Almost a year after the release of the first game console from Steam, this device fell into my hands. The developers have had enough time to collect supplies and release patches, so I prefer to use the experience of using a portable monster, as well as experiences from a practical and gaming point of view.
In short, in 2022, Valve entered the American market with a full-fledged gaming computer, only in a community format called Steam Deck. This game console allows you to run and play game libraries from the Steam play store, which was previously only possible on desktop PCs.
And here I am holding in my hands a weighty oblong bar made of matte plastic. It makes no sense to talk about unpacking, because the package of my Steam Deck with 256 GB of memory is as concise as possible: the delivery itself is in a hard case-bag and a 45 W charger.
👉 You can buy a Steam Deck with 64GB, 256GB, or 512GB memory from re:Store. Prices start at 79,990 rubles.
So, I took it out of the box, connected it to the charger and the magic begins? Let’s get a look:
Design, ergonomics, comfort
Steam Deck seems bulky, but it’s only at first glance.
At first glance, the Steam Deck seems large enough for mobile gaming. Console dimensions are 298 x 117 x 49 mm, weight – 669 grams. On the front of the plastic case there are familiar controls in the form of two 5-way sticks, crosses and four buttons. There are also two additional buttons to bring up the menu in the game and quickly navigate to the menu of the player’s Steam account.
In addition, on the right and left of the screen, you can see two touch panels, which are replaced in games with a mouse: by guiding them you can move the cursor (if playing away, for example), or look around in third-party shooters.
The 7-inch LCD capacitive touch screen has a resolution of 1280 × 800 dots with a native 720p resolution on a portable display. The screen aspect ratio is 16:10, brightness is 400 nits.
On the upper faces of the Steam Deck there are also the usual “triggers” in the number of different pieces, two on each side, if you take the console in your hands, then with your ring finger and little finger you can find two more buttons on the back of the device.
18 controls including sticks and touchpads. Enough for any game.
In total, the Steam Deck has 18 buttons (along with sticks) to control characters and actions in games. For most titles from the Sneam store, this is enough for a comfortable game.
The speaker grills are also fixed on the front part, the warm air outlet is on the top edge of the device. there’s also a volume control button, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a power button.
The console is assembled very soundly, the plastic is matte, pleasant to the touch. The case collects prints narrow, and only on the back. The weight allows you to comfortably hold it in your hands on weight, though after a minute of 40 gaming sessions you start to want to fix your hands on the table, after all, you hold a thing in your hands that weighs more than half a kilogram.
On the back panel there are also buttons for the ring fingers and little fingers.
The picture is bright and juicy enough not to cause discomfort even in sunny weather. The sound is so generally amazing for a portable console: at 60% it becomes too loud, the sound level is 40-50%.
All the necessary buttons and controls are clear under the touch, so even if this is your first portable console in your gaming life, you get used to it in just a few hours. And if you have experience playing “older brothers” like Xbox or PS4, then the right triggers and buttons will immediately appear out of habit.
Filling, performance, heating
It is comfortable to hold the Steam Deck in your hands, ergonomics are on top.
Steam Deck is powered by an AMD APU built on the Zen 2 architecture, and if seen with desktop PCs, it is a sort of AMD Ryzen 3000 CPU. The GPU is RDNA 2, tested with Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards.
However, the meeting on the performance of desktop solutions with a portable console is not entirely correct. But among other gaming mobile consoles, Steam Deck takes first place, bypassing the same Nintendo Switch in terms of performance almost one and a half times (1.6 teraflops vs 1 teraflops).
Inside the console, there are two coolers that turn on almost immediately after starting any game, and their noise level depends on the “heaviness” of the running title. While the fan noise is barely audible in indie games with pixel art, when some kind of Mad Max appears, the buzzing becomes more noticeable, and noticeably warm air begins to blow from the upper grilles.
But to the credit of the creators, I want to find out that not once during the entire time of testing the set-top box did I visit a doctor because of the rustling of coolers. You get used to this sound quite quickly and generally stop noticing it.
The sticks move smoothly, no lifts or squeaks.
Responsible for autonomy built-in battery without the possibility of “hot” replacement capacity of 5200 mAh. This is enough to run around in virtual worlds for about 1.5 hours without a break, give or take. Moreover, when it is consumed below 20%, resource-intensive games start to slow down a bit (tested on Call of Duty Advanced Warfare).
The console is charged from the supplied charger quickly enough, about 40-50 minutes. A special indicator light next to the Sniper Case’s USB connector shows when it is possible to disconnect the feed from the wires and play the display again.
Lots of experience features and a few debunked myths
Going through a few missions on the way to work is priceless.
For the first day, I literally could not let the Steam Deck out of my hands, downloading all the games in a row from my Steam. It is important to understand here that the console interface has a separate list of games that have been tested and will definitely be launched at concerts. I was lucky that a lot of such games were bought in my library, so I rate the experience of the game as positive as possible.
Not a single title lagged, crashed and played as smoothly as possible. On the Internet, I looked at Steam Deck reviews from Western bloggers who, with a magnifying glass, showed the difference in the frequency of this console and gaming PCs or stationary gaming sensations, but from the point of view of an ordinary gamer, which I am, the picture on Steam Deck does not cause any other emotions than delight.
And this despite the fact that I sold my Nintendo Switch after installing “The Witcher 3“, because I could not post frankly bad graphics in this mobile version.
Shell Steam DeckCompletely Russified.
In terms of mobility, an hour and a half is enough to play, and the weight console does not play a big role in this. To put it simply, you bought a Steam Deck with more people on it, so the autonomy of one person is good.
It is important to understand that Steam Deck is not a replacement for “older” gaming consoles. It’s an experience you haven’t preached yet, simply because you can play Cyberpunk 2077 on your way to work, in line, anywhere.
Complete games released for computers will be in your pocket. You don’t need to strain them, you don’t need to think that the system resources are not enough to increase the number of pictures – just install and play.
Fingerprints have appeared on the back, although the plastic looks non-staining.
If you’re after the exotic, don’t feel like the Steam Deck is a console that plugs into Arch Linux. So when you arrive, you can enter desktop mode and install a lot of emulators for various game consoles, from Dendy to Nintendo, and then download hundreds of games to them and finally get past that boss in Contra that did not let you sleep peacefully as a child.
Here’s a hack for the real geeks: The console’s USB-C port supports DisplayPort 1.4 mode, so you can plug your Steam Deck into a single monitor, grab a wireless keyboard and mouse, and play like you’re on a personal home PC. The picture, by the way, then gets better: resolution up to 8k at a refresh rate of 60 Hz and 4k at a refresh rate of 120 Hz.
What is the price:
▪️ Steam Deck 64 GB — 79,990 rubles
▪️ Steam Deck 256 GB — 92,990 rubles
▪️ Steam Deck 512 GB – 123,990 rubles
The console has the ability to expand the memory using microSD. I recommend buying one right away, because computer games take up a lot of space, these are not mobile casual games for you.
For example, one “Cyberpunk” will immediately eat 72 GB, CS: GO – 28 GB, and the same Elder Ring – almost 50 GB. Total, installed in these three games you have closed 150 GB. But the game can be obtained on a flash drive purchased separately, so the complete setup in my prototype looks like Steam Deck 256 GB + microSD 256 GB. There is not much empty space.
In the end, I liked Steam Deck so much that I started thinking about buying it. Unlike the Nintendo Switch, there are significantly more great games in the Steam catalog at prices, even in the current conditions.
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📸 All photos in the article:
Source: Iphones RU
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
