Highlights
- Valve's Steam Deck OLED brings significant improvements such as longer battery life, better cooling, and more storage options, making it a strong contender in the handheld gaming market.
- While there is no official release date for a potential Steam Deck 2, Valve's designer stated that it will be a while before fans see a substantial leap forward in hardware due to waiting for technology advancements.
- Despite growing competition, the Steam Deck remains a popular choice among gamers due to its affordability and SteamOS operating system. The OLED model provides even more options until the highly anticipated Steam Deck 2 arrives.
The dust has barely settled on the reveal of the latest Steam Deck revision, and Valve is already being asked to comment on a proper successor to the popular handheld gaming PC. Valve just announced the Steam Deck OLED, but gamers are already looking to the future of the portable PC gaming platform.
The OLED model might not be a Steam Deck 2, but the revision is certainly packing some impressive improvements even beyond its upgraded display. In fact, the OLED model has already implemented several improvements gamers wanted from the Steam Deck 2, including longer battery life, better cooling, and additional storage options. Not to mention, the OLED revision comes in at the same price point as the original Steam Deck models. Those older iterations are still available, but now at a reduced cost. With all of these improvements, gamers are curious as to what a potential Steam Deck 2 would even look like.
In a conversation with IGN, Steam Deck designer Jay Shaw was specifically asked about when fans could expect to see a follow-up to the Steam Deck. Shaw didn't have an exact answer, but clearly stated that he thinks "it'll be quite a while." There is no set date for any potential Steam Deck 2 as Valve is waiting for technology to advance to a point where the hardware could see a substantial leap forward. Interestingly, Shaw did add that the team is "thinking about Steam Deck 2 at all times."
So we're thinking about Steam Deck 2 at all times, but I think we're so satisfied here that this is really the kind of high end of what we wanted to do.
At this moment, the Steam Deck team is proud of the work they've put into the OLED model. Even before the revision, the Steam Deck ranked among the best portable and handheld gaming consoles on the market. With improved battery life, better cooling, and an OLED display, arguably one of the best handheld gaming PCs seems to have gotten even better.
This isn't the first time Valve has commented on a potential successor to the Steam Deck. One Valve representative recently talked about the Steam Deck 2, claiming the device wouldn't launch until the end of 2025 or possibly later. This coincides with Shaw's claims that it will "be quite a while" before fans see the new hardware.
While there is a growing number of competitors in the handheld PC gaming space, many fans still prefer the Steam Deck due to its relatively low price point and the SteamOS operating system. The newly announced OLED model will serve to give gamers even more options until the much-discussed Steam Deck 2 finally arrives.
Steam Deck
Valve's long-awaited portable console is here, and it's taking the handheld gaming market by storm. Valve partnered with AMD to create Steam Deck's custom APU, optimized for handheld gaming. It is a Zen 2 + RDNA 2 powerhouse, delivering more than enough performance to run the latest AAA games in a very efficient power envelope.
- Screen
- 7" diagonal 1280 x 800px (16:10 aspect ratio) 60Hz
- Storage
- 64 GB - 512 GB
- CPU
- AMD APU Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz
- Battery
- 40Whr battery. 2 - 8 hours of gameplay
