Steam Deck OLED review: Valve pulled a Nintendo in the very best way

It’s the Steam Deck that should have been - a new screen, bigger battery, quieter fan, a pile of improvements, and better pricing make this a small, but possibly the best console revision ever. It fixes my biggest complaints about the original Steam Deck and then some. #Technology
Read the review here: www.theverge.com/e/23715696
0:00 Intro
0:24 What’s new?
1:30 Performance
4:03 What hasn’t changed
5:33 Price and availability
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[@TheVerge]

Whoever finds a cat's meow first wins my old Steam Deck /s

[@FriendOfOwlsAndTitan]

1:27

[@ovtirc]

1:28 around here!

[@FriendOfOwlsAndTitan]

Did I win? :)

[@shininoue2960]

1:28

[@user-ks1ze4io6b]

1:27 sniffle

[@MickBenjamins]

That limited edition, should not be a limited edition and be available worldwide. That thing looks awesome!

[@FahdRiyami]

The Steam Deck itself isn't even available worldwide.

[@MickBenjamins]

@@FahdRiyami sure, but they could offer the limited edition version in the countries where they are currently being sold already

[@youkosnake]

That's why it's limited edition. Because you'd prefer it over standard

[@hrzn202]

'Gotta serve the white man nations more exclusives. People of color be thankful for what you get!!' Says the racist boardroom 'suits' running steam,the company

[@Nucleosynthese]

Agreed

[@jakegwolford]

I don’t need another Steam Deck, I don’t need another Steam Deck, I don’t need another Steam Deck…

[@liksoonlo]

Oh yes, we all need another Deck!

[@afgh1408]

this guy is weird, get him to do more stuff

[@TheVerge]

Sean is a treasure! And sure!

[@tysx502]

He talks like Phillip Defranco

[@xcelpast]

he's trying to seduce us

[@liksoonlo]

Agreed.

[@xkernalsandersx]

I was going to make a similar comment...he's so strange but I like it!

[@cristianrojas995]

I had steam deck about 6 months ago and returned it due to financial issues ( lost my job 2 weeks after arrival) and now that im in a better financial state i was looking to buy a new one. This one couldnt have came at a better time lol

[@animationmann6612]

Its great to hear that you are now FInancially Stable

[@therealsbdunks]

Keep going bro!! 💪🏽

[@jaimesupah]

Prob completely unrelated but would be pretty funny if you got fired for playing it in a bathroom stall or something. Cheers!

[@magic_fruit_bat5003]

What is your profession?

[@BK-sx5ps]

Perfect!

[@animationmann6612]

This Reviewer knew what we wanted and even talked about niche Problems like the SD Card break.

[@yeldarb300]

The base storage and fan were big issues for a lot of people with the original, so it’s good to see those already addressed. OLED has been highly requested, so it’s fantastic to see it already implemented in a refresh. Hal effect joysticks and stronger specs are the last two things I need to be sold on a new deck. Honestly I’m pretty confident that the next iteration of the deck will be significantly better.

[@MA-xd9zl]

@@yeldarb300 I wish there was a oled 64g cause I already have the 1T ssd

[@kazp217]

Kept telling myself I would buy this again if it had a better screen 👀

[@ev.c6]

Wait for the next generation. Trust me, it’ll be worth it.

[@ZacharyColes]

👀

[@punani_slayer4209]

​@@ev.c6it's gonna be years

[@Duvdeve]

​@@ev.c6next generation of what

[@user-rd6tb9is3e]

Now I wish I had waited from getting a gaming laptop coz the 1TB model is everything I could’ve ever asked for! Really loving what valve has been up to and we, the gaming community, absolutely love it!

[@Steve-tf1wv]

Your gaming laptop likely performs way better. Just sayin'. And, I own a Deck; not hating.

[@TheDragonfriday]

Plus able to use sd cards you can easily buy many as you want and name tag them for specific games treat them like a game individually like the switch.

[@okusai]

Simply WOW, I didn't see that coming!

[@Beryesa.]

The Linux desktop HDR support can be expected next year with Plasma 6!

[@TheWendellpaulo]

To be honest, games like Starfield and Star Wars Jedi Survivor not running well on steam deck are more the developers fault than Valve itself

[@cameronbosch1213]

Yeah, those games, especially Star Wars Jedi Survivor were abnormally CPU limited even on higher-end GPUs. Not to mention that Starfield has also had its fair share of problems.

[@tdome3000]

4:54 If you download in desktop mode, then the KDE screen saver/power management will help with that.

[@CodeLikeHell]

or just play something and download in background

[@tdome3000]

@@CodeLikeHell That's a terrible idea.

[@CodeLikeHell]

@@tdome3000 lol i always do that, why would i waste time with desktop mode to download files

[@angusdavidson15]

This is such a well shot and edited review.

[@AaronSoman]

There's gonna be like 100 steam decks on facebook marketplace because upgrades 😂

[@MA-xd9zl]

Just out of curiosity I went to look and the amount of SD from tonight 🤣 it’s crazy

[@wertyxq3468]

@@MA-xd9zl how much are they asking for them? if it's under 250$ it may be well worth it for people who are within a very tight budget for everything.

[@als_pals]

This is what I'm praying for since I don't have one yet

[@JRPGGUY]

Nice improvement over the original

[@technofou]

Yay! A Sean review. That guy is smooth.

[@thanos879]

Unique delivery. It's a thumbs up from me.

[@spacetoast7783]

The only two misses are VRR and a bottom USB port, which the original didn't have anyway.

[@TechedOff]

Hall effect joysticks could've been nice too but not a must have.

[@dramaticmudderer5208]

@@TechedOff you can add them later anyways

[@spacetoast7783]

@@TechedOff I agree with the other person. It's something you can add if/when it becomes a problem. It's not like they're an issue out of the box.

[@anarfox]

@@TechedOff Valve did look into that and said they weren't happy with the durability on the hall effect sticks. I wonder what issues they ran into.

[@yienmaster04]

@@TechedOff Valve actually did tests with the available Hall Effect sticks, and they were not satisfied enough with overall durability / long term reliability. Seem like they'd rather include sticks that could slowly develop drift (something that can be compensated for with dead zones) than sticks that outright fail prematurely. Seeing how intense Valve is with R&D and testing, I'm inclined to trust their conclusions on this one.

[@Kinyin]

Why does it look like the limited edition version you showcased had yellow colorways instead of the red shown on the Steam website?

[@maxherman11]

More of this guy, he is awesome!

[@Tass...]

For the longest time there was an accepted hard drive price of $1 per GB of storage. This gives you that and an entire handheld gaming system thrown in for free by that old metric. How things have changed for the better for the consumer.

[@TheVerge]

What do you use your Steam Deck for? List games pls

[@qiii]

Linux desktop (Arch btw)

[@user-oe6bk5uk4x]

I primarily use the Rog Ally now and my Steam Deck to emulators

[@Nucleosynthese]

At the moment: Celeste, DIRT Rally and Hades

[@Wrzlprnft]

Baldurs Gate 3, Vampire Survivors and Cloudpunk

[@Tantive]

Moonlight a game?

[@bryansmethers8936]

that last sentance sums me up exactly as well, and min'es 1tb + purple clear shell :)

[@Stape_Playshion]

Theres something about the way he talks and presents. I like it!

[@sudstahgaming]

I wanted the gpd win mini but the price of it doesn't justify the purchase when you have the steamdeck to consider!

[@drmountainman2749]

How about a video of cloning my steam deck ssd to move everything to the new oled model? I have spent a ton of time tweaking and downloading non steam emulation and don’t want to start over. Can you clone one deck to the other with opening them up? Want to sell my old deck after the transfer is complete.

[@novakkosanovic]

This is what I've been waiting for :)

[@emilianomontanari283]

is the fan audible even when just retrogaming emulation ?

[@xyz3702]

Man steam deck are getting beautifull

[@anatolyrapoport2216]

Does it come with the vent smell?

[@Saif0412]

Pulled a Nintendo better than Nintendo ever did. 😂

[@cg_marciano]

Now the question is... Can Nintendo pull a Steam?

[@wertyxq3468]

@@cg_marciano ain't no way, that would involve becoming a good company and nintendo tries its best to avoid turning into one.

[@cameronbosch1213]

​@@wertyxq3468100% agree with you.

[@majRFan]

hei yoo, why a sudden release of a good news…. i never saw this coming….

[@carlosmelendez8317]

Damn Valve! I just got my 64g SD

[@saturobi]

WOW. I just got my Legion Go, and was thinking of keeping my original SteamDeck (for indies and emulation). Now with the OLED and bigger battery upgrade, I need find the poor sucker tol offload my original SteamDeck to, lol.

[@BK-sx5ps]

Is the Legion Go your clear preference over the deck?

[@saturobi]

@@BK-sx5ps yeah, the Legion Go is still my preference. Better performance, much bigger screen and higher refresh rate. I am able to run games at much higher consistent fps than my steamdeck. Other reason I got the Legion Go was for Windows, since it can run anti-cheat games without issues (I was dual booting my steam deck, but each update always breaks the dual boot, and i have to go back and fix it).

[@dandiaz19934]

Steam Deck OLED is so good, even the Verge talked about it

[@antoniofontoura2260]

Why this guy made everything sound a bit sexual?

[@gabegrinff]

The steam deck is a very steamy erotic experience 😳

[@frozzbite]

Chris Hollister is getting really good at these video reviews

[@williamgazali4246]

I'm here for the peak design backpack 😉

[@xXYannuschXx]

And I just bought a Steamdeck 2 months ago... damn... guess I need to sell it.

[@BK-sx5ps]

Haha, you bought it on sale just like me... I cannot justify it, but I must have the oled... that limited edition though! MAN!

[@xXYannuschXx]

@@BK-sx5ps Yeah, wish I could get the limited edition, because I LOVE transparent cases, but they sadly dont sell it in Germany.

[@TaufanRezzafriMochamad]

Eventually there will be HDR support on desktop, once KDE catching up.

[@aquaman5464]

I’d go for the legion go if I am getting a handheld now. Wait couple of years and get the next gen Steam deck. SD 3

[@nusilver]

I enjoyed the review, but how does the reviewer still not know how to get Starfield running well on Steam Deck? Also, The Last of Us has been updated multiple times and runs great on Deck now. I played through the whole game that way and only found a single trouble spot (the dam.)

[@Nucleosynthese]

Very cool! Hopefully we can welcome even more users to the wonderfull Steam platform with this new Deck.

[@GregLopes]

Valve didn’t pull a Nintendo, or an Apple, or anything like that. They did something I haven’t seen a big company do in my adult lifetime. They made a significant upgrade that addressed the complaints from their community, and gave customers significantly more for the same of less money. I bought my 512gb Steam Deck last year for $649, and now you can buy a 512gb OLED Deck for $549. It’s the most consumer focused thing I’ve seen a company ever do.

[@shashank1630]

Ummm apple literally does this yearly.. and sells the upgraded phones for the same prices. This is literally what many companies do. It’s a year later… they updated the device and sell it for the same price…. Actually Apple is far more consumer friendly - they throw in a new chip with more performance every year for the same price actually….

[@notstevelam]

this is the most insane take. literally EVERY company iterates their products lol .

[@oo--7714]

​@@notstevelamI don't think these guys have really know that much about tech.

[@AindriuMacGiollaEoin]

they really done a good make over

[@kane01337]

More Sean Hollister gaming reviews / gaming tech videos!! Great presentation - filled to the brim with detail & yet so short and sweet - very nicely edited :)

[@redcrimson1028]

Damn dude, u seem really passionate about the oled deck lol good video though.

[@OTDECK]

Ffs Iv just sold my deck to buy the legion go and now im torn about what to buy 🤦‍♂️ I own oled tv but is an oled display with same performance enough to make you not choose the 8.8 IPs 1600p screen ! Help 😂

[@heyitsme2480]

Hey guys quick question can u run emulator on oled would it make the game look better or the same

[@Iglum]

Better

[@davidgrim5990]

They need to put a Z1 extreme in it.

[@DaClaymore]

„Excellent ergonomics”? First I heard anyone say that

[@glanerao1356]

That’s look 🔥

[@koya__kim]

This is good and all, but as usual in my country the Steam Deck is more expensive than the ROG Ally. Also, I have a lot of games from GOG, EGS, and have a Game Pass subscription. Steam Deck for me, while an astonishing handheld, is not very practical for my use case and for my budget.

[@jd6554]

Why did he spell out O L E D instead of just saying OLED? 😂nobody calls it that

[@anvy1231]

Will this be better than a switch

[@twitte0king]

I want a starfield machine though

[@nmadden02]

NEED - very glad I waited

[@saltygravy86]

Still waiting a Steam Deck with front camera.

[@marcus_aurelius8214]

Why do you need a front camera dog it’s a gaming device

[@saltygravy86]

@@marcus_aurelius8214 video call.

[@OtsoCafe]

I wish you could order the 1TB model without that hideous etched glass.

[@mushsoup]

Amazing device. already want this new steam deck

[@ancientslav4863]

They did it boys. They did it

[@billburnsbrown9798]

This guy definitely owns at least one fedora.

[@LofiShader]

hope they sell the screen separately

[@poorbabydan1162]

....and then there's me who just received my 512gb LCD steamdeck 4 weeks ago. 2 weeks over the return window. Can I get a F?

[@Geckoo-eh7wq]

Just keep it till the steamdeck 2 lol it's not a huge upgrade compared in performance.

[@wertyxq3468]

@@Geckoo-eh7wq It just goes to show how much the original model was selling at those prices even with all its drawbacks. Now that they are commited at pulling good Nintendo's left and right, hopefully they will follow it up with pulling an Iwata and release some sort of ambassador program to somewhat compensate those poor souls who bought their pricey decks weeks before the announcement.

[@ass5kickin]

Sell it and get the new one. Totally worth the upgrade!

[@brendanryan262]

Should I spring for the new OLED at €569 or pick up an upgraded second-hand LCD for €320ish?

[@vor946]

the amount of second hand lcds that has popped on ebay over last few days says it all

[@Archaline]

Would definitely listen to a podcast hosted by this human right here. Is he human though?

[@TheStrategyWargamer]

Love Valve!!

[@eneahaemmerli8288]

Are the games the same on the steam deck oled as on the normal steam deck?

[@jassykat]

I didn't know the Steam deck couldn't handle triple A games like Starfield and cyberpunk.

[@landsil_]

and I sit here with mine running Win 11 permanently plugged into 4K USB-C screen.

[@spacehornet]

Why do I feel like this guy is trying to whisper his review into my ear? It's like having an alternate universe Chris Parnell try to seduce me with an SNL tech review.

[@Dragonwar0]

I'm keeping my refreshed Steam Deck as I enjoy for the price I got it for. This is more of a Steam Deck 1.5 to keep people quite until Steam Deck 2.0 the actual big boy is released.

[@smilingskull7827]

Steam deck and Nintendo switch are the kings of handhelds, this is coming from someone who has them all for the moment.

[@AntonSlizzardhands]

What are the 10 best games for adults? I think I'd like to play with one of these while my kids watch cartoons.

[@trunghua76]

Better screen thats it? I rather have a more powerful steam deck then better sceen the LCD work just fine.

[@TEUNKETEUNEBEUNTEUN]

The steamdeck has more hardware failure and bugs then my Nintendo oled switch. I stay at the Nintendo fanside

[@faux-monde4553]

What matters is what games can be played? What’s the point of a small game that doesn’t require a controller to play?

[@Maintenance48]

That's not right. We can't get them if you don't live in the USA or Canada

[@Nucleosynthese]

Only the limited edition. The regular OLED is available in EU and UK as well.

[@Sh4rkeBotxD]

they should hire you at valve, you sold this thing without selling this thing well.

[@HD-fc4ds]

Mmm better battery for the device 99% of times used indoors

[@13z]

lol why was there a moto razr

[@jmqm]

The original Steam Deck lets you go 45FPS, it's not exclusive to the OLED model.

[@MadmanEpic]

It _will_ feel better on the OLED though since it can adjust up to 90hz for lower input latency, which is the biggest downside to playing at 45hz currently.

[@jmqm]

@@MadmanEpic Yo that's crazy! So the original Steam Deck lets you go 45FPS, it's not exclusive to the OLED model.

[@marsin23]

You sir are ignorant. Read up.@@jmqm

[@MA-xd9zl]

@@jmqm the original let you go up to 60fps and 60hz but the oled will go to 90hz

[@jmqm]

@@MA-xd9zl Wow! So the original Steam Deck lets you go 45FPS, it's not exclusive to the OLED model.

[@feffrey81]

Anyone want to buy a steam deck?

[@itzdcx7991]

*"Steamdeck 1.5"*

[@RyanVentura604]

Amazing

[@partypat7229]

nintendo switch OLED is significantly more powerful than you think. i've overclocked mine to 2700 MHz CPU, 1300 MHz GPU, 2534 MHz RAM

[@Sirianphillips]

This guy is straight out of Napoleon Dynamite

[@QuantumWalnut]

The guy should consider starting an ASMR channel hehe

[@DeezNutzHot]

They pulled a Nintendo and did it better

[@magnushue]

I am not sure if I just watched a hardware preview or an ad. This was a bit too enthusiastic for a journalist…

[@rachmadsuhartono]

Now please compare it to the lenovo legion go

[@xilefx]

this video feels like satire

[@Persason]

This dude is killing it. More of him please.

[@daemonbyrd]

But why does it feel like he wants to whisper all the time.

[@estrada1887]

Mirror’s edge well yes

[@eneahaemmerli8288]

Can I play the same games on the steam deck oled as on the normal steam deck?

[@zanderman2009]

doing a nintendo? do you mean releasing an android tablet inspired handheld with the gpu running half as fast as the android tablet it was created from?

[@cameronbosch1213]

Yeah, Nintendo has been running on fumes since 2017 and it has caught up to them. Now we're seeing games, both first and third party, have to make significant sacrifices just to work (like Hogwarts Legacy) or be canceled outright (like Marvel's Midnight Suns) because the Switch can't handle modern games with good graphics. Literally the best looking Switch games were Animal Crossing New Horizons, which was released _in 2020,_ and Super Mario Bros Wonder, which was released this year, but that's literally it. You kind of have to wonder how many more games would be better or on the Switch if they released the Switch Pro with a newer SoC or a Switch 2 already...

[@mrlilhobbes]

Nice update! Now Nintendo just needs to give us that Switch 2.

[@cameronbosch1213]

It will come... In 2030! 😂

[@szlszlszl]

Why starfield hang ?

[@prodigyweeb8986]

Sell my Deck, upgrade to OLED, wait 3-4 years max for the next big thing

[@yingwu4545]

I had high hope for steam deck and I went to great lengths to purchase a steam deck OELD. But the user experience so far has been appalling! So much compatibility issues! Controller issue, display issue, black screen issue, need to go through lots of fuss just to get basic things to work, and you will need to rely on external plugins just to record a 30 seconds gameplay video. Worst of all, Steam store will not refund you for any games even if they don’t work on steam deck at all. Unlike Nintendo switch or PS5, you can’t buy games in physical forms either so you can’t resell either. From what I can see steam deck valve does not care about player experience. They just throw whatever shits to players and let them figure it out themselves. Seriously, you should save yourself heartache and buy any other gaming consoles, they do better jobs for users! BTW, I’m usually a Nintendo switch player, so I can assure you Nintendo switch user experience is ten times better than steam deck! I started appreciate switch even more now as I realise how much work Nintendo has done to ensure a smooth play experience!