Adding fuel to the fire of the portable console war, Valve announces the launch of its new and improved version of the Steam Deck portable gaming device, the Steam Deck OLED. This updated model incorporates an OLED screen, specifically a 1280 x 800 HDR OLED screen, as an alternative to the same resolution LCD screen of the original model. With a screen size of 7.4 inches, this new console exceeds the 7 inches of the previous model, also offering greater clarity.
The Steam Deck OLED not only improves in terms of screen, but also brings with it a new 6nm AMD processor. Although still based on Zen 2 with 4 cores and 8 threads, it uses RDNA2 graphics, suggesting a possible improvement in graphics efficiency and performance.
In addition, this new version of the Steam Deck comes equipped with WiFi 6E, an upgrade from the previous model’s WiFi 5, and a 50 Wh battery, thus improving the capacity of the original 40 Wh battery. These updates suggest improved connectivity and greater device autonomy, which is essential for a portable gaming console and was where the previous model faltered the most.
Valve’s choice for an OLED display on the Steam Deck aligns with its investments in HDR support for AMD’s graphics driver stack in Linux, which makes sense given the recent appearance of Valve Galileo in the Linux kernel. This new model will begin
to ship on November 16, with a 512GB model for 569 euros and a 1TB OLED version for 679 euros.
At these prices, the lowest tier of the Steam Deck upgrades with additional storage, and the new 1TB OLED remains at the same price as the high-end launch model, but now with double the storage and an improved display and battery. The device is aiming for the “same performance target” as the original model, meaning more demanding games won’t be able to be played, but current games will look much better thanks to the new display, which offers richer colors and deeper blacks.
It also claims to be more energy efficient and comes with premium acid-etched anti-reflective glass on the 1TB and limited edition models. With a refresh rate of 90Hz, maximum brightness of 1000 nits and a response time of <0.1 ms.
The truth is that this device still continues to outperform the rest of the portable consoles on the market in several ways. The Steam Deck integrates with the Steam video game library, and when you log in it automatically synchronizes saved games and allows features such as chat, cloud saves, and remote playback.
It can be used connected to the television and computer to play and browse, as well as use external peripherals and controllers for games. These options are controlled from the docking station included at the bottom. At the ‘software’ level, the console uses a new version of SteamOS as an operating system optimized for a portable gaming experience. It comes with Proton, a compatibility layer that makes it possible to run games without developers needing any adaptation.
In addition, it is compatible with other video game services such as Epic, Ubisoft Connect, Origin, Game Pass, GOG, GeForce Now, and even Battle Net. The Steam Deck OLED will be available from November 16 in Spain, in 512 GB and 1 GB versions. TB, with a price reduction on the 64GB and 512GB Steam Deck (LCD) models while supplies last.