Valve has just unveiled the latest in handheld gaming – the Steam Deck. The Steam Deck will begin shipping in December 2021. The Steam Deck will do pretty much what the name suggests. It will bring all your favourite Steam games to a powerful, handheld computer device.
From a performance point of view, the Steam Deck promises to “run the latest AAA games – and run them really well”.
Aesthetically, it looks similar to the Nintendo Switch, with dual thumbsticks positioned in the top right and left hand corner. An off-set left-hand side D-Pad is a switch up from contemporary designs.
The unit provides you with a 7″, Optically bonded LCD touchscreen display, as well as dual trackpads on either side of the device. The device will be sensitive to movement, with a Gyro said to improve accuracy.
The Steam Deck will provide functionality to connect with external display. This is made easier through Steam Deck dock, which is sold separately. The unit will have the ability to play for 8 hours on battery power. That’s an impressive amount of time for a high-powered, handheld device.
The Steam Deck’s technical specs are as follows:
- AMD APU Processor;
- 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (5500 MT/s);
- 1280 x 800px (16:10 aspect ratio);
- 64GB eMMC, 256GB NVMe SSD or 512GB NVMe SSD*;
- Single USB-C jack;
- Dual-band Wi-Fi radio, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, 2 x 2 MIMO, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac;
- Bluetooth 5.0 (support for controllers, accessories and audio);
- Dual microphone array;
- 3.5mm stereo headphone / headset jack;
- 45W USB Type-C PD3.0 power supply;
- 40Whr battery. 2 – 8 hours of gameplay;
- Size: 298mm x 117mm x 49mm;
- Weight: Approx. 669 grams.
*All models include high-speed microSD card slot
The Steam Deck will cost $399 USD and will ship in December 2021.
What are your thoughts on the Steam Deck?
