Firing up the original Steam Deck for the first time was a milestone moment for many gamers, as Valve’s impressive hardware finally made good on the promise of true, portable PC gaming. Putting graphical powerhouses like God of War in the palms of players’ hands dropped jaws aplenty, but the machine’s initial magic also began to tarnish a bit once some of its first-generation flaws, like lackluster battery life, surfaced.
But while the original Deck — released in 2022 — wasn’t without its drawbacks, it remained a fantastic debut effort with an incredibly solid foundation just begging to be built upon with better specs and features. And that’s exactly what Valve did less than two years later with the Steam Deck OLED.
Much more than a do-over with a prettier display, this second iteration is a far superior follow-up that retains and refines everything its predecessor got right, while tweaking its template with a swath of enhancements that extend far beyond its primary, eye-popping selling point.
The Steam Deck OLED’s biggest selling point is right in its name, but Valve’s updated handheld packs more than a prettier screen. While the OLED display alone is worth the upgrade, better battery life, a lighter build and many other enhancements sweeten the deal.
What I liked about it
A brighter, slightly bigger display
As its name aptly advertises, this updated Steam Deck has been outfitted with a new OLED display, and it’s a stunner. Anyone who made the leap from the original Nintendo Switch to its upgraded OLED model will be struck with a welcome jolt of déjà vu.
As expected, the tech brings a brighter palette of rainbow-rivaling colors and deeper blacks, resulting in a retina-searing showcase that puts the hardware’s previous LCD screen to shame. The wider range of colors, incredible contrast and impeccable clarity pop in any game that’s splashed across its 1200 x 800 display. I found these elements especially impressive in cinematic, HDR-supporting epics like Sony’s Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut. The open-world action-adventure’s varied, sprawling landscapes, detailed interiors, day/night cycle and changing weather effects all benefited from the enhanced screen.
As much as my eyes relished the gorgeous Ghost of Tsushimaon a display that justifies its cinematic qualities, as an early Switch OLED adopter, I wasn’t surprised by the significant visual leap. What did catch me off guard though, was how well the stunning OLED tech was supported by its less-advertised improvements. At 7.4 inches, the screen is slightly larger than its predecessor’s. It’s also outfitted with new, anti-glare etched glass and a peppier refresh rate — up to 90Hz from 60Hz — which allows for more fluid gaming. While not as dramatic as the jump from LCD to OLED, these subtler upgrades (especially that smoother refresh rate) are welcome, noticeable inclusions that feel like icing on the Deck, er, cake.
Better battery life
Given that one of the original Deck’s biggest flaws was its lacking battery life, I’m almost surprised the OLED’s increased juice isn’t advertised in bold type on the front of the box. Sure, maybe the bump from a 40-watt-hour to 50-watt-hour battery isn’t boastworthy, but it’s definitely a distinguishable boost over the debut Decks’ disappointing power unit.
While I never quite reached the 12-hour maximum Valve advertises, my test unit consistently held a charge far above the quoted minimum of three hours. In fact, more often than not, I was able to play untethered for eight to 10 hours, consistently meeting — if not crushing — the LCD version’s eight-hour max. Of course, this was dependent on which games I was playing. The power-siphoning Ghost of Tsushima, for example, saw the battery dying below that average, while the less demanding Hades II easily beat it.
Mileage will vary based on both the games being played and the settings they’re running at. But regardless of whether you’re playing a pixelated indie or polygon-pushing AAA title, you’ll find yourself reaching for the charger far less frequently than with the original model.
So many small but meaningful improvements
The best reason to pick up Valve’s latest hardware is undoubtedly its incredible OLED display, followed by the beefier battery life. But the new model is also brimming with smaller, quality-of-life improvements that make the system feel more like “Steam Deck: The Director’s Cut” rather than simply the same machine with a shinier screen.
For starters, a number of nuanced technical tweaks — from a fine-tuned touch screen and haptics to a bigger cooling fan and faster downloads via Wi-Fi 6E — smooth and polish some previously problematic areas. More significant tweaks, at least based on my preferences, include comfier, grippier thumbsticks and a lighter build. In terms of the latter, the OLED has only dropped about 5% of its predecessor’s weight, but as someone who primarily plays in bed, hardware held above my chest, I appreciated the small reduction during those late-night Hades II sessions.
On the subject of subtle design changes that are actually quite significant to me personally, the updated Deck also sports its logo right on the charger. If you’re like me, locating the correct power cord usually requires diving into a tangle of wires that all look identical. While this might not be an issue for more organized players, maybe it’s a too-short power supply that gets your goat. Well, the OLED’s got you covered there too, with a wire length that extends past its predecessor by more than three feet.
If you pony up for the higher-end $650 model, you score even more perks, including 1TB of storage and a premium carrying case with removable liner. The convertible case is a huge boon for travelers, as they can swap out the bulkier hard-shell version for a smaller, softer protective tote for those shorter trips.
Ongoing hardware updates and Steam support
While it’s not a feature you can easily put your finger on, the fact that Valve has continuously pushed performance-improving, bug-fixing updates since the first Deck’s launch qualifies as a significant upgrade. Thanks to this unwavering dedication to ensuring users have the best experience possible, the OLED feels smoother and more polished right out of the box.
This is especially apparent with Valve’s continued streamlining of the Steam storefront’s ability to communicate which games are supported on its handheld hardware. Compatibility evaluation is an ongoing, evolving priority, one that’s already gone above and beyond to educate owners on what they can and can’t run on their Deck.
More than just a simple check mark or other vague clarification, the compatibility program — which Valve claims is currently reviewing every game in Steam’s massive catalog — is broken into four tiers: Verified, Playable, Unsupported and Unknown. Many titles that land in the latter three slots might function fine but don’t meet the full “Deck Verified” seal of approval, which evaluates input, display, seamlessness and system support.
Ghost of Tsushima, for example, runs fantastically on the device but is technically “Unsupported” due to the inability to play the game’s online cooperative mode. Thanks to Valve’s dogged support and dedication, though, this wrinkle isn’t left a mystery. Searching the game on Steam will not only communicate its general categorization but lead you to a link explaining the specifics of its unsupported status.
What I didn’t like about it
Aging performance
For a portable PC, the OLED packs an impressive punch. And given that it allows me to effortlessly play the likes of Diablo IV, Baldur’s Gate III and more of my recent favorites on the go, I almost feel guilty griping about its performance. But while the hardware lets me enjoy high-end PC games pretty much anywhere I want, the OLED’s performance is beginning to show its age in the face of more powerful competitors.
While rivals like the Lenovo Legion Go and ROG Ally Z1 Extreme lag behind the Deck for a host of other reasons, there’s no denying they’ve got more horsepower under the hood. Both leverage the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme Processor — pretty much the pinnacle of current portable CPU power — as well as AMD Radeon graphics cards. Still, the OLED’s AMD Custom APU, while a couple years behind, admirably holds its own.
As proven by my many hours spent playing the above referenced titles — largely on medium graphics settings and maintaining more than reliable frame rates — the OLED’s certainly no slouch when it comes to putting PC gaming in your hands. That said, upon spying the sludgy results of my attempt to run the admittedly graphically intensive Senua’s Saga: Helblade II,I couldn’t help but pine for the inevitable Steam Deck 2.
Not as smooth outside the Steam ecosystem
The OLED’s console-like interface is still the friendliest you’ll find on a mobile platform. Slick, intuitive and incredibly accessible to anyone with a Steam account, it’s pretty much set the gold standard for portable gaming UI. Of course, the one big caveat remains the potential hurdles you’ll need to clear if you want to play any games not sold on Steam.
Even the least tech-savvy gamers are just a Google search away from figuring out how to install and play non-Steam favorites like Fortnite on their Deck (you can check out our Steam Deck tips and tricks guide for some help messing around outside of SteamOS). But they’re still facing a multistep, potentially problematic process that’s not native to the system. If most of your playtime is spent with digital services, such as Xbox Game Pass or the Epic Games Store, you’ll likely find a smoother experience on a Windows-based platform.
Bottom line
The Steam Deck OLED isn’t just a significant improvement over its predecessor; it’s the best portable gaming PC money can buy. In terms of performance, it’s starting to show its age, especially in the face of more powerful competitors. It’s also not the ideal choice if you do most of your gaming outside the Steam ecosystem. Still, it trumps its horsepower-pushing, Windows-based rivals by offering a better, more balanced and complete package overall.
The original Deck already delivered the goods, finding the sweet spot between performance, power, price, ergonomics, usability and access to thousands of games. But the OLED elevates all those elements — in both subtle and significant ways — refining what previously worked while polishing and improving areas that needed a bit more love. The bigger, brighter screen alone will seal the deal for serious on-the-go gamers, but it’s the surprising number of smaller, meaningful upgrades that also make the OLED an easy recommendation for both newcomers and existing Deck owners pondering an upgrade.
