In the end I have fallen. Although I resisted, I didn't do it very strongly either, and this week I received a Steam Deck OLED. Is it worth it in the middle of 2024? As on many occasions, answering this question is not easy, there is no 100% clear and definitive answer. There is a lot to value, starting with the price, because it uses Linux and the verified games work even better than on Windows... All of that is what we are going to talk about here today.
First of all, the LCD models are still on sale, and right now the 64GB eMMC one is for €313 and the 512GB one, with anti-reflective glass, for just under 400. They will be discounted until July 11, and after that date will continue to offer the 256GB LCD for €419 and the 512GB OLED for €569 and the 1TB for €679. Whether the Steam Deck is worth it in 2024 is partly answered by those prices. The LCD for just over €300 is not a prohibitive price and allows you to enter the world of handheld PC. Another option is to go for an OLED, which offers superior image quality, but at a price you have to pay.
The Steam Deck is perfect for playing anywhere
As soon as you start it and complete the configuration, the normal thing is to try a game. I did it with Doom from 2016, and the first thing I noticed is that the 6 WiFi from the Steam Deck OLED it shows. It depends on the content, but sometimes it downloads at full capacity on the router, even if it is not WiFi 6. After a few minutes of downloading, I started playing. The colors look very vivid, and it is a real joy. To test things, I tweaked the frame limit and the thermal control (TDP), I left it at 40fps and 6w, I had 20% battery and it was telling me that there was 1 hour of autonomy left. A simple rule of 3 tells us that with that configuration you could play Doom 2016 for five hours. The best thing? I don't know any performance problems.
Or at least I don't notice it. There are people who can say that this is crazy, that it is not enjoyable the same... The good thing is that SteamOS allows us to configure all these things.
I continued with my testing, and downloaded Horizon Zero Dawn. Upon starting it, the configuration of that Doom didn't suit it so well. You could tell it needed something more. Still, with about 10w and 50fps Yes, I have been playing for a long time without noticing any major jerks. Approximately four hours, although I have to admit that I have sometimes seen it take a bit of time. If left at maximum power, it moves perfectly well, but the autonomy may be less than three hours.
As a note, when entering desktop mode, the widget The battery lasts about twelve hours.
Ergonomics: surprisingly comfortable
Something I thought would be very different was how comfortable it is. I am used to playing with a DualShock 3, and although I am not very good with any configuration, the PlayStation 3 controller is the one that allows me to be more precise. The Steam Deck cannot have the controls in such a narrow area, and must have them next to the screen. Well then, You only need to play for an hour to get used to it and even like the controls. of the Deck.
As is already known from the images, it has analog sticks, crosshead, ABXY buttons, triggers below the typical L1/R1 and four more buttons on the back, which will not be used much, but can be used for special actions.
SteamOS: immutable, with the good and the bad
The operating system used by the Steam Deck is SteamOS, and it is immutable to avoid certain accidents. This assures us that the device will always work more or less well, although it also depends on the tweaks we make to it.
By default it uses flatpak packages, and this is fine in most scenarios. And if we need something more "native", in quotes, we can pull distro box. For example, if we want to install Visual Studio Code without the limitations of the flatpak version, we can create an image with Ubuntu, go to the publisher's website, download its DEB package and install it.
But is the Steam Deck worth it in 2024?
To answer this question you have to go to the facts. First of all, the price of the LCD invites you to answer yes. You can buy the 64GB one and change the hard drive. The answer for the OLED is different, due to its price and for something that is not known: the arrival of the Steam Deck 2.
Second version is not expected until the end of 2025 or early 2026, but nothing is confirmed. This second version, if we believe what Valve says, would be more powerful than the current version while maintaining autonomy, and if I knew that it was going to be released at the end of 2024, I would say that it is not worth it. But since the date is not known...
Regarding performance, tweaking the settings if can handle almost any game, and the theme here is that "almost." To give an example, Hellblade 2 does not play well on the Steam Deck, so we could say that it cannot handle the latest and most demanding AAA. Yes, it can with Horizon Forbidden West, although it is not verified, but because that title came out in 2022, when the Steam Deck went on sale.
Conclusion
The Steam Deck is the first Linux device that I really found worth it. It can handle all the games I've tried, and in its desktop mode it's like a computer. The next step is to buy a dock and see what it can do on a big screen, but I can tell you that I am delighted with the device.