What if Nintendo took the Nintendo Switch completely seriously? They must have thought of something like this in the Valve facilities when they began planning the development of the Steam Deck . If Nintendo Switch is a hybrid between a desktop and a portable console, Valve’s invention aspires much higher, being a product that combines the power of a desktop PC with the portability of a Nintendo Switch . We do not know if Steam Deck will fulfill all the promises it has made us, but the truth is that we really want it to reach our hands. In this post we will explain everything you need to know about Steam Deck.
What is Steam Deck and what features does it have?
Steam Deck is Valve’s new portable console . It was presented a few months ago, and promises the possibility of playing without any cables AAA titles designed for PC, such as Death Stranding or CyberPunk 2077. The console has a design inspired by the Nintendo Switch. Its video game catalog and spec sheet are so promising that it will undoubtedly be a bestseller.
Design and Controls
Valve’s portable console has lines very similar to what we already have with Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite. Its chassis is made of matte black plastic. You will use A, B, X, Y type controllers in the same arrangement as the Xbox controllers (that is, in a reversed order to that of the Nintendo controllers).
It also has analog triggers , directional pads and a total of 4 customizable buttons that we can assign to our liking. The joysticks are full size and under them we will have touch pads with capacitive functions . We will also have a 6-axis gyroscope.
The console is somewhat larger than the Nintendo Switch, since it will have dimensions of 298 x 117 x 49 millimeters and an approximate weight of 669 grams.
Hardware
The Steam Deck brain is its strong suit. Unlike other portable consoles, which use processors based on the ARM architecture, Steam has decided to bet on the desktop architecture of a lifetime.
Although it may seem a lie, this laptop contains an AMD processor with Zen 2 architecture , that is, an x86 processor. The APU has a 4-core, 8-thread configuration. It will run between 2.4 and 3.5 GHz. In the graphic section, the GPU will have the RDNA 2 micro architecture. Its frequency varies between 1.0 and 1.6 GHz, obtaining a power of up to 1.6 Teraflops . The combined consumption of the entire APU goes up to 15 W, while in idle it will consume about 4 watts. All three models of the console will have 16 gigabytes of LPDDR5 RAM .
Regarding storage, the capacity of the console will depend on the model we choose. The most basic will have a 64 GB eMMC memory (its interface is PCIe Gen 2 x1). The intermediate model will go up to a capacity of 256 GB and we will have this memory in an SSD with an NVME interface (PCIe Gen 3 x4). The more advanced model runs faster and has a capacity of 512GB and will use the same connection interface as the previous model.
All Steam Deck models have a microSD UHS-I card reader. They also all feature a 2230 m.2 slot , but according to Valve, the idea is not for the end user to replace the memory disk. However, we imagine that, if they offer the port, it will be because we can expand the memory using that route.
Screen
The console will feature a 7-inch touchscreen and a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Unlike the latest model of Nintendo Switch, we will not have an OLED screen in this model, but a panel with high-quality IPS LED technology. The brightness will be 400 nits and the refresh rate will be 60 Hz .
Performance and Battery
The Steam Deck battery has a capacity of 40 Whr , capable of giving a minimum of two hours of play and a maximum of eight. It is recharged by a 45 W transformer through the laptop’s USB-C cable.
Regarding the performance of the equipment, Valve ensures that its console is powerful enough to move the latest triple A titles on the market, something that will have to be thoroughly verified when they finally reach the market
Connectivity, and Audio / Video output
In the wireless section, Steam Deck has Bluetooth 5th and support for 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi .
The console also has a 3.5 mm jack , double microphone and stereo speakers. The console’s USB-C cable will allow you to output using the DisplayPort 1.4 standard, with a maximum resolution of 8K at 60 Hz or 4K at 60 Hz.
Software and Compatibility
According to Valve’s FAQ, Steam Deck runs the latest version of Steam OS 3.0 , its Arch Linux-based operating system with KDE Plasma interface.
Steam Deck, of course, links to our Steam library. The technology capable of making games designed for Windows run on a Linux computer is Proton, the heart of Steam Play , which in just over 3 years has managed to bring more than 14,000 games to the penguin’s system. Therefore, we want to think that we can run almost any game in our library on the Steam Deck.
Dock
The Dock is a product that is sold separately and that allows you to convert the Steam Deck into a desktop console by connecting it to your television or a monitor.
Unlike the Nintendo Switch, the dock will simply serve to output video and audio to another device. We will not get better performance by having it connected. Of course, we can play at higher resolutions than the native screen built into the console.
The station will have several expansion ports , a USB 3.1 type A, two other USB type A 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port and output for DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0.
Steam Deck Price
Steam Deck is sold in three different configurations depending on your storage. The entry-level 64GB model with eMMC memory costs $ 399 and includes a sleeve for storing the console.
The middle model is the one with a 256GB NVMe SSD and is priced at $ 529 . In addition to the case, it will include a “Steam Community Bundle”, which so far is quite a surprise.
Finally, the top-of-the-range variant is worth $ 649. It includes a 512 GB SSD and its screen is anti-glare. In addition to the case and bundle, it will include an exclusive skin for the Steam OS system keyboard.
When is Steam Deck coming out?
In the initial announcement, Valve assured that the Steam Deck would be available in December 2021 . However, chip supply problems and the number of pre-orders the console has had have forced the company to delay the launch to 2022.
Despite this, people who have already ordered their console shouldn’t receive it much later than February next year .
