Steam Deck OLED – Review

It has been almost two years since the Steam Deck was launched and this Linux-powered and handheld PC has solidified its position in the market. This comes after a ton of software updates, a horde of useful accessories and an ever-expanding range of Deck-verified games. Now, a hardware revision has also been made and the OLED version that has been introduced has replaced the original LCD without adding to the price. Almost every criticism has been addressed by Valve in this new update.

The new model

There is no doubt that the Steam Deck OLED is an upgrade, but it should be noted that it is not ‘Steam Deck 2’. Valve has made it clear that while they do plan on introducing a second-generation at some point, they will not do it until mobile processing power has been advanced enough. Therefore, the gaming performance of Steam Deck OLED is the same as the original.

New screen

While your game playing experience does not change fundamentally, the Steam Deck OLED has improved the experience in a number of ways. The new OLED screen is the most obvious improvement, which may have the same resolution i.e. 1200 x 800, but it is vibrant and bright and the games look even better than before. Its brightness is impressive and it is HDR certified and the refresh rate has also been improved to 90Hz from 60Hz.

The difference is clearly obvious when you compare the two devices side by side. However, when you hold the two devices in your hand, they feel the same physically. The small differences in appearance are the orange accents you will see on the power button and rather than gray, the thumbsticks are now black. In addition, the dimensions have not changed, but the new Steam Deck OLED is about 30g lighter.

While it might be chunky, it remains comfortable to hold because of its excellent ergonomics and a number of useful control options that include programmable back buttons, touch-sensitive screen and unique dual touchpads.

More changes

There have also been some changes in the inside of the Steam Deck OLED due to the new screen. The OLED panel that Valve has used this time around is actually thinner than the LCD, which means everything has a little more room to grow into. Therefore, it is not surprising that a larger battery had now been added and it is also uses power in a better and more efficient way due to an updated AMD APU. The battery life is about 30% to 50% better than the original.

Moreover, since it uses less power, it also means that it generates less heat and the larger fan and redesigned thermals make the Steam Deck OLED noticeably cooler. There are also some other improvements that have been made, such as Wi-Fi 6 that allows faster downloads. The touch screen, trackpad and haptics have also been enhanced.