Era of the Handheld PC

[@Rhedox1]

Microsoft has **not** expressed interest in improving Windows for handhelds. That was one Microsoft employee doing mockups as part of an internal hackathon. That person also later confirmed that the company wasn't particularly interested in actually implementing it.

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

I found the only other sane person on KZbin. Hi. How you doing? Seriously though. This story has been reported to irresponsibly.

[@porridgeramen7220]

For sure, there's no incentive to respond Handheld PCs are tiny in the grand scheme of Windows* operations.

[@ark_knight]

I mean, have you guys seen all the improvements they have done on Windows 11!?! Yup, you havenot, because they pulled out features from taskbar that were already there, only to reimplement so of it after over 2 years now. But hey, you need to have bingGPT in your desktop RIGHT NOW. They are absolutely not doing anything with regards to handheld in near future. Perhaps the powertools team might

[@ShockinglyBleh]

They already tried doing this 10 years ago with Windows 8 and everyone seemed to hate it.

[@ark_knight]

@@ShockinglyBleh Because they keep messing with the fundamentals!

[@existentialselkath1264]

For all the steam decks competetors, they all seem to ignore one of the most important parts. The trackpads. This sorta hardware is best for older games which usually don't have great controller support.

[@beace4436]

this is why i’ll never upgrade from my Deck until the Deck 2 comes out. Track pad + gyro aiming in FPS games gives you so much more precision than a joystick ever could

[@LapnLook]

I think what's more important is the instant sleep mode. That's such a huge part of the Steam Deck that just doesn't really work on Windows

[@pcm720]

@@_mailer There aren't any buttons beneath the trackpads, this is simply haptic feedback making you think that there are buttons :) All done in software.

[@hornyducks4090]

Especially strategy games, the track pads as a mouse is a godsend

[@_modnar_]

​@@pcm720true. You can test it by pressing the trackpad while the Deck is turned off. Still awesome software to fool you into thinking there are haptic buttons where none are

[@AMD2600]

One of the biggest strengths of the Steam Deck I don't see many people touching on is the dual trackpad setup combined with the customizable controls feature. Being able to create a custom radial menu that maps to controller buttons, keyboard keys, or mouse keys is such a cool feature.

[@nicememe8809]

How do you do this?

[@recfruit]

@@nicememe8809virtual menus in the controls menu

[@TSL73]

The trackpads are the #1 reason why I bought one. Some games are impossible to play without them and they make trouble shooting games so much easier without having to use a mouse. I wanted a true handheld that wasn’t tethered to other devices and the Steam Deck has proven to me it is a true handheld like the Switch is.

[@korysovec]

I gotta say that I can't imagine playing some games without the trackpads

[@nickr3526]

I've rarely used mine on my Deck. So to each their own. The Ally is appealing to me since it's a smaller form factor and better screen and performance. It's good to have options.

[@PeterMoore5]

Which games? What functions do you use them for?

[@korysovec]

@@PeterMoore5 Minecraft (much more precise than stick and inventory management is faster), Euro Truck Sim (navigating menus), RuneScape, AMS2 (again menu navigation), basically any top down strategy games. I also use them to navigate the desktop environment, writing using them is also more comfortable. It's more about what games I am not using them for, that would be basically only games without mouse support and 3D platformers.

[@-angelp]

hopefully valve keeps making handhelds with trackpads

[@dicksdiggers]

@@korysovec I played on my friend's deck a little, it is also absolutely unmissable in Civ 6.

[@echoztrip]

One of the top features of the Deck I find is the Suspend/Sleep function. I could be in the middle of an important mission, but I can just press the power button and it instantly puts the game to sleep, and I can return later, press the power button again and be back in the action instantly rather than having to load the game again (which in some titles, can be quite a few minutes!)

[@echoztrip]

@@2kliksphilip great point, explains why my Quest 2 hasn't been used in months...

[@zerorig]

I point this out as a deal breaker with the other portable PCs. It reduces the friction of stopping and starting play that it's such an essential thing.

[@FluffyPuppyKasey]

I have the 64GB version of the Deck, and while I do love it, I don't use sleep. Simply because it takes up to two minutes just to sleep. I suspect that may be down to mine being based on eMMC rather than PCIe though, so once I can afford it I'll probably be upgrading it to a 1TB SSD, or switching to an Ally (running SteamOS)

[@TwskiTV]

Is the Windows sleep/hibernate that bad? In my Windows laptop, the few times that I used sleep while in game it worked alright. When sleeping it automatically hibernates after some minutes if it isn't charging. Maybe I didn't use it enough to see the issues, but I feel like this isn't something that innovative

[@AponTechy]

Just like PSP

[@HeisenbergFam]

"just like with tablets, I doubt Microsoft will be remembered for pioneering it" is a beautiful way to end the video

[@HeisenbergFam]

@@2kliksphilip agreed, have a good one

[@DarkeningDemise]

@@2kliksphilip aye the Windows Phone had the potential but fell flat

[@Derpynewb]

What goes around comes around. Microshit used to use the three e's. Extend, enhance, extinguish. They'd go to open sources stuff, lightly improve it so that their version played nice with the old stuff and their stuff and so they could take the market but they'd also copyright it, extinguishing the originals usage. Microshit has a habit of copying, lightly changing and fucking over stuff.

[@durchfaII]

@@DarkeningDemise if we discard the fact that the hardware used on windows phones and tablets were not powerful enough to run windows at a decent level.

[@mrunderscorecool]

I miss my windows phone :(

[@maikeru6158]

To be fair game compatibility isn’t necessarily the os’ problem, it’s more of a monopoly problem. Most people use windows because it’s simply the default. Windows is however pretty terrible in many regards, but that doesn’t matter to many because it’s what they’re used to. We need more competition because competition leads to innovation. Everyone wins in the end

[@male07mdl]

pretty terrible how? compared to linux, it is superior with gaming and many other aspects

[@carlosteixeira4691]

​@@male07mdlpeople just like to shit on Windows because they hear other people doing it and completely ignore everything that Microsoft has done right

[@trofchik9488]

@@male07mdl for 99% of people modern 'just works' distros of Linux have no disadvantages over Windows excepts for those that happen to have wrong incompatible hardware because, all they do is use browser and maybe work with documents.

[@HawasGames]

​@@male07mdlIt's terrible in terms of privacy or bloat or how Windows Update *will* update your system whether you like it or not for example. And the person you're replying already covered compatibility which is your only example of Windows superiority over Linux

[@andreas4010]

​@@trofchik9488honestly if it wasn't fpr office, more people would switch

[@arandomfox999]

The natural OS I would argue for these handhelds are not windows but rather linux. That's what Steam OS is after-all.

[@Damian-cilr2]

@@Generic_KZbin_Username_ linux is already widely used,albeit not gnu/linux android uses the linux kernel,so unknowingly,people are using some kind of linux distro on their phone already. And linux is used for lots of stuff outside of that one example is servers

[@Roofhack]

It would be nice to see Linux used more widely, so while Windows had advantages out of the gate I would prefer to see something like SteamOS take off.

[@MonnizProductions]

@@Damian-cilr2 even Windows users are probably unknowingly runingn linux as they run Minix in their intel chips already

[@monochrome_linux]

​@@MonnizProductionsminix is unix, not linux

[@MonnizProductions]

@@monochrome_linux and what is linux?

[@revmaillet]

My main gripe with the competitors is the control layout... the asymmetrical layout makes my hands lock up while the playstation and steam deck layout helps sooooo much. On top of that the ability to repair and upgrade the steam deck puts it ahead of its competitors for me. My steam deck is out of warranty now and it is nice to know that I have the ability to fix it myself instead of paying killer prices to have it repaired or buy a new one.

[@TSL73]

I agree. It reminds me of the Wii U gamepad which is one of the most comfortable controllers ever made. It’s like Valve decided to shove a PC into one of those and called it a day.

[@Grimlo9ic]

Your point at 1:51 is really true. When the Ayaneo and GPD devices were starting to stir up lots of interest in late 2020/early 2021 I dismissed them as unneccesary because I already had a gaming laptop. But the Steam Deck released with such a reasonable price point that I bought one. A year later, I now also have an Ally, and I find myself playing on them all the time while my laptop sits powered down in a drawer.

[@Grimlo9ic]

@jabron.destoroyah Lol yeah I'm probably gonna let my laptop go for $600 at this point, which is a bargain for it.

[@dreamcat04]

I also got myself the ROG Ally two and a half months ago and my desktop has been mostly just sitting there doing nothing ever since because it's so much more convenient to be able to play anywhere. I don't mind the battery only lasting like 90min if I'm using my custom 17W power profile as I don't need it to last any longer. The lower performance also isn't a problem for me, I don't mind turning Forza Horizon 5 down to Medium, it still looks great

[@Grimlo9ic]

@@dreamcat04 Right? The pick up and play capability that these handhelds have is such a massive change in the way we access our games. I also recently found out about Lossless Scaling on Steam (a scaling and/or framegen program which works with any GPU), which is perfect for the Ally's APU. With it I can reach over 100 FPS on Helldivers 2 on 900p, which is already fantastic on a 7 inch screen.

[@kingszeno]

I feel sad that not one word was said about the trackpad. The built in vibration makes it feel like a trackball. UI intense games, RTS and even FPS are a lot better because of it. I now feel like next gen controllers should have at least one trackpad available next to the thumb, it's just a separate necessity than the joystick.

[@readyforlol]

The second Valve makes a Steam Controller 2 that'd literally be a Steam Deck with the screen part removed and the two handles fused together, i'm buying 4 of them. I don't even care how expensive they are. A controller with a symmetric 2-stick layout, capacitive sticks, 2 trackpads, 4 back buttons and gyro ? I'm IN. Give it to me NOW. The only thing it'd be missing to objectively be the best controller ever made would be dynamic triggers like the PS5's and we'd be SET.

[@filedotjar]

the Steam Deck is genuinely a big reason that I've gotten a lot more into gaming this year. I have ADHD which makes small executive function things difficult for me, like having to fully move to a desk when I want to play a game. before the steam deck, I had lots of games I wanted to play but struggled with the motivation to head to my desktop PC every time. with the Steam Deck, I can pull it out in bed, on a couch, on the train, or anywhere that I have some time to kill. Last year before I had the Steam Deck I finished 1 game, this year I've finished 7 and it's only halfway through the year. Obviously it's not a perfect device (battery often sucks, dpad isn't great, screen could be a lot better) but it got so much right in comparison (ease of use with SteamOS, alternate controls via touchpads and back buttons, emulation powerhouse, amazing battery efficiency when streaming or playing lighter games). It's not for everyone, but for the people it IS for, it's a game changer.

[@MsZsc]

i might have adhd too and what you described is interesting do you mind telling me how you camd to terms and also became aware of something like that as a problem

[@filedotjar]

@@MsZsc doing homework was always super difficult for me as a kid, I wanted to do it but there was this mental block that made me feel like I just "couldn't" do the assignment even if it was due the next day. when I got older and was online more I saw videos from other people with ADHD describing their experience which really matched up with mine, and so I talked to my therapist about getting a diagnosis and ADHD meds. the meds don't eliminate ADHD for me but they mainly make it like 75% easier to control my executive function, so stressors aren't quite so overwhelming. hope this helps :)

[@smallbutdeadly931]

Got myself a Steam Deck after getting into another full-time job, and I will say that it is my favorite purchase this year. It allows me to play games during my lunch break and the sleep feature allows me to get back to most games at any time.

[@GamIngDoge.]

Great video! Always excited to see something new from you.

[@Anna_Rae]

The Steam Deck has become my favorite device for retro game emulation. The performance is quite stellar and has great battery life. I also like that I can dock the Steam Deck. I love playing retro games portably, but very often I also like playing it on a big TV. Being able to take the same device on the go and to my TV, using any controller I want has been amazing. I’ve been playing Legend of Dragoon for PS1 and it’s been an incredible experience on the Steam Deck 💕

[@blairlohnes8103]

I upgraded to a 1TB SSD for primarily Gamecube and Playstation games haha

[@MsZsc]

@@blairlohnes8103watch out nintendo “fans” will find you with kill bill ironside playing in the background

[@bustercalibur4908]

​@@MsZscI'm sure those nintendo "fans" emulate the old games anyway. Like there is no way to play TTYD without buying a used console that nintendo doesn't support anymore.

[@MsZsc]

@@bustercalibur4908 i knew ppl that pay for youtube premium

[@Robstrap]

Im happy its moving away from top tier super expensive computers witj 4090s to the humble steam deck. I have a very good gaming setup but for some reason I prefer playing most non competitive games on my steam deck, the humbleness and simpleness of it increases enjoyment for some reason

[@flarebear5346]

100% agree. I'll play comp games on my pc at 300 frames but everything else I want to play on the steam deck

[@MithosDagon]

@@euphoric-cat Same. The SD is fantastic but it has its place for me and so does the ROG Ally. They are better for less demanding games, especially most JRPG’s I play. I love the SD UI and experience with Linux but it is not 100% compatible as Windows can be with games (it does a great job but some things slip thru the cracks). ROG Ally has better compatibility for some games I want to play and has the better screen, etc but lacks the button I have on the SD (which I love). I also like how I can use WeMod on the Ally but can’t on SD…SD can use Fling Trainers with some tinkering and cheathappens which is janky and required tinkering too (I love using trainers/cheats with some older RPG’s that I only want to experience the story). But my 3080 Ti PC does it all, and although I don’t play it a ton with all my other devices/consoles, it has a place for me when running the most demanding games.

[@Koi33.]

​@@euphoric-cat the honeymoon phase was over

[@Robstrap]

@@euphoric-cat Ah I still prefer steam deck for alot of games but I mostly play older titles anyway, not much of a AAA game guy (Atleast not new ones). But pc deffo is more immersive

[@Malyt538]

Me to thank god shit like this is coming out

[@wesleybcrowen]

The main knock I have against the Ally is that it has a very basic xinput gamepad controller with two paddles. Steam Deck's two trackpads, capacitive sticks and four grip buttons make a LOT of PC games very accessible on the device, on top of great ergonomics (despite the weight).

[@CiCaruana]

That last line, man. Imagine if Microsoft had any interest in innovating instead of waiting for literally anybody else to make a move that doesn't immediately flop and/or could take customers away from Windows before just... doing what they did with a bigger budget. Makes you wonder what their R&D teams actually do all day.

[@xBINARYGODx]

lol two delusional posts in a row, totally divorced from computer and consumer electronic history. but hey, this year is surely the year of the linux desktop, right?

[@xBINARYGODx]

@@Generic_KZbin_Username_ ":they don’t seem to have learned from that 2001 lawsuit." then you dont know the current MS at all, or any of the time between, you are a delusion hater, you have gone religious with tech, you are fox news but for tech

[@stdcall]

microsoft research is the only bell-labs style r&d lab left in the world

[@KrisJoshJones]

Biggest downside for me with the Ally is it’s embarrassing aesthetic. It’s that tacky “Gamers will love this” look that all the tech companies push. Would not want people seeing me use that thing.

[@Dogetheun]

True I really am not a fan of rgb because it just adds cost and it’s just to flashy, I like the way the steam deck looks because it’s basic in its color, grey is all I need and I don’t need the rainbow lights

[@vraolet]

that good old nintendo 64 case with the gamer favorite RGB twin stick

[@vraolet]

I don't play anything that makes the fans go really loud on steam deck so that's not really a concern for me. On the other end the Ally looks so gooffy and so uncomfortable that I would rather whip out a PSP than this thing.

[@Dogetheun]

@@robrob8936 dude I think the fan being loud isn’t even that bad of a thing in public but holy shit imagine whipping out a device that’s just covered in rgb in public, that’s even more embarrassing then the loud fans honestly

[@Dogetheun]

@@robrob8936 honestly I could care less about preformace, I literally have a pc with a gt1030 and a 2 core and processor, I barely even play video games and when I do it’s ether a source engine game from 2009, the only reason I like the steam deck is because it’s cheaper and plus it looks like valve made the design to change broken parts really easy, I’m considering getting a deck to do guitar recording honestly

[@mar2ck_]

The fan is way quieter at 10W and lower. Plus the SoC is most efficient at 9W anyway (according to testing from The Phawx)

[@arandomfox999]

The issue is other countries like mine South Africa and I hear Australia as well struggle to get their hands on Steam Hardware. The Valve Index is insanely expensive here and virtually unavailable where as the Steamdeck is easily twice the base price or more than it is in America. It's downright awful.

[@Fataha22]

Fr, here in Indonesia is easy to find steam deck on online shop but to get accessories or spare part is god awful and need to import from US or Singapore Compare with Asus Ally with service center is everywhere, Asus have no competition here

[@HeretixAevum]

Can confirm, the steam deck hasn't officially launched in Australia so it's a marked up import.

[@poopfartlord9695]

Yeah I ended up sucking it up and paying for an imported deck in Australia for $800 for a 64g. When you include exchange rate that's still a decent markup. Still worth it for me though.

[@newolku]

ez money

[@monochrome_linux]

Indian here. Same shit here, pricing is really high here as well, since theres no official support. You can expect anywhere between 200% and 300% of US MSRP.

[@hex9259]

love the shots of you and the camera in the steam decks screen

[@udekmp868]

desktop linux has been making massive strides in gaming over the last 4 years, but also major improvements to just about every component as well. like it's insane to think that pc gamers can now use a linux distro as a viable alternative. i think having competition in the OS space for PC gaming is very important especially since it has been dominated by windows exclusively for decades. even macOS is going to use wine by default with their game toolkit. wine (and proton) is very important software for compatibility. there are games that you can run much easier thru wine on linux than on modern windows.

[@backtoklondike]

Linus Torvalds even said once (before the steam deck was) that Valve are probably the ones who is going to save Linux desktop and make it into the mainstream. The biggest hurdle for linux is that so little people use it for average use so less use development goes to gaming, programs and other stuff. But by making SteamOS a big deal, more stuff will be developed for linux so that even non-gamers might consider switching to a linux distro.

[@awii.neocities]

until I can pirate Linux games I am not switching

[@udekmp868]

@@awii.neocities you can... just like any other windows game. pirate that like you usually do then run the sus ass installers and crack shit in either Lutris or Bottles. you filthy pirate

[@bambamsbubble5249]

cant wait for ur breakdown of the new mapping tools that come with source 2

[@UnwantedBagel]

I love his videos so much. Who woulda thunk a video essay could be so interesting

[@rahuld2844]

I love this style of video making where you just play around with the product with a voiceover instead of repeatedly showing commerical footage of the product

[@gunstorm05]

The ROG Ally is missing one of my favorite things about the Deck: The touch pads. I doubt it'd be particularly fun to play Stellaris or Dyson Sphere Program on the Ally, especially compared to playing those on Deck.

[@vaclives]

i wished i had a steamdeck rn so i could watch this, steam-deck-ception

[@patrlim]

3:57 he is STILL teasing destruction Darius 2. GIVE US DARIUS.

[@HeretixAevum]

I agree about handhelds being an awesome way to play games, I picked up a switch OLED recently and have been playing on it considerably more than my fairly powerful PC. It's my first handheld in about 15 years since the PSP, I didn't realise what I was missing. I did deliberate between the switch and steam deck a lot, but settled on the former for two reasons. Firstly, the steam deck still hasn't officially launched here in Australia so it's an expensive marked up import by third party sellers, making it effectively about twice the price of the switch (once you upgrade the 64gb versions storage which you absolutely will need to do). Secondly, I'm not all that keen on the IPS panel. Both my phone and my main computer monitor are OLED and I don't really want to go backwards in that regard. Having a better screen (while being way cheaper) is a BIG deal for a portable device like this. Still, I love the idea of having access to my steam library on the go, and the ability to stream games from my desktop to the deck at home is a really sweet feature to enhance both performance and game compatibility. I'll be eagerly awaiting details for both the switch 2 and second gen steamdeck.

[@RogueBones3]

I can't afford a gaming pc so I got a steam deck and docking station. It works great as a budget pc and I don't mind playing on low settings on the games I play. And emudeck is awesome.

[@flamingscar5263]

what I love the steam deck for is it finally sets a baseline for PC gaming hardware, if your game doesn't run on the deck, you've failed, and even the games people say run terrible like the last of us are verified on the steam deck, and I think a big reason is proton, more specifically DXVK and Valves shader cache, many modern games run like ass not due to bad optimization, but just awful shader compilation lag, making it FEEL like the game runs terribly but really once those shaders are finally done compiling it runs good enough, its just that it can take until your done with that section of the game for the shaders to be done compiling, proton and Valves shader cache fixed this, going into the game the shaders are compiled already, and what I dont get is why isn't this on windows, well it actually is, the windows client supports it, but idk if its just that Valve only makes it possible to access their shader cache and devs can't provide their own, or if devs just don't use it, honestly I've been debating switching to linux for this feature, especially since the only games I play that only work on windows, well I haven't really been playing much, the only thing stopping me is just the setup it would take, I've dabbled in linux before so I know that unless I commit enough to switch my game drive from NTFS there will be a good amount of setup and jankiness, ad idk if I'm committed enough to format my 2TB drive filled with games, not that I couldn't go without much on that drive, but god thats a lot of games to reinstall

[@PaulStevenson77]

As someone who has had the ROG Ally for a few weeks, and someone with a decent desktop PC, I’m very impressed with the handheld. So much so I rarely use my desktop at the moment. Convenience and the performance of the handheld is too good to ignore. It’s also getting better with every update like the steamdeck did

[@signe_stilett]

Steam deck is currently my only computer, and I didn't have any issues or shortcomings with it as my main PC. If anything, I was finally able to play Arma 3 without it being a slideshow (Using an external monitor and kb+m) The only reason I am still looking to build a computer is PC VR

[@takashy87]

Small things to note regarding the price difference between the Z1 Extreme Ally and the most expensive Steam Deck: 1) Steam deck comes with a travel/carry case - Ally does not 2) The price of the Ally depends on your country. Over here the 512GB Deck costs 679 while the Z1 Extreme Ally is 799. That's a difference of 120 Euros, which isn't a low sum

[@je-4013]

Excellent video, if I'm being honest probably my favourite that you've put out on this channel in a little while

[@дигл_лайв]

I used to like using my laptop on my lap. Touchpads never felt right to me, so eventually I just got used to having barely enough space for a mouse under the keyboard. My DPI was insane, and I played games like that without much issue. I even competed in a local tournament of Dota 2 once without a desk, since it was more comfortable for me that way.

[@proCaylak]

well done. all I can say is well done :D

[@Catzzye]

1:45 what a pleasant surprise :> Fluffykins seems like a kind of kitty that will always be by your side within few mins :) I wonder how it goes when you’re recording voice over hehe

[@TheTISEOMan]

The Ally feels like Asus wanted to make a computer and added the controller parts as extra doodads. While more power is great, the fact it's missing the 4 back buttons and touch pads marks it at an extreme disadvantage when it comes to the controls and what games you can play. To me, that's the most important factor. If this mini computer is designed for me to play PC games, then I want to be able to play almost any PC game I want. People have made KotOR control schemes for the Steamdeck that are actually intuitive, while with the ROG you are hit with a hard limit of the two back buttons. So far, besides extra performance, the Ally seems like they want you to dock the machine more than use it as a handheld device.

[@Refo3000]

omg only 2 hrs ago, ive been thinking about a steam deck for a week man and u drop this, i lvoe you philip

[@Henrik0x7F]

What are those "general purpose PC tasks" you think are lacking with SteamOS? In my experience the desktop mode of the Steam Deck is very capable once you get used to it. Do you edit documents and videos on a regular basis on it? I leave the Steam UI only rarely to set some stuff up. In my opinion the OS is the biggest advantage the Steam Deck has and I'm wondering why Asus is not using SteamOS. With a device like this I might only use a couple of times per week I don't want to worry about it doing Windows updates and emptying its battery. Not to mention the lack of an controller optimised UI.

[@priyanshusharma1812]

​@@2kliksphilipthat's kinda with the territory, proprietary apps usually don't play well with linux as it's all upto the developers of the software to port it for linux if they want to after all, with linux all we can hope for are open source alternatives made by the community, or using wine to run windows versions of those apps, but do try a few community alternatives as they're free and might suit you better in some cases.

[@Henrik0x7F]

@@2kliksphilip Okay, if you want to use Vegas and do some real work on it you'll have to change a lot of things or give up and use Windows. I'm surprised you doing this on the Steam Deck though. Do you use it as an alternative to a Laptop? If so are you carrying a monitor with you or just a usb dongle with mouse and keyboard?

[@Henrik0x7F]

@@2kliksphilip For your case it's perfectly reasonable to dual boot Windows. Though I still think that the Asus one should be using SteamOS as default since this is the better option for the average user. I noticed that most youtubers talking about the Steam Deck are power users with very special use cases and therefore install Windows. To people looking into buying a Steam Deck this suggests that the first thing you do with it is to install Windows which I think is not the way to go for someone who mainly wants to play games on it.

[@Stress394]

@@2kliksphilip idk i fell in love with linux over the past year or so, it really made PC fun again. I would rater like to see that these companies port their software to linux than microsoft making their "SteamOS".

[@windowpeeper]

after 10 years of watching you, you still have a really nice voice

[@electricindigoball1244]

The ROG Ally's screen is higher resolution in terms of total pixels however it's a 16 : 9 screen rather than a 16 : 10 screen that the Steam Deck has. This to me is a big downside as a 16 : 10 screen gives you more physical screen real estate than a 16 : 9 one. Granted not all games will take advantage of it but I would rather have it for those that do than be stuck using a 16 : 9 resolution. The 16 : 10 aspect ratio also makes a lot of sense for these kind of devices as the screens are already pretty small and you can't really make the screen wider because of the form factor. IMO the most important specs of a handheld gaming PC's screen in order from least to most important are: the aspect ratio, resolution, VRR support and refresh rate.

[@maxd8952]

I loved the steam deck and recently picked up a gpd win 4. It was between that and the Ally. I think the win 4 is probably the best out of the 3, the sheer portability of it over the other two cannot be overstated and from what ive heard the software on the Ally is an absolute mess, where as the software on the gpd win 4 and the deck feel right at home on their respective hardware. Valve is the safe play though, because they will keep supporting the deck for years to come.

[@zoonbk]

I hope if there's a SD2 ever coming out, that they'd keep the screen resolution the same. 1080p seems such a waste of power and resources.

[@electricindigoball1244]

Increasing the resolution is not a bad idea. Smartphones had 1080p screens for years despite having smaller screens than the Steam Deck. What is important is the screen aspect ratio. The Steam Deck has 16 : 10 screen which gives you additional screen real estate on top and bottom which some games use to either show more on top and bottom or to move bottom or top anchored UI elements further out of the way. With that being said refresh rate above 60 Hz is a waste on devices like these as they lack the power to run many games at higher refresh rates and in case of games where they can it has a side effect of lower battery life.

[@Praxss]

A good 720p oled screen is best for this usecase

[@roua.]

8:58 I don't think that we need to make the choice between gaming and general PC functionality, well maybe we do. one of the most exiting things for me concerning the steamdeck is how it's normalizing the use of linux, which I hope will drive more software vendors to support linux more.

[@Kato0909]

5:20 I must say it's not a novel method of typing, this method was already implemented in Steam Controller. Nearly all features of it were either directly ported, or reimplemented in SteamDeck. Some say the Deck as a project was just a second gen of the Steam Controller, but the scope was widened to the point of the entire handheld pc/console

[@mr.shplorb662]

Agreed, I would end up using the track pads even if the touch screen was much better

[@numberoneappgames]

The future is looking beautiful!

[@GameDawgs]

👍🏽 for the cat at 1:49 .

[@beace4436]

I’ve got the Steam Deck and my gf has the Ally. I really don’t think the Ally is above the Steam Deck

[@Dribbleondo]

What does your gf think?

[@Aethelbeorn]

Has it's perks. She can still have a Steam Deck-like experience using the Windows client Big Picture Mode.

[@oneeyeop-en6720]

Why? , elaborate pls

[@sycoraz]

Owning both, I feel the ally is very nice till you need mouse control. Screen is way prettier and the 120hz is so nice. This guy is just wrong lel

[@Aethelbeorn]

@@sycoraz Some people like Pepsi. Some people like Coke.

[@Catzzye]

4:02 The coveted Destruction Darius 2! You're such a tease hehe

[@datejer]

Coming back to the Ally segment after seeing the Jerry Rig video on it seems... quite ironic. Stay safe, don't cook your fingers or your SD cards and get the Deck instead.

[@Jonathan-bi8hr]

If you’re bothered by the fan noise and don’t mind getting a bit technical, why don’t you try undervolting? It’s not an excuse as consumers shouldn’t need to tune their system for a good experience but it’s nice to have the option. That being said, I don’t have a Steam Deck so I haven’t tried it myself but I’ve heard it can have an effect on heat and battery life.

[@reisshep]

I knew what to expect of my Steam Deck and I'm very impressed. I bought like $500 worth of games for it and I haven't turned my PC on for gaming too much. Only RTX AAA games that are worth playing in 2k or 4k are for my machine, the rest is on the Deck. I'm also bad with time management so when the battery on it runs out it's time to stop playing. Deck literally changed the way I play games and I've been playing more and more of them ever since I got it. And of course the emulation is incredible.

[@primtve_dope9568]

how can you afford it all?!?

[@MaksKCS]

@@primtve_dope9568 it's called having a job

[@yustforfun]

Please stop saying 2K when you mean 1440p

[@primtve_dope9568]

@@MaksKCS however much you earn buying a steam deck for hundreds, then buying 500 worth of games when you already have an RTX-ready PC is just the most consoomer thing possible. I hate the consoomer mindset some people have.

[@reisshep]

@@primtve_dope9568 it's not a consoomer thing. I just bought things off my wishlist (games dating from 2018-2023 that I never got around to buying because I was unsure of when I could play them) that I'll play for the next year. And yes, it's called having a job.

[@DJDiarrhea]

I'm surprised noone has copied the switchs dockable controllers yet. They make so much sense for a portable, but semi stationary device.

[@AntonioCunningham]

I can think of two reasons. 1. They're very uncomfortable to use. The joycon was the first 1st part controllers I hated using. I don't like Xbox. Analog stick placement, but it still works for me and isn't a painful to my hands. 2. Nintendo probably have patents keeping others from doing so.

[@kalebercanbrack8857]

Valve has been incredibly open with the Steam Deck that I think deserves to be mentioned. You can install and play games from stores other than Steam, and their SteamOS version will be open sourced (idk why they're taking so long on it) so other handhelds can deliver the same experience. You can also repair pretty much everything in it, they've even provided an official teardown video. Valve has also done a TON for making gaming on Linux (SteamOS) possible over the last several years with their Proton compatibility layer, which is also open source.

[@AntonioZL]

Proton is the sole reason why I quitted from dual booting, after almost a decade doing it.

[@nelapsi.]

Same here. Never cared much for portable gaming, hate mobile gaming + I have a top of the line PC. Got a SteamDeck and suddenly I found a lot of use for it

[@lukabrasi001]

actually, why i think valve is such a great company is because they actually care about their consumers, they aren't in it for the win, but to drive competition, their hardware is usually really well built and high end when compared to others and they're not overly priced. even the Index is sort of reasonable if you consider what's in it and how it works. Valve's just not greedy, they're grounded in reality and they can afford to make good things without the worry of losing profits because they're the number one option for PC gaming and that, i think you cannot change no matter how much you try to

[@skylineeLOL]

Im really excited for more CS2 content from you.

[@Losthoro]

You have mistaken him for his brother 3kliksphilips who plays csgo

[@sagbag856]

the history of handheld computers is pretty cool and probably the most remarkable market i ever seen. evolving from palm tops to gpd win becoming more game ready and seeing as apus/mobile chips get smaller for performance is pretty staggering.. im really waiting for a lens on my retina just to be able to play the world.

[@allenqueen]

I'm very happy that handheld PCs are a thing now. I really really want them to sell even more so devs have to optimize for them aswell. There is something so pleasing in running a game at 15W instead of 1500 or whatever Nvidia does these days

[@casedistorted]

Cloud saves for steam and sleep function is pretty amazing.

[@MojoRisingTV]

With the glimpse of disco elysium shown at 2:39 I have realized. We need a disco elysium review from Phillip.

[@itzdcx7991]

my favorite thing about the Steamdeck Custom Mappable buttons for keyboard and GYRO

[@evunotry-force2073]

Just you wait till you find out exactly how much advanced stuff you can do with steam os since it's linux. That windows/steamos quickswap mix stuff is possible on the steamdeck (although the setup is complicated)

[@damianabregba7476]

If you have big hands you can use both thumbs to write anything with touchscreen and that made keyboard experience much better. You just have to shift grip a little bit closer to the edge for few seconds which feels natural to me

[@drinkkp]

4:02 destruction darius 2 jumpscare

[@smallbutdeadly931]

I also had issues with the size of the Steam Deck at first, and the fans were slightly loud. I got the Jsaux transparent backplate with the aluminum on the back to help with cooling, and I got a case so that the Steam Deck sits better in my hands. Seriously though, if the Steam Deck feels too small get a good case for it. It'll protect your deck while making it easier to hold at the same time.

[@FrigidOven]

I hope you revisit this topic down the line!

[@Marshydarshy]

Lingering on Destruction Darius 2 for just a second... I'll hope for a new update someday.

[@TiagoTiagoT]

I tend to prefer using my middle finger for the trigger, leaving my index for just the bumper

[@Sierra410]

Steam Deck has desktop mode and can run regular programs, though. It's not locked down to only run Steam.

[@Sierra410]

@@2kliksphilip fair enough. It might be possible to get DaVinci Resolve running, though. Definitely possible to run KdenLive, which is what I've switched to (used to use Vegas as well). Seems to be on par with Vegas more or less. Though, I'm not a professional video creator.

[@yag-yet_another_gamer]

​@@Sierra410have you got any tips for someone who's using Kdenlive as their first video editing program?

[@yag-yet_another_gamer]

​​@@2kliksphiliphen remote into your computer with a VNC client, or run it in a Windows VM

[@Sierra410]

@@2kliksphilip which comes with tradeoffs, as you've said. And, in case of the Steam Deck, it's not installed out of the box and isn't even really supported. I found it easier to just use something else that works. ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

[@Sierra410]

@@2kliksphilip I'm not forcing you to ditch Vegas, I'm just saying that if the goal is to edit videos on a Steam Deck, there are multiple ways to do it. Even if neither way is perfect or easy. Actually, there might be yet another way. Maybe Vegas could run in Wine? Never tried that. Honestly? Were it possible, I'd still use Windows XP, probably. But operating systems, as well as the platforms they run on, come and go. And what options are there? Sometimes it's possible to avoid or ignore the changes, sometimes you're forced to accept them. Of course, in this case, it's the former, but still. The whole universe is a cold, unfeeling thing that morphs and changes all the time. It rips the things we care about the most away from us. And yes, sometimes it gives us something else, but other times, it doubles down on being cruel and heartless... Where was I? Oh yeah. I'm actually a hobbyist programmer and occasionally poke around at game engines and whatnot. Many libraries, APIs, engines and technologies relevant... not even 25, but 5 years ago are often deprecated or unsupported anymore. Things change even within projects that, themselves, stay around for years: old APIs, ABIs, functions get deprecated; replaced in favor of new ones. And for that reason, a many of projects of mine are dead, for I care not to update them to work within the realms of modern digital environments.

[@davidcache]

The age of optimization. Steam deck has successfully convinced devs to make games work on less cores and less powerful GPU's. Its great.

[@ivandarmawan9372]

2023 has been a shitshow regarding pc games optimization tho

[@chariothe9013]

@@ivandarmawan9372 that's why we need something that use one specification of hardware and people use it a lot it, so developer can prioritize optimization of the game for it.

[@davidcache]

​@@ivandarmawan9372 indeed, which makes the steam deck that much more appealing. games like Hogwarts and the Callisto protocol played horribly on PC, but played well on the steam deck, thanks to VALVE being absolute beasts and patching the games themselves. No other console manufacturer can do what valve does. Also, some games notorious for playing badly on high end PC's (saint s row 2) plays amazingly using valves proton. The steam deck has brought life back into PC gaming, all while undeniably revolutionizing the linux operating system. People don't realize Gabe Newels immense impact in the PC gaming space. Most companies will grab an APU, wrap it in plastic and call it a day (aya neo, asus ally) Gabe Newell though... The man created his own custom silicone in partnership with AMD, specifically for the steam deck... No company can match valve in this regard, Gabe Newel knows what western gamers want more than any big wig at Microsoft or Sony.

[@habama1077]

@@ivandarmawan9372 Games take longer to develop than one year. If the Deck has any effect on the market in the optimization department, it will be apparent next year at the earliest, in my opinion.

[@davidcache]

@@habama1077 in most situations, you'd be exactly right. The deck runs an abstraction layer though, proton... Valve can patch games and deploy their own optimizations using their low level api. As is proton vulkanizes API calls, meaning proton caches games at first run, rather then at runtime. Many games known to stutter on PC run consistently on the Deck. Gabe Newell did a thing, and it's been great.

[@LordBrizz]

Im pretty confident that you have a Delta fan in your Deck, which is a very loud and annoying fan. I had it in my Deck, too. I bought a replacement on iFixIt which is the Huaying model and it is _absurdly_ quieter. I highly recommend it for anyone with the Delta fan.

[@Flapfuzzledaddle]

I have a dual boot Steam Deck because I didn't want to sacrifice any possibilities that this small device would bring and let me tell you: I almost never use Windows on it because SteamOS is so capable and convenient. It even runs Diablo IV like a charm even though Linux isn't supported by this game officially. Steam Deck is awesome, I bought the 64 gb version and a standard 2280 512gb nvme ssd and cut it in half with a hacksaw to fit it inside :D Works flawlessly. Now I have a 512gb steam deck for about 440€

[@poopfartlord9695]

I somehow don't believe you. Why wouldn't you buy a 2230 nvme?

[@Flapfuzzledaddle]

​@@poopfartlord9695 I can't blame you, I also thought that cutting ssd's was a joke among the comunity but no, there are even tutorials on youtube :D I did it because it was MUCH cheaper to just buy a second hand 2280 ssd than a 2230 one at the time (it was something like 40€ vs 150€ back then). I bought a WD SN520 which is ideal for it because all the important parts are located on one side, the rest is just blank PCB, obvoulsy you can only do it with some SSDs models.

[@Jrome4life]

My steam deck goes everywhere with me love that portable gaming is back. I literally sat out outside a few nights ago and played persona 5 till I killed the battery. Oh and steam cat!

[@mistabrown830]

My biggest issue with steam deck competitors is that the chipsets they use in their devices are not too efficient which makes their battery so much more worse than the deck. Also windows doesn't make the battery problem any better because how many resources the os uses up.

[@happygofishing]

This has also lead to an exponential interest in linux gaming, which benefits me because I'm not interested in windows11's TPM shite.

[@JDabz96]

God of war is so good on the deck, i play at 40fps as well, i used to play it at 30fps which was great but 40 just feels so smooth without sacrificing to mucj graphic fidelity

[@daycred]

I LOVE my steam deck. I already know im gonna buy the next one and turn this one into a server

[@lego_minifig]

I always saw handheld computers like the GPD Win as cool devices, but the price-to-performance made it so I never even entertained the idea of owning one. I didn’t hace any consoles that use thumb sticks to look around till I was in High School so I never got used to using them and always saw them as a hindrance. The steamdeck having gyro and the steam controller touchpads make it look way more appealing as a product that I may actually enjoy using. With the Steamdeck I actually entertained the idea of owning one which lead to me pulling the trigger on one last week with the ongoing sale. Their is no other computer handheld I would have even entertained the idea of buying.

[@paulbunyangonewild7596]

eh, the thing about the touch screen that ive noticed is that its too big, and the edges of my hands being further away from the edge of the screen makes it harder to type on like i do other devices, like with an i pad i can use both of my thumbs to just about manage the keyboard, and with the wii u game pad it was small enough that i could reach with one of my thumbs, that and its new, ive never been able to quickly type on a new keyboard before, and switching between keyboards is very rough at first as well. especially with touch typing. ive noticed that the more ive used the keyboard, which ive done alot using parsec to work in unity, ive gotten better. also it has the option of the trackpad typing, which works, but the fact that its split 50/50 is weird, because i dont really type 50/50 on a regular keyboard, my right hand moves around alot more than my left one i can tell you that, so its annoying to me that the right trackpad ends at g.

[@mingdug1824]

I believe its less of a matter of power and battery life and more of a matter of cost. You can get a better OLED display thats crisper, has better touchscreen support and is more power efficient but its more expensive. Newer processors can give the same performance for less power but more expensive.

[@Poctyk]

>and is more power efficient idk, most tests I've seen show OLED to be the power hog compared to LCDs

[@derrickjohnson4952]

I love the fact there is a lot of competition in the pc handheld market always good for consumers. Who knows maybe one day you can buy mix & match parts to make your own handheld PC like standard PCs

[@iamapie13]

I didn't need my steam deck and had no reason to justify the purchase, but one birthday I gave in and bought one for myself, and Holly crap, it's the best decision I've made. I love my steam deck so much. Every game I've ever played or want to play on a hand held is mind blowing. Every single game I had growing up is playable and at this point I don't care for any more powerful competitor. ROG ally seems nice but I'd miss the conveniences of my steam deck. I tried using windows as the main OS for my deck for a while but Steam OS was so much more convenient than I thought. The touch pads unexpectedly are game changers and make certain mouse and keyboard games much more playable. Also I like that the steam deck is black like the rest of my technology, as a night mode kinda guy I don't like white devices, an ROG ally would feel out of place being all white.

[@demislonzie8784]

the Pro for me of the Steam deck is that its like a Cheap- Mid Teir Gaming PC.

[@robinrai4973]

I think the biggest strength of the SteamDeck aside from cost, software and controls, is that it's the "winning team" - everyone makes software, accessories, tutorials, support, controller profiles, etc for the Steam Deck, because it's the most popular device

[@Heldermaior]

Cool video. I do think that you already have a system where you don't have to trade general gaming aptitude and convenience for general use cases. The steam deck. As a Linux user for many years, the only reason I had windows was to run video games. Everything else I use Linux. It is better, easier, more convenient, more modular. Installing python and libraries required on windows is an exercise in pulling your hairs out. In Linux? Sudo apt-get install and you are done. Wine and proton did the grunt of the work for gaming and now I can game on Linux and ditch windows. I also ditched my laptop who was running Kali Linux and my desktop was running mint but due to my GIS heavy workload I now run Dragon OS in it. And it blows windows away in terms of useability and just having things. I bought a miniPC and installed Chimera on it but will likely change it as Chimera still has issues supporting the 7840U processors but I will find a distro that fits. For now I am keeping chimera on SSD1 and batocera on SSD2. I would highly recommend you try using the deck as a desktop replacement with external kb and mouse. I think you will be impressed with the experience. The packet manager available on the deck has some open source video editing software you could give a go.

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

I KNOW THAT FAN NOISE You have the Delta fan. The Delta fan creates a high pitch whine, between 4 and 6 khz depending on fan speed. Please look into buying a Huaying fan. That's _typically_ the one ifixit sells. It completely transforms the sound profile of the Deck and eliminates that god awful whine.

[@AntonioCunningham]

I've considered doing so as I *hate* the sound of the Steam deck fan. However because it's sadly online only, I don't want to do *anything* that could possibly break it so I'm stuck avoiding games that require the fan turn on. (I never send devices in for RMA or repairs because I've *always* encountered problems with it)

[@Jalex125]

The support may not be fully out there yet for dual booting but you can run windows from the SD card slot

[@MentalCrusader]

One great thing about the steam deck is also how much steam has contributed to Linux becoming a viable alternative to windows. The sooner I can get rid of it, the better

[@CodeF53]

Typing with track pads is super nice. I hate typing on a touch screen

[@Kalakakku_]

I like the little Destruction Darius 2 fan service

[@MinisterMouse]

thanks for petting the cat

[@iUseVegas]

you mentioned the fans being loud, I wonder if we will ever see a handheld pc with that expiremental new ssd cooling technology

[@cerb979]

Philip, i don't know if this is a unpopular opinion but I'd like to ask if you would start reviewing games more now? All of your reviews were really interesting and fun to watch, even after years of coming back to them just for entertainment. The Hogwarts Legacy Review for example really helped me make an informed decision. On top of that it seems like our tastes are pretty similar and so is the way we play games. Since you said that you'll change over to less time consuming content.

[@cerb979]

@@2kliksphilip Wow thanks for the reply. Totally understandable.

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

The screen of the Ally is NOT what creates the battery life issues on it. It's the APU and how it's tuned. On balance the screen consumes about the same amount of power as the Deck's does.

[@snospoken]

how dare you tease us with Destruction Darius 2 😭😭

[@jaykstah]

5:40 The thing you mentioned about hand position is the one consistent issue I've had with the deck. I also have large hands and they rest naturally on triggers but have to extend to hit the bumpers. I find myself remapping the R4/L4 back paddles to the bumper inputs and use it that way instead of reaching up.

[@harrypootis9519]

cant wait for your 800th video