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Valve's highly anticipated Steam Deck is finally on the market, bringing an attractive solution for portable gaming devices. However, its appeal varies from person to person. Some console gamers may think this is a cheap way to experience PC gaming. For those pc veterans, it presents an opportunity to take the huge Steam library with them – although there aren't many certified games today. Either way, Steam Deck is an impressive step toward a bright future for portable PC gaming devices. But at the same time, some serious problems have also dragged its feet.
The Steam Deck is quite large. It's about 298mm wide and weighs about 669 grams, so even if you know its size in advance, you'll be surprised the first time you pick it up. The benefits of being bulky, though, are obvious, with plenty of operating space, plenty of inputs, and most importantly: an attractive 7-inch display.
The LCD screen is touch-friendly, primarily for operating the user interface, and the resolution of 1280x800 is enough to play games like Death Loop and Horizon: Dawn of Zero. Even though most people choose to plug in headphones or connect to a Bluetooth speaker, its onboard stereo speakers surprise me, delivering crisp, striking sound even at low volumes.
Although it is heavier, this machine feels great in the hand. Underneath the palm of the hand is a pleasant circular arc that feels more like a PS handle than the flat feel of the grip part of the Switch, which is more often compared. Its joystick is smooth and textured, but because the position of the two trackpads is just below, players with large hands will also feel that the joystick position is too high and not relaxed enough to hold. The trackpad is very useful for the game I need and provides tactile feedback that I am satisfied with. But their accuracy is still hard for me to compare with a mouse.
Whether it's browsing the store interface or chatting with friends, the custom version of Steam works really well. I think the Quick Access button is particularly clever, helping me adjust brightness and sound, as well as bringing up performance details that allow me to quickly adjust various technical settings.
Valve is constantly optimizing performance and hardware, so this product is likely to change in the coming weeks. However, despite this, its compatibility at the time of release cannot be guaranteed. Many Steam games work well with a little compatibility, but there are also some that have various problems with image issues and text size. Even so, being able to make games like God of War and Dark Souls 3 work steadily is already a remarkable achievement. In tests of dozens of games, most of them worked well in medium quality, as everyone expected.
Battery capacity is a big issue. Remove the frame rate cap, turn up the brightness or volume, or otherwise increase the burden on the system, and you'll have less than two hours left to play. If you turn the configuration down, you can extend this time considerably. Compared to the capacity of PC games, even if you choose to buy two devices with large storage space, the built-in storage space will quickly fill up. Luckily, I can also use an extra micro-SD card to greatly expand my storage space. I'm also disappointed that there is no cable interface, but this can be solved with a separate USB-C dock.
Like any gaming PC, Steam Deck is a complex behemoth, and many of its features are likely to change in the coming months. But as Valve enters the handheld gaming market, it's enabling countless games to be played on portable devices that you'll never get the chance to play on your phone or even on a Switch. For many, this should be a reason to ignore all its shortcomings, even if it never gets into your ass pocket.
—————— Summary: B-——————
Steam Deck is a very attractive technology product, based on Steam's growing inventory to bring reliable games, a decent display and user experience. Extremely low battery capacity, minor ergonomic issues, and uncertain compatibility issues with many Steam games are still hesitant, but Valve's experimental products have indeed led many games into the portable space with commendable success.
Release date: February 25
Translated | Yamamuko
Edit | Tonkaku Ramen