The Steam Deck has undoubtedly changed the way many look at handheld gaming. It's now being viewed as a much more accessible and valid way to play not only smaller indie games but also giant triple AAA titles too which, in the past, would have been reserved for next-generation consoles and high-tech gaming PCs. Since its release back in February of 2022, Valve has added plenty of new features and improvements to help make the Steam Deck handheld gaming experience as enjoyable as possible, ensuring that the device never faded into obscurity as a lot of highly ambitious systems have often done in the past.
That said, the Steam Deck still isn't perfect, and despite being a huge leap in the right direction with regard to being able to play high-budget games on the go, there are still a few key areas where it could be improved when a Steam Deck 2 is inevitably released down the line. Gamers should still be realistic with their expectations though, especially in terms of the hardware which is already top-notch. If Valve were to implement a Ryzen 8000 chip for example, while this would make the system more powerful, it's also going to skyrocket the price into the thousands.
7 Better Vibration Strength
Now of course, people shouldn't be expecting a device as small as the Steam Deck to have a haptic feedback system that is as noticeable as that found on the DualSense Wireless PlayStation 5 controller. However, considering how weak it is on the original Steam Deck, this should definitely be something that is given more attention in the future.
While it might not be a huge deal for people who are switching to a Steam Deck from a PC, the majority of players who are using the Steam Deck are hoping to play their favorite console games on the system, so they will already be accustomed to the vibration that occurs in chaotic moments. This could help enhance the overall gaming experience on a new Steam Deck.
6 Improved Ventilation
Admittedly, considering just how demanding a lot of the games running on the Steam Deck actually are, it's still extremely impressive that the miniature device is able to run them at all, let alone with a frame rate above 30FPS. This does also result in the fan spiraling out of control and generating a lot of noise that can even be heard through headphones.
A bigger and better quality chassis could help to improve the airflow of the system, allowing it to remain much cooler when powering up those bigger titles. The case of the standard Steam Deck is made of big and bulky plastic which not only feels slightly cheap to hold but also traps a lot of hot air in the device, causing the fans to go into overdrive. Of course, another fan or two would also be a welcome addition since the original only has a single one at the bottom which can barely keep up with certain games as it is.
5 OLED Screen
Anyone who has tried out the OLED Nintendo Switch model after using the original system will immediately be able to recognize the difference in color and pixel illumination, granting everything on screen a slightly more vibrant and engaging visual style that many Nintendo games are known for. This very same approach would also greatly improve the overall graphics of games being played on the Steam Deck.
The current IPS LED screen used for the Steam Deck certainly isn't bad by any means, but if Valve really wants to replicate the visual beauty of 4K games on next-gen consoles, an OLED screen would definitely be the best way to go about it, especially since it also means the borders surrounding the screen can be reduced, too.
4 Greater Customization Options
When it comes to the hardware of the device itself, there's no doubt that the Steam Deck is vastly superior to the Nintendo Switch, but one area where it does lag behind its competitor is in its customization options, specifically in the color scheme department.
Nintendo found an easy way to make the Switch feel like a personal device by manufacturing joy-cons in all sorts of colors that can easily be mixed and matched, but Valve has unfortunately paid far less attention to the personalization capabilities of the Steam Deck. Granted, this decision was probably made to make production much easier and faster, but it definitely seems likely that since Valve won't be as concerned with the built-in hardware the next time around, they will instead place a larger focus on these smaller, but still very important qualities.
3 Extra Storage Slots
While Steam Deck owners are able to freely add more storage to the device, this can be a very cumbersome and fairly tricky procedure that requires taking apart the device in order to add a brand new M.2 SSD, which is a more permanent method of implementing more storage rather than having to mess around with MicroSD cards.
For a lot of people, completely dismantling their new expensive piece of hardware isn't something they want to be doing, especially considering just how many things can go wrong. However, if the Steam Deck 2 were to feature an extra M.2 slot for players to use, it would simplify the whole process, while also making the system a lot more accessible to gamers who aren't as familiar with taking apart computers and controllers.
2 Improved Offline Mode
The Offline Mode is a great addition to the Steam Deck that allows players to boot up their favorite offline games even when they're not currently at home or near a Wi-Fi access point, but this isn't to say that it doesn't also come with a few minor problems which can make it quite impractical and irritating at times.
For example, some games will require the player to be online in order to start up the title after an update has been installed, even if it has already been downloaded beforehand. The system will also frequently forget if the player has clicked offline mode before, meaning that it will often try to connect to a random network which can result in games taking much longer to start up. There are also a few smaller issues such as how the Steam Deck will not track offline playtime, and the fact that some games won't even let the player unlock achievements while offline, so ironing out these issues would be highly appreciated.
1 Battery Life
By far the biggest complaint the Steam Deck has received and that Valve has received plenty of criticism for is the device's battery life. While Valve stated that the Steam Deck would last for between two to eight hours when it was first revealed, the reality is that most graphically intensive games will drain a fully charged Deck in around two hours, or sometimes even faster, meaning the player will always need to be next to a charging port when playing bigger titles.
If Valve were to increase the battery capacity above 40Whr, then this could drastically improve what has been the biggest crutch of the Steam Deck since its release. Considering the hardware most likely won't be a much bigger jump, they would only need to try to accommodate the new battery with the current hardware rather than splitting their focus between the hardware and the performance, which seemed to have been the plan when developing the original device.