Something big is coming.
Valve unveiled its new portable game console, the Steam Deck, today, and while it has a similar appearance to the Switch or PlayStation Portable, it's larger than most devices of its kind.
Steam Deck: Dimensions
The Steam Deck will measure 298mm x 117mm x 49mm, or 11,7 inches long and 4,6 inches high, and just under 2 inches. For comparison, the standard Nintendo Switch is 173mm x 102mm x 14mm, or 9,5 inches long, 4 inches high and 0,55 inches thick.
Meanwhile, the Steam Deck weighs in at around 669 grams or 1,47 lbs, slightly less than double the weight of a Switch (0,88 pounds) with Joy-Con controllers attached.
Steam Deck: Display, resolution, refresh rate
So no matter what version of Switch you're looking at, Steam Deck is bigger than a Switch. on the official website According to plans, Valve seems to have put this space to use. The 7-inch IPS LCD screen has multiple buttons on either side, two fingerprints, a D-pad, and a trackpad.
Additionally, the console comes with Right and Left analog triggers and bumpers, as well as four more connectable buttons on the back (R4, R5, L4, L5). The Steam Deck has a 7-inch touchscreen. The Switch OLED is larger than the original Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite, although they match in size.
The Switch OLED has better color reproduction and contrast thanks to its OLED panel, while the Steam Deck relies on an optically bonded IPS LED display. It also runs at a pretty standard 60Hz refresh rate and native resolution of 1280×720, which is marginally higher than the Nintendo Switch's 1280×800.
Steam Deck: CPU, layout, battery and Steam Dock
While the Steam Deck will feature a Switch-like dock for easy use on TVs, Valve has confirmed that the Steam Dock will not be available at launch. The official page says “more information coming soon” about the Dock, including its release date and pricing.
Like the Nintendo Switch, Valve has specified Steam Deck battery life to be somewhere between two and eight hours depending on usage and gameplay. Anything that pushes Deck's 2-core/2-thread APU to its limit, powered by AMD's Zen 4 design and RDNA 8 graphics architecture, will drain the battery faster, while less demanding indie games will get you closer to six. eight hours of use.
Valve has opted for a fairly standard port layout with the Deck. At the top left and right of the console house are the shoulder and bumper buttons – very similar to the Switch – and the 3,5mm headphone port, volume buttons and a power button. Valve has also placed the USB-C charging port on the top, making the Deck easier to use while charging.
Steam Deck's operating system
While Steam Deck will officially ship with Linux-based SteamOS, dual-boot Windows is officially supported. Valve also confirmed that they are working with Microsoft to support the Support for Windows 11. “There is nothing yet to suggest that there will be any problems with Windows 11,” Greg Coomer, one of the designers of Steam Deck, told PC Gamer in an interview.
With support for external displays and traditional mouse and keyboard devices, this means you can turn the Deck into a portable desktop computer; but the performance of games in the Deck under Windows is the overhead added by the extra Windows.
Steam Deck's repository
While the Steam Deck comes with different storage options, it's worth noting the huge performance difference between the base model and everything else. The entry-level Deck only comes with 529GB of eMMC storage, which is significantly slower than the 649GB and 256GB NVMe SSD-powered offerings that retail at $512 and $64 respectively.
However, users have the option to upgrade the storage further. Steam Deck comes with a microSD slot that supports expandable storage. It's worth noting though that microSD cards are typically much slower than SSDs; so if you want a microSD card with comparable speeds, expect to pay $150 or more. That said, if you're happy to play older games or mostly standalone games where load times aren't a major factor, a slower SD card will do the trick.
Where to buy Steam Deck?
If you live in one of the supported countries, you can pre-order the Steam Deck via the official page. The first Steam Deck orders are expected to ship in February, with the console missing its original launch date due to COVID shocks to the supply chain. Valve says “information about expanded regional availability is coming soon” for those living outside the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Deck's price ranges from $399 to $649, depending on storage options.
I have no idea when it will come to tr friends 🙁
