Valve reveals the Steam Deck, its handheld PC in the form of a Nintendo Switch with a 7-inch screen. The front of the device has two touchpads, speakers, and a touch screen for standard control. The Steam Deck will ship in December for a price of PS349 ($399) with 64GB of storage, with expanded storage options for PS459 ($529) with 256GB SSD or 512GB SSD.
The device is a 7-inch touchscreen with two thumbsticks, two trackpads, a D-pad, and four control buttons. The trackpad is located on one side of the machine, while the thumb bars allow for increased precision. The trackpad will be a big difference for players who want maximum precision in games.
Steam Deck features two analog sticks, two touchpads (while the thumb bars allow for increased precision, the trackpad makes a big difference as the switch mimics a PC mouse for players who want maximum precision in games), analog triggers, ABXY face buttons, four rear buttons, and gyro controls. It features a custom Zen 2 AMD processor, a USB-C port, and a microSD memory expansion slot. According to the Valve Product page for Steam Deck, Steam OS will have been modified to provide a console-like interface.
It has been rumored for months that Valve is working on its own portable console, and now Gabe Newell’s company has officially announced Steam Deck. The announcement does not come from the blue – we have hints of a Valve console in the last Valve beta client code and there was even a question about a console in a Q & A when Gabe was in high school in New Zealand.
Steam Deck is a PC-style portable console with the entire Steam catalog that can run any game from your current library. With your Steam Library, the Deck can play any game you want at any time. In December 2021, Valve is scheduled to ship this new handheld gaming device called Steam Deck. The device has a 7-inch 1280×800 touchscreen, a trackpad, a Steam controller, and a full analog stick. On the software side the device will run a new version of SteamOS, the Linux-based operating system Valve hopes will make living room staples like the Steam Machine obsolete. A better way to imagine the device is that it is a small PC with a connected controller, as opposed to a game console. For PC gamers looking for a solution, Valve’s Steam Deck, a portable steam-enabled PC launched in December for $399. You can tinker with the device – it is not locked in a box – and use it as a normal PC by connecting it to a monitor or peripheral. The announcement comes just hours before pre-orders for Nintendo Switch and OLED are due to begin.
The handheld also supports Steam Chat, the ability to stream your PC home games to your Steam deck wherever you are, notifications when no one is playing, saving the entire Steam Store Cloud and the community area to keep up-to-date with friends, news, and the latest activities on Steam. Upon switching to Steam Deck, a charging station will be available separately, allowing players to connect the handheld to their TV, monitor, or console.
The charging dock, which is sold separately, has a display port, HDMI input, an Ethernet adapter, and three USB ports. The optional USB-C dock offers one DisplayPort to HDMI output and Ethernet adapter, as well as three USB-A ports. Valve has yet to release an official dock, but third-party USB-C docks will be compatible.
Each model has a high-speed microSD card slot for extra storage. The official dock features Ethernet, DisplayPort, HDMI, and USB ports, as well as price and availability details. AU $538 ships with 64GB of storage, with the next model coming in at $529 (PS459, approx.
