The mid-gen Steam Deck refresh isn't much faster, but it is lighter, prettier, and lasts longer.
Introducing Steam Deck OLED
The Steam Deck is a fantastic little handheld gaming PC, offering a big chunk of games in Valve’s Steam store in a bespoke handheld experience. Since its launch in 2022, though, owners have been complaining about a few key issues, such as the quality and refresh rate of the screen, the battery life, and more. Valve seems to have listened, and yesterday announced a mid-generation refresh of the console.
It’s called the Steam Deck OLED, and as you might expect, it’s got an OLED screen in place of the base model’s LCD. The new screen is slightly bigger, much more vibrant, and has a refresh rate of 90hz with a touchscreen polling rate of 180hz, making it a big step up from the display on the original model — which has now been renamed Steam Deck LCD.
It’s not just the screen that’s had an upgrade, though, most of the internals have been refreshed in small, but meaningful, ways too. The system’s APU – that’s the all-in-one CPU and GPU – has been moved onto a smaller node, making it much more battery efficient, it’s now got faster RAM, and has a better wifi and bluetooth module in it, making connectivity much more reliable.
It’s also got improved audio, slightly redesigned controls, a bigger battery, and can charge faster than ever before. That’s on top of improvements to the software, weight reductions, improvements to the repair process, and so much more.
It really is a big step up from the original model, although it’s worth noting none of these changes will make games perform significantly better. Instead, the handheld will last longer, charge faster, run cooler, and could be a little more stable due to the faster RAM.
The device comes after months of speculation about a mid-generation refresh, although Valve has said that a proper Steam Deck successor is still a few years off.
The Steam Deck OLED will become available to order on Steam’s Steam Deck page on November 16, 2023, and will come in two variants: a 512GB model for $549 and a 1TB model for $649. There will also be a special limited edition of the console featuring a translucent shell, but it will only be available in the US and Canada.
Related: Three Reasons I Won’t Buy a Steam Deck
If you’re content with the older model, however, you can pick one of those up for a bit cheaper now. Valve has dropped the price of the 64GB LCD model to $349 and the 512GB LCD model to $449. These prices will last for as long as stock remains available, after which they won’t be sold at all. The 256GB model will be sticking around, however, and will now retail for $399.
