In what is definitely one of the biggest surprises announcements of the year, Valve has announced a portable gaming PC which looks set to take on the Switch directly.
The Steam Deck launches this December and features a custom SoC that Valve developed with AMD for the unit. From a control perspective, the unit features all of the modern features you would expect including triggers, bumpers, and paddles built into the back of the unit.
The screen itself is a 7″ touchscreen, while the unit also features touchpads, gyro controls, and capacitive thumbsticks which Valve claims are more intuitive than standard thumbsticks. In terms of battery life, the Steam Deck features a 40wh battery which Valve says provides several hours of battery life.
Here are the full details and specs:
There are three variations of the Steam Deck though all three feature the same core hardware. The difference is primarily storage and a few niceties which you can find below. Similar to the Switch, the SD storage is expandable.
For those wondering, there is also a dock that can be used to connect to external screens, USB peripherals, and more. Valve also answered many FAQs via this page.
Our Take
We didn’t expect this but it looks like a really solid unit and pulling from existing Steam libraries is excellent for players. It will be very interesting to see how the market responds to a more expensive handheld in the Switch space.
[…] the Steamdeck was announced last year by Valve, it took the industry by storm. The concept of a fully portable PC that essentially acts as a […]