On Thursday night, Valve unveiled Steam Deck – a laptop game, as there have been rumors about since May. The new handheld machine will come in several versions costing between 399 and 649 US dollars, and will be released in December to North America, Canada, the EU and the UK. This probably means that we in Norway will get the machine no earlier than next year.
In any case, it seems that it will be difficult to get the paws on one of these right away. Valve requires people sits in a pre-order queue where one must pay a reservation deposit.
The price difference is first and foremost about how much internal storage space you want, but it is also possible to use a microSD card to expand the space. Below you see an overview of what the three different models offer.
| Award | Internal storage | Other | |||
| 399 dollar | 64GB eMMC (PCIe Gen 2 x1) | Carrying case | ——- | ——- | ——- |
| 529 dollar | 256GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4) | Carrying case | Exclusive Steam Community profile package | ——- | ——- |
| 649 dollar | 512GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4) | Special carrying case | Exclusive Steam Community profile package | Reflective screen surface | Exclusive theme for a virtual keyboard |
It’s hard to see Steam Deck as anything other than Valve’s answer to the Nintendo Switch. You can even buy an extra docking station if you want to play on larger screens, with its own integrated network port and video signal via both a DisplayPort (1.4) and HDMI 2.0.
Tailor-made processor
The main highlight will be a bespoke processor developed in collaboration with AMD. Valve itself describes the processor as a “Zen 2 + RDNA 2 powerhouse”, which should allow the handheld machine to run the latest big games. In other words, the new computer uses the same processor architecture as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.
In fact, Valve promises that virtually the entire Steam library is available on the computer. The operating system is SteamOS 3.0, ie Linux, and Valve claims that developers basically do not need to develop new portings of existing games due to a compatibility layer called Proton. However, they are opening the door for developers to create versions that are adapted to the hardware.
In addition, it is mentioned that Steam Deck is an open PC, so you can fiddle as much as you want to install what you want and use USB-C gadgets you have on hand. Bluetooth and WiFi are also supported.
The screen is a 7-inch LCD touch screen – that is, as big as it is upcoming OLED model of the Nintendo Switch, and the interface should be optimized for handheld gaming. The screen has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels, and a brightness of 400 nits.
The battery life is also pretty similar to Nintendo’s console, but the biggest games probably charge the computer pretty quickly: Steam Deck should have between two and 8 hours of playing time. The machine is 29.8 cm wide, 11.7 cm high and 4.9 cm deep, and weighs about 669 grams.
Steam Deck also features integrated controllers on the side of the screen, but these are not removable. Below the controller layout are two pressure-sensitive haptic touch surfaces, which draw the mind back to The steam controller from about 5 to 10 years ago. There is also a gyro sensor in place that registers six axes.
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