Valve has just announced Steam Deck, the handheld gaming device with power ready to sustain top-notch games and entertain gamers on the move. Steam Deck is considered an all-in-one portable PC gaming solution, including all of the Steam Games and features, accessible from wherever you are.
Steam Deck will run games on a different operating system, even if considered for a portable PC gaming device. It has a new and improved version of SteamOS, and it comes with Proton, which allows games to run with any additional effort or porting put by developers. Proton is here to make sure game compatibilities do not become an issue and provide support for anti-cheat solutions by working directly with vendors.
Steam Deck starts shipping December 2021 to the United States, Canada, European Union, and the United Kingdom, while 2022 will be the year to expand its presence in multiple other regions. The reservations for Steam Deck will be open on July 16 at 1 PM ET, and it starts at $399, $529, and $649, based on the different models.
Some of the Steam Deck’s features can be found below:
7″ touchscreen
- Type and swipe through the Steam UI with Deck’s capacitive multi-touch display.
Trackpads
- Play PC games that were never designed to be handheld. With increased precision and customizability, trackpads also give you a competitive edge when playing fast paced FPS games.
Gyro
- With an IMU and capacitive touch thumbsticks on-board, Deck helps you aim better. By physically positioning the device you can achieve more precision than using a thumbstick or trackpad alone.
Fast storage
- Get the built-in storage you need: 64GB eMMC, 256GB NVMe SSD (faster), or 512GB NVMe SSD (fastest). If you’re looking for more space, augment your built-in storage with a microSD card and fill it up with even more games.
Hi-Fi audio
- Steam Deck’s stereo speakers pack a punch. An embedded DSP provides clarity and a wide soundstage for an immersive listening experience. Connect your favorite headset, or use the onboard dual microphones to chat with your friends.
40Wh battery
- Steam Deck’s onboard 40 watt-hour battery provides several hours of play time for most games. For lighter use cases like game streaming, smaller 2D games, or web browsing, you can expect to get the maximum battery life of approximately 7-8 hours.
Expandable I/O
- The single USB-C jack is multi-purpose: used for charging, peripherals, or even throwing the game onto a big screen at the same time. Any USB-C hub can be used to expand your options, or get our official dock when it is released. More info on the dock below.
Wireless
- WiFi keeps you connected to the world, and Bluetooth allows for a wide variety of wireless peripherals – from controllers to headsets, keyboards, and mice.
Fast Suspend / Resume
- We’ve built a quick suspend / resume feature into SteamOS. Press the power button, and Steam Deck will suspend your game and go into sleep mode. Push the power button again and it will wake up right where you left off.
