The first Steam Deck reviews focus on cooling, controls, battery life and performance

[Puiu]

I dont see any need for such a device. just get a better chair problem solved.

you will take your chair when going on vacation or when riding the train? it must be an amazing chair.

 

[kenny loris]

I am a bit confused about how would this device stand up to the expectations of MOBA players. I myself is an avid dota player and not sure about how would it do.

 

[Puiu]

I am a bit confused about how would this device stand up to the expectations of MOBA players. I myself is an avid dota player and not sure about how would it do.

Not every game will be suitable for a handheld device. You can just use a normal keyboard and mouse.

 

[kenny loris]

Not every game will be suitable for a handheld device. You can just use a normal keyboard and mouse.

Yeah, you're probably right. Cause playing MOBAS is going to be a problem, not just cause of the controls, but due to screen size as well.

 

[Puiu]

Yeah, you're probably right. Cause playing MOBAS is going to be a problem, not just cause of the controls, but due to screen size as well.

It would be interesting if Riot could bring the mobile version of LoL to this.

 

[money]

I don’t get the hype for this device. 720p 30hz PC gaming? Er no thanks.

What did you expect from a handheld?

 

[Axeia]

...

The other smaller players are unlikely to come to a similar price point. Valve is banking on economy of scale and making up selling the hardware at near production cost.
So yeah they might make something that performs similar or has much better CPU performance but it will costs 2-3 times as much

 

[Puiu]

I don’t get the hype for this device. 720p 30hz PC gaming? Er no thanks. I’m currently playing Horizon Zero Dawn on PC and I’ve just finished God of War. I’d like to play these games on the sofa but never at 30fps. Skyrim would be good but I have that on my switch lite which I also basically don’t use.

And then there’s the size of this monster. It’s far too big to pack into a bag for a trip, it’s heavier than all my current electronics that I travel with added together (iPad, GoPro, phone) and with a 2 hour battery it’s going to need to be plugged in a lot.

Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like the hype train on this is a bit out of control. I mean it can’t even play minecraft!

You can play Minecraft on it.

As for the performance, you have decades of games you can try on it, not just the latest that require beefy PCs to run at 60Hz.

The size is fine, you just won't fit it in your pocket. As for the battery, it just depends on your game of choice.

For many the choice is simple, it offers the best performance, the best price (by a long mile), the best material quality and the best game lineup on the market. These criteria are what people will use to decide if they'll buy it or not.

 

[Bobbydpue]

Take a look at his second channel, short circuit: Linus Media Group themselves have reviewed like a dozen such devices, 3 inside the last 2 months, where Linus himself was the host holding the devices and talking about them.

He probably thinks they're not comparable because of the higher price point or because Valve "got it right" (But again, I maintain my reservations about it at least the way it ships with Linux until someone tests it on Windows instead) but his own channels and him personally have reviewed many such devices in the past, one of them just 9 days ago in fact.

It's why I never consume any of his content and just become aware of it when other people reference it: He just talks and talks and talks and never thinks about anything he says and doesn't care how much stuff he gets wrong, makes up, etc. No corrections, no editorial rigor, just a fast talking ***** that spends more time trying to sell you water bottles than thinking about what he's about to say about tech.

Don't be annoyed LTT isn't the channel you want it to be. That's on you and not them. LTT is a tech entertainment channel, they aren't DerBauer or Actually Hard Core Overclocking or GamersNexus and they aren't trying to be. Just because you don't agree with the channel or anything Linus has said, which was likely written by someone else, doesn't mean you are right and they are wrong. They spend significant time writing scrips and reviewing them, but they also have a video schedule to keep and they aren't going to be 100% accurate about everything all the time or even most of the time. LTT isn't for everyone and that's fine, but that doesn't make them a bad channel. Their merch adverts are very short and their merch is of good quality especially their water bottles.

The steam deck could end up having no competition but a couple of caviats:

1) Those other devices have been available for almost a year for the AMD Ryzen ones and are not using the latest from AMD....

2) AMD could have no competition but just as easily could fail miserably to sell anything more than a tiny number of preorders. In fact given the chip shortages right now I can almost guaranteed that anyone that didn't immediately got on the waiting list as soon as it was announced probably won't get a steam deck available until at least 2023...

I'd love to be proven wrong (Not even just rethorically I'd put money down for a steam deck if I could, but I both don't trust in preorders at all and they were not even available in my country at all, still aren't) but again: Linus is someone who is paid to believe Valve's hype...

So tl;dr is the same as always: Never assume a new hardware launch (Or even a software one) will work as intended, they almost never do and Valve is not immune.

The other companies that have released handheld could have also brought a better and cheaper model to market, too, just like Valve has so I'm not sure why those comparisons aren't fair. Intel's new 12th gen outperforms AMD's current gen and that's a fair comparison since AMD could have released a better product since, but they haven't, yet. They had better products for a long period of time, but current gen should be compared to other current gen products and Intel's 12th gen is a better product that AMDs current gen 5000 series. It's a fair comparison just like comparing 5000 series with intel's 11th gen when 11th gen was the most current.

Is Valve building hype or is it content creators that are building the hype? Either why the hype has nothing to do with availability and they've made no promises about availability only estimates. Unless you can see the future how could you assume their best guess of availability is a year off? Do you know every link in their supply chain?

You said you would put money down on a Steam Deck, but then said you wouldn't and then said you couldn't justify spending the money and then said you couldn't pre-order in your country anyway. I'm not sure what idea you were tying to share with that paragraph other than you don't like pre-orders.

LTT wasn't the only channel covering the Steam Deck and there is a difference between being sponsored, getting early access to a product, and being genuinely excited about a new product.

 

[Puiu]

Linus: "There aren't any competing handheld gaming PCs"

Linus can be excused for being ignorant of course. Alex at LowSpecGamer has been using and reviewing handheld gaming PCs for years. How did Valve come up with this idea? They cribbed it from Asian companies who actually developed and successfully marketed the products, thus showing they could be a viable platform.

Linus is correct in declaring that (if you watched his video he explains why). Those that do come close to this are over 1000$ and even those have weaker hardware. The Steam Deck has no competition at the moment in the handheld PC market.

 

[Bobbydpue]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Gear

to be honest I would rather play this.
hand held haven't come that far in the time since the game gear.
entertainment wise at least.

Game Gear: 3.2", 32 colour, 160 x 144 pixel display and an 8 bit processor

Steam Deck: 7", nearly all the colours, 1280 x 800 pixels and a 64 bit processor

Yeah I'd say it's safe to say hand-helds have come a long way since the game gear.

I'll make an assumption that you haven't picked up any of the more modern handheld devices since you think hand-held devices haven't come that far in thirty years.

I don’t get the hype for this device. 720p 30hz PC gaming? Er no thanks. I’m currently playing Horizon Zero Dawn on PC and I’ve just finished God of War. I’d like to play these games on the sofa but never at 30fps. Skyrim would be good but I have that on my switch lite which I also basically don’t use.

And then there’s the size of this monster. It’s far too big to pack into a bag for a trip, it’s heavier than all my current electronics that I travel with added together (iPad, GoPro, phone) and with a 2 hour battery it’s going to need to be plugged in a lot.

Maybe I’m wrong but I feel like the hype train on this is a bit out of control. I mean it can’t even play minecraft!

The display is 7" at 1280 X 800 and 60hz. Would a higher resolution make a significant difference in the way is looks and would that make up for the lower framerate and reduced battery life? I don't think increasing the resolution to 1080p on such a small display would be worth the performance hit or the increased cost and I'm pretty sure Valve took their time considering display sized and resolutions before making a decision.

Far too big to pack into a bag for a trip? That sounds like a bag problem and not a Steam Deck problem. It's smaller and lighter than a thin and light laptop and a lot smaller than most gaming laptops. If you don't currently take your Switch anywhere with you then gaming on the go isn't important and this device just isn't for you, it doesn't have anything to do with the device.

 

[Sausagemeat]

Game Gear: 3.2", 32 colour, 160 x 144 pixel display and an 8 bit processor

Steam Deck: 7", nearly all the colours, 1280 x 800 pixels and a 64 bit processor

Yeah I'd say it's safe to say hand-helds have come a long way since the game gear.

I'll make an assumption that you haven't picked up any of the more modern handheld devices since you think hand-held devices haven't come that far in thirty years.




The display is 7" at 1280 X 800 and 60hz. Would a higher resolution make a significant difference in the way is looks and would that make up for the lower framerate and reduced battery life? I don't think increasing the resolution to 1080p on such a small display would be worth the performance hit or the increased cost and I'm pretty sure Valve took their time considering display sized and resolutions before making a decision.

Far too big to pack into a bag for a trip? That sounds like a bag problem and not a Steam Deck problem. It's smaller and lighter than a thin and light laptop and a lot smaller than most gaming laptops. If you don't currently take your Switch anywhere with you then gaming on the go isn't important and this device just isn't for you, it doesn't have anything to do with the device.

Lmao you are here valiantly defending Valves latest product with vigour prior to reviews coming out. Congratulations. Yeah the steam deck is definitely a “me” problem but you will find a lot of people will have his issue.

I do occasionally take my switch lite. But that device weighs 1/3 of a steam deck and charges off a mobile phone charger

Fair enough if you like it but going around claiming it’s not enormous is laughable. The thing is a tank.

You can play Minecraft on it.

As for the performance, you have decades of games you can try on it, not just the latest that require beefy PCs to run at 60Hz.

The size is fine, you just won't fit it in your pocket. As for the battery, it just depends on your game of choice.

For many the choice is simple, it offers the best performance, the best price (by a long mile), the best material quality and the best game lineup on the market. These criteria are what people will use to decide if they'll buy it or not.

You think performance and games library is the only things people will judge a portable gaming device on? Yeah I disagree, the size, battery life and most importantly screen quality will be the biggest selling points, if the screen is bad it will hurt it. The old games library thing is appealing but on the other hand it’s also not as there are several big name modern titles which this thing just can’t run. And $500 for a device that’s not going to play the latest and greatest is a big ask.

You can only play minecraft if you install windows and then you would need to mod it for controller support, that might not work yet. Also you really do need a keyboard for commands (it depends what sort of minecrafting you do). This is the case with lots of games “oh if you install windows you can play anything” but is it ok to expect users to install their own operating system on a handheld gaming device? I don’t want to be messing around with windows on a tiny screen when I’m on a plane and I just want to play games.

The size is 100% not fine for me. You might be ok with it but I won’t ever take a gaming device that big. it’s a subjective thing. But I think a lot of people will avoid a device that weighs 1.5 iPads and lasts 2 hours or less. Im privileged enough to get travel constantly and I can’t see this thing being used much on planes etc, most people thought the considerably smaller switch was too big, you don’t see many.

But don’t let me stop you paying $500 for a chunky handheld with a proprietary operating system so you can play Tomb Raider 2016 at 720p 30fps for 2 hours. If that makes you happy then go crazy

 

[jerbmega]

Steam games that have a native Linux client or are very platform agnostic even without it should work better on Steam OS: It uses a lot less resources than Windows overall so there's a lot less overhead to worry about. But those are very few games.

Not necessarily, especially for older AAA ports that predate DXVK. A lot of those didn't use a native OpenGL backend (instead opting for a nonperformant DX -> OpenGL wrapper), or used a very suboptimal one. Modern ports tend to be up to par, though.

You can only play minecraft if you install windows and then you would need to mod it for controller support, that might not work yet. Also you really do need a keyboard for commands (it depends what sort of minecrafting you do). This is the case with lots of games “oh if you install windows you can play anything” but is it ok to expect users to install their own operating system on a handheld gaming device? I don’t want to be messing around with windows on a tiny screen when I’m on a plane and I just want to play games.

Bash the Deck all you want, but at least get your facts straight first. Minecraft has been available on Linux since its inception and will work fine.

Yes, you will need a mod for controller support, but Steam Input can emulate a standard controller. As long as Minecraft is added as a non-Steam game, and Steam Input is configured to manage the controller in question (this will be the default on the Deck, for obvious reasons), the mod will see a standard controller and will be none the wiser. Go ahead and test it yourself- the Deck is a culmination of years of work from Valve, and many of its building blocks have been available for a long time in the Steam client as a result.

 

[Prrredictable]

Linus is correct in declaring that (if you watched his video he explains why). Those that do come close to this are over 1000$ and even those have weaker hardware. The Steam Deck has no competition at the moment in the handheld PC market.

Yea, I think "no competition" tends to have people contextually assume it means "better than anything else." But, in reality, LTT made the comment speaking directly to pricing and hardware specs. A Maserati and a Chevy both have four wheels and drive but they are no competition for each other.

 

[Puiu]

Yea, I think "no competition" tends to have people contextually assume it means "better than anything else." But, in reality, LTT made the comment speaking directly to pricing and hardware specs. A Maserati and a Chevy both have four wheels and drive but they are no competition for each other.

Isn't hardware and pricing the only thing everybody is talking right now since the software isn't final yet? You can get this or pay 2-3 times more for something that has a weaker SOC, but maybe a better screen.

The performance that we we've seen so far isn't bad at all and the software looks to be fine too.

The biggest difference between the Deck and others will undoubtably be the community, more specifically the modding and open source community. You can't put a price on this.

 

[hel0sn8]

Based on what, exactly?

Performance could be good and even better on some cases I can concede that but do you understand just how big the steam library is?

Let's just get the easy ones out of the way: Online games and anti cheat basically break on wine, proton, etc. Valve said they'd be working but they also barred tech jesus from even talking software, less than a month away so you really think they've got everything ironed out?

Sorry but no: Valve failed at creating a linux based os once already. They've made a lot of progress since but they're nowhere near being able to run as many games from even their own store as they would like to claim.

I'll believe it when I see units in the wild and games get tested, beyond the handful of cherry picked examples.

Based on this right here: https://www.steamdeck.com/en/verified
"Valve is reviewing the entire Steam catalog on Deck".
So Sorry but no. Its not clever to be clever when you haven't done the research to validate your opinion based on personal speculation.

 

[Dimitriid]

Based on this right here: https://www.steamdeck.com/en/verified
"Valve is reviewing the entire Steam catalog on Deck".
So Sorry but no. Its not clever to be clever when you haven't done the research to validate your opinion based on personal speculation.

Valve making spurious claims is not the scientific rigor you think it is: it's just a damn corporation making grand promises about how they'll verify a library that's unthinkable large and provide compatibility when there's so many steam games that's basically an non-falsifiable statement.

No go away, I have no time for Valve cheerleaders.

 

[Puiu]

Valve making spurious claims is not the scientific rigor you think it is: it's just a damn corporation making grand promises about how they'll verify a library that's unthinkable large and provide compatibility when there's so many steam games that's basically an non-falsifiable statement.

No go away, I have no time for Valve cheerleaders.

You are making unreasonable demands from Valve. Very unreasonable. From my perspective they've kept their end of the bargain. The number of games they've managed to make work is incredible (we are talking about decades of games).

This is a monumental undertaking that will be in development for many years to come and will require cooperation from Deck/Linux users and Valve. As it stands today, the work they've put into proton gives you a good enough compatibility layer to enjoy the majority of games.

The goal should be to have 90% for the top thousand games listed as gold+ or better here in the next year: https://www.protondb.com/

The top 100 has a lot of games with anti-cheat issues and require the devs to update that.