Valve announces Steam Deck OLED: these are all its new features

Surprise from Valve. Those led by Gabe Newell introduced Steam OLED panel, the first major version of the successful handheld console. However, the list of new features extends beyond the screen, which is now OLED HDR with update rate up to 90 Hz.

First of all, it should be said that the Steam Deck OLED screen increase your size slightly to 7.4 inches, but retains the resolution of 1280 × 800 pixels. There was no need to make the console bigger since they use the space of the – terrifying – frame of the first model.

On the inside, the Steam Deck’s OLED processor is now lithographically produced. 6 nanometers – unlike the 7 regular version -. Be careful, this will not improve gaming performance, but it will be more energy efficient.

In this sense, the second biggest new feature of the Steam Deck OLED, just behind its panel, is the battery, which is now 50 Wh and can offer ongoing experience from 3 to 12 hours. The first model has a power of 40 Wh and offers from 2 to 8 hours of play. Thus, autonomy increases to 50%.although it will all depend on the title we enjoy.

On the other hand, the Steam Deck OLED includes WiFi 6E, a standard that will significantly speed up loading times. One of the negative aspects of the original Wi-Fi 5 model was precisely how slow it could be when downloading games or applications.

Valve notes that it has improved the thermal section, so Steam’s OLED deck won’t be as hot like its predecessor. The sound part, in turn, is also improved, offering some more powerful bass.

Steam Deck OLED will be available in the US starting next day. November 16. There will be two versions, one of 512 GB and one more from 1 TB. The latter, by the way, will be released in limited edition with a translucent body. Their prices are lower:

• 512 GB: US$549
• 1 TB: US$649.
• Limited Edition 1TB: US$679

Yeah, It’s more expensive than the original Steam Deck.. Luckily, Valve will continue to sell this model, leaving only the 256GB option for $399. If you’re not interested in taking advantage of the huge benefits of OLED, an LCD laptop is still a great option for the price.

Don’t expect Steam Deck 2 anytime soon

The announcement of the Steam Deck OLED inevitably made us think that Valve is already preparing a second generation of the laptop. However, the reality is that this company’s roadmap is very different from Nintendo’s.

In an interview with EurogamerYazan Aldehayat, one of the Steam Deck engineers, hinted that Steam Deck 2 is still a long way off. Cause? They believe that the hardware that will allow them to realize their vision of the next generation laptop does not yet exist.

Yes, there are more powerful processors that are already integrated into offerings like ROG Ally or Lenovo Legion Go. The problem is that the battery is compromised and Valve is not willing to sacrifice battery life for better performance.

“Of course, we would like to get more performance with the same power, but such technology does not exist yet. I think we’d call it Steam Deck 2.0. The original Steam Deck was the first time we felt like there was enough of it. GPU performance in a “portable product that also lets you play all your Steam games. We’d like to see the performance-per-watt trend move quickly to get there, but we’re not there yet.”

Yazan Aldehayat.

Despite the above, Valve states that they are working on a couple of projects that will take advantage of the current Steam Deck. Both the first model and OLED. However, he did not specify whether it was hardware or software.