What you need to know before buying a Steam Deck

Announced earlier this year, Valve’s portable handheld console, Steam Deck, has managed to attract a lot of attention in the gaming world. It looks like Valve has stepped up its plans for the Steam Deck after announcing that it’s doubling the console productions and that orders will be dispatched much faster. The company said the handheld console will be “multi-generational.”

Valve Steam Deck, a portable game console similar to Nintendo Switch, will not be a single example, contrary to the comments made over Steam’s past steps. According to an official document that has emerged, the company is planning a “multi-generational” approach here. In this context, we are told that the future of Steam Deck 2, even 3, will come to us in the coming years.

Steam, which creates the impression that it will constantly update the product with new generation hardware, and which makes a lot of sense considering this current demand, also gives a good support to the product in terms of software. According to the latest statement, there are currently more than 4,500 games that fully support the portable game console.

First statement from Valve: Is Steam Deck 2 on the way?

Valve has shared a new blog in the community section of Steam. After doubling the production of Steam Deck, it’s out for distribution in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Valve, which prepared the console booklet, drew attention to the fact that the Steam Deck will be multi-generational.

Valve also pointed out that the portable handheld console could be used in many more ways. “We will learn from the Steam community about new uses for our hardware that we haven’t thought of yet,” the statement in the booklet states.

Although the company did not address the details of the new console, it pointed to the existence of Steam Deck 2, emphasizing that it is multi-generational. He also assured that the new Steam Deck will be “more capable and comprehensive than the first version.”

In addition, the sharing made by Valve’s development team on social media a while ago made those waiting for Steam Deck happy. Stating that they have expanded their production capacity, the game giant stated that the number of Steam Deck stocks has increased more than twice.

The Deck handheld runs an operating system called SteamOS and currently supports more than 4500 Steam games without any problems. In addition, the company stated that it can run more than 30 thousand games, but it is not fully optimized.

Steam Deck Features and Technical Details

Processor

• AMD APU
• CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
• GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32)
• APU power: 4-15W

RAM

16 GB LPDDR5 on-board RAM (5500 MT/s quad 32-bit channels)

Storage

• 64 GB eMMC (PCIe Gen 2 x1)
• 256 GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4 or PCIe Gen 3 x2*)
• 512 GB high-speed NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4 or PCIe Gen 3 x2*)

All models use socketed 2230 m.2 modules (not intended for end-user replacement)
All models include high-speed microSD card slot
*Some 256GB and 512GB models ship with a PCIe Gen 3 x2 SSD. In our testing, we did not see any impact to gaming performance between x2 and x4.

Controls and Input

Gamepad controls

• A B X Y buttons
• D-pad
• L & R analog triggers
• L & R bumpers
• View & Menu buttons
• 4 x assignable grip buttons

Thumbsticks

2 x full-size analog sticks with capacitive touch

• Haptics
• HD haptics
• Trackpads

• 2 x 32.5mm square trackpads with haptic feedback
• 55% better latency compared to Steam Controller
• Pressure-sensitivity for configurable click strength

Gyro

6-Axis IMU

Display

Resolution

1280 x 800px (16:10 aspect ratio)

Type

Optically bonded IPS LCD for enhanced readability

Connectivity

• Bluetooth
• Bluetooth 5.0 (support for controllers, accessories and audio)
• Wi-Fi
• Dual-band Wi-Fi radio, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, 2 x 2 MIMO, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac

Audio

Channels

• Stereo with embedded DSP for an immersive listening experience
• Microphones
• Dual microphone array
• Headphone / mic jack
• 3.5mm stereo headphone / headset jack

Digital

Multichannel audio via DisplayPort over USB-C, standard USB-C, or Bluetooth 5.0

Power

Input

45W USB Type-C PD3.0 power supply

Battery

40Whr battery. 2 – 8 hours of gameplay

Expansion

microSD

UHS-I supports SD, SDXC and SDHC

• External connectivity for
• controllers & displays

USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4 Alt-mode support; up to 8K @60Hz or 4K @120Hz, USB 3.2 Gen 2

Size and Weight

Size

298mm x 117mm x 49mm

Weight

Approx. 669 grams

Software

• Operating System

SteamOS 3.0 (Arch-based)

• Desktop

KDE Plasma