[News] Steam Deck OLED review: much more than a screen improvement - Polygon

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Submitted ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz⁩ to ⁨steamdeck@sopuli.xyz⁩

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23950861/steam-deck-oled-review-valve-handheld-gaming

This is the best coverage of the new Deck that I’ve seen yet.

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ekZepp@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Attention> the $399/256GB is the same old model with no improvement, only cheaper price. Just to be clear.

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- Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  That’s an excellent point, I updated my summary to show that. Sorry for any confusion.
  
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  - ekZepp@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    👍
    
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SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
On one hand this is super cool.

On the other hand, I already have a Steam Deck goddammit

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- Diplomjodler@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  That’s the whole point. They had to walk a thin line between making an attractive upgrade and pissing off the existing users. If they had made the deck more powerful, the old ones would suddenly have been obsolete. I think they did a good job of that. And no, I’m not buying the new one either.
  
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  - SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Yeah, it’s just a big enough upgrade to be a little envious, but not feeling like I got ripped off.
    
    The way I’m looking at it, I’m still very satisfied with my current deck and this upgrade shouldn’t change that. But still, damn, OLED…
    
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  - lemming741@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Also keeping pricing and margins on line.
    
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Mac@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I really want a Deck but I’m not sure how much I’ll play it :/

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- DjMeas@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  What’s funny for me is I have two gaming PCs and yet I play more games on the deck. It’s just easier for me to pop into games for an hour or so and suspend it when I’m done. So far I’ve beaten the Trails In The Sky trilogy (with each game taking me about 3-4 months to beat) and it’s been such a wonderful experience on the deck.
  
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  - Diplomjodler@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Same here. I built a new PC recently but I still play mainly on the deck. Sitting in front of the PC all day at work is enough.
    
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- beastlykings@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  It’s funny because I was at a point where I wasn’t playing games at all really, not on my big PC, phone, or anywhere.
  
  I had pre-ordered the steam deck for my wife, and she used it a bit but when TotK came out that took all her attention playing on switch.
  
  I had poked around on the deck, played a few games, but didn’t love using a controller instead of mouse and keyboard.
  
  Then we had a gig where we had to sit in a car for 8 hours, and she convinced me to try playing horizon ZD. I had never played it, but I ended up really liking it. And the convenience of having it on the deck was great! I ended up playing it all the time, and beating it, and now I’m emulating BotW, playing it for the first time, and enjoying it.
  
  Now I’ve gone full crazy, I’m emulating a couple dozen games, got a bunch of others installed and waiting. I upgraded my SSD to 2tb, replaced my fan, and am eyeballing that clear back with RGB.
  
  My advice, if you can afford it, get it and just see what you think. You might like it!
  
  Or, if you don’t like it, you can resell it. The value of these things seems to stay reasonably high. Though I imagine we might see a drop in price with the flood of LCD models about to hit the market.
  
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  - Mac@mander.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Funny. I had bought one for my ex when we were together and played it a little. I really enjoyed playing games and messing with it. I had plans to do some emulation on it too.
    
    But now she’s gone and the Deck was a gift so it is too.
    
    I want one…
    
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- M137@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I really want a deck and would use it hours every day, but I can barely afford food.
  
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- Diplomjodler@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Just do it. You know you want to.
  
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- Waluigis_Talking_Buttplug@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Buy a used one, if you don’t like it, sell it for most of what you paid
  
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- LUHG_HANI@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Same. Go halfs with me and we can share it.
  
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Entropy@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I’m just hoping once the new screen goes up on ifixit that it’s compatible with older models. That way I don’t have to buy a whole new deck if I want the screen, I can just upgrade my launch model.

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- narshee@iusearchlinux.fyi ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  It’s officially not compatible. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfulSFtsH0c&t=490s
  
  I am sure it can be done, as people also solder other memory onto steam decks
  
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  - Entropy@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Damn, I’ll have to watch that when I get off work. Hopefully there’s a simple fix, like a ribbon cable adapter or something
    
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- hardaysknight@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I wouldn’t count on it. They’re different sizes
  
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  - Entropy@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Yes but they accomplished that by reducing the size of the bezels, like what Nintendo did with the OLED switch. The screen unit itself has the same footprint as the old one
    
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- Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  That would be sweet, hopefully the larger battery as well.
  
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tun@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
IGN review video said

Screen is HDR certified and 1000 nits.

Others are bigger fan, lower temperature (5 to 10 degree C diff)

For battery, Cyberpunk 2077 runs 1 hr more than LCD one.

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- Deconceptualist@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  It’s peak 1000 nits with HDR. The base full-panel max is 600 nits. Still, it’s a big jump over the 400 on the previous LCD model.
  
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- frank@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  And 5% lower weight!
  
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ekZepp@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I mean… this at the bare minimum deserve to be called an “Upgrade” Steam-Deck-OLED-vs-Steam-Deck-F1-22-comparison-

Link

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philodendron@lemdro.id ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
God I want it but all I play lately is Stardew Valley

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- Ninmi@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  167h of Stardew on the Deck here so far and probably wouldn’t even play it if Deck didn’t make playing games so comfy.
  
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- TheaoneAndOnly27@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  It's so nice being able to have mods on the steam deck though. I had stardew valley on my switch, and while I enjoyed it, I missed so many of the quality of life mods. Now I can have my cake and eat it too lol
  
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- Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I’ve seen people get 8-10 hours out of the battery playing Stardew on the standard deck, so you could maybe squeeze up to 15 hours out of it on the new Deck. What more can you ask for?
  
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Lemmchen@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
It says 6nm vs 7nm APU on the store page. Is this a new APU?

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- Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  It’s supposedly the considered the same APU according to the different leaks we’ve seen. The 6nm is supposed to increase power efficiency but that’s it.
  
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  - lud@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    It’s also potentially slightly faster but never slower. According to Valve anyways.
    
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Deceptichum@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Hard to get excited about this when Valve still won’t release the deck in my country and it’s now out of date hardware.

Really kinda disappointed with Valve.

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- Lemmchen@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  
  it’s now out of date hardware
  
  What? It’s not the fastest APU around anymore, but it’s hardly outdated.
  
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  - Deceptichum@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    It’s two generations behind the current handheld offerings.
    
    Now if you were going to buy something to last you the next few years would you pick the already old product or the fresh new one with modern components?
    
    It’s outdated.
    
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- money_loo@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I hope you get one one day, but that really has nothing to do with this.
  
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  - Deceptichum@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    It directly relates to the product and the producer.
    
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- Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  It’s lack of availability world wide is unfortunate, but unless Valve agrees to start letting retailers officially carry and sell it I doubt we’ll see that change.
  
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- Ildar@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  There are different ways to buy it I bought it year ago using mailforward from US
  
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Send_me_nude_girls@feddit.de ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Translucent is USA/Canada only. So sad :(

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Breezy@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
It seems silly, but that inner case is what’s really making me feel the FOMO, traveling with the current case is such a hassle. I hope they sell the case alone for current deck owners

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- syrvolga@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  The tomtoc travel case is great and is already available.
  
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  - Breezy@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Ooo, thanks for the recommendation, that does appear to be what I’m looking for! Although I’m still hesitating as some reviews do say that you can still click the joysticks through the case which isn’t ideal :/
    
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vividspecter@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

Dedicated bluetooth module, allowing better audio quality over bluetooth and the option to wake the steam deck from a bluetooth controller. Will also support more controllers at once for multiplayer.

Anyone know what version? It would nice if it would support LE audio since that should help with latency significantly. Not that there are many client devices that support it yet, but Pipewire at least has some initial support.

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Anomalous_Llama@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Wonder if they’ll release the OLED screen as it’s own part so previous owners can upgrade themselves.

I’ve no interest in the third party 1200p screen since I don’t need the hardware to struggle even more more resolution but a 90hz refresh rate would be great

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- Donjuanme@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  I’ve read it’s a different connector from mobo (?) To screen, so the OLED will not be backwards compatible.
  
  I hope they continue making oem replacement parts for when I need to replace something on my original.
  
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  - Anomalous_Llama@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    Hmmm. Disappointing.
    
    They’ve seemed rather committed to replaceable parts. I think they’ll keep supporting it. Guess I’ll have to keep hoping a third party higher refresh rate screen comes out sometime. Im sure higher capacity batteries will eventually too
    
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narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Gotta check whether iFixit already did a teardown on this. Repairability is improved, but I’m wondering by how much, especially when it comes to screen and battery replacement.

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- Fubarberry@sopuli.xyz ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Reading more details on the repairability, they’ve changed the screws to torx and they all thread into metal thread now. Should prevent screw stripping. They also say internal components are easier to access, but that might just be with the new heat shield design that was already present in recent Steam Decks.
  
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  - Deconceptualist@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    According to LTT, Valve went a bit easier on the battery glue this time. So that will be easier to replace.
    
    However according to Dave2D, the dimensions are slightly bigger so the new 50 Wh battery won’t fit in older Decks.
    
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- AndrasKrigare@beehaw.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Didn’t Valve release their own teardown of the Deck before its release?
  
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Telorand@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Does anyone know if this is going to be a replacement or a sibling to the current model?

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- narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  The now lowest end model (256 GB) still is the old model, so it’s a sibling.
  
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Zedstrian@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
While it seems that the new startup movie is exclusive to the 1TB OLED model, is that model’s exclusive keyboard theme the same as the prior 512GB Steam Deck (DEX-85) or a new one?

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TWeaK@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Ahah! I knew the sales were pointing to some sort of new version incoming.

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narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Sustained brightness is 600 nits, 1000 nits is peak brightness for HDR content. Still an improvement of course.

I’m wondering whether the charging circuitry is largely the same except for the quicker charging to 80 %. I’d love to be able to use some higher-powered USB-C hubs with PD passthrough, where currently a hub using 15 watts leaves 30 watts for the deck, and using a higher wattage charger won’t change that because the Deck only requests 45 watts (15 V @ 3 A). Would be great if the new Deck could do, say, 60 watts (20 V @ 3 A), because leaving just 30 watts to the Deck is right on the edge under full load with an external display, meaning it has to fallback to battery momentarily, which isn’t great.

Another nice thing to have would be a low-power standby/download mode, for which they’d probably have to tweak the hardware a bit. I don’t use my Deck too often (great device, but it only fills specific gaps in my gaming needs), and every time I pick it up it starts downloading quite a few game updates.

The OLED model is tempting, but I don’t use the Deck enough to justify upgrading I think.

A bit sad for these guys who made a display upgrade for the original Deck released a few weeks ago (the 1920x1200 one), as most people who really care about display quality will probably just upgrade to the OLED model instead. The higher resolution seems rather pointless (the Deck doesn’t have enough oompfh to run modern games in this resolution), especially compared to a bigger, brighter, higher refresh rate OLED screen.

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Vt1984@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
I cannot use the oled screen, it hurt my eyes.

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- robinj1995@feddit.nl ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
  Interesting. I think OLED is meant to be more comfortable to the eyes actually.
  
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  - Vt1984@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
    It is an improvement over the original steam deck screen. But I wish Valve could use some non-PWM screens to protect my eyes better
    
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twistypencil@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago
Timeline?

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