Ever since the first Steam Deck came out, I’ve been a fan. I bought the Deck in the first wave of units, getting mine a few weeks after it initially launched in 2022, and it has certainly been put through its paces with me. I’ve traveled the world with my Steam library following me wherever I went, from Iceland, Canada and more. I’ve loved this device, even with its limitations.
However, it wasn’t perfect. The Steam Deck is heavy over long periods of use and had a tendency to get rather warm if playing a heavy triple-A game over time. Since I bought the cheapest version, its internal memory was snapped up quickly, meaning I constantly swapped out SD cards for storage. The screen always left a bit to be desired, especially after I experienced the incredible display found on the ASUS ROG Ally (Z1 Extreme) I reviewed a few months back.
However, the Steam Deck OLED is here and has addressed quite a few of the nagging issues I’ve had, and in almost every way, it feels like a true upgrade over the base variant of Steam Deck.
Specifications:
- Price:
- $549.00 for 512GB NVMe model
- $649.00 for 1TB model (reviewed)
- Available on Valve's Website
Steam Deck OLED First Thoughts
When the Steam Deck OLED arrived on my doorstep, I was reminded of how much I appreciated Valve’s minimalistic packaging the first time I grabbed a Deck from the company. Indeed, this goes way back even to the Steam Link’s physical device and the Steam Controller almost ten years ago, but the Deck has seemingly streamlined that further.
The packaging on the Decks is playful and thankfully made of mostly recyclable materials, which I think every major company should be doing nowadays to limit landfill waste. The case of the Steam Deck itself is a much-appreciated upgrade over the standard Deck’s case, which was never bad, but the OLED case feels a bit more premium. This could be down to the textured Steam Deck logo on the top, as well as a velcro clasp to ensure the case stays closed when, say, a forgetful person might not zip it up all the way in a hurry - like me. The zipper clasps even have rubberized handles, making them easier to grip and hold onto, which is a nice touch.
However, the real star of the show is the Steam Deck OLED itself. While the device really isn’t bigger than the LCD Steam Deck, the larger screen was immediately noticeable. The smaller bezels make the 7.4” OLED screen feel massive compared to the standard 7” LCD on the old model, even though it still boasts the same 800p resolution.
The screen isn’t just an OLED upgrade either, but it also allows for HDR gaming, as well as a 90hz refresh rate, an upgrade over the LCD’s 60hz limit. The OLED is rated for a peak brightness of up to 1000 nits for that HDR coverage, and it also covers 110% of the P3 color gamut, making it incredibly accurate. The touchscreen itself is also upgraded over the standard LCD screen, making it more responsive overall.
The other major change noticeable right away was when I picked it up - the Steam Deck OLED is lighter, about 5% lighter than the original model, according to Valve. This doesn’t mean much right away, but this difference can be incredibly beneficial in long gaming sessions. As someone who spends many nights laying in bed playing games on the Deck or sitting back in my airplane seat rushing through Night City, it’s a much-appreciated upgrade.
The analog sticks are also slightly different, with an updated texture and material to help improve grip. They aren’t Hall Effect sticks, which are great at eliminating stick drift over time, but I appreciate the extra grippiness. One of the issues I would find on my old Deck was my thumbs slipping every so often - this hasn’t happened in almost three weeks of using the Steam Deck OLED.
One tiny thing I do miss, though, is the small strip of fabric in the case that made it easier to pull the Steam Deck out of it. It was a nice touch that limited how much I touched the screen when grabbing the Deck from its protective shell, but it’s definitely not a deal breaker. I’ll take the velcro strap over this any day. The Steam Deck OLED also comes with a small mesh bag, presumably to carry the charger in a backpack without it flopping around in there, as well as a cloth wipe to clear smudges and fingerprints from its pristine display.
Steam Deck OLED vs Steam Deck LCD - Major Differences
Apart from the screen, which is the most obvious upgrade, the Steam Deck OLED can also be looked at as a quasi-mid-cycle refresh of the Steam Deck. While Valve is not saying that players will see improved frame rates and performance over the standard Steam Deck, that doesn’t mean there aren’t improvements overall to celebrate.
The first is the more efficient APU under the hood. The OG Steam Deck utilized AMD’s custom 7nm chip, dubbed “Aerith” to power the device, while the Steam Deck OLED has a more efficient 6nm APU, aptly named “Sephiroth.” While the chip is more efficient overall versus the 7nm variant, there isn’t anything under the hood boosting performance, perse. You should still expect to see generally the same frame rate output as before - though now the Steam Deck should last longer on a single charge thanks to this efficiency.
This is also due to the fact that, because there is now more room in the shell, Valve stuck a larger battery in there. Additionally, that brilliant screen takes up less power than the LCD screen does, adding to the efficiency improvements overall. Valve claims that players can expect 30-50% better battery life on the Steam Deck OLED, something that I noticed right away when testing.
Playing games like Cyberpunk 2077 or Final Fantasy VII REMAKE on the old Steam Deck would tend to see my battery dry up within an hour or so of gameplay, even when locking the framerate to 30fps and dropping the resolution to 720p. Now, though, I’ve seen the battery life much more improved, playing Cyberpunk 2077 for close to two hours on a single charge while using the Steam Deck preset, while my Diablo IV gameplay went uninterrupted even longer, despite keeping the framerate high, close to the 90fps cap on the screen. This makes a huge difference, especially if you’re like me and love to take the Steam Deck on the road - yet find yourself with nothing to do after just an hour of gaming when it turns out your airplane seat does not have its own power outlet.
The RAM has also seen a glow up, updated to 6400 MT/s, and its WiFi and Bluetooth have seen updates to make them faster and more reliable, especially while docked. WiFi was noticeable immediately, as it downloaded games faster on the OLED than it ever has on the original Steam Deck, getting me into the action faster. And as an aside - I really appreciate the feature Valve has built into the SteamOS software that allows you to just transfer files from your PC over WiFi if the game is installed there. This is huge for those with data caps on their ISP or even just slow speeds from their provider. And it’s made installing larger triple-A games so much faster for me as well.
The OLED screen refreshes at a max of 90Hz, an upgrade from the 60Hz on the original Deck, and it’s definitely noticeable in games that aren’t as taxing as others, as I mentioned before. Persona 5 Royal ran at a flawless 90fps the whole way through Kamoshida’s Palace at the beginning of the sprawling epic JRPG, while even F1 22 kept close to the max refresh thanks to AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 support. This can be adjusted as well, with the Steam Deck OLED adjusting the overall refresh rate based on the max FPS you want to limit your game to, taking some of the guesswork out of what would perform better if you’re not too familiar with display tech.
And, thanks to this being a mini-PC, you can even turn off FPS limits and allow for screen tearing, should you want that extra responsiveness in a competitive shooter. The device overall stays cooler in the hands as well thanks to the larger fan in the Deck, though please don’t huff the fumes.
Steam Deck OLED Gameplay Impressions
I wrote a few weeks back about my experience playing Blizzard’s Diablo IV on the Steam Deck OLED, which gave some insight into how I felt about the device at the time. The biggest improvement is, as you might have guessed, the screen.
OLED pops. The colors are so much more vivid than the standard LCD fare, while the blacks are truly black - none of the macro-blocking typically seen with LCDs and other screen types. This made games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Diablo IV look much better than the standard deck. The darks in Diablo looked even more foreboding, while the neons and bright lights of Night City shone with a brilliance I’ve only seen on my large panel display at my PC. It reminded me a bit of walking around the Las Vegas strip at night; that’s how brilliantly the neons pop on the new OLED display.
HDR also works rather well right out of the box, though it’s not perfect in all games. I did have to tweak it some for Cyberpunk 2077, while Diablo IV didn’t look as vibrant as it did in SDR, so it is a bit hit or miss. Thankfully, the display still looks stunning in SDR, even with the peak brightness there only being about 600nits. Colors pop, and blacks are deep and foreboding - the screen is a gem to play games on, and I actually find myself wanting to play there more at times versus my 4090-powered rig, purely for the screen.
Sitting on my couch, Netflix on the TV in front of me, I have found myself diving into Sanctuary more, or even jumping back into Persona 5 Royal for one of the first time since it came to Steam over a year ago now with more frequency. Last night, I roamed around Eorzea in Final Fantasy XIV from my bed, the MMO playing flawlessly at 60fps+ while using the High (Laptop) preset despite having my PlayStation 5 hooked up across from me. It’s all thanks to that brilliant screen. I’m drawn to it, like a moth to flame.
It helps, too, that the Steam Deck OLED is, if marginally, lighter than its predecessor. I would oftentimes find myself stopping a play session within about 30 to 40 minutes on the previous Steam Deck purely because my hands are cramping up. Yet like the Steam Deck OLED’s battery life, I tend to go on for at least an additional hour before I need a break. I actually can’t wait to travel with the new Deck as well - it’s not exceptionally light, but whatever diet Valve put the Deck OLED on should make it that much easier to throw in a backpack and travel with.
Like I mentioned before, the Steam Deck OLED isn’t going to be a performance upgrade across the board here - it’s not a Steam Deck 2. It’s a refresh, a glow up compared to its predecessor. So performance should be on par with the original Deck, which is actually good news for developers who still have a single spec to dev for when porting a game to the device.
That said, I have noticed marginal improvements in some games framerate, but the biggest improvement for me is felt in a lack of stutter across the board. Cyberpunk 2077 is a massive improvement on this front for me, especially when zooming around Night City. It just feels more stable overall, something that could be down to the more efficient chip, or the higher transfer speed of the RAM in the OLED Deck.
Baldur’s Gate 3 felt more stable as well, especially in the city proper. It’s not perfect, and the Deck relies heavily on the FSR 2 upscaling to bring it to a playable framerate even at 720p, but it’s a valid way to play one of the best RPGs of our time if a Steam Deck is your only option at the moment.
The Steam Deck OLED still suffers from some of the same drawbacks of it not being a native Windows handheld. Sure, you can install Windows on the device, Valve isn’t stopping you, but it’s not as performant or, indeed, easy as just buying a Windows-powered handheld like the ROG Ally or Lenovo Legion Pro.
Some games are just unplayable thanks to the way anti-cheat is set up. I’d love to play New World on the Steam Deck using SteamOS, but it just won’t work properly, same with Black Desert Online. Destiny 2, a shooter that would excel in this form factor, is similarly unplayable as a result.
Additionally, while there are work arounds, you’re limited to your Steam library here. Sure, for most of us that’s not a problem, but if you’ve built up a sizeable Epic Games Store library, or even bought some games on the Windows store, you’re out of luck here without an elaborate work around solution - that in the end might not work.
Then again, you could just load Windows and circumvent all of these problems - that’s the beauty of Valve’s open-source approach to the Steam Deck since its inception. In the end, it really depends on how you want to use the device.
Steam Deck OLED - Final Thoughts
So should you run out and buy the Steam Deck OLED, especially if you already own the original model? Well, it depends.
Price-wise, it’s a huge win for consumers that the Steam Deck OLED didn’t come in and just jacked up the price of the whole lineup. Instead, the Steam OLED sits comfortably in the $549 tier of the lineup, effectively doubling the storage space of its LCD predecessor. The 1TB variant with the anit-glare etched glass is still just $649, undercutting the major competitor at that price point, the ASUS ROG Ally.
Additionally, the original LCD Steam Deck with the 256GB NVMe drive is now just $399, while the other LCD models are seeing price cuts in order to move the old inventory out of there. The Steam Deck remains one of the most affordable gaming handhelds in their class - something that cannot be overlooked when you realize just how much power is actually sitting here.
Sure, the AMD Z1 Extreme APU found in the ROG Ally or the Legion Pro is more powerful, I’ll grant you. Those devices are incredible in their own right, but they can be finicky, especially when driver updates and more are slow to release.
Valve, on the other hand, seems to be updating the software of the Steam Deck almost daily, with improvements coming down the pipeline with incredible frequency. I don’t have to search through multiple apps to update everything, either. Simply update using SteamOS’ prompt and you’re good to go.
There is something to be said about the fact that there isn’t any power management modes to eke out more performance from the Sephiroth APU, or even a variable refresh rate screen - both features on the ASUS ROG Ally. I’d love to be able to plug the Steam Deck into an outlet and get even more performance in triple-A titles, but that just isn’t the goal with the Steam Deck. Additionally, these types of features might cause the price to go up, and while I do miss the VRR screen, I can manage thanks to just how brilliant the screen on the Steam Deck OLED is overall.
One thing that all of the major gaming PC handhelds have to contend with nowadays, though,is the pace of triple-A graphical prowess compared to just how much these APUs can handle. The Steam Deck OLED is certainly capable of playing high-profile games like Final Fantasy VII REMAKE and Baldur’s Gate 3 at playable framerates, but not as well as even a mid-range PC, or even a console. The pace of triple-A gaming is outpacing the performance of these handhelds in a way that might make them no longer a viable option in the near future.
However, the Steam Deck OLED really shines with older or less demanding titles, and it can still punch above its weight class when the game has been tailored to the Deck’s spec. Again, Cyberpunk 2077 in the palm of my hand, even at a locked 30fps is bonkers when I think about it hard enough.
In the end, Valve’s mid-cycle refresh is compelling, especially if you’ve been waiting to buy a Steam Deck. Its new OLED screen dazzles, while the improvements to battery life, cooling, and its weight reduction make the Deck even more viable for long-term gaming sessions. While it’s not necessarily a “must-buy” if you already own a Steam Deck, and indeed, the $399 LCD variant will still serve you beautifully in the long run, if you can afford the jump up to OLED, your eyes will certainly thank you.
Full Disclosure: The product discussed was provided by the manufacturer for the purposes of this review.
