Steam Deck OLED Review

Disclaimer: This article may contain affiliate links which means I'll receive a commission for purchases made through links with no extra cost to you. I only write reviews for products I have used and will give my honest opinion on them! For more info please visit the Disclaimer page

Steam Deck OLED

The Steam Deck that I purchased is the 512 GB OLED and it came with the Steam Deck, carrying case, 2.5 m charging cable, and an instruction manual. Just to let you know I'm going to do this review on the handheld itself as well with the Steam interface and its library of games. The Steam Deck has so many features that you can use and customizable options available so I figured I would limit this review to those parameters. I've been meaning to get a Steam Deck for a long time since I've been enjoying the experience of playing video games on handheld systems. Once you get the Steam Deck it took me about 5 mins to get the settings all worked out and about 7-8 mins for the updates and what to finish then you are good to go!

What is the Steam Deck

What is the Steam Deck? Well, it is a Linux-based handheld that is created by Valve that lets you bring your Steam library on the go, wherever your adventures take you! It's powerful enough to play some AAA games and gives you a lot of options and customizability. The Steam Deck is very user-friendly, all you gotta do is log into your Steam account, update, download your game, and then play. You don't have to make any new accounts or memberships as long as you have an existing Steam account you are pretty much good to go, which makes it pretty much pick up and play. You know me I love simplicity and a great user-friendly interface.

How well does it work?

The Steam Deck is amazing so far! I love using it from its comfortability to its ease of use this thing has it all. If you are looking for something that you can pour hours and hours into and the ability not to be handcuffed to your computer to play the games in your Steam library then look no further. I've never had any overheating issues with the Deck even if you're playing a AAA game or a game that pushed this little system into high gear. You also have access to the Steam store on the Deck which gives you the means to buy and download your games straight from the Deck without ever turning on your computer. The carrying case that came with is a great addition and I feel safe while using it because of its hard shell outside and a custom-tailored inside that fits the Deck perfectly.

Oh Yea! Did I mention the Steam store, I really love the Steam store because you can find some great sales and they have them all the time so that is a great plus for me. The neat thing about the Steam store on the Steam Deck is that it actually has a ranking system for how well their games will work with the Deck. In the Steam store on your Steam Deck as you're scrolling through games there will be an icon in the top right corner. A green check means it will work great with the deck, a yellow circle with an “i” means it is playable but might need a little tinkering for it to work right or that there may be some font that can be hard to see, and a gray circle with a slash through it means that it is unsupported which means you should probably play that specific game on your PC. There is a fourth one which is a dotted circle with a question mark in the center which means unknown, this is given to the games that haven't been evaluated by the Valve team yet. Yes, I know the ranking system limits the amount of games that you can play but I think it's better to know if you're going to have a good time with that particular game or not!

Every game that I have tried that had the green check has run smoothly without issue and has been a very enjoyable experience. Even some of the games with the yellow I have ran just as well. As long as you stick with the ranking system I can't see you going wrong with picking a game to play and not being able to enjoy it.

Customizability

The Steam Deck has some customizability options such as button layout so you can adjust and tweak things until it feels natural for you and the game you're playing. The system keyboard is also customizable with 6 different themes out of the box, I do believe you get a seventh if you buy the 1TB version. If you really want to get crazy you can download some Steam startup movies from the Steam store for Steam points (you get a special one with the 1TB version), so that when you turn on the device it will play the movie you choose! You can also hook up anything that's Bluetooth enabled such as keyboards, mouse, and/or headsets if that's how you want to game. The Steam Deck is very versatile and allows you the flexibility to play the way you want to.

Battery life

The battery on the Steam Deck is probably one of the weakest categories in the whole system. It does say in the manual that it has a 50Whr battery which gives it anywhere from 3-12 hours of gameplay, but with some of the most graphicly intense games I will get around 1 1/2 to 2 ish hours of gameplay (I'm looking at you Baldur's Gate 3). This being said if you're going to play a power-hungry game you might not want to go anywhere that you don't have access to an outlet. Then again you can always fix this by buying a good portable charger that way you can lose yourself a little longer inside the world of gaming!

OLED Screen

The OLED screen looks amazing though I never used the older version so I can't use that as a reference, but to these untrained eyes it looks great and very bright. The colors really pop and seem very full. I have no complaints on the screen myself everything that shows up on it looks on point and how I believe it should.

Layout and form

The Steam Deck layout is put together well with everything you would normally have on a console controller you pretty much have on the deck plus a few extras. I have found a couple of issues with the button layout for my taste. Some of those issues are that I seem to always hit the right trackpad while I'm playing a game. I feel like they are a little close but I think with time I will be able to get used to that, then there are the back triggers(R4, R5, L4, L5) I feel like I always accidentally hit them because that is where my grip goes but in their defense they did make it harder to push those buttons.

Starting on the left you have your D-pad and the view button which is the button that has the two rectangles overlapping, then you have the left thumbstick and trackpad. The Steam button which will bring your Steam options up ( such as library and store options and more) and the left speaker.

On the Right Side, you have your ABXY buttons with the menu button which is the button with the three lines in it, and then you have the right thumbstick, trackpad, and the right speaker. The button with the three dots is the quick-access button which has your notifications, friends, quick settings, and more.

On the top of the Steam Deck starting from the left you have R1 and R2 trigger buttons the power button, the status LED, type C port for charging, and the fan exhaust. Moving on you have the headphone jack plus the volume up and down buttons as well as the L1 and L2 trigger buttons. If you look really close at the top of the screen you will see two little holes, those are for the built-in mic.

Then on the back you have the R4, R5 on the right and L4, L5 on the left. these buttons are all programmable so that you have to ability to customize your layout for your needs. I however don't really like using these because I tend to hit them by accident. The intake vent for airflow is also in the back so try not to cover that too much. Then on the very bottom, you have the microSD card Slot in case you want to increase the memory capabilities.

The form feels very solid I've only had one of the corner edges pop out since I've had it and it was an easy fix of just popping it back into place, but other than that it feels right in my hands. The way I position my hand I can get to all the buttons with ease, and the grips are big enough that I don't get any hand pain while I'm gaming for long periods of time. The weight feels comfortable as well weighing in at 640 grams (1.41lb) which never makes me feel like my wrists are going to fall off.

Is It Worth It?

I have had nothing but a great time using the Steam Deck! It's both comfortable and easy to use. The only big issue I have with it is the battery seems to run out rather quickly, but that can be fixed by using a portable charger (they even make one with a magnet if that's something you're looking for). The ability to play your games from your Steam library whenever and wherever you want is a great motivator to pick one of these up. In conclusion, if you're looking for a handheld that is comfortable, easy to use, with a lot of options, and has a good amount of power built into it the Steam Deck may be just what you're looking for!

Disclaimer: 

All articles on the website from reviews to information are for entertainment purposes only and not advice from professionals or experts. These are my views and opinions and the information given is accurate to the best of my abilities and as such may have errors, mistakes, and/or missing some key information. These reviews and information are my opinions and do not reflect the opinions of those I may be affiliated with. For more information please visit Disclaimer Page.

For more Reviews on gaming accessories click on Gaming