like your take on the deck. I wish I could've bought it already but living in Brazil doesn't make anyone's life easier. I hope steam deck becomes the new standard for gaming experience and gets external GPU support so that I can replace my PC without a second thought. I'm really happy I found your channel and love the content. If this becomes the dawn of definitive Linux gaming that's gonna be awesome. Steam Deck is paving the way to the "click and done" mentality Linux needed and contributing to bring the attention of devs and users to Linux. I'd love to transition all the way without needing Windows and Proton is making it easier by the day.
@@revmaillet Even if it does, it will be significantly more expensive due to import duties and taxes. Brazil has some crazy prices on everything but electronics specifically stands out.
I mean I'm pretty happy with current Deck, the question is whether or not Valve can keep the momentum and keep pushing to finally move industry onwards from stagnating on what appears to be a 20 years old, obsolete gamepad design. The only things I would change in the Deck is just make it slightly bigger to allow accommodating up to 2280 form factor SSDs, USB4 implementation to be able to expand Docked performance, more readily available ports in general (1 full sized USB and additional USB-C 3.2gen2 on separate USB controller would go a long way so these are not stealing bandwidth from USB4), bigger and better cooling solution and screen with smaller bezels or OLED. Ergonomically Deck is spot on for the most part, the only thing that I would improve upon are back paddles - they are the way they are to keep the silhouette of the device small but I would prefer actual protruding paddles rather than buttons that are incorporated into the grip. Edit: oh and also minor complaint about trackpads, they lack points of reference so you need muscle memory to use them effectively - it would be nice if they could give it slightly concave profile and add some faint grove pattern, just keep the overall shape square as it is right now. Also, maybe instead of USB4 we could get actual PCIe x8 gen4 or x4 gen5 interface with compact plug for docking station - that would much better solution for eGPU specifically. USB/Thunderbolt impose 20% overhead right of the bat on your eGPU performance and throwing even last gen GPUs you start noticing that 32GB/s of TB4 is just not enough compared to twice of that of gen4 PCIe.
Hall effect joysticks/oled 800pscreen/1TB storage would be an interesting variant. Especially since these new parts would eventually be available as tested replacements to replace/upgrade parts in existing decks.
Great points Gardiner. Many budget PC gamers only upgrade every 5 or more years nowadays, and that's to enable truly new gaming experiences. A twenty or thirty percent bump in performance you'd get from getting the latest cpu or gpu every couple years is not (pun intended) game changing. That is another point in favor of Steam Deck as a console - a new generation comes out only when chip making tech, storage, and connectivity make a noticeable leap. When the next gen Deck does come out, I'd expect to see a new SoC on 3 nanometer or better tech that enables two or three times the cpu and gpu performance with better battery life. If Valve pairs that with a brighter, more vibrant screen (not bigger as Gardiner astutely reasoned), better connectivity (USB4, wifi 6E), and cool accessories like a storage dock, Steam Controller 2, or more, they'll have a winner on their hands.
Speaking of battery life one way to extend the battery life especially since the steam deck charging cord isn't very long is to use a slower charger with a really long cable. I was playing a video game that said I would get over 4 hours of estimated battery and when I plugged in a regular 5 volt 2 amp charger it said 6 hours of battery. The deck was at over 80% charge. The important thing I'm trying to mention is that if you have a USB battery and you're out and about somewhere you're going to have to plug the USB battery in when the deck is at say 50% or higher rather than waiting for it to be almost dead and then trying to use the power off the battery because the percentage will still go down if the batteries weak enough and therefore it'll just die without you getting to actually play any longer.
Instead of a steam deck 2, I'd much rather have a stand alone steam deck controller. The control options on the deck are second to none and I'd love to have them when on the couch or my desktop PC, too!
But....that's not at all what anyone is talking about because that's a completely separate thing. That's like saying you don't want a car you want a drone, but everyone is talking about cars. A new steam controller is in the works - just be patient.
I think it's important for people to consider the context when comparing different devices. In the case of the Steam Deck, it's worth noting that Valve is renowned for its meticulous play testing, almost like a religious practice. This dedication to testing is evident in the numerous prototype iterations that preceded the device's release, resulting in a well-designed piece of hardware. You might wonder why Valve didn't opt for an OLED display or why the device is relatively large compared to traditional handheld console. It would have been foolish for them to dive headfirst into the unknown without fully grasping the intricacies of the handheld market. So by tailor picking specific hardware, Valve was able to refine and perfect the essential aspects of handheld gaming, such as battery life, control of APU power, screen size and cooling system which successfully incorporates them all into its design while making it comfortable to use. Most bleeding edge handheld out there which is more powerful than the deck are facing more issues/limitations because of it's high specs and design choice.
Spot on. it is an extremely vocal but SMALL minority who generally have very little knowledge about hardware... The Steam Deck APU is still state-of-the-art line in terms of performance/watt at 1-10W... Nothing can compete with it. Especially not the 6800U (which is ultimately a power hungry laptop-APU), it can only edge ahead at 13W or above but it performs A LOT worse at lower wattage. Personally I could see myself using the Steam Deck for 10 years without a problem. My desktop GPUs generally last 6 or more years in my main rig, and then they get handed down in the family. I still play on my old Radeon HD7870 together with my partner on her living room PC. We play multiplayer titles like Overcooked 2, Gang Beasts, Huntdown, Streets of Rage 4, Portal 2, Tetris Effect, Dirt 3 etc. Most games run at 4K at solid framerates, other than that we play a lot of emulation as well. This card is 12 years old by now, but is still awesome, and VERY usable for that specific use case. :)
@@prometheus9096 Thanks mate. Yeah I feel the same way. And to be fair, GPU generations are usually 2 years apart and seldomly offer more than a 20% performance improvement per dollar (nowadays it's often a 0% improvement due to the recent price hikes) 😰. In my view you really need to increase performance levels by 60-100% to actually get a meaningful upgrade. Especially since the majority of games people own these days run perfectly fine on any dedicated mid-range GPUs (like indies, as well as that massive backlog of games we should all invest time in). It's only the latest AAA that keep pushing limits. But question is, do we REALLY have to play those games right now? or can they wait just 2 years or so? It's better for the environment, our wallets, and ultimately GPU pricing as a whole... Sure, I would be fine with increased computer part prices if it meant: - a sustainable electronics industry - better work environments for workers - better pay for workers - materials sourced from fair/green certified partners - repairable and fixable. But we all know that increased pricing doesn't result in that, it only results in massive profits for the already wealthy elite, which sucks, and is one of the reasons why I only buy/upgrade stuff intentionally, trying to reduce the strain on our world.
Good take. A friend is constantly checking out the newest and shiniest hardware, constantly crying when 6 weeks after a purchase, the next thing comes out that's 10% faster. Back in the 90ies :-D I made it a habbit to only check prices and what hardware exists, when I actually need something new, and I don't check the market after a purchase. I get what is available for the price I'm willing to pay, and I don't check before or afterwards, so I never had 2nd thoughts or bad feelings after a purchase.
For someone that is almost 40 and play games my whole life, and used to play game boy, psp, psvita and now switch (that now I’m selling) I’m pretty pleased with the deck and it didn’t even arrived yet, just for the fact that I can mod games, emulated games and play mostly of the AAA games and use as computer is a big plus. This kind of “console” for me is when I go out, travel or go to sleep in a family or friends house, so I have something to play, for me that is the purpose of this platform, at home I play ps5 or computer.
Any of you who are still complaining about the dulled-out native Deck screen: 1) Look up a tutorial on downloading Decky loader. Then do that. The entire process will take you less than ten minutes. 2) Use its built in plug in store and download the VibrantDeck plug in. 3) Set the saturation level to a balance you like. Don't go too low, or else why have it, but don't go too high or you'll start washing stuff out. I personally like the 125 - 130 range, but to each his/her/their own. This isn't changing you to an OLED experience, but it helps a LOT. If you haven't done this yet, go do it now, you won't regret it.
I agree with your statement about screen resolution. Personally, i think the steam deck is fine for what it is. I certainly won't be buying a "new version" of it anytime soon. AMD APU's work great as portable consoles! I dont forsee a big enough gap in APU technology this year or the next, that suddenly now all AAA games will run at a locked 60 fps on 1080p unless you put a dedicated gpu in there, and then battery life, size, heat and price would make this a product too expensive to be mainstream. Edit: from a PC MASTER RACE perspective, the steam deck was obsolete since before launch :D . Some people don't seem to understand they are looking at a handheld and start comparing their rtx 3080 powered fire breathing behemoths to a 15watt APU.... INsainity. I'll keep my steam deck and run many romhacked emulators, and rpg's for a long time to go. I am currently enjoying triangle strategy. great game!
Also The big thing that makes the SteamDeck and SteamOS good is that they give game developers a standardized platform to test against. As a developer you can optimize your game for a standardized platform as a big chunk of the marked would profit from that work, while it's extremely difficult to optimize performance of a game for everypossible combination of hardware parts and operating systems. The standardization of Steamdeck hardware and SteamOS operating system gives Valve an edge convincing developers to support their product! It would be a disadvantage to fragmentate the hardware so early. Steamdeck adoption needs to increase way more before a second steamdeck can be pushed on the marked.
My problem with the steam deck is that for me is the screen does not get bright or dark enough. I also wish the battery was a little better. My last complaint is not the steam deck itself but the fact that it is really hard to read text in games played on deck. I wish developers would think more about letting players control UI elements. That way we could choose how big to make text and menus.
Since everybody is always speculating about what features SD2 could have I will say that one which is almost never mentioned which I would love is a vapor chamber. I would love to have all heat producing components covered by a thin system of heatpipes which would allow everything to be nicely cool and for a fan to have direct access to air. It could be much slower and quieter by not being choked because it has to move air through the half of the SD's body.
Regarding the screen, Apple solved this a decade ago with the iPhone 4, with an IPS display with a high PPI, running at around 960x640. Even though it was that tiny resolution by today's standards, it looked absolutely gorgeous, even today. They should try and get more pixels in every inch, and it would look stunning.
Good take, I think people that suggest that it have a 1080p screen, etc. are misguided. Yes, on paper it should suck, but it doesn't. One thing that I would like for a potential successor would be: Better SoC (Zen4 and RDNA 3), more dynamic refresh rate on the display (from 30 -> 75hz), and better battery life. Other than this, it's honestly amazing. I also DON'T want a successor too quickly, Valve should find a middle ground between longevity/stability and continuing to perfect the Steam Deck, maybe every 3 years is a good cycle.
One thing tho, the fact u can expand via sd or,, you do it yourself with the ssd… you feel so rewarded. Yes, it’s scary..but it’s so worth it.. the steam means even more via, just buying it how it is. I would love a new screen that’s borderless that u can install or valve opens a bunch of pop up shops to upgrade ur steam deck. I do agree more ports n thunderbolt..would be sic.
I unfortunately am one of those gamers who is always looking towards the next big thing. I want higher res, more power, and a better display. Part of the problem is I have a 5900X, 7900 XTX, and play at 4K 120Hz. What I am used to is a vast departure from the deck. Don't get me wrong, I love my deck, but I would love to be able to play at 1080p due to how much sharper it is though I am fine with the 60fps. I don't want Valve to rush things so I'll be patient but I don't want to be I want it now. It's hard out there for a high end enthusiast.
Thank you, some people really don't get it with the screen res on mobile devices, it's a tech-noob trap. They would use a 4k 8" if they could, because higher is better, right? Nah, that's why I love 800p, because the PPI is high enough and I can play longer and with higher FPS. Even 1080p would be a waste on this screen size, given the downsides that come with it.
The only bad thing I've noticed about the screen and this isn't even that bad of a thing is that certain games when you play them in 800 p it zooms in on the screen rather than removing the black bars on the top and bottom so you still see the same amount of visual you would up and down but left and right you don't see as much as you would in 720p because 16x9 vs 16x10.
Some games stretch the image also. But that’s because of 16x10 not the resolution. Just play them at 16x9 But that’s honestly the reason I would want an OLED SteamDeck. Having those pixels turn off would make the experience much nicer
The Steam Deck never ceases to amaze me. Playing games like spider man and god of war feel no different than playing on a ps5. When docked, honestly the graphics are good enough to a point where I haven’t turned on the ps5 or series x. I bought zero games for those systems during the Christmas sales; I bought everything on steam instead. I recently built a massive rig with an Asus TUF oc 4090, 128gb ddr 6000 ram and intel 13900, with 3x 2tb Samsung 990 pro and one western digital 4TB 850x, call me crazy but I’m still playing games on the steam deck (docked to tv most of the time).
0:57 “are you going to compare the Steam Deck screen to any other?” Yes. People focus on screen quality on almost every generation of every device, so I would disagree about it being an unnatural thing to compare to other devices. When your tv, phone, and monitor are OLED, you definitely notice the inferior quality of the SD screen. I’m still really happy with my Deck and don’t have any other complaints, but the screen would be the one thing I’d love to see improved. If they were to offer a standalone OLED screen for current owners without having to replace the whole device, I’d jump on that in a heartbeat. But I agree with you that it’s not a dealbreaker and it definitely doesn’t make it obsolete. They had to cut costs on some components to hit that great $400 base price point. I think they’re now realizing there’s a good chunk of their customers willing to pay a little more for a better screen.
I hope that when the Steam Deck 2 (or pro or whatever) comes out, it's pretty much identical with the current one with these modifications: -Zen4 & RDNA3 -based new APU with 15W TDP -no-bezel 1080p screen, therefore much bigger in physical size. When combined with optimized new APU & heavy use of FSR, the new device should be able to run 1080p the same than the current one is doing 1280x800. If they can fit in OLED with decent price and power consumption, go for it. Beefier battery? Why not. Faster memory? Obviously. Bigger nvme SSD:s available? Inevitable. But all these are just bonuses for me. Bigger physical screen size is the thing I am really looking forward, with the newer, optimized AMD APU. Also while I like 16:10 screen, sadly many emulators have wide screen hacks only for 16:9, and emulators are important for my Steam Deck usage.
The OLED would also reduce my power consumption by a lot, since I emulate a lot and ~40% of the Pixels are black all the time when gaming. OLED wouldn't just improve colors, it would also improve battery life. So an 800p OLED would be an immense improvement.
0:28 The Switch has an OLED screen. It's a valid complaint and the comparison is apt so I'm confused why the Switch wasn't brought up as a comparison point. I'd be surprised if the next Steam Deck doesn't have an OLED screen as it's nearly the exact same form factor. In any case, that's literally my biggest complaint with the Steam Deck. I wouldn't mind it being smaller/lighter/more battery life too, but it's not really as big id a deal as the screen quality to me.
I agree with you completely. I use my hardware until a title comes along that I really want to play and doesn't really run on my machine anymore. Buying the latest hardware every year is done by people who simply have too much money. Let them do it, but I don't see the point. I think the Steam deck will get a successor in 3-4 years, but still be useful. I'm mega happy with my Steam deck and do not immediately scream for new hardware.
Power won't be changing, that's already been confirmed. Just like a normal console, it's meant to give devs a single platform to target for performance.
Working within the repair industry side of things, the screen upgrade complaints drive me crazy. One of the big things they pushed with steam deck is repair and screens are a big part of that. The bezels for this device's screen are actually reasonable to take it off without damage and not to mention installing a new screen. The industry is going towards paper thin OLED & AMOLED displays that are nearly impossible to remove because any amount of flex immediately cracks it. As a professional it's plausible to do with extensive practice and training, *if you hate your techs...* but the point of making the device repairable is you don't need a professional to do it if you don't want to. repair is a right not a requirement, even if it doesn't affect you personally you should still want it for those who do fix your stuff. I love an OLED display, don't get me wrong, but actually working hands on with the hardware there's so many issues with it that the consumer doesn't even know exists. Just try opening up your new iPhone 12/13/14 if you want a crash course. If you want to let the market take away your ability to work on a device then that's on you, but for me and many others this is very important.
Screen - Partially agree. I don't know if I'd say comparing the screen to a TV, monitor, or other devices is unnatural. In particular I think comparing to the Switch OLED is completely natural. But that just came out I think around the same time as the Deck, so to suggest the LCD screen is "obsolete" gets into hyperbole territory. Similarly, the 800p screen is fine, but it's hard to argue that 1080p wouldn't be better. It's good enough for now, not a massive problem like some suggest. But it's also probably the first thing that should be upgraded in some way, not several generations from now. Steam Deck 2 should have at least 1 of OLED or better resolution, and Steam Deck 3 should have both for sure. Battery - Never had an issue with it. It lasts long enough. If they can squeeze more capacity in the same form factor and same price point, by all means. If not, I don't care. Storage - I can see this being a problem. Personally 512G is plenty for me, and 256 probably would be as well. Base model really needs a bump to 128 though. Still, SD cards are a thing. Plus its not like you need to install every game in your library at the same time. I would like to see compatibility with the more common 2280 form factor rather than 2230. Companies are coming out with 2230 drives for the Deck, but they're still a niche product with less selection and I'm pretty sure worse pricing (haven't checked that in a while though). Expandability - 100% agreed. Hardware obsolescence - Agreed. Even if you ignore the "Steam Deck is a console, not a PC" argument, people really don't upgrade their PC every year. New hardware comes out, yes, but almost everyone only upgrades every 2-3 product cycles at most. That's what I expect from the Steam Deck. I've said it before, but I think the earliest we might see a Steam Deck 2 is 2025, with 2026 being more likely. I do think they should upgrade faster than typical console cycles though. 7-8 years is just too long, 4-5 is the sweet spot IMO.
Perfect argument. Bigger is not always better. I’d like to see hardware upgrades every 5 or so years but I’m not sure I’d ever want the screen higher res. Or at least not the next cycle
Honestly, no one is asking for a portable PS5, but I think getting something next year with Zen 4 or Zen 4+/5 with refined rDNA 3 or even 4 would be great. It'll have better battery life and adding OLED @ 90hz VRR would make it nice. Resolution is fine, battery size could be a bit bigger. Maybe have hall effect sensors instead of sticks that die quickly. Having an upgrade every 2 or 3 years for mobile devices makes sense and valve can work with devs to support the last 2 or 3 gens so a device can have between 4 to 9 years and with basic low level graphics indie games, probably longer. They should def do another custom core though but with 6 cores not 8. And have those 2 cores perform background tasks at low power and be full power when plugged in to a dock or something so you can turn up the physics settings.
I think the "it's obsolete if it's more than a couple of years old" mindset came from an earlier era when PC hardware was making huge leaps in capabilities. Sound cards going from non-existent to 8-bit mono, to 8-bit stereo, to CD quality 16-bit 44kHz stereo. Graphics cards going from VGA to SVGA and bringing in early 3D acceleration. CPU clock speeds making leaps and bounds from 33MHz with the 486DX to passing the 2GHz mark with the Athlon64 and moving from 32-bit to 64-bit and single-core to multi-core. But we don't live in that era any more. We haven't for a long time. Since about the late-2000s, things have settled down. While things are still improving, it's slower and incremental. The improvements in the hardware are smaller, and the increase in demands by software is also smaller. We just don't need to upgrade as often as we used to. I bought my current motherboard/processor/memory trio because the previous motherboard went up in smoke after six years of service, not because I found it was getting too slow. I haven't bought a new graphics card for the sake of getting an upgrade since going from a Geforce 6600 to a GTX285. All the cards I went through between that and my current GTX1070 died on me. The question is: will something come along that's demanding enough to force an upgrade, or will I just see something else die on me and get an upgrade as a side-effect of getting things working again?
This is a SteamDeck channel so I'm not here to troll. Your points are valid and the SteamDeck market is it's own thing--it's not trying to compete with more powerful gaming PCs. That said I plunked down $1 grand for a Win Max 2 and the experience leads me to question some of your arguments. 1. The screen. I absolutely agree with you re: anything 7" or smaller. Anything larger than that, though, more pixels are nice to have and they don't actually cause the harms you indicate. The key word here is *capacity*. Adding spec to the device doesn't mean you always have to run it at spec. It just means that you have choice. Hades will run on any potato at 1600p and will be mind blowing. I still play games at 800p on my Win Max 2 and while they are fine I do notice the pixels more. On the Steam Deck screen it's less of an issue. 2. The SoC. Same argument really. If I want to run the Win Max 2 at 15TDP I can and it will perform like a Steam Deck and I will get incredible battery life from the 67WHr battery. But sometimes I am plugged in and it's nice to crank things up a notch. The 680m in the Win Max 2 at 32+ Watts trades blows with a 1050 Ti, nothing mind blowing, but it does add to the number of titles that will play comfortably.
The screen really isn't great even for a non-oled. However the Vibrant Deck plug-in does a lot to help there. The fact that its an actual PC and not something with locked down firmware makes these type of mods possible and that's great.
I bought a SteamDeck with a face and courage I got it yesterday and I'm amazed how beautiful it is it fits perfect in the hand and the image is more than acceptable the system is unreal I don't even think about putting the windwos This laptop is great when the 2nd most powerful model comes out, it's over for all competitors now it's knowing how to cool it so that it lasts a long time because it's a laptop I really wanted an AYA NEO NEXT, but it was very expensive, I thought the SteamDeck was not good, but I was just mistaken, it is perfect in almost everything, the footprint, the system is unreal
Honestly only thing id change about the deck is the screen but only AND ONLY to fix the backlight bleed issues idc about resolution idc about the actual colors but i just want the backlight bleed that shouldn’t be on a 500$ device solved. For a deck 2 i feel like the easiest way to appease the bullshitters would be making a plug n play device. Basically swap all parts whenever you want such as battery ,storage, screen, ram, chipset. So they can still continue to keep prices low by selling a 400$ device and you the buyer can CHOOSE to buy the extras and expand your personal experience.
I agree with you. The steam deck's purpose is to enable games wherever you want. FPS and spec hunters will never find the steam deck exciting, but that's okay as well. I wish to see and HDR OLED screen in the deck though. the 1280x800 resolution is fine on 7 inches. just tune up the vibrancy on the next edition.
A downside of a graphics-card-dock is that the CPU and RAM will form quite a bottleneck for some games, so you don't get all the performance out of the graphics card which it could give. That makes me wonder if it wouldn't be better to just have a separate desktop-computer for non-mobile gaming.
I agree on every point really, especially the console aspect. If the openness of the deck bars it from being a console then it should also be what bars the PS2, which could have Linux installed on it. Hell even the PS3 allowed you to install Linux on early firmware, though Sony barred that and eventually got sued for it.
Didn't it have to be an "official" Linux, rather than just whatever ISO you could download, though? I think a mark of a console is that "officialness", where you have to get authorised by the manufacturer or you're locked out of making stuff for it. The Steam Deck raises a giant middle finger to the whole practice by being just a mobile PC running Linux and making no attempt to restrict what you run on it or how you develop for it. So, is the Steam Deck a console? Almost. It's just missing the abusive and controlling aspects of one. Which is why I'd seriously consider buying one, should they ever become available in Australia.
In my opinion the Steam Deck's hardware is great. I don't care much about the screen. Given the screen size I see every game I've played so far perfectly. Besides, I can always connect it to my gaming monitor, if I want to. The performance is a bigger problem, but you can always tweak the settings manually. It usually doesn't take more than 15 minutes to find the optimal settings (unless there is some kind of Proton compatibility problem). And hopefully the developers will start including Steam Deck performance profiles in their future games. Another reason why Steam Deck hardware is powerful enough for me personally is that I rarely if ever buy games on release. Especially when it comes to AAA titles. Between waiting for sales and having an active Humble Bundle subscription, the games I normally play are at least 2-3 years old, if not older. And I'm pretty sure that by the time Steam Deck can't run most recent games even on the lowest settings (4-5 years? Who knows?) the second iteration will already be in production.
I love my deck, I also have a high end gaming rig. The deck is great because I can play most of my games on the go. As a parent it's super clutch being able to play steam games while waiting for my daughter's dance class to let out. I strictly use it as a handheld and it's the best bar none. Can't wait for multi-player games like tarkov or warezone.
A tip for steam deck owners. The Nintendo switch charger works just fine on them, charges just as fast and holds up even better. My home runs on equipment that tells how much power different devices are actually drawing. When running ps3 era games like fallout 3 and oblivion, the deck uses right around 10 watts of power. That's the same as my led lamp on my night stand. That SHOULD be enough for 4 hours. But i once left my deck sitting with fallout 3 running in the morning. Came back at night and it was still running. And battery wasn't plugged in and auto shutoff was disabled. No less than 6 hours and probably closer to 7 or 8.
I think it be awesome if they came out with a moddable system where you can swap out the cpu and gpu creating a whole knew sub genre of pc gaming that’s the direction I would take it. Pc gamers like to tinker and upgrade hardware not be locked down to any specific hardware there could be a huge market for mini pc handheld builds. Being able make your very own pc handheld you buy all the parts and put it together
Over the years, consoles have been getting more PC like, and PCs have been getting more console like. I think the ONLY real dividing line left is openness. The freedom to use the hardware how you want, install the software you want from where you want. That's what makes a PC a PC. Gabe once said that piracy is a service problem, so just make a service more convenient than the pirates offer. I think this philosophy is still on display with the Steam Deck. The Deck is open, but it's still more convenient to buy and play games through Steam.
People who are thinking about a 1080p screen, really are just going by numbers. With the current processor and battery, running at over 800p is practically impossible without sacrificing massively in terms of frame rate, battery life or game settings. In fact for some games that I play, I use FSR to get up to 800 p so that I can crank up settings or frame rate. A higher resolution screen would only mean more upscaling which is generally not good. Newer chips with RDNA 3 are coming out but I believe it'll be RDNA 4, before we see a significant enough jump in performance per watt to justify a higher resolution for most games. This is especially because the next steam deck will have to try and play AAA games that are coming out in the future, not the AAA games of today. On the other side is the spectrum, battery technology needs to improve as well, as does OLED power consumption. There is no point to having a steam deck 2 come out now. It'll probably be the 2025 before we see anything. However there is a silver lining to this. This delay should allow other manufacturers to enter the market with competitive products. Hopefully some of these products will get to use steam OS. Linux will become more compatible, competition will generally drive prices down, and overall we could have a more consumer friendly, repair friendly, and open source friendly market
I completely agree. An OLED might be nice, but I bet someone could sell one aftermarket. Same with having hall effect joysticks. For other stuff, there's no point. You basically need to redesign the whole system. And that's silly to do on a one year cycle. 3-5 year. That's good enough. Game developers should be targeting hardware back that long anyway.
you got some flow with your words and passion is felt, i enjoy the depth of your dive more than the subject matter of its contents. the steamdeck only gets better when you talk about it and i find myself wiping it down and admiring a bit more during your vids. does it need more power, a relevant res that will translate into a monitor size we all own when docked, more compatible games, exclusives. the answer is always yes and i will be here when you break the news of the second generation. thanks gardiner
And just to mention, PCMasterRace users can just stream their steam library from their beefy desktop PC into the steamdeck through LAN if they wanna do some couch gaming. Making the steamdeck an awesome thinclient. Especially with a TV docking station.
Why are people complaining about the battery. Steam Deck has the best battery life and performance of all the current handheld PCs and it's the best you can get right now.
My dream steam deck would be just the same ol steam deck, same screen resolution but with an oled display, 2 usb ports and better battery. As of what I'd expect from a Steam Deck 2, whenever will that come out is just better performance and specs optimized for a good battery life.
I want a more modern shape and design first. and oled second. Once those are here, I'll probably go for a deck. It's just like I wouldn't buy a switch that doesn't have an oled screen. Screen size and resolution are perfectly fine for me. No complaints there. EDIT: Also, hall effect gimbals. There's ZERO reason for anything else at this point. Been using this tech in RC for many many years, and it's vital.
Most of your arguments are valid but I think the timing of the current hardware is the problem. Gaming in general is only limited by the hardware. If the next gen hardware would be 20x stronger , the first game would still be running at 60 fps but would be gorgeous and detailed. The games are optimized for the average pc. With the GeForce 10 series, most people bought the 1060-1070 and it held for 5 years. Due to circumstances, people did not buy new hardware so new games were running fine on these hardware. My 1080ti can still play games in ultra or high settings but new games like Hogwarts legacy bumped so much that my 1080ti is now in the recommended for 1080p high/ 60 fps. So, if most new games are optimized for rtx 2070+ hardware level, the deck will definitely run into issues even with lowered settings. I think that the deck 2 will have the same resolution and will have 2x gpu performance at least.
tbfh, the OLED argument is extremely valid, there's no point using any other display technology (other than perhaps micro-led once it actually becomes resonably efficient) when QD-OLED is a thing that exists
I don't care what people say, I love the Deck exactly the way it is, for me it's perfect. I did switch the internal 64GB for a 256GB memory thing, and for a noob like myself, it was awesome getting it done so easily I used to play on consoles, and I'm honestly tired of having to switch hardware over and over only for gimmick improvements, and stuffing these companies pockets with my hard earned money, that's why I didn't even bother with the PS5 or Xbox. People need to grow up, gaming graphics have been great for a while now, at the end of the day it's just games, it should be for fun and entertainment, it doesn't matter how it looks if it sucks...And lately in the last few years, I don't even remember when was the last game announcement I got excited for, probably Cyberpunk 2077 and Battlefield 2042, and we all know how that went
On the note of battery on the Steam Deck, I can attest to having great battery life outside of AAA titles. I still have yet to play a truly demanding game on it. Although, I've been playing through GoW1 with an average of 5 to 6 hours of battery life. Just depends on what you're doing. On the note of having better screen resolution, I don't think it's practical to upgrade the screen until new APU's come out that are more efficient. No point in upgrading the screen right now, but with better silicon it could viable. To the point of the SD not being a PC, I think that's just a little silly to say. It's not obsolete and it is in fact a console. It's still just a PC running Linux though. Lol. Even some system notifications refer to the Deck as a laptop.
I need your advice. I’m ready to reduce my collection to make room. However, I want to backup my collection beforehand. I am not tech and not interested in learning how to setup an emulation machine. For this reason, I am kin of interested in the polymega. It is stupidly expensive but the larger issue is it is not readily available. That is too much money to have on the line for that long and hope it shows up within a couple years. Not to mention I don’t want to wait that long to make room and lighten collection. I have a retro freak, which I can’t recommend enough but it is somewhat limited on systems it covers. It does not play nes or n64 (which is coming to polymega soon). But the games I want to lighten the most are disc games because they will all wind up with disk rot eventually. I’ve considered buying a Chinese preloaded emulation box but I my understanding is they all have problems (do you know of one you recommend?) What is your opinion of polymega? And do you recommend any other solutions/have other ideas?
Also about eGPUs from the video that I have watched that from SomeOrdinaryGamers there are issues of getting them to work under Linux. He tried eGPUs because with his rig he can't fit 2 GPUs in it anymore due to how huge the 4090 is in terms of size. He tried getting eGPUs to work under Linux but no dice he couldn't get them to work under Linux. It has to do with getting Thunderbolt working under Linux ( Not sure about USB 4 and Linux). Yeah look at the PS4 and Xbox one they are very obsolete if you compare them to the PS5 and the Series X/S. Also look at when the Nintendo Switch 1st came out the hardware inside of that thing was already 4 years old by that point and devs were able work their magic on it. My Gaming laptop is 5 years old from 2017 that has an i7 7700hq and a GTX1060 6Gb and it is still going strong being able to play the games I want to play on it. With me I am just hoping that at some point Valve will make a custom AMD SOC that has more than 4c/8t (6c/12t would be the sweet spot for it.)
@@gardiner_bryant but a consolized PC is still a PC. A media center PC is still a PC, its a different category of PC, but a (insert category) PC is still a PC.
Meh. PC to me means "Windows". A Linux computer isn't really a PC to me even if it's x86-based and has the exact same specs. You dual boot between Windows and Linux? It's only a PC when it's booted into Windows imho.
@@gardiner_bryant a Linux computer is a PC, just a Linux PC, not a Windows PC. Its a general term, people who associate PCs with Windows are likely normies who also probably think hacking is just security cracking, which isn't exactly correct either. Also dual booted PCs are PCs that have two operating systems you can boot to, and it works as either a Linux PC or a Windows PC, which ever you choose when booting up the PC
Great summary. Nailed it on the choice anxiety thing as well. First step when i got mine was to install 40+ games (a lot for me), but then when I’d pick it up I’d spend far too much time trying to figure out what to play, kind of like watching Netflix. Had a small issue and had to reformat the deck. Ended up installing 4 games after. As for the screen, vibrant deck makes a big difference.
All I need is a better screen replacement and then I'll be happy, I love the deck for what it is and it does a darn good job doing it. Just want little extra screen, would love better color but the black bars are my only concern.
I want more hardware: - Steam Controller 2 (with Steam Deck form factor) - As cheap (400 ~ 700 USD), but more powerful (AMD APU), desktop Steam OS Machine, including the Steam Controller 2. - A "dumb" 720p TN ( or other very cheap panels) laptop perhaps in 2 sizes, 16" and 24" to use the Steam Deck plugged to it that also can add battery, and M2 slots.
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Gardiner Bryant !!!! What you are talking about when you speak about 45w consumption on 6800u!!!! when it runs exactly the same TDP-s as Valve's one ! then Take for example Aokzoe it has 65k vs deck 40k batt .6800u can run Callisto for 3 hours + on medium settings dx12 or Witcher 3 for 5 hours +
Im sorry but here i will not agree like at all
@@bobhardy5010 Agreed, I'd like some clarity on that claim, as well as the resolution claim. Unless I'm mistaken, there's only 2.25x as many pixels on a 1080p vs 720p, so are we comparing OLED? What is that comparing when it says it uses 1/4 the power?
Just a small correction: The deck uses 5500 MT/s lpddr5 and the 6800u can support up to 6400 if using lpddr5, the 4800mhz is for regular ddr5 sodimms, which iirc is a limitation on the memory kits themselves due to distance.
stop saying "like that smash button" its not funny anymore and is actually becoming annoying
the switch has a OLED ?
I'm looking forward to Steam Deck 2 so crazy people will sell their old Steam Decks at a steep discount.
I think the steam deck won't really lose value. Kinda like the first oculus quest. Will kinda be like an original. Ima keep mine until im dead 🤣
@@Stong1337 Me too. I regret it to have sold my old Gameboy Advanced SP only because I thought I won't need it anymore. While that's true, because of emulation, these are great nostalgic collector items.
@@Stong1337 same
That pretty much never happens , good products retain their value , the new one was will be priced higher , so the old one will stil have a market niche
@@FunFreakeyy not gonna lie even this generation a game boy still really fun
As a steam deck owner who is continually confused with my own opinion of the device, I appreciate the concise delivery of your points, I share many myself. The deck, a console for pc-enthusiasts, really fits a niche that seems impossible to many, and I feel a bit better about my purchase every time I pick mine up.
The main thing that slightly irritates me is Steam Deck's WiFi-5 isn't connecting to my WiFi-6 router at full speed... not sure how much that mismatch contributed to a few internet multiplayer disconnects. Otherwise, it's a little weak to dock into a full desktop replacement but still does well for the price.
EXACTLY my sentiments, Gardiner. Thanks so much for being our voice for the rational PC gamers crowd lol. Been enjoying my Deck since last July! I've been dreaming of a device like this for more than 30 years!
I'm 44 years old and dreamed the same way as you SteamDeck I started to see it on youtube and because I was from Steam I was amazed but I had a passion for AYA NEO NEXT
But the AYA NEO NEXT is too expensive so I got some money and bought a SteamDeck with a face and courage I took it yesterday and I'm perplexed how beautiful it is perfect in the hand and the image is more than acceptable the system is unreal I don't even think about putting the windwos
This portable is great when the 2nd most powerful model comes out, it's over for all competitors now it's knowing how to cool it so that it lasts a long time because it's a portable
I to am from the original Game Boy era
I knew it was only time
@@johnnymonsters9717 Exactly so am I, as I said I got this portable because it's cheaper and because it's from ( VALVE A Steam ) but now I've created a problem for myself
As I will get used to others because I don't see any portable that compares to this one and this INCREDIBLE system will be difficult for me to change this Steam deck for another portable
Even if others appear to be a little better because much better I don't think they will be
Yes...now we've seen it all - ready to die.
I still hope 2 will be more powerfull
Good stuff. You've broken through to the core of the matter. I'm an upgrading PC gamer, but the Deck isn't just another gaming PC, it's a fixed target for developers for years ahead. It's a better mix of console rigidity and PC flexibility than I'd ever thought I'd see.
And to echo your desire about TB4/USB4 - YES PLEASE. I usually use my Deck as a handheld, but I'd love to be able to dock it into an EGPU and play 4K on a big screen. Steam Link gaming has been fun for family gaming in the loungeroom, but it's really only okay for cinematic and low graphics games. Streaming lag and scaling up to higher resolutions for TVs have restricted us to pretty but slow games, like Flower and Dorfromantik.
My biggest complaint to the battery is actually not its capacity. Yes, more battery life would be great but I think more important in the long run is that it's glued into the device. I think that is a really big flaw.
I would appreciate it much more if the next Steam Deck iteration comes out with a replaceable battery than with a higher capacity or a better screen. Because in the end batteries killing themselves over time is the worst factor with handheld gaming for a long time... and I could already replace any other part without too much hassle.
But replacing a glued in Lithium battery... that's not something I'm looking forward too.
Honestly a really good suggestion. Technically, it can be replaced already as the parts are available, just with great difficulty. Silver lining is that if you replace it once, you never have to unglue it again.
Remember when phones had replaceable batteries? If they could do that with the next Steam deck it would be amazing. Imagine if the Deck itself had a small internal battery instead that made it possible to hot swap a battery while playing 🤯
@Bryan Kirckof There are reasons that everybody moved to internal only batteries, and they hold true for the steam deck more than ever.
And if you wanted to hot-swap WHILE playing, then you'd either need to be plugged in or or have 2 separate batteries + the added complexity that comes with that.
@@SolidSt8Dj There are excuses, the only actual reason for smartphones is planned obsolescence... because lack of system updates after a year or two was not enough of an incentive for a lot of people.
@Micromation To say that the only reason for non-replaceable batteries is planned obsolescence is laughably naive because otherwise, some companies would still have them. But none of them do, because otherwise they could not compete in the market. And for a lot of companies, planned obsolescence was just a nice (for them) side-effect.
Imagine if they released the parts and they would fit in the current iteration. They could potentially do it with the Mobo too. Even if it would require some light to mid level modding I could see it making everyone in the ecosystem happy.
That's exactly what I was thinking. You want a more vibrant display which eats more battery because you use it as a couch PC? Done. More battery? There's lots of nothing on the back of the deck, someone could make a bigger battery pack with an exoticly shaped new back. Maybe that will solve the issue when you want to let go for a moment of your deck, and by putting it on the counter you press a trigger.
@@lennethwemyss3713 I would really love a bigger battery. For me it's being able to upgrade, mod or repair that has the appeal. I don't want to wait 10+ years for the deck to become retro and then get all the stuff then we want now. It does a lot great now and I'm in no rush for a new iteration. If I have to play a demanding title I'll do it on my PC but for most of the games I always circle back to the deck has me covered.
@@ronhorne4930 i mean if you're knee deep in electronics and have a 3d printer, nothing forbids you to get a big battery pack, mod the original steam deck chassis which is available as a 3d model directly from valve, slap the two togheter and maybe even give it a separate usbc port for charging. Or maybe implement the dock itself inside the chassis with a kickstand. If you have the skills, the freedom available is mind boggling 🤯
@@lennethwemyss3713 What's funny is that an OLED screen would actually consume less power.
@Shaggy Rogers upgrading the whole motherboard will be costy imho, but anything screwed to it is already interchangeable :D planning to get spare sticks and trigger assemblies in advance, you never know!
What I would really like to see on a steam deck 2 is a second USB-C port on the bottom of the deck, some smaller bezels, an increase in battery life and a better cooling solution but the same SOC.
I see your point and a second is port would be welcome. I don't however think that it's quite as advantageous without USB 4 which would require a new chip. As for bezels - nice to look at but don't matter when you play because the controllers are already attached on the end and there's lots of attachments. Battery comes with weight. Would be useful but you can only go so far
Not only that, but more than one SD card slot so you can dual load PC games and roms.
@Irken Armada We currently have 2tb 2230 ssds and 1tb micro sd cards, plus whatever external storage you want. If you need more than that on a handheld, just do cloud streaming or local streaming.
@@SolidSt8Dj theres already handhelds with 2 sd card slots and i also think the steam deck can benefit from it
@@TheIrkenEmpire420 having 2 sd card is too niche for a use case.
I'm very happy with the steam deck. I don't want a new one, when it comes to it I just want parts to upgrade. If they can manage that i'll be over the moon. But for now most of my backlog is from before 2017.
Out of curiosity are you saying that you bought the games before 2017 or that the games just came out before 2017?
There's so many old video games that people should go back and play If they can get their hands on them.
@@bland9876 Most of the games I've bought/ intend to play are from 2017 and before. I have a few games like Valhalla that I do play on the deck but that's an outlier.
@@SnijwitTv would be interesting to find out but I don't know how to do that for myself.
Great points Gardner. The main problem with the screen is not that it is not OLED. It's the fact that it is 68% of the Wide Color Gamut. The OG Switch has Full Color Gamut. That is the reason for the muted colors. So even if it was Full Gamut LCD it would be a large improvement. That is were Valve made the largest comprise.
i disagree. i'd prefer a narrow gamut oled than a wide gamut lcd. i can tolerate the muted colors but the black shine pisses me off a lot when playing dark games, specially but not exclusive at night.
You said it best. If I plan on using a device like this for years to come, what's another year of waiting for something ever so slightly better if I haven't discovered my need for the product yet.
I'm working on a graphics array standard that uses 1280x800 as its base resolution - delighted to know the Steam Deck will display everything perfectly. Long live 800p!
The only thing I really miss on the Deck is a USB 4 port.
Agree!
And a "pro dock" with external AMD GPU.
That's my number 1 as well
And a better screen.
@@Linuxdirk with usb4 you could attach whatever screen/TV you want.
@@mercuriete I'm talking about the built-in screen.
The Steam Deck is the single best decision I've made in terms of gaming in the past 10 years. The second best decision was the Switch. Both devices boosted the amount of gaming I could squeeze into my daily life by magnitudes. The Steam Deck's only shortcoming to me is the missing eGPU support. If it had a better exposure we would've already seen docks with dedicated hardware that would make the Steam Deck a Switch on Drugs that could run present games at 4k. But I am sure the Steam Deck 2 will have that feature and I am looking forward to seeing Valve further pushing Proton, Performance, Linux Gaming Support for the best of GAMING in general. This little devices it the most excited I've been for gaming to grow beyond the tired Windows/Console model. This could the beginning of a true Open Platform gaming future, if the Deck continues to sell.
Think the amount of software and performance improvements we've seen is just the tip of the iceberg. Linux performance can be improved a looot more and especially on one hardware only. Looking at stuff like FSR(which isn't on the level of DLSS yet but getting there). I am sure we'll see Ray Tracing in the near future on the Deck.
You already can when running on Windows OS but not worth it
@@azraeihalim It's not worth it with games that target gaming desktop PC hardware, but it may be great when making effects tailored to the Deck's capabilities.
In my opinion we can simplify the definition of a console. I'd say whatever device you boot up and always go a "Game Library UI" like Steam Deck's UI, or in a laptop I go only and directly to some Big Picture Mode or GOG Galaxy, or if I have a small RPi box and always boot it up into EmulationStation. That's a Console. The fact that it's a PC just because you have a "Restart to Desktop" option is just an additional feature of the console.
I think that Valve has done amazing work with support so far. Hopefully, Valve can squeeze systemwide FSR 2.2 somehow before iterating on the hardware. I found out that most games running at 1152x720 can be used with FSR with little visual impact with good gain to battery life
I just want better offline experience
@Steven Turner dreaming is free you know?
@@cesar_otoniel dreaming of you
I can't go so far as to say I am the ideal demographic for what Valve had in mind with the Steam Deck, but I'm dang close if I'm not. I've been on console for decades, using my PC for photo and video editing as well as surfing the web. I fell in love with the portability and form factor of the Switch. When the Steam Deck announced I lost my mind. Prayers were answered! Here it is now, and I love my Deck. So much so I now even have a custom gaming PC as well because I found the ecosystem and form factor so inviting. I have increased my Steam library from two games to a lot of games, and I get to play them anywhere thanks to the Deck. Two months ago I was on my Switch and I was happy with the performance. The Steam Deck does everything that did, but better. I sit on the couch playing RDR2 while my wife hogs the tv with the PS5 and I love every second of it.
There are people that will never be happy and that's okay. I am happy as long the hardware can do what I want it to do. I don't care about specs, I care about results. And the Deck definitely gives results.
The one upgrade that would make a lot of sense is a screen that supports freesync.
This video made me finally push the trigger on the Steam Deck.
As someone who’s not big on PC specs I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to play games that come out in a year or two from now. Even if I can’t though, I’m gonna order a steam deck now and I’m gonna enjoy the hell out of it!
Hey I’m about to get mine this week, how is yours doing and have you enjoyed it?
The minority is usually the loudest in any argument. "We want 8k displays on every handheld!"
The 800P is the magic number for steam deck. If it was 1080P or even 900P, I think it would have struggled with a lot of games at higher settings.
Right now with the help of Proton GE you can run Elden Ring at high setting from top to bottom for around 40 to 60 FPS. It's perfect for handheld gaming as it is.
Couldn't you just downsixe the resolution?
@@nicestguyinhouse6112 playing native res will always look better
@Arty S
OK so playing at 4k native would also be better no?
Most people with the Steam deck drop res or cap frame rate or do something depending what game they play.
I'm sorry but a screen with 67% gamut can not be better natively than something with 100 gamut and deep blacks and 1080p screen even if you drop that screen the to the 800.
Great thoughts mate. I really enjoyed the video 🙏
wow karl you a deck user too nice 👌🏻
Thank you!!
I think the Steam Deck 2 will just be more modular and easier to switch things out. The internal SSD will have a simple panel to unscrew and switch out, the analogues could maybe be hot swapped and a official extra battery case that behaves like a regular case grip but comes with a battery built in that needs to be plugged in via the type c port.
Simple things like that. Could maybe even have an eventual OLED model.
Just read this article yesterday and I really like your take on the deck. I wish I could've bought it already but living in Brazil doesn't make anyone's life easier.
I hope steam deck becomes the new standard for gaming experience and gets external GPU support so that I can replace my PC without a second thought.
I'm really happy I found your channel and love the content. If this becomes the dawn of definitive Linux gaming that's gonna be awesome. Steam Deck is paving the way to the "click and done" mentality Linux needed and contributing to bring the attention of devs and users to Linux.
I'd love to transition all the way without needing Windows and Proton is making it easier by the day.
I hope it gets to Brazil sooner rather than later.
@@revmaillet Even if it does, it will be significantly more expensive due to import duties and taxes. Brazil has some crazy prices on everything but electronics specifically stands out.
I mean I'm pretty happy with current Deck, the question is whether or not Valve can keep the momentum and keep pushing to finally move industry onwards from stagnating on what appears to be a 20 years old, obsolete gamepad design. The only things I would change in the Deck is just make it slightly bigger to allow accommodating up to 2280 form factor SSDs, USB4 implementation to be able to expand Docked performance, more readily available ports in general (1 full sized USB and additional USB-C 3.2gen2 on separate USB controller would go a long way so these are not stealing bandwidth from USB4), bigger and better cooling solution and screen with smaller bezels or OLED. Ergonomically Deck is spot on for the most part, the only thing that I would improve upon are back paddles - they are the way they are to keep the silhouette of the device small but I would prefer actual protruding paddles rather than buttons that are incorporated into the grip.
Edit: oh and also minor complaint about trackpads, they lack points of reference so you need muscle memory to use them effectively - it would be nice if they could give it slightly concave profile and add some faint grove pattern, just keep the overall shape square as it is right now.
Also, maybe instead of USB4 we could get actual PCIe x8 gen4 or x4 gen5 interface with compact plug for docking station - that would much better solution for eGPU specifically. USB/Thunderbolt impose 20% overhead right of the bat on your eGPU performance and throwing even last gen GPUs you start noticing that 32GB/s of TB4 is just not enough compared to twice of that of gen4 PCIe.
Hall effect joysticks/oled 800pscreen/1TB storage would be an interesting variant. Especially since these new parts would eventually be available as tested replacements to replace/upgrade parts in existing decks.
Hall effect sticks and 1TB SSD are already available as aftermarket upgrades, can't wait for the oled screen :p !
Yeah that would make the device at least 2 times more expensive.
We another 6 years before we get another steamdeck
Great points Gardiner. Many budget PC gamers only upgrade every 5 or more years nowadays, and that's to enable truly new gaming experiences. A twenty or thirty percent bump in performance you'd get from getting the latest cpu or gpu every couple years is not (pun intended) game changing.
That is another point in favor of Steam Deck as a console - a new generation comes out only when chip making tech, storage, and connectivity make a noticeable leap.
When the next gen Deck does come out, I'd expect to see a new SoC on 3 nanometer or better tech that enables two or three times the cpu and gpu performance with better battery life. If Valve pairs that with a brighter, more vibrant screen (not bigger as Gardiner astutely reasoned), better connectivity (USB4, wifi 6E), and cool accessories like a storage dock, Steam Controller 2, or more, they'll have a winner on their hands.
Speaking of battery life one way to extend the battery life especially since the steam deck charging cord isn't very long is to use a slower charger with a really long cable.
I was playing a video game that said I would get over 4 hours of estimated battery and when I plugged in a regular 5 volt 2 amp charger it said 6 hours of battery. The deck was at over 80% charge.
The important thing I'm trying to mention is that if you have a USB battery and you're out and about somewhere you're going to have to plug the USB battery in when the deck is at say 50% or higher rather than waiting for it to be almost dead and then trying to use the power off the battery because the percentage will still go down if the batteries weak enough and therefore it'll just die without you getting to actually play any longer.
Thats not extending battery life. Thats just plugging it in.
Instead of a steam deck 2, I'd much rather have a stand alone steam deck controller. The control options on the deck are second to none and I'd love to have them when on the couch or my desktop PC, too!
But....that's not at all what anyone is talking about because that's a completely separate thing. That's like saying you don't want a car you want a drone, but everyone is talking about cars. A new steam controller is in the works - just be patient.
I think it's important for people to consider the context when comparing different devices. In the case of the Steam Deck, it's worth noting that Valve is renowned for its meticulous play testing, almost like a religious practice. This dedication to testing is evident in the numerous prototype iterations that preceded the device's release, resulting in a well-designed piece of hardware. You might wonder why Valve didn't opt for an OLED display or why the device is relatively large compared to traditional handheld console. It would have been foolish for them to dive headfirst into the unknown without fully grasping the intricacies of the handheld market. So by tailor picking specific hardware, Valve was able to refine and perfect the essential aspects of handheld gaming, such as battery life, control of APU power, screen size and cooling system which successfully incorporates them all into its design while making it comfortable to use. Most bleeding edge handheld out there which is more powerful than the deck are facing more issues/limitations because of it's high specs and design choice.
Spot on. it is an extremely vocal but SMALL minority who generally have very little knowledge about hardware... The Steam Deck APU is still state-of-the-art line in terms of performance/watt at 1-10W... Nothing can compete with it. Especially not the 6800U (which is ultimately a power hungry laptop-APU), it can only edge ahead at 13W or above but it performs A LOT worse at lower wattage.
Personally I could see myself using the Steam Deck for 10 years without a problem. My desktop GPUs generally last 6 or more years in my main rig, and then they get handed down in the family. I still play on my old Radeon HD7870 together with my partner on her living room PC. We play multiplayer titles like Overcooked 2, Gang Beasts, Huntdown, Streets of Rage 4, Portal 2, Tetris Effect, Dirt 3 etc. Most games run at 4K at solid framerates, other than that we play a lot of emulation as well. This card is 12 years old by now, but is still awesome, and VERY usable for that specific use case. :)
This is the way we all should do it, as a great side effect it is good for our planet too :)
@@prometheus9096 Thanks mate. Yeah I feel the same way. And to be fair, GPU generations are usually 2 years apart and seldomly offer more than a 20% performance improvement per dollar (nowadays it's often a 0% improvement due to the recent price hikes) 😰. In my view you really need to increase performance levels by 60-100% to actually get a meaningful upgrade. Especially since the majority of games people own these days run perfectly fine on any dedicated mid-range GPUs (like indies, as well as that massive backlog of games we should all invest time in). It's only the latest AAA that keep pushing limits. But question is, do we REALLY have to play those games right now? or can they wait just 2 years or so? It's better for the environment, our wallets, and ultimately GPU pricing as a whole...
Sure, I would be fine with increased computer part prices if it meant:
- a sustainable electronics industry
- better work environments for workers
- better pay for workers
- materials sourced from fair/green certified partners
- repairable and fixable.
But we all know that increased pricing doesn't result in that, it only results in massive profits for the already wealthy elite, which sucks, and is one of the reasons why I only buy/upgrade stuff intentionally, trying to reduce the strain on our world.
Foot long Steam Deck kinda fails at basic feature of HANDheld devices.
It's too cumbersome for majority of those who want device to play on the go.
A mid gen refresh with USB 4 and OLED would be nice.
Good take. A friend is constantly checking out the newest and shiniest hardware, constantly crying when 6 weeks after a purchase, the next thing comes out that's 10% faster. Back in the 90ies :-D I made it a habbit to only check prices and what hardware exists, when I actually need something new, and I don't check the market after a purchase. I get what is available for the price I'm willing to pay, and I don't check before or afterwards, so I never had 2nd thoughts or bad feelings after a purchase.
For someone that is almost 40 and play games my whole life, and used to play game boy, psp, psvita and now switch (that now I’m selling) I’m pretty pleased with the deck and it didn’t even arrived yet, just for the fact that I can mod games, emulated games and play mostly of the AAA games and use as computer is a big plus.
This kind of “console” for me is when I go out, travel or go to sleep in a family or friends house, so I have something to play, for me that is the purpose of this platform, at home I play ps5 or computer.
Any of you who are still complaining about the dulled-out native Deck screen: 1) Look up a tutorial on downloading Decky loader. Then do that. The entire process will take you less than ten minutes. 2) Use its built in plug in store and download the VibrantDeck plug in. 3) Set the saturation level to a balance you like. Don't go too low, or else why have it, but don't go too high or you'll start washing stuff out. I personally like the 125 - 130 range, but to each his/her/their own.
This isn't changing you to an OLED experience, but it helps a LOT. If you haven't done this yet, go do it now, you won't regret it.
really the only change i would like valve to make would be the ssd slot changed to accept 2280 drives instead of 2230.
I agree with your statement about screen resolution.
Personally, i think the steam deck is fine for what it is.
I certainly won't be buying a "new version" of it anytime soon.
AMD APU's work great as portable consoles! I dont forsee a big enough gap in APU technology this year or the next, that suddenly now all AAA games will run at a locked 60 fps on 1080p unless you put a dedicated gpu in there, and then battery life, size, heat and price would make this a product too expensive to be mainstream.
Edit: from a PC MASTER RACE perspective, the steam deck was obsolete since before launch :D . Some people don't seem to understand they are looking at a handheld and start comparing their rtx 3080 powered fire breathing behemoths to a 15watt APU.... INsainity.
I'll keep my steam deck and run many romhacked emulators, and rpg's for a long time to go.
I am currently enjoying triangle strategy. great game!
I wish it hat support for FreeSync.
Also The big thing that makes the SteamDeck and SteamOS good is that they give game developers a standardized platform to test against. As a developer you can optimize your game for a standardized platform as a big chunk of the marked would profit from that work, while it's extremely difficult to optimize performance of a game for everypossible combination of hardware parts and operating systems.
The standardization of Steamdeck hardware and SteamOS operating system gives Valve an edge convincing developers to support their product! It would be a disadvantage to fragmentate the hardware so early. Steamdeck adoption needs to increase way more before a second steamdeck can be pushed on the marked.
My problem with the steam deck is that for me is the screen does not get bright or dark enough. I also wish the battery was a little better. My last complaint is not the steam deck itself but the fact that it is really hard to read text in games played on deck. I wish developers would think more about letting players control UI elements. That way we could choose how big to make text and menus.
Since everybody is always speculating about what features SD2 could have I will say that one which is almost never mentioned which I would love is a vapor chamber. I would love to have all heat producing components covered by a thin system of heatpipes which would allow everything to be nicely cool and for a fan to have direct access to air. It could be much slower and quieter by not being choked because it has to move air through the half of the SD's body.
I can install any OS and software on it I want with no hacking or modding, so yes, it's a PC.
Regarding the screen, Apple solved this a decade ago with the iPhone 4, with an IPS display with a high PPI, running at around 960x640. Even though it was that tiny resolution by today's standards, it looked absolutely gorgeous, even today.
They should try and get more pixels in every inch, and it would look stunning.
Good take, I think people that suggest that it have a 1080p screen, etc. are misguided. Yes, on paper it should suck, but it doesn't. One thing that I would like for a potential successor would be: Better SoC (Zen4 and RDNA 3), more dynamic refresh rate on the display (from 30 -> 75hz), and better battery life. Other than this, it's honestly amazing. I also DON'T want a successor too quickly, Valve should find a middle ground between longevity/stability and continuing to perfect the Steam Deck, maybe every 3 years is a good cycle.
One thing tho, the fact u can expand via sd or,, you do it yourself with the ssd… you feel so rewarded. Yes, it’s scary..but it’s so worth it.. the steam means even more via, just buying it how it is.
I would love a new screen that’s borderless that u can install or valve opens a bunch of pop up shops to upgrade ur steam deck.
I do agree more ports n thunderbolt..would be sic.
I unfortunately am one of those gamers who is always looking towards the next big thing. I want higher res, more power, and a better display. Part of the problem is I have a 5900X, 7900 XTX, and play at 4K 120Hz. What I am used to is a vast departure from the deck. Don't get me wrong, I love my deck, but I would love to be able to play at 1080p due to how much sharper it is though I am fine with the 60fps. I don't want Valve to rush things so I'll be patient but I don't want to be I want it now. It's hard out there for a high end enthusiast.
Thank you, some people really don't get it with the screen res on mobile devices, it's a tech-noob trap. They would use a 4k 8" if they could, because higher is better, right? Nah, that's why I love 800p, because the PPI is high enough and I can play longer and with higher FPS. Even 1080p would be a waste on this screen size, given the downsides that come with it.
I am also in the GTX 970 in the home server club! This GPU will never die!
recently upgraded to a 3080 from my old 970!
The only bad thing I've noticed about the screen and this isn't even that bad of a thing is that certain games when you play them in 800 p it zooms in on the screen rather than removing the black bars on the top and bottom so you still see the same amount of visual you would up and down but left and right you don't see as much as you would in 720p because 16x9 vs 16x10.
Some games stretch the image also.
But that’s because of 16x10 not the resolution. Just play them at 16x9
But that’s honestly the reason I would want an OLED SteamDeck. Having those pixels turn off would make the experience much nicer
The Steam Deck never ceases to amaze me. Playing games like spider man and god of war feel no different than playing on a ps5.
When docked, honestly the graphics are good enough to a point where I haven’t turned on the ps5 or series x. I bought zero games for those systems during the Christmas sales; I bought everything on steam instead.
I recently built a massive rig with an Asus TUF oc 4090, 128gb ddr 6000 ram and intel 13900, with 3x 2tb Samsung 990 pro and one western digital 4TB 850x, call me crazy but I’m still playing games on the steam deck (docked to tv most of the time).
0:57 “are you going to compare the Steam Deck screen to any other?” Yes. People focus on screen quality on almost every generation of every device, so I would disagree about it being an unnatural thing to compare to other devices. When your tv, phone, and monitor are OLED, you definitely notice the inferior quality of the SD screen. I’m still really happy with my Deck and don’t have any other complaints, but the screen would be the one thing I’d love to see improved. If they were to offer a standalone OLED screen for current owners without having to replace the whole device, I’d jump on that in a heartbeat. But I agree with you that it’s not a dealbreaker and it definitely doesn’t make it obsolete. They had to cut costs on some components to hit that great $400 base price point. I think they’re now realizing there’s a good chunk of their customers willing to pay a little more for a better screen.
I hope that when the Steam Deck 2 (or pro or whatever) comes out, it's pretty much identical with the current one with these modifications:
-Zen4 & RDNA3 -based new APU with 15W TDP
-no-bezel 1080p screen, therefore much bigger in physical size.
When combined with optimized new APU & heavy use of FSR, the new device should be able to run 1080p the same than the current one is doing 1280x800.
If they can fit in OLED with decent price and power consumption, go for it. Beefier battery? Why not. Faster memory? Obviously. Bigger nvme SSD:s available? Inevitable. But all these are just bonuses for me. Bigger physical screen size is the thing I am really looking forward, with the newer, optimized AMD APU. Also while I like 16:10 screen, sadly many emulators have wide screen hacks only for 16:9, and emulators are important for my Steam Deck usage.
The OLED would also reduce my power consumption by a lot, since I emulate a lot and ~40% of the Pixels are black all the time when gaming.
OLED wouldn't just improve colors, it would also improve battery life. So an 800p OLED would be an immense improvement.
0:28 The Switch has an OLED screen. It's a valid complaint and the comparison is apt so I'm confused why the Switch wasn't brought up as a comparison point. I'd be surprised if the next Steam Deck doesn't have an OLED screen as it's nearly the exact same form factor. In any case, that's literally my biggest complaint with the Steam Deck. I wouldn't mind it being smaller/lighter/more battery life too, but it's not really as big id a deal as the screen quality to me.
I agree with you completely. I use my hardware until a title comes along that I really want to play and doesn't really run on my machine anymore. Buying the latest hardware every year is done by people who simply have too much money. Let them do it, but I don't see the point.
I think the Steam deck will get a successor in 3-4 years, but still be useful. I'm mega happy with my Steam deck and do not immediately scream for new hardware.
I love my steam deck ! But I’m super excited for what they can do with steam deck 2 ! More storage and power
Power won't be changing, that's already been confirmed. Just like a normal console, it's meant to give devs a single platform to target for performance.
Working within the repair industry side of things, the screen upgrade complaints drive me crazy. One of the big things they pushed with steam deck is repair and screens are a big part of that. The bezels for this device's screen are actually reasonable to take it off without damage and not to mention installing a new screen. The industry is going towards paper thin OLED & AMOLED displays that are nearly impossible to remove because any amount of flex immediately cracks it. As a professional it's plausible to do with extensive practice and training, *if you hate your techs...* but the point of making the device repairable is you don't need a professional to do it if you don't want to. repair is a right not a requirement, even if it doesn't affect you personally you should still want it for those who do fix your stuff.
I love an OLED display, don't get me wrong, but actually working hands on with the hardware there's so many issues with it that the consumer doesn't even know exists. Just try opening up your new iPhone 12/13/14 if you want a crash course. If you want to let the market take away your ability to work on a device then that's on you, but for me and many others this is very important.
I think that current Steam Deck models should remain, and a PRO model should be added to the lineup with OLED and faster CPU/GPU for a premium price.
Screen - Partially agree. I don't know if I'd say comparing the screen to a TV, monitor, or other devices is unnatural. In particular I think comparing to the Switch OLED is completely natural. But that just came out I think around the same time as the Deck, so to suggest the LCD screen is "obsolete" gets into hyperbole territory. Similarly, the 800p screen is fine, but it's hard to argue that 1080p wouldn't be better. It's good enough for now, not a massive problem like some suggest. But it's also probably the first thing that should be upgraded in some way, not several generations from now. Steam Deck 2 should have at least 1 of OLED or better resolution, and Steam Deck 3 should have both for sure.
Battery - Never had an issue with it. It lasts long enough. If they can squeeze more capacity in the same form factor and same price point, by all means. If not, I don't care.
Storage - I can see this being a problem. Personally 512G is plenty for me, and 256 probably would be as well. Base model really needs a bump to 128 though. Still, SD cards are a thing. Plus its not like you need to install every game in your library at the same time. I would like to see compatibility with the more common 2280 form factor rather than 2230. Companies are coming out with 2230 drives for the Deck, but they're still a niche product with less selection and I'm pretty sure worse pricing (haven't checked that in a while though).
Expandability - 100% agreed.
Hardware obsolescence - Agreed. Even if you ignore the "Steam Deck is a console, not a PC" argument, people really don't upgrade their PC every year. New hardware comes out, yes, but almost everyone only upgrades every 2-3 product cycles at most. That's what I expect from the Steam Deck. I've said it before, but I think the earliest we might see a Steam Deck 2 is 2025, with 2026 being more likely. I do think they should upgrade faster than typical console cycles though. 7-8 years is just too long, 4-5 is the sweet spot IMO.
Perfect argument. Bigger is not always better. I’d like to see hardware upgrades every 5 or so years but I’m not sure I’d ever want the screen higher res. Or at least not the next cycle
Agreed. Also once valve implements FSR system wide it will squeeze a lot more juice and longevity for the Steam Deck.
They can't though. FSR2+ has to be implemented in the game specifically because it relies on vector data from said game.
Honestly, no one is asking for a portable PS5, but I think getting something next year with Zen 4 or Zen 4+/5 with refined rDNA 3 or even 4 would be great. It'll have better battery life and adding OLED @ 90hz VRR would make it nice. Resolution is fine, battery size could be a bit bigger. Maybe have hall effect sensors instead of sticks that die quickly. Having an upgrade every 2 or 3 years for mobile devices makes sense and valve can work with devs to support the last 2 or 3 gens so a device can have between 4 to 9 years and with basic low level graphics indie games, probably longer. They should def do another custom core though but with 6 cores not 8. And have those 2 cores perform background tasks at low power and be full power when plugged in to a dock or something so you can turn up the physics settings.
I think the "it's obsolete if it's more than a couple of years old" mindset came from an earlier era when PC hardware was making huge leaps in capabilities. Sound cards going from non-existent to 8-bit mono, to 8-bit stereo, to CD quality 16-bit 44kHz stereo. Graphics cards going from VGA to SVGA and bringing in early 3D acceleration. CPU clock speeds making leaps and bounds from 33MHz with the 486DX to passing the 2GHz mark with the Athlon64 and moving from 32-bit to 64-bit and single-core to multi-core.
But we don't live in that era any more. We haven't for a long time. Since about the late-2000s, things have settled down. While things are still improving, it's slower and incremental. The improvements in the hardware are smaller, and the increase in demands by software is also smaller. We just don't need to upgrade as often as we used to. I bought my current motherboard/processor/memory trio because the previous motherboard went up in smoke after six years of service, not because I found it was getting too slow. I haven't bought a new graphics card for the sake of getting an upgrade since going from a Geforce 6600 to a GTX285. All the cards I went through between that and my current GTX1070 died on me.
The question is: will something come along that's demanding enough to force an upgrade, or will I just see something else die on me and get an upgrade as a side-effect of getting things working again?
This is a SteamDeck channel so I'm not here to troll. Your points are valid and the SteamDeck market is it's own thing--it's not trying to compete with more powerful gaming PCs.
That said I plunked down $1 grand for a Win Max 2 and the experience leads me to question some of your arguments.
1. The screen. I absolutely agree with you re: anything 7" or smaller. Anything larger than that, though, more pixels are nice to have and they don't actually cause the harms you indicate. The key word here is *capacity*. Adding spec to the device doesn't mean you always have to run it at spec. It just means that you have choice. Hades will run on any potato at 1600p and will be mind blowing. I still play games at 800p on my Win Max 2 and while they are fine I do notice the pixels more. On the Steam Deck screen it's less of an issue.
2. The SoC. Same argument really. If I want to run the Win Max 2 at 15TDP I can and it will perform like a Steam Deck and I will get incredible battery life from the 67WHr battery. But sometimes I am plugged in and it's nice to crank things up a notch. The 680m in the Win Max 2 at 32+ Watts trades blows with a 1050 Ti, nothing mind blowing, but it does add to the number of titles that will play comfortably.
The screen really isn't great even for a non-oled. However the Vibrant Deck plug-in does a lot to help there. The fact that its an actual PC and not something with locked down firmware makes these type of mods possible and that's great.
there might be steam deck 2 one day but in valve time but do not expect a 3 valve does not recognize numbers above 2
I bought a SteamDeck with a face and courage I got it yesterday and I'm amazed how beautiful it is it fits perfect in the hand and the image is more than acceptable the system is unreal I don't even think about putting the windwos
This laptop is great when the 2nd most powerful model comes out, it's over for all competitors now it's knowing how to cool it so that it lasts a long time because it's a laptop
I really wanted an AYA NEO NEXT, but it was very expensive, I thought the SteamDeck was not good, but I was just mistaken, it is perfect in almost everything, the footprint, the system is unreal
Everything possible should be modular. Just click and snap things into place. With limited screws where necessary.
And more power!
Honestly only thing id change about the deck is the screen but only AND ONLY to fix the backlight bleed issues idc about resolution idc about the actual colors but i just want the backlight bleed that shouldn’t be on a 500$ device solved.
For a deck 2 i feel like the easiest way to appease the bullshitters would be making a plug n play device. Basically swap all parts whenever you want such as battery ,storage, screen, ram, chipset. So they can still continue to keep prices low by selling a 400$ device and you the buyer can CHOOSE to buy the extras and expand your personal experience.
I agree with you. The steam deck's purpose is to enable games wherever you want. FPS and spec hunters will never find the steam deck exciting, but that's okay as well. I wish to see and HDR OLED screen in the deck though. the 1280x800 resolution is fine on 7 inches. just tune up the vibrancy on the next edition.
More ports for the Steam Deck 2 would be nice, and upgrading them all to USB4 would make it one heck of a docking machine
And what truly needs usb4?
A downside of a graphics-card-dock is that the CPU and RAM will form quite a bottleneck for some games, so you don't get all the performance out of the graphics card which it could give. That makes me wonder if it wouldn't be better to just have a separate desktop-computer for non-mobile gaming.
Had mine since March. Love the device. Looking forward to see what they do with the Deck 2
I agree on every point really, especially the console aspect. If the openness of the deck bars it from being a console then it should also be what bars the PS2, which could have Linux installed on it. Hell even the PS3 allowed you to install Linux on early firmware, though Sony barred that and eventually got sued for it.
Didn't it have to be an "official" Linux, rather than just whatever ISO you could download, though?
I think a mark of a console is that "officialness", where you have to get authorised by the manufacturer or you're locked out of making stuff for it. The Steam Deck raises a giant middle finger to the whole practice by being just a mobile PC running Linux and making no attempt to restrict what you run on it or how you develop for it.
So, is the Steam Deck a console? Almost. It's just missing the abusive and controlling aspects of one. Which is why I'd seriously consider buying one, should they ever become available in Australia.
In my opinion the Steam Deck's hardware is great. I don't care much about the screen. Given the screen size I see every game I've played so far perfectly. Besides, I can always connect it to my gaming monitor, if I want to.
The performance is a bigger problem, but you can always tweak the settings manually. It usually doesn't take more than 15 minutes to find the optimal settings (unless there is some kind of Proton compatibility problem). And hopefully the developers will start including Steam Deck performance profiles in their future games.
Another reason why Steam Deck hardware is powerful enough for me personally is that I rarely if ever buy games on release. Especially when it comes to AAA titles. Between waiting for sales and having an active Humble Bundle subscription, the games I normally play are at least 2-3 years old, if not older. And I'm pretty sure that by the time Steam Deck can't run most recent games even on the lowest settings (4-5 years? Who knows?) the second iteration will already be in production.
there’s some people who think they need to play everything at 1080p 60fps on a handheld for it to be good
I love my deck, I also have a high end gaming rig. The deck is great because I can play most of my games on the go. As a parent it's super clutch being able to play steam games while waiting for my daughter's dance class to let out. I strictly use it as a handheld and it's the best bar none. Can't wait for multi-player games like tarkov or warezone.
A tip for steam deck owners. The Nintendo switch charger works just fine on them, charges just as fast and holds up even better.
My home runs on equipment that tells how much power different devices are actually drawing. When running ps3 era games like fallout 3 and oblivion, the deck uses right around 10 watts of power. That's the same as my led lamp on my night stand. That SHOULD be enough for 4 hours. But i once left my deck sitting with fallout 3 running in the morning. Came back at night and it was still running. And battery wasn't plugged in and auto shutoff was disabled. No less than 6 hours and probably closer to 7 or 8.
I think it be awesome if they came out with a moddable system where you can swap out the cpu and gpu creating a whole knew sub genre of pc gaming that’s the direction I would take it. Pc gamers like to tinker and upgrade hardware not be locked down to any specific hardware there could be a huge market for mini pc handheld builds. Being able make your very own pc handheld you buy all the parts and put it together
Over the years, consoles have been getting more PC like, and PCs have been getting more console like. I think the ONLY real dividing line left is openness. The freedom to use the hardware how you want, install the software you want from where you want. That's what makes a PC a PC.
Gabe once said that piracy is a service problem, so just make a service more convenient than the pirates offer. I think this philosophy is still on display with the Steam Deck. The Deck is open, but it's still more convenient to buy and play games through Steam.
People who are thinking about a 1080p screen, really are just going by numbers. With the current processor and battery, running at over 800p is practically impossible without sacrificing massively in terms of frame rate, battery life or game settings. In fact for some games that I play, I use FSR to get up to 800 p so that I can crank up settings or frame rate. A higher resolution screen would only mean more upscaling which is generally not good.
Newer chips with RDNA 3 are coming out but I believe it'll be RDNA 4, before we see a significant enough jump in performance per watt to justify a higher resolution for most games. This is especially because the next steam deck will have to try and play AAA games that are coming out in the future, not the AAA games of today.
On the other side is the spectrum, battery technology needs to improve as well, as does OLED power consumption. There is no point to having a steam deck 2 come out now. It'll probably be the 2025 before we see anything. However there is a silver lining to this. This delay should allow other manufacturers to enter the market with competitive products. Hopefully some of these products will get to use steam OS. Linux will become more compatible, competition will generally drive prices down, and overall we could have a more consumer friendly, repair friendly, and open source friendly market
I am still using 4000 series Intel CPU and GTX 980 GPU on my PC, so the Steam Deck is definitely not obsolete.
I completely agree. An OLED might be nice, but I bet someone could sell one aftermarket. Same with having hall effect joysticks.
For other stuff, there's no point. You basically need to redesign the whole system. And that's silly to do on a one year cycle. 3-5 year. That's good enough. Game developers should be targeting hardware back that long anyway.
you got some flow with your words and passion is felt, i enjoy the depth of your dive more than the subject matter of its contents. the steamdeck only gets better when you talk about it and i find myself wiping it down and admiring a bit more during your vids. does it need more power, a relevant res that will translate into a monitor size we all own when docked, more compatible games, exclusives. the answer is always yes and i will be here when you break the news of the second generation. thanks gardiner
And just to mention, PCMasterRace users can just stream their steam library from their beefy desktop PC into the steamdeck through LAN if they wanna do some couch gaming. Making the steamdeck an awesome thinclient. Especially with a TV docking station.
Why are people complaining about the battery. Steam Deck has the best battery life and performance of all the current handheld PCs and it's the best you can get right now.
Had mine 7 months still more than happy with it still play it almost every day I'm not in a rush for a steam deck 2
My dream steam deck would be just the same ol steam deck, same screen resolution but with an oled display, 2 usb ports and better battery.
As of what I'd expect from a Steam Deck 2, whenever will that come out is just better performance and specs optimized for a good battery life.
I want a more modern shape and design first. and oled second. Once those are here, I'll probably go for a deck. It's just like I wouldn't buy a switch that doesn't have an oled screen.
Screen size and resolution are perfectly fine for me. No complaints there.
EDIT: Also, hall effect gimbals. There's ZERO reason for anything else at this point. Been using this tech in RC for many many years, and it's vital.
Most of your arguments are valid but I think the timing of the current hardware is the problem. Gaming in general is only limited by the hardware. If the next gen hardware would be 20x stronger , the first game would still be running at 60 fps but would be gorgeous and detailed. The games are optimized for the average pc. With the GeForce 10 series, most people bought the 1060-1070 and it held for 5 years. Due to circumstances, people did not buy new hardware so new games were running fine on these hardware. My 1080ti can still play games in ultra or high settings but new games like Hogwarts legacy bumped so much that my 1080ti is now in the recommended for 1080p high/ 60 fps. So, if most new games are optimized for rtx 2070+ hardware level, the deck will definitely run into issues even with lowered settings. I think that the deck 2 will have the same resolution and will have 2x gpu performance at least.
tbfh, the OLED argument is extremely valid, there's no point using any other display technology (other than perhaps micro-led once it actually becomes resonably efficient) when QD-OLED is a thing that exists
I don't care what people say, I love the Deck exactly the way it is, for me it's perfect. I did switch the internal 64GB for a 256GB memory thing, and for a noob like myself, it was awesome getting it done so easily
I used to play on consoles, and I'm honestly tired of having to switch hardware over and over only for gimmick improvements, and stuffing these companies pockets with my hard earned money, that's why I didn't even bother with the PS5 or Xbox. People need to grow up, gaming graphics have been great for a while now, at the end of the day it's just games, it should be for fun and entertainment, it doesn't matter how it looks if it sucks...And lately in the last few years, I don't even remember when was the last game announcement I got excited for, probably Cyberpunk 2077 and Battlefield 2042, and we all know how that went
On the note of battery on the Steam Deck, I can attest to having great battery life outside of AAA titles. I still have yet to play a truly demanding game on it. Although, I've been playing through GoW1 with an average of 5 to 6 hours of battery life. Just depends on what you're doing. On the note of having better screen resolution, I don't think it's practical to upgrade the screen until new APU's come out that are more efficient. No point in upgrading the screen right now, but with better silicon it could viable. To the point of the SD not being a PC, I think that's just a little silly to say. It's not obsolete and it is in fact a console. It's still just a PC running Linux though. Lol. Even some system notifications refer to the Deck as a laptop.
I need your advice. I’m ready to reduce my collection to make room. However, I want to backup my collection beforehand. I am not tech and not interested in learning how to setup an emulation machine. For this reason, I am kin of interested in the polymega. It is stupidly expensive but the larger issue is it is not readily available. That is too much money to have on the line for that long and hope it shows up within a couple years. Not to mention I don’t want to wait that long to make room and lighten collection. I have a retro freak, which I can’t recommend enough but it is somewhat limited on systems it covers. It does not play nes or n64 (which is coming to polymega soon). But the games I want to lighten the most are disc games because they will all wind up with disk rot eventually. I’ve considered buying a Chinese preloaded emulation box but I my understanding is they all have problems (do you know of one you recommend?)
What is your opinion of polymega? And do you recommend any other solutions/have other ideas?
Also about eGPUs from the video that I have watched that from SomeOrdinaryGamers there are issues of getting them to work under Linux. He tried eGPUs because with his rig he can't fit 2 GPUs in it anymore due to how huge the 4090 is in terms of size. He tried getting eGPUs to work under Linux but no dice he couldn't get them to work under Linux. It has to do with getting Thunderbolt working under Linux ( Not sure about USB 4 and Linux). Yeah look at the PS4 and Xbox one they are very obsolete if you compare them to the PS5 and the Series X/S. Also look at when the Nintendo Switch 1st came out the hardware inside of that thing was already 4 years old by that point and devs were able work their magic on it. My Gaming laptop is 5 years old from 2017 that has an i7 7700hq and a GTX1060 6Gb and it is still going strong being able to play the games I want to play on it. With me I am just hoping that at some point Valve will make a custom AMD SOC that has more than 4c/8t (6c/12t would be the sweet spot for it.)
You definitely overlooked the interviews that VALVe employees answered where they admitted so many times, it is a PC.
I don't care what they think it is. It's a consolized PC at a minimum.
@@gardiner_bryant but a consolized PC is still a PC. A media center PC is still a PC, its a different category of PC, but a (insert category) PC is still a PC.
Meh. PC to me means "Windows". A Linux computer isn't really a PC to me even if it's x86-based and has the exact same specs.
You dual boot between Windows and Linux? It's only a PC when it's booted into Windows imho.
@@gardiner_bryant a Linux computer is a PC, just a Linux PC, not a Windows PC. Its a general term, people who associate PCs with Windows are likely normies who also probably think hacking is just security cracking, which isn't exactly correct either.
Also dual booted PCs are PCs that have two operating systems you can boot to, and it works as either a Linux PC or a Windows PC, which ever you choose when booting up the PC
Great summary. Nailed it on the choice anxiety thing as well. First step when i got mine was to install 40+ games (a lot for me), but then when I’d pick it up I’d spend far too much time trying to figure out what to play, kind of like watching Netflix. Had a small issue and had to reformat the deck. Ended up installing 4 games after. As for the screen, vibrant deck makes a big difference.
All I need is a better screen replacement and then I'll be happy, I love the deck for what it is and it does a darn good job doing it. Just want little extra screen, would love better color but the black bars are my only concern.
I want more hardware:
- Steam Controller 2 (with Steam Deck form factor)
- As cheap (400 ~ 700 USD), but more powerful (AMD APU), desktop Steam OS Machine, including the Steam Controller 2.
- A "dumb" 720p TN ( or other very cheap panels) laptop perhaps in 2 sizes, 16" and 24" to use the Steam Deck plugged to it that also can add battery, and M2 slots.