Steam Deck: An Honest Review

With the Steam Deck OLED release date immanent, a lot of people are wondering- should you buy a Steam Deck? I've had mine for a long time, and there are some things I love about it. But there are also some frustrations. I think if you buy a Steam Deck for the wrong reasons, you will be disappointed. But if you use it in ways that play to its strengths, then I think it can be a fantastic purchase.
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[@Enkilc]

Weird how Microsoft got the auto-resume feature to almost a perfection in Xbox series but cannot do it in Windows.

[@riven4121]

I imagine it's because Xbox resume is optimised for one code base and two sets of system specs being the Series X and S and even if you had external storage, it's proprietary storage designed by Microsoft just for the Xbox. Meanwhile on Windows you have a multitude of configurations you'd have to optimise for.

[@JO-hs1ue]

​@@riven4121this makes a lot of sense actually. That being said, Microsoft could have easily entered the handheld market like 10 years ago. Never understood why they never did, but at the end of the day I'm glad they didnt. Imagine how pathetically locked down it would be

[@markojovanovic9651]

And how would you do that? You can't compare 2 systems with different hardware specifications just because they both run on x86-64.

[@DolceArdore]

The main issue is that Windows is a relatively open and permissive OS that allows drivers and apps to prevent it from entering sleep mode. In my experience it works flawlessly once I’ve taken care of the offending apps and drivers, but it does take a certain amount of time and effort now and then to resolve sleep issues due to new/updated drivers and software.

[@xThexMasterxProx]

The thing with windows laptops is that if you put it to sleep while it's plugged in and then unplug it, it "thinks" it's still plugged in and will try to run background tasks like updates. So you have to unplug it before putting it to sleep/closing the lid. This 100% fixes it.

[@tanjingalaxy]

My favorite part of the review was the relatability of having dozens of unplayed steam games and not playing older classics because of the fear of wasting money on hardware potential😂😂

[@Splarkszter]

Who says emulating a N64 at 4K is a waste of hardware.

[@Driftwood420]

Yeah I got nearly 800 games on Steam and I've not even played at least half of those 😂

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

Hardware potential is: it plays games. Any game you play on it uses the hardware to its full potential

[@maxpeterson3178]

100%

[@cozymonk]

Yeah. I can kind of cope with it, sometimes, by uncapping the framerate and "marveling" at the input response time of 500 FPS on my 144 Hz display. Can I really tell the difference between 500 FPS and 144 FPS, in terms of input response time?... No, maybe a tiny bit... But number get bigger and I need a lie to justify why that's good!

[@Davemate]

Let's try not to forget, it's a portable PC that has extremely simple to use console-like interface. Amazing software at an awesome price, it would be kinda crazy to assume it's going to play every single AAA game when a desktop PC at the same price wouldn't even be able to play them at max settings either It's a tiny portable PC, it's wild to me how good it is. A lot of people get used to technology so quickly, this wasn't even possible not long ago. It's a cool time for gaming :)

[@H4GRlD]

Haha yeah, so true. I used it a year ago for 2 months straight for working remotely, using a few docker containers on a separate Ubuntu install running from a micro sd. It was a good experience, but I was always concerned about the sd card. 😂 But mad respect for Valve for what they did and still doing here. Bringing some attention to Linux is awesome, it really just works without any hassle and it's a much better user experience than using Windows on a portable handheld like this. It really shows that if you custom tailor an OS for a specific use case for a specific device it will outperform Windows, imagine if the PlayStation or Xbox was running Windows. 😅 The rest of the industry just proved this with all these more powerful devices. IMHO they did a favor for Valve and Linux.

[@SaraMorgan-ym6ue]

and that while windows 11 will get 3 to 6 fps playing space engineer's on a steam deck then steam deck manages to get an impressive 20 to 25 fps out of the same hardware sadly emulation should not be able to beat native software on the same hardware ever that fact Microsoft allows this to happen shows how much they simply do not care at all about their user base😢😭

[@H4GRlD]

@@SaraMorgan-ym6ue Windows is a closed system so no one can really contribute to it. Until something will actively generate revenue for Microsoft they won't care.

[@Antares-dw9iv]

The main problem for me is that it is way too big and that the original version had abyssmal battery life. Also I really don't think the price of the original Steamdeck is awesome, you can get a much better full blown Laptop for the same price. Now that it has an OLED screen and better battery life it is a much better value proposition. I still think it's too big to comfortably carry and use on the go but now it at least makes sense to me.

[@Davemate]

@@Antares-dw9iv I understand what you're saying, but it also doesn't make sense. You're saying it's too big, but then saying a laptop could replace it. A laptop would be much bigger and you can't handhold a laptop Most people who want a handheld device wouldn't get a laptop as an alternative. Have you seen a Steam Deck irl? It's not that big, and it's comfortable to hold. Considering what it can do, it's a fair size but it's definitely not pocket-able; though either is a laptop

[@DonaldHendleyBklynvexRecords]

I love mines and will not go to any other device atm, the support is unmatched and the sleep feature is a must, I kept my expectations in check by using it as a back catalogue device

[@SHMlKE]

Can't wait. Sold my og SD and now I feel naked and afraid. Hope they ship them with lightning speed

[@mosthated8848]

That's cap! 😂

[@sheldonisnumberone]

For me, playing Skyrim on the Steam Deck makes it all worthwhile for me. If I never play another game besides Skyrim, then the Steam Deck would have been a worthy purchase. I bought Skyrim in 2011 and always meant to play it, but could never actually sit down at my PC to play it. Or lots of other games. But I'm having a great adventure playing Skyrim on the couch, in the bed, going for a walk, at lunchtime, at work. It is such a great gift to gamers.

[@Qrinity]

Have no qualms with the deck after a year. Just completed playing the new like a dragon gaiden on it and it runs perfectly (medium, 40hz/40fps, steamOS 3.5). Hell, its also my daily driver for light use browsing and management applications. Valve still reigns supreme with the the software and customer support which trumps hardware improvement and relying on bloody windows. But its nice to see the new competitors

[@syncmonism]

The Steam Deck has helped to make Linux more relevant than ever, and it's great to see another option for an operating system going mainstream. Ubuntu is surprisingly easy to use, fyi, and you don't have to go with Steam OS. Valve has helped to make gaming better on other versions of Linux as well, and I find that Ubuntu is a great option even for people who have minimal PC skills. I actually switched my mom over to Ubuntu a few years ago because it was actually easier for her to use than Windows (for reasons I won't get into).

[@markusstrobl1067]

That's funny, I switched my mom to Linux as well. When she was on Windows I'd have to do support at least once a week. With Linux is really only the big version updates she wants help with.

[@vsz-z2428]

fedora way better, it has flatpaks and flathub by default like steamdeck

[@eternalbeing3339]

I boot tails os off of a micro sd card. It works on the deck.

[@TheDarkKratoz]

​@@vsz-z2428agree, except for the parent examples above. I'd way rather they stick to LTS distros and not call me when something breaks on the nightly build.

[@AztecAryan]

>using ubuntu ngmi

[@TurboPikachu]

Getting a Steam Deck this past August finally helped me start chewing through my 115-game Steam Library (with a ton of yet-to be claimed Humble Bundle games). And funnily enough, on my gaming PC I’d built in 2017 I barely played even 30 sessions in a given year *until* I got my Steam Deck in 2023; now I play both on a near-daily basis

[@SaraMorgan-ym6ue]

yeah it does with that at least I got a library off 821 games and it helps me play through more of those games like a beast💪✊

[@natedogg7376]

I absolutely love my STEAM Deck. I play anything anywhere including AAA. My rig is a i7-13700k /4090 and I still game more on my Deck because of the portability. It's a backlog murderer! OLED is not good enough to get another one so I'll wait till the next gen deck. I'm a big sim player so ETS2, ATS, FS22 and so on work great. The Callisto Protocol, DEAD SPACE, THCOTW, ELDEN RING SNOWRUNNER, there are games that look almost as good as my PC. Bluetooth gamepad/keyboard/mouse and a portable 18" monitor I can do a nice set up quick anywhere right out of my travel pack. All my gaming is in the STEAM eco system so it's the most convenient. I've never been more happy and this is a guy who owned PONG in the 70's.

[@Cpt_Sai]

Dam so you’re like in your mid 40-50s still playing games. You’re a legend man. Makes me feel better once I get that age I’ll still enjoy stuff I like.

[@Kapono5150]

Dang Shout Out to everyone who waited to buy a Steam Deck

[@MagikarpPower]

glad I got my 64gb on sale. might sell it. someone who has oled lmk if I should.

[@B_Machine]

I waited... Until a few months ago lmao

[@vlada909]

In my experience streaming games with moonlight works better than with steam remote play. Its pretty easy to set up and I haven't had any performance/reliability problems with it so far. The only problem I have with it is that you cant stream outside of the lan if you have a double nat (my isp doesnt allow bridge mode on the modem)

[@SolidSt8Dj]

Moonlight provides a better experience when connected, but the experience steam remote play provides is significantly more seamless.

[@danielowentech]

This comment made me finally go through the hassle of figuring out what this is and how to set it up. Wasn't actually too bad, and it seems to provide a much better streaming experience. Seems to require the monitor on the host pc to be turned on though, which is a bit annoying, and wasn't the case with the native Steam streaming.

[@owengaff]

@@danielowentech It won't solve the issue of needing a "display" hooked up to the host PC, but dummy plugs/headless ghost/display emulators would keep you from having to turn the monitor on.

[@Dionyzos]

@@danielowentech LG OLED TVs have an option to turn the display off without really shutting it down. It's mostly used for playing music. Maybe that solves the problem?

[@Lainyyyyy]

​@@danielowentechthat only happens when using displayport, you could maybe use a hdmi on one spare monitor and it still would work

[@Ryan-xn3mt]

Yo, the struggle is real when it comes to Steam sales and the backlog. Yes, steam deck definitely helps work though that backlog. I'm currently working through Bioshock on my Deck

[@Cakebattered]

When I had my Deck I completed 10 games in the first 12 months, but purchased around 40 more games via Steam Sales, Humble Bundles, Fanatical Bundles, and Green Man Gaming sales.

[@thetranya3589]

@@Cakebattered Only the most intensely dedicated and disciplined person will ever catch up on their backlog of accumulated games. There are simply not enough hours in the day to accomplish this. The real key, I think, is to not buy anything new unless you intend to play it immediately.

[@zhon5311]

i love my steam deck for emulating old systems and the nintendo switch, and playing indie titles and through my backlog of my library! def going to buy the OLED. love the community support, the plugins, and SteamOS. playing old games on deck is such a great experience and i couldnt see myself using a windows handheld.

[@markymoo22]

Can you play all Switch games woth this? I.e Zelda etc?

[@zhon5311]

@@markymoo22 Most will work flawlessly. Super Mario Wonder runs at 60fps at 10 watts. Zelda skyward sword and link awakening run at 60. BOTW runs at 30, but if you emulate the Wii U version, you can get 60. TOTK is a bit tough because I haven't tried it yet, but you would need the 30fps patch that is found online. cheers

[@abeidiot]

old games usually run better through wine than on latest winows

[@tonimathias-grumley6631]

that would be a game changer for me, to be able to play all the switch games I have. Do you have an easy tutorial to go to to do this? I know you kinda have to be a "techie nerd" to be able to make it all work - thank you!@@zhon5311

[@leiff-]

@@zhon5311hi. do you need to use a custom os to play simulators or you can run them with steamos? i want to by a steamdeck but dont really want to “jail break” it

[@gabeshigemoto6965]

You could have mentioned that performance in games have consistently improved over time due to multiple updates. I recently played Spiderman and was surprised on how good it looks compared to the game's launch window. Of course it runs at a mediocre frame-rate, but it does looks better and plays better than before. But I agree with you, the SD is perfect for indie titles and less graphically demanding titles. Games that can not take advantage of an overpowered gaming pc. It's also a great couch co-op experience!

[@JordanL2011]

I have a backlog of about 750+ games on steam that I’ve never got to play because of all the reasons you listed. Bought my special edition OLED and I can’t wait to get it in the mail. You also mentioned being able to stream games onto the deck using a gaming PC. This sounds dope I’ll finally be able to play Cyberpunk and RDR2 maxed out with the native 800p resolution. Never did that on my main PC because I refused to play a game if I wasn’t able to slide all the graphics settings to max.

[@Gailim]

A year ago i bought a second hand laptop on eBay for about $650. So a bit more than the most expensive steam deck. It has a ryzen 4800h paired with a radeon 5600m. According to digital foundry the *rough* equivalent to the steam deck gpu is a 1050ti, which is about half the speed of my 5600m. I realized that a lot of the scenarios where i would play on the deck were scenarios where i could plug in my laptop and play on that instead. I don't live in an area with good public transit and the steam deck is too large to fit comfortably in a pocket so you need to bring at least a bag anyway. So it made a lot more sense to just stuff my laptop, charger and a controller into a backpack when i want to game out of the house. Im not saying there is no scenario where the handheld form factor wouldn't be cool but in most of my potential use cases the laptop made much more sense

[@AyaWetts]

depends on situation for sure. I use my Steam Deck the most, but I have a gaming laptop and a gaming desktop too

[@shredman59]

Like you say, depending on how you will use it, an inexpensive laptop that matches a decent video card with a not too ambitious screen resolution can be great. My problem with laptops in the past was I would talk my self into buying a big heavy laptop with a hi res screen and tried to play the latest titles and it would run hot and gulp down the battery.

[@a2b321]

very relatable, thinking of picking up the steam deck for my backlog, 100s of games older ones mostly.

[@tw1tch09]

I feel like the steam deck is incredible for most games generally released before 2022. I wouldn’t use it for super demanding titles.

[@SolidSt8Dj]

Anything 2022 and prior, easy win. 2023 does have a few games that I'd personally say aren't worth playing. Starfield, for instance (at least at launch - haven't seen recent performance benchmarks), or more recently, Alan Wake 2 require a significant compromise to the game's quality to be playable. In-home streaming is a great substitute, in those cases. But to be frank, I don't need to play every game on the market. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of incredible games I have still to play. Hell, I won't even consider buying AW2 unless it comes to steam, and Starfield is...well, Starfield. So, at least at the moment, I'm not exactly missing out on much.

[@TheDarkKratoz]

I've been playing basically everything on the Deck no issues. Just played through Phantom Liberty, been playing Baldur's Gate 3, Resident Evil 4 remake runs excellently on it... Only the poorly optimized games have given me issues, and usually they iron themselves out in a few weeks of updates.

[@meurer13daniel]

I thought about this the moment it was announced. The Deck is the perfect device as a secondary gaming PC. You play the bigger, demanding titles on your PC, and then switch to the Deck for those smaller and older titles. All that with the same library.

[@HM-rz8nv]

Very on point. i received mine very shortly after Launch and i have no regrets. The biggest advantage to the Steam Deck over all the other ones is a huge Software and Versatility advantage. Using a Custom version of Arch Linux and relying on open-source software tools for the Deck means that it's divorced from having to rely on Windows proprietary software or API's, which is a big deal. Then you have the massive versatility in controls configuration and being able to configure a variety of things on the fly without having to mess with an external app or anything. Just about every other company wanted to rush in with 'technically' better hardware, at a higher price tag, but much worse software, and much worse customer service in general, almost entirely relying on the windows ecosystem itself just so they can sell something fast.

[@seeibe]

I got an Ayaneo 2 and put ChimeraOS on it, it's a better experience than the OG Steam Deck. And then of course Valve releases an OLED version.

[@archer201977]

same with me talking about library of games, most of the games i bought i never played or rather may have forgotten until i got my steam deck and rediscovering the things i missed. very good review btw.

[@Respectmyskill07]

Very relatable I got the steam deck when it first came out didn’t enjoy it because it didn’t have windows and felt the screen sucked with huge bezels and heavy bulky feeling. so I sold it and bought a smaller more powerful handheld (gpd win 4) but using it made me realize why the steam deck is the way it is. THERE IS NO CHIP THAT IS AS EFFICIENT AS THE ONE IN THE DECK and newer chips are more powerful but at a sacrifice usually at the price of efficiency and battery life. This is why I’ll be the first one to get a special edition steam deck oled because it fixes many of the issues that I had with the original

[@fresco_dinero5155]

The Ally for me is what makes the most sense because I do plan on playing some newer games. I was just playing RDR2, 900p fsr 2 set to quality, and mostly medium settings with High textures and I get 60fps average. Especially with the Bios update today. And this is at 18w

[@kal739]

Hahaha. Just bought a 4090, and I've only played Terraria this week so I kinda feel your sentiment.

[@fpvpilot7713]

I found if I look up settings videos for games it helps a lot. I was amazed at how Gta 5 runs after getting the settings right. Its crazy that the steam deck actually out performs consoles in some ways. A lot of feature are missing in console games but the steam deck has pc settings. I get a lot better variety of cars in Gta 5 on the steam deck compared to console versions because I can adjust that setting. I am getting the new oled version.

[@Slimer01]

I, also, find the bumpers to be just out of what I would consider a comfortable position. Excellent video!

[@prince_warhero]

The take about not enough power for latest AAA is something I agree but if you see the top played games on deck each week it's always games like cyberpunk, Baldurs Gate, rdr 2 etc

[@GoodTalkHQ]

Hey Daniel, do you have a switch? Very similar situation, great indie game machine and quick sleep/wake feature too. plus I can help you find deals all the time haha

[@Bishey]

It's really funny, I was considering buying the Steam Deck OLED and I was looking at my library to see which games would be great for it and I decided that Hades and Slay The Spire would be ideal since I've been meaning to play both for a while. You name dropping those 2 games was a crazy coincidence and affirmed my decision to buy it.

[@randxalthor]

Very happy with mine and the sleep/resume is indeed my favorite unique feature. Steam nailed all the basics, but sleep is just such a nice add-on. Also upgrading to the OLED and selling my original because it's very compelling to me personally. The Deck is just so good for my back catalog and matches well with my buy-old-games-on-sale style.

[@8.4V10]

Not to mention the emulation in the Steam Deck is so so stupidly easy especially with all of the emulators being in the discovery whatever you call it on desktop. It works so well and so straightforward

[@8.4V10]

Also Emudeck to

[@crestofhonor2349]

@@8.4V10emu deck is available on both Windows and SteamOS so it’s not really easier on either system

[@SolidSt8Dj]

​@@8.4V10Not to mention that nearly every emulator works significantly better in Unix-based platforms than Windows.

[@MagikarpPower]

i play all sorts of games emulated to AAA. with proton and wine i mostly have no issues. however, if you own a powerful PC AAA games may be too compromised for you. i for one am just happy to play the games without spending $1k on a rig and sub 30fps doesnt bother me too much. elden ring and armored core 6 ran great, alan wake 2 and jedi survivor less so, but still totally playable. the 64gb is now $350 if youre on a budget. thats a steal.

[@CFWhitman]

One thing I would like to clarify is that you can use Game Pass for streaming games to the Steam Deck. You just can't use it to actually install games locally. It is a bit of a pain to install Microsoft Edge for Linux and add Game Pass to Steam as a non-Steam game, but it can be done. It seems like the bumper/trigger issue could be solved with a differently modified grip or by mapping one of the rear buttons to double for one of those buttons.

[@weichiang89]

I have been a gamer since a cousin of mine from Canada gifted his NES to me when my family visited them when I was like 4 or so. Got married, had kids and gaming and me drifted apart. Got a Switch and my love for gaming ignited as I could play during my commutes etc. Just a few months ago my dearest aunt asked what I wanted. I jokingly told her I was eyeing a Steam deck dor a PS5. We talked about the pros and cons of both and she decided to get me a Steamdeck. At this point as long as it's playable I won't ask for much. Plus Emudeck. If you're busy and have a lot of issues and gaming is your therapy but have no time at home I implore you to save for even a second hand older lcd model regardless of anything anyone says. When you finally get it you'll fall in love all over again. My Switch and Steam deck saved me.

[@sobari745]

I’m hoping Valve and Nvidia are actively working on bringing GeForce Now to Linux as a native app rather than through limited browser support. I play the newer, more demanding games over GFN after configuring the browser version to run on Steam Deck, but I’d like a more native implementation.

[@Anthonymvpr]

Not gonna happen, although they're working on a AMD variant of it for a while now.

[@dsa1979]

A "native" implementation would be little else than a browser wrapper anyway.

[@DavidBerger-g2h]

Its never gonna happen sad reality Nvidia hates non propietary Systems

[@SamuraiMerrick]

Moonlight on steamdeck works flawlessly. I do think you need Wi-Fi 6 or LAN connection from the PC doing the local streaming. But my wife streams all her games from her PC to the deck because it increases her battery time 2.5x. She’s played modded Skyrim and BG3 hundreds of hours no issues. The only annoying thing is we can’t get wake on lan working so she has to manually turn on her PC manually.

[@borglessborglet]

wow, revisit backlog idea is so on point. thank you for pointing this out!

[@SomeJohndoe]

It makes for a great catchup machine as well for people like me who had left pc gaming for a long while. I last pc gamed in 2017 and they were alot of other pre 2017 games i had never played so even though 2023 titles and onwards dont play so well i have a long list of AAA and indie games to still enjoy

[@djblue_live]

Slay the Spire is a banger for sure!

[@MrAuspex]

i really fell you with the backlog and totally resonate with new vs older games. I just bought the oled for all thoes indies and clasic games for in between. And for AAA i would just fier up my PS5

[@X-101]

Do you have small hands? I've never used one finger for bumper and triggers I use two different fingers

[@oscopin74]

I bought the OG 512gb anti reflective screen on preorder and though it was great. Bought the OLED maybe a couple months after release(non anti reflective screen) and I absolutely love it. The wifi 6e, for streaming from my gaming PC, Xbox x, ps5 ECT is flawless. Totally worth the update imo.

[@J.Wick.]

It is far more capable than I ever imagined it really could be. But yet, not quite enough sometimes. It's definitely best as a backlog burner. Bought mine about 6m ago. Then the Ally released, followed by the Go, and now the SDOled. I do wish I'd waited just a bit longer. I wish I could have the power of the Ally/Go with the efficiency-price of the SDOled. Personally for me, I think a reasonable Laptop is arguably the better choice.

[@chloescoolcreations9719]

Thank you! I’ve always been on the fence about it! My bro has one and loves it, I’m convinced now. Also try banner saga, I think you’ll love it.

[@danik882010]

I am still planning to buy a Steam deck OLED because I'll be doing a job for 5 months with lots of traveling and I feel the exact same way as you do about the Steam Deck I think you give some very good advice.

[@zacthegamer6145]

I love my ROG Ally and play on it instead of my gaming laptop (RTX 2070 115W) or desktop (RTX 3090)!

[@crestofhonor2349]

Handhelds are amazing and I love the choice we have today

[@Miggs12]

I just ordered the steam deck oled and the things that you brought up are absolutely my thoughts as well. I’m gonna start playing my backlogs and those indie roguelike games while in bed.

[@PixelShade]

I love the Steam Deck, I still see it as a hardware/software marvel due to how well constructed the device is.... I personally tend to play a mix of emulation, indies, older AAA games (Dishonored, Prey, Witcher 3), and some modern AAA games (like Cyberpunk, Baldur's Gate III etc). In terms of modern AAA games I am much more forgiving on the Steam Deck since it is a handheld. I find it absolutely incredible that I can play Cyberpunk at a solid 30fps with the TDP set to 9W (3hours battery life), This would never be possible on the ROG Ally, since it doesn't perform nearly as well below 13W. Same goes for BGIII, it runs mostly at 30fps at a TDP of 10W, but drops/stutters from time to time. However, since it's a slow paced-, tactical game it doesn't completely ruin the experience. Sure, in AAA games I would much rather for them to be played on my gaming setup, however, in case of Cyberpunk I have found that doing "gigs" on the Steam Deck, while doing main story missions on the PC is a perfect compromise. That way I get to experience the graphical splendor, while also being able to enjoy the game when I am out and about (like visiting my girlfriend, family etc.) Not to mention that when I am at home I can lie in bed and Stream modern AAA games from my powerful PC. :)

[@auturgicflosculator2183]

After Gamers Nexus' coverage of the differences between OLED and original, I'm glad I didn't opt into the early version. I have a hard time now even thinking of buying the new version, as it seems like it's just another generational console. I get that it's a great option away from home, but...I've got a crappy laptop that runs many strategy games well; I'll muck around on there if I really feel like it, and have a keyboard for quickly writing notes...

[@gaijinkuri684]

I was looking at a steam deck but then I realised I hardly game outside of the house. Instead, I got a backbone controller for my phone and have been enjoying using Steamlink to get the quick game in when I'm not Dading. Your phone probably has an OLED screen too which looks great. Really recommend it for anyone in a similar situation.

[@yellowflash511]

I will be getting an OLED model as well. Apart from dota 2 and the odd AAA game I actually wanna play every few years everything else I can play on the steam deck and on the go. The only AAA game I've played since Witcher 3 is ELDEN RING which doesn't even require high end hardware and does run on the deck well.

[@bananess_]

I'm getting one for christmas because I just want it for car journeys and simple chill games, which is why I'm looking forward to it

[@jude7225]

Heya Daniel.....I"m going to be upgrading to a new pc the end of this month.....do you typically see better deals for Black Friday, or Cyber Monday? (As in, is one better than the other)

[@o0Silverwolf0o]

Totally relate, just my STEAM library (not including xbox, epic, gog, or all the developers launched games) is at 116 and my completed games might be half of it. Same with the wanting to use my pc only on the most demanding games, feels like I'm doing my top end pc injustice if I run games that have lower system requirements.

[@seanhiggins84]

It’s relatable, Mr. Owen. We hear you. I almost bought Dishonored 2 earlier today for $2.99. It’s well reviewed, sexy, hot stuff, all that. But I knew I wasn’t going to play it so I actually held off. But I hear you, brother. You’re a cool guy.

[@madant7777]

Usually, You can fiddle with BIOS options to make the laptop not use any power while closed (apart from hibernation). But not on every model obviously.

[@RicardoEsteves]

Never had a Steam Deck, looking forward to buying the OLED model, but I'm considering whether I should get the 1TB one with the anti-glare glass (worried because it might make the colors dull and with less contrast) or the 512GB one and if I end up needing the extra storage or anti-glare, I can always buy a screen protector

[@KnightMD]

I can relate to every single word you said in this video. Backlog slayer and boy do I have a massive backlog. Portal 2 on the Deck, yep, just finished it. Arkham Knight. Yep. Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I have a ton of those 10/10 games I've been buying forever. My only complaint is the AAA RayTracing gems, and my hope is that Valve makes a Steam OS steam machine that can suspend resume seemlessly to my Deck while streaming to it at home.

[@EdwarioERS]

I wouldn't have gotten a Steam Deck if I couldn't tinker with it. Got the base model with 64GB of slow storage, swapped in a 1TB NVMe drive in that odd form factor dedicated to Steam Library games, reinstalled Steam OS using a flash drive and a HUB, put on a screen protector, installed Emu Deck and dedicated a 1TB SD card for roms and emulation. First two games I completed were Sonic The Hedgehog 1 using RetroArch and Digimon World 1 using Duckstation. If you have hundreds or broke 1K Steam games -- many of which you've never played -- and already have some experience with emulators and rom collecting YOU GOTTA look into setting up a Steam Deck for all of the above.

[@stinkleaf]

What are your thoughts on being limited to a console controller? Some games are better experience with a keyboard and mouse. You can’t chat, can you? And multiplayer games work fine? You can play games in multiplayer mode with other people on PCs.?

[@eljapel]

old 3d games also run great (like those using unreal engine 3) they also look better on a 720p screen than on my 50 4k tv, I agree with you on the usage, AAA gaming for the most part feels like a waste, because I could get a better experience with my main pc gaing, also the steam deck its probably one of the few consoles where I could stomach something like heroes3

[@danielowentech]

Does Heroes 3 control well on the Deck? That was my favorite game growing up!!!

[@madgodzilla12465]

The Steam Deck is absolutely awesome for older games and emulation. For newer games it's very much a night and day difference between low settings, 30fps and then blown up at 4k ultra settings over 100fps over on my main desktop. Hope for the next Steam Deck they have some sort of external dGPU through the dock or something.

[@TheCgOrion]

This is exactly how I feel about it. For a game like cyberpunk, I'll use my desktop, but platformers, bullet hells, emulatiors, it's fantastic.

[@LagiohX3]

if you want a dgpu buy a legion go

[@Gailim]

dGPUs sound like a great idea until you see the price.

[@crestofhonor2349]

Linux doesn’t support eGPUs

[@LagiohX3]

@@crestofhonor2349 yo nice pfp

[@shorowho]

Have you tried using moonlight instead of Steams built in remote play? I planned to use moonlight instead of remote play as it's always just worked much better for me.

[@davidagiel8130]

I went from PS3 to Switch to Steam deck, and I love my steam deck, it's all in one gaming device with many ps4 titles and emulation from NES to PS2.

[@deejay3473]

thank you for this deep review, can't wait for the OLED Steam Desk

[@leonskennedy1992]

Completely relatable , i mostly use my steam deck to play some of my fav older games i might have never played again on my main pc such Prince of persia series , grid 2 , split second, old assassins creed games etc.

[@ashwin988]

your review was good and exactly spot on. Gaming pc = high end games. Indie and lower end /older games, steamdeck.

[@Helifax19]

Did you get the Oled? Can you do an updated review, since they improved the bumpers as well ;)

[@australok]

hey man, i have a deck oled 512 gb, i`m unable to connect to my wifi unless i use hotspot, if u re going to buy one, make sure that u can acess your router to change bands and disable 160 mhz freq

[@canonwright8397]

Can you turn off buttons (switches) so that you don't inadvertently press them? And if not, would it be something that can be moded in Linux?

[@seeibe]

For local streaming, Sunshine/Moonlight works way better than Steam remote play.

[@prinzseptimii9660]

Ha totally relatable!! I have countless steam games that bought for cheap sitting there. Bought 64gb SD put in my own 1tb 2 months before oled announced 🤦‍♂️. Also totally relatable on overkill pc. 5800x3d/ RTX 4080 running Ultrawide and mostly racing sims and WoW and could have gone with a 4070 😅 Bought steam deck to try and it’s nice for easy games when not wanting to be tied to a desk. Always enjoy your videos! Keep it up!!

[@SolidSt8Dj]

The one addendum I would add is that the new OLED model has brand new shoulder buttons (as well as trackpads, thumbsticks, steam, and QA buttons). I do not expect it to change your problem with the ergonomics, but I figured it was worth mentioning. As for my personal thoughts, I personally feel that the steam deck can definitely play the overwhelming majority of games out atm without compromising the fidelity. Some games just require some tweaking to get to that point, which is one of the biggest reasons I love the deck. Could I play them without doing so? Yes. Was it a great experience? Not really - compromised is definitely a good word to describe it. Should Valve make it so those tweaks aren't required? Definitely. But the fact that I can do them myself is what makes this device special.

[@im_piano]

What about games in other online shops? I got lots of games on EGS, some of them I paid for at a huge discount (Cyberpunk 2077, RDR 2, Watch Dogs Legion, Jedi Fallen Order). I didn't think it could be a problem for Deck, but apparently it is a problem, and performance is allegedly worse.

[@SolidSt8Dj]

@im_piano All of those games can, and do play on the deck. There are a variety of ways to install them. I personally use Heroic, but Lutris is also a good option, and you can always install the launcher(s) directly if you know what you're doing. But my one suggestion is to never spend a single cent on EGS ever again. GOG? Maybe. But not EGS. I bought Cyberpunk on EGS for a big discount. WAS NOT WORTH IT IN THE SLIGHTEST. Did it still run? Yes. Was the experience markedly worse? Also yes. Performance-wise, the difference is negligible though - it was just all of the QOL features that made the difference.

[@im_piano]

@@SolidSt8Dj Yeah, I'm unlikely to buy anything from EGS ever in the future since the store does not work in my country at all since last year.

[@ixiHackxi]

I have a question that I can’t get answered anywhere one of y’all can probably find it real fast but I can’t. On the steam deck Desktop mode I lost my recent or opened apps on the start bar at the bottom. When I open an app it doesn’t have the icon at the bottom. Is there a way to bring this back please and thank you.

[@shaileshvats8762]

i am getting 6800xt and 3080 10gb for same price of 400$ which one would you recommend?

[@404fox9]

I agree, I was a bit disappointed that a lot of newer games have difficulty hitting 40FPS, I just can't go back to 30. But then there's AC6, resident evil remakes, FF7 remake, jedi fallen order, tomb raider which do run well while looking great and on the other hand there's Atelier Ryza which runs awfully for its graphics. Developers optimizing their games will be what makes or breaks the deck for AAA gaming, ideally without using upscaling as a crutch.

[@leorelic]

and none of it is really Deck's fault. if we have to be disappointed at anything , it has to be at devs who don't optimize their games like you said , games like AC6 , RE Remakes , FF7R and many more do run just fine. to me Steam Deck is a handheld and a handheld should never be seen in the same light as the latest and greatest PC tech available today. its like if N64-Gamecube folks laughed at people who had GBA for what its worth , and how much its worth , Steam Deck is more than great.

[@Chaos747]

I’ll be buying a Steam Deck OLED this week. Seems like a good gaming handheld system when on the go.

[@MUCKLEECH]

This has to be the must relatable video you've made to date!

[@donaldpetersen2382]

Exanima is my favorite roguelike however it's physics based combat probably will stress the deck's apu. Great game to play in the dark

[@TheRighteousWord]

If you mainly play docked, is the performance still bad?

[@AbrahamZX1]

Hibernate has worked well for me on the ROG Ally. Much better than sleep, but takes a bit longer to resume ofc. Also I bought the ROG Ally mainly because of the screen, if I were to buy a new handheld now, I'd go for the OLED Steam Deck.

[@samreimann4233]

It's cool, I love handheld gaming but is it worth it if I have a decent laptop?

[@slickrounder6045]

The new Steam Oled is solid, but it still doesn't usurp the King, the Legion Go. If one must get one though, the OLED with all the improvements is definitely the way to go.

[@crestofhonor2349]

The Legion Go does have the worst software of the three major PC handhelds

[@slickrounder6045]

@@crestofhonor2349 Sure, it's also the newest at barely 2 weeks old. Improvements are being made already that addressed some of the initial concerns, and more are incoming. Undoubtedly in a couple months it will be much more polished. Remember the Steam Deck and Rog Ally also had a plethora of issues that took a while to fully get under control. I'm not a Lenovo fanboy (never owned anything of theirs as far as I know), but they have a good track record for getting their software polished on their gaming laptops, so no reason to think the Legion Go will be any different.

[@Cakebattered]

That's only because the Legion Go is new. SteamOS was very Janky the first 3 months. The fact that early owners needed to download Proton GE for many games proves that.

[@VanJ78]

Nice video and review with OLED now, Steam Deck have a nice upgrade. It will be great if Valve announce more region to offcially buy Steam Deck alongside with new OLED Version, but still nice upgrade.

[@Mango256]

Remote play through Steam is not that stable starting/stopping or staying connected with great image quality but Moonlight/Sunshine is much better right now and easier to setup than it use to be, it will run TripleA games really great on Steamdeck with a decent PC. The Deck is great at running native games from 360/PS3 and Xbox One era like Max Payne 3, Alpha Protocol, Remember Me, Mad Max, Sleeping Dogs, Just Cause 3 etc and it will look and perform much better than it did on those systems since your running the PC versions pretty much maxed. I like the easy mapping stuff like gyro aiming to left trigger pull in any single player shooting game, it is also the best overall emulation handheld system out there .

[@4ksandknives]

Holding the controller wrong, should have index and middle fingers on the top two triggers, not meant to swap between the two button.

[@cosmosofinfinity]

Been having fun playing Let It Die in a new casual kind of way. Should be fun/convenient playing other of these types of games with dailies and login bonuses. I do agree that the bumpers are a bit awkward to press on Steam Deck, it's like you're pressing the corner frame of the device with how pronounced it is

[@PixelShade]

I find it super weird that you can't touch the bumpers without changing the grip from the triggers... I think valve constructed this perfectly as the bumpers are slanted. You actually don't hit them straight on, but rather at the lower angled part of them. I basically have my trigger grip and just slightly tilt my fingers to hit the lower side of the bumper. I don't even need to change grip... I agree that the bumpers don't feel particularly good when you try to hit the flat side of them. which you showcase when you are shifting your grip. Try to hit the slanted bottom part of the bumpers instead, and do it from your trigger grip.

[@skippychurch2965]

I love Daniel. He is so wholesome, and I hope he has continued success here.

[@rody2213]

I got the 512 gb oled steam deck. It runs the Bioshock collection and RE2 &3 remake at 60-90 fps easily and that's reason enough for me to justify my purchase. I game on a 5800x3d/7900 xtx so the deck is more of a novelty item for me. I actually enjoy the challenge of tinkering with settings to balance visuals/framerate. Sure the ROG will get 60fps in way more games but enjoy your 50 minute battery on the go. I feel the deck strikes a better balance for the overall experience of gaming on the go. And the OLED screen is truly the icing on the cake. No regrets buying mine.

[@zombos22222]

playing zombie panic source with only 3watt and 6hours14minutes batterytime locked 40 (could be more but was a batterytest) its no demanding game but still a cool multiplayer horror 3d game and i was first thinking about 3watt can barely run old classic 2d rpgs but even left4dead2 and others are running great with so much less power, even less than a switch oled.

[@seeibe]

Ergonomics are very individual. For me the Steam Deck works very well, for people with smaller hands it can be a nightmare.

[@Remi_06]

Very nice "review" of your steam deck, thanks Daniel !! ✌

[@Dragonsage1138]

High level emulation is also another reason to get one. So many options for that use case and has enough power to play even the higher demanding consoles like wii u and switch. In some cases even PS3 games.

[@ZaberfangX]

That HDR in gamescope may open the door for many mods.

[@Frygon]

I had the LCD version since launch and never got on with the bad screen quality, so my daily driver stayed the Switch OLED. Bought the new OLED version and it somehow clicked. The Oled screen is just so nice.

[@brionklarer2852]

Very interesting for me i'm in about the same boat as you as far as why i'd use one. I'm seriously considering the oled one when it comes out. I have a laptop for not at the desk gaming but its kind of a lot too honestly. Thanks dude great content as usual 👍

[@LuckbeaSladey]

1000% relatable on the backlog and the use of steam deck to slay it

[@cozymonk]

10:36 Whoa! I never thought to try using a controller that way. Thanks! That works really well.

[@banboosy]

Hey Daniel - I agree with you with sleep resume, however you’re mistaken about windows. I use hibernate and have done since launch with my Ally. It’s perfect. It sleeps fast and resumes from hibernate in 10s (I timed it). So yes, not quite as fast as the Deck, but your resume a couple times. I’m willing to give up 10-20s over a gaming session for more power. I don’t use sleep because I agree with you, it sucks, but hibernate is fantastic and hasn’t let me down since launch, whereas the Deck used to fail to resume now and again (maybe 3-5% of the time).

[@FlyingShoe]

14:40 Have you looked into Moonlight/Sunshine with a dummy HDMI/DP plug for game streaming?

[@kiop901]

The ROG ally has been a better experience for me than using my steam deck. Mods and certain games I could play with no headache. Performance has been just better

[@damianabregba7476]

Mods works fine for me

[@imstupidbut]

the missing trackpads are a big L

[@MrZman311]

I have had both SD and ally. im switching back to the SD. I dont like the updetes constantly on the ally. SD is typically juat games 6 out of 7 days. Ally was daily.

[@ThaBrownRecluse]

I’ve never heard anyone mention this so I’ll throw it in. If you try to play a lot of older games they can have issues on modern windows (new Vegas, la noir). You can typically just press a button and play games before 2010 and get great performance and battery.

[@pandaofsam]

Valve also mention they tried to implement a save process for player to switch from steamdeck to pc seamlessly, I hope they can make it come true at last.

[@dnzrdm]

Wait, it doesn't cloud sync the saves?

[@Supahdenning]

@@dnzrdm It does, provided the game has cloud saves. It works perfectly as long as you have the connection and everything.