Valve Steam Deck OLED Review: A Brighter, Sharper Upgrade Leave a comment

Between all these pads, buttons, and sticks on the entrance of the Steam Deck OLED is its new display screen. If there was any weak level to the older Steam Deck, it was the display screen, which was a little bit dim, not tremendous colourful, and at solely 7 inches diagonal, a bit small. All of that modifications with the brand new show. It makes use of OLED expertise to indicate a way more vivid image that may get manner brighter (600 nits in normal dynamic vary, and 1,000 nits peak when used with HDR video games, up from a peak of 400 nits on the previous LCD) in addition to manner darker, since pixels on OLED screens can absolutely flip off, making for inky-black blacks. The OLED show is barely larger too, with a further 0.4 inches on the diagonal, and with a sooner 90-Hz refresh charge for a smoother look in much less graphically intensive video games and the Deck’s menus.

Specs apart, this display screen is eye-poppingly beautiful and an enormous improve. Even within the sunny nook of my condo, the place the unique Deck’s display screen struggles to be seen, the OLED model cuts via the glare. In HDR-capable titles like Cyberpunk 2077, the glitzy neon indicators and streetlights of Night time Metropolis have been intense as I drove a long-dead rock star’s Porsche via the wet streets. Later within the recreation, I snooped round a downloaded crime scene for clues and needed to squint my eyes throughout a flashlight-bright transition sequence. You need to see this display screen to consider it; even when your favourite titles don’t have HDR assist, the whole lot you play on the brand new Deck seems to be extra punchy.

Energy Wrestle

Players are a infamous lot, at all times craving an increasing number of horsepower from their units. Nicely, the latest Steam Deck OLED does not deal with these wishes in any respect. In truth, Valve has gone tougher within the path of effectivity, utilizing a brand new customized chip—manufactured with an improved 6-nm course of, for you processor nerds—to lower energy utilization on the similar speeds general.

In my testing, at the least when utilizing the beta model of the working system loaded onto my loaner, the Steam Deck OLED put up efficiency numbers similar to the older mannequin. Within the built-in Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark, each a 2022 Deck and this new one scored 30 frames per second on common. Stray equally hovered round 60 fps relying on what was occurring on display screen, with no perceptible distinction between the previous and new Decks. The Deck nonetheless is not as a lot of a graphical beast as a house console—and loses out to competing handhelds just like the ASUS Rog Ally and Lenovo Legion Go for graphics energy—however Valve’s bought everybody else beat on battery life.

The up to date Valve-designed processor paired with an even bigger battery means general longer run time. Whereas I might get solely a few hours out of an enormous AAA recreation earlier than I might must cost the earlier Deck, the OLED mannequin can last more, although taking part in time could differ significantly between video games relying on how graphics-intensive they’re. On the unique Deck, I may sit down with Cyberpunk 2077 for possibly two hours earlier than the factor hit 10 %, whereas the brand new mannequin lasts nearer to 2 and a half hours. In stylish-yet-simple video games like Night time within the Woods and Donut County, I bought estimates of round 4 hours from the Deck’s OS. It is so extremely variable because of the vast number of appropriate titles, so it is tough to get a way of the true lifespan. My general feeling is that you just will not be operating to plug within the Steam Deck OLED as continuously.

Push My Buttons

Fortunately, not like on competing handhelds, Valve has gone out of its strategy to validate video games for the Deck and marks them within the Steam retailer as such. Some video games are untested, however a lot of them are at the least labeled “playable” if not “Nice on Deck.” In style blockbuster titles like Baldur’s Gate III, Elden Ring, and Mortal Kombat 1 are rated Nice, whereas Starfield, with its demanding graphics, is a no-go, “unsupported” on the Steam Deck’s low-power chip. If the newest and best aren’t of curiosity, plenty of cool, enjoyable indie video games like Hades and Vampire Survivors hustle on the Deck and get far longer battery life.