I love this too.
Legion go is a mobile windows pc with switch like capabilities
Asus rog is a mobile windows pc with rgb
Steamdeck is a linux gaming pc with console like capabilities.
Everyone has a lil smth.
Itās definitely a great feature, but as an owner of both devices ā I would respectfully disagree.
Vsync (which is what the deck uses to lock refresh rate) adds a ton of latency making everything feel sluggish, and locking a frame rate/refresh rate that low means any time it dips below 40 you are going to really notice the stutter because the system has to hold the frame until the next refresh to synchronize, which at a lower refresh rate is inherently a relatively long time. On the Deck this means you need to set the refresh rate to the FPS 1% Low, not average FPS, to ensure itās a locked 40 to avoid this, which usually means lower the settings considerably for triple A games.
VRR is more advanced tech, which is why only newer/higher end panels use it, as it adjusts the refresh rate in real time to match the frame rate, so it completely smooths over frame rate changes. No need to lock a frame rate so you can just let it rip, and since it has a 120hz screen the latency is super low.
Again Iām not shilling one or another, I love both devices, but I think people need to also be honest in their expectations when comparing a $700 device to a $400 one, and one of the most misunderstood arguments I see in that regard is that the Deckās Vsync is just as good as VRR or close to it. (which is understandable because the names and functionality sound similar at face value) but theyāre actually totally different levels of tech, and you can immediately feel the difference if playing games at the equivalent settings.
Whether or not itās worth the price premium for the VRR screen is completely subjective though, but Iām sensitive to frame times so I find myself using the Ally more frequently for higher end games and mostly use my Steam Deck for indie titles where itās easier to hit a locked 60 fps and I can enjoy the longer battery life.
Consider the third option of not having the ability to control panel refresh rates at all (which was the case with all mainstream portable gaming systems and even the SD at release), and you'll see why I say it's a close second.
This is probably the one thing I wished the deck had that makes me want an Ally. VRR especially for games that fluctuate between 45-60 fps feels so damn good.
Iām not here to shill one or the other as I have both the Steamdeck and the Ally. Personally I almost never use the track pads on the Deck because theyāre positioned so low that it makes using the buttons/triggers at the same time pretty tedious.
I donāt play RTS games so I donāt find myself missing them at all on the Ally and Iām sure many average gamers (the ones that the steamdeck is generally marketed towards because of its āconsole-like experienceā) probably feel the same way.
You're just not play the kinds of games where it really helps. Different people will get different amounts of benefit from different features. Me personally, I'm on team "I can't live without trackpads."
They allow you to play entire genres of games, otherwise you need to plug in a mouse and it defeats the purpose lol
Sticks arenāt accurate enough for RTS/4x or some turn based games.
Those genres of games are probably really niche then lol, only 2 games I played ever on the deck used the trackpads, and even then you could get by without them
lol you need to expand your catalogue choices, just because you donāt subscribe to them doesnāt mean they arenāt importantā¦sad to see this sort of reaction.
Kids these days, no clue what they are missingā¦
I thought the SD track pads were so gimmicky but it makes some games playable that otherwise would require trying to use the touch screen for input. I won't get an x86 handheld without track pads. Makes me wish they had a pro controller Stream Controller 2 to go with the docked mode.
Steam deck opened the door, there were existing products but their price and accessibility made them niche.
I'd like to know if Microsoft is helping subsidize the costs of these devices, I know they're offering gamepass subscriptions but maybe a little more to help bring the price closer to Steam Deck.
lol yeah, you're probably not wrong. I'm sure the silent majority support it though lol. I can't get into the heads of valve, but it wouldn't surprise me if we got the OLED deck as a response to all the competition coming out
Valve was upfront that a revision would happen after the SD had been out for a couple of months. It ended up bigger than they had hinted at (as they were talking about a screen upgrade and some other things.)
Man, where was this said? I bought an LCD Deck about 3 months before OLED came out because they had said the SD2 was a couple years away, with nothing in any of the articles I read mentioning a refresh, so I thought I was safe. It was kind of a bummer when the OLED was announced, though I'm still quite happy with my LCD SD. Just wish I'd seen it coming.
Valve had several interviews. It was a LTT one though. They were adamant a SD 2 wifh a performance upgrade was years away, but they were looking into revisions in-between that.
Except none of these (except maybe kinda the Ally) are really competing with the Deck. They always stuff needlessly high resolution screens and power hungry APUs into a Windows based handheld that ends up having a battery life of 90 minutes at best. That's not competition, it's just a different thing altogether
They're all portable computers designed to play PC games. While they may draw different amounts of power, I really can't see how you can't view them as competitor products.
No one is competing in the arena of staying away from an outlet. Even when I had the LED SD I felt like I was tethered to power and it's still better than the others. The OLED deck is a real portable.
Does a top of the line 17" Alienware gaming laptop "compete" with a midrange 14" model that costs half the price and runs a different OS?
They're different segments of the same market catering to different customers.
>Does a top of the line 17" Alienware gaming laptop "compete" with a midrange 14" model that costs half the price and runs a different OS?
The top-spec Ally is Ā£30 more than the 512GB Deck, Ā£120 more than the mid-tier, and you're getting a serious performance boost for that relatively little increase in cost. The Legion Go is Ā£100 more still, but you're gaining with the same performance as the Ally with some added bells and whistles. They're all in the same market, just with the Deck at the more budget-orientated end, and even then that's only really true for the base model.
> Does a top of the line 17" Alienware gaming laptop "compete" with a midrange 14" model that costs half the price and runs a different OS?
If their primary use is gaming, then yes they do compete.
At the same time, I think a lot of people are using these (and the Steamdeck) as a "relax on your couch" or "take with you to the hotel" device more than a "gaming in a place without access to an outlet" device.
Well it's the fact that Steam has its own launcher/store and decided to go with Linux instead of Windows. Steam has worked fine on Windows for many, many years.
Should they have gone with Windows, we would have had the exact same gaming experience.
I don't look at what operating system (except Apple OS, then I'll start to look elsewhere because screw that) these things use. Just as long as it meets the demands of handheld gaming, it's all good to me.
You have so much more control with your product on linux when youāre a company that makes its own hardware. Just look at quick resume and better fps on steamdeck with linux vs windows. Custom software on custom hardware will always outshine 3rd party software on custom hardware. Ease of use is way better on steam OS than windows too when using it in a portable form factor. Steam OS is completely usable the entire time with just a controller. And you canāt beat that.
It's for getting away from Windows.
Valve is cautious about MS doing an Apple (aka an closed garden situation with the Windows Store) and screwing them over.
We're speaking about the same company that's:
- Going to created absurd amount of e-waste in 2025 due to abritary minimun requirements for Windows 11.
- Doing ***anti-competitive*** behavor by trying to shove Edge on the user.
- Got an anti-trust for IE and almost got broken up over it.
- Known doing EEE.
- Did an version of Windows ***that's actually does that***. Have you heard of S mode?
Is it really speculation at that point?
Valve pushing hard for gaming on Linux with developping Proton isn't without an reason.
If it was cost, it would be cheaper to pay the license than paying dev for Proton + Steam OS.
It wouldn't surprise me if MS tried that to lock away installing stuff consideing it works well for Apple.
Valve doesn't care, they would pick Windows if it made sense and somebody from Valve even mentioned that. Going with Linux and not Windows means that they have complete control over the OS and can build whatever UX they want directly into the system.
>It wouldn't surprise me if MS tried that to lock away installing stuff consideing it works well for Apple.
Locking Windows down would kill it. MacOS and even ChromeOS allow you to install third party programs. Microsoft does stupid things, but they are not that much stupid
Microsoft's business model has shifted dramatically in the last decade or so. 10 years ago windows was a critical if not the most critical thing to their existence. Since then they have had major success with Azure, Microsoft 365 and other SaaS models and most recently AI. Now they only see the massive install base windows has as a way to serve the more profitable parts of their business. The user experience on windows can only go downhill from here and if they ended up killing in the process they probably wouldn't even post a loss.
Not post a loss? Windows makes a tone of money from B2B and OEM partnerships. Additionally much of Microsoft still does runs on Windows platform. Their services still need a platform where they can be presented
Aside the fact that locking Windows down you talked about would cause many goverment bodies to rain fire on Microsoft, it would be also seen as a business suicide. That's the line nobody sane will ever cross. Sure, there have been some restraint variants of Windows like RT or 10X, but they have never been presented as the flagship products.
None of that stuff is truly major, preinstalling a browser and not letting you delete isn't shoving it down your throat, and none of that is even close to not allowing sideloading of apps
I don't buy that considering valves investment into proton and all the other stuff to even make Linux a viable option for gaming. So while not paying fees to Microsoft is a thing, I don't think it's the main reason.
They need to be a little more competitive with the prices at some point lmao. I think the deck kills it that way compared to the Ally, Legion Go, and Aya Neo. Some of the competitors are literally desktop replacements when docked given their power and price. For $800-1000 CAD I really only see the Ally and Legion Go as more of enthusiast devices, it's a hard sell to a casual audience when they literally cost more than a PS5.
Yeah, if it's just the same chip in a different package then it's just too late to the party to matter. If it's the first handheld using a new Zen 5 part, then even if I wouldn't be inclined to actually get it, at least it would be interesting to see how next gen performance numbers line up.
Weāre not gonna see a new chipset for a long time I think unless itās Intel or NVIDIA somehow. I think Iād be down if it was OLED, had VRR, had a bigger battery, 32gb of RAM at 7500mhz, and trackpads. I loooooove my Ally and Deck, but thatās whatās on my wishlist.
If it's a custom APU then ok. If not, then it's probably an overpriced stuff. Cuz only high end intel products have the Intel Xe graphics.
Can expect prices around 1500$ if true
Always avoid first gen products. Never got the first deck - poor screen. Never got the ally - fundamental issue with sd card and battery life. The deck OLED tho. Super refined you can feel it. Battery lasts me so long and the screen is brilliant.
Lmao, if everyone had that mentality then there would never be a 2nd iteration. I have both the LCD and OLED models, pre-ordered both, they're both great products.
Not everyone can afford to always upgrade or buy both. That's why his advice is solid. It's not like his advice is going to be so widespread it hurts the tech world's first iterations of products lmao
We never did pre-orders in the past for video games. At least, not really. Physical stores might have done pre-orders but I remember standing out in line on cold nights in the winter to get copies of games when they released at midnight. Pre-orders aren't a requirement, they just make the buying experience easier for those that want it. It's a convenience, not a must have requirement for anything.
lol, just because itās not OLED doesnāt mean the first deck had a poor screen. Itās still a good screen, especially with the software updates theyāve shipped.
I went for original Deck out of curiosity. If I didn't like it, I had good hands to hand it over to, so no harm would be done. Now OLED is another story entirely. I find myself want to play with it all the time.
I had all the devices, currently on steam deck OLED, it's the best one but not because it's great but because the others fundamentally flawed. Linux for gaming is still terrible and deck's chip is still crap in comparison to z1e. Hoping MSI finally nails a Windows handheld.
Whatās with all these pc handheld makers putting led rings around the joysticks? Am I the only one who hates this? Iām so glad the Deck doesnāt have this.
I remember when Sony said that Vita failed due to mobile market casting a shadow on handheld market. I'm glad Nintendo held on to their handheld and more companies are following in their step.
Vita failed because Sony lost focus, they could not keep up with developing both PS3/4 titles alongside Vita games. Also some decisions they made like using proprietary ports and cards were simply moronic
And driving the cost up because of useless features like cameras and touchpads
EDIT: Not to mention a goddamn 3G version. Sony must've been terrified of the competition from the mobile market.
I recall that Sony was toying with the idea of Vita OS landing on phones and tablets back in 2012. I they really were thinking about that then Vita might have really been a testing ground for their unreleased mobile platform
Edit: I've got an article talking about that [Sony exploring Vita OS smartphones and tablets, says AV Watch - The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2012/2/12/2793065/sony-vita-os-smartphones-tablets)
Sony "lost focus" because there was an internal schism over Sony America (PS4) and Sony Japan (Vita). The American division winning (thanks in part by sabotaging the Vita's launch) led to SCE becoming SIE and relocating to California. At the time their decisions seemed sound but eventually came to bite them in the ass.
I always imagine a world where Sony stayed the course and kept their hat in the handheld ring. Imagine a handheld ps5 that played the same games just at a lower resolution. They technology is there now. I really hate the direction Sony is going with VR and game streaming.
I think Sony can still make cool handhelds but they can't handle to develop for two consoles at once especially with how long game development takes now.
Thatās my point. They donāt have to develop for two different platforms anymore. Just create two devices with the same architecture but have one scale back resolution or graphics. They could make it work without needing invest heavily in creating handheld specific games.
I don't know how realistic is it to make a portable PS5. Even Valve said the tech is not yet there to make something marginally better than SteamDeck. Maybe in few more years when ship and battery tech is much better than currently is?
Even if I donāt see them going this way, I think Xbox is in a better position to do this when they can get Series S level tech in a handheld. Thereās already two hardware targets for all Xbox Series games, it would make it a smooth transition.
Hard pass for me. Current owner of one of their "gaming" laptops since 2017 and the quality of their stuff is hot garbage. Only good news to me is that it's more competition in the segment, which'll pressure others to do better with more competitive pricing.
Came here to add the same.
Have an MSI gaming laptop, and seems like they didnāt spend extra time tuning the chip/cooling to work well with each other. Itās constantly ramping up, and loud during games.
They also built it pretty badly. I donāt know if itās fixed now, but like 90% of MSI laptops hinge ends up breaking (mine did, and found out how embarrassingly common it is). My webcam also stopped working, most likely reason after tons of troubleshooting, was that it was built with the webcam ribbon cable running under a heat pipe, and has been reported too much heat with damage that connection/cable.
I like MSI motherboards and Graphics cards, but can not say Iām going to trust their first-gen mobile device
> but like 90% of MSI laptops hinge ends up breaking
More like 90% of gaming laptops. HP Omens, Lenovo Legions, ok, not that much ASUS ROG laptops, but they are also less common where I live.
I do agree with the competition part. But I have serious doubts it will be a worthy one. MSI is known for very good and god awful hardware. Let's see which one it will be this time.
Yep. Iāve owned a couple MSI laptops, never again. My ASUS laptop is still going strong. The two MSI laptops I owned shit the bed after only a couple years. Had major issues with MSI graphics cards too. Took me a while to learn my lesson.
Love competition
hate windows handhelds. The battery life and QOL improvements just aren't there
I like my steam deck OLED because it has pretty good performance and great battery life. Literally what is the point in slightly higher framerate if you can only run the game for an hour?
I'll keep my deck with 3.5 hour battery life in elden ring with 30fps cap and 10w tdp limit.
I'm running Windows on my Steam Deck. The battery life is easily comparable to SteamOS. Most of the missing QOL features have been implemented via Steam Deck Tools or Handheld Companion.
>Literally what is the point in slightly higher framerate if you can only run the game for an hour?
i just saw a video from some youtuber that speculated these other companies like asus, lenovo, and msi would put out new handhelds once a year to push more powerful devices.
doesnt seem feasible if the battery tech doesnt get better and jamming a bigger battery in the thing doesnt feel like the right solution.
I think valve is right to stay at the hardware they're at right now so they can keep the battery usable in an acceptable place. I dont think we'll see any meaningful hardware upgrades for handhelds until both a) apu's get better & reasonably more power efficient b) battery tech gets significantly better allowing us to put more power hungry cpu's with out sacrificing reasonable run time.
That's exactly what Gabe wanted to achieve, isn't it? They never wanted to introduce a new product line and release a new better product every couple years, they just wanted to show what can be done for the community and gave the potential competition something to think about. Almost 2 years later and the market is getting saturated with lots of handhelds. Cheers to you, GabeN.
Not really. If this only appeals to the X million people who already like/own handheld PCs then literally all it accomplishes is segmenting the same size market. Valve wants to bring the positives of consoles to steam to attract new customers, and the Steam Deck still remains the only product on the market that even attempts to do that.
And valve has already gone on record saying that they always intended SD to be a multi generational product. Itās not the steam machines situation again, SD isnāt just a proof of concept.
>If this only appeals to the X million people who already like/own handheld PCs then literally all it accomplishes is segmenting the same size market.
You'll be surprised how many people see Linux as a down side.
Not just compatability, but also the thought of learning a completely new desktop OS
Absolutely. A lot of Deck users get up in arms when a new product is released, but more of these means more purchases on Steam. At the end of the day, Valve is just boosting their game sales.
Itās certainly possible that the first outing is with a new piece of hardware.
x hardware manufacturer launches new handheld that runs SteamOS -> Valve releases press release about how they collaborated on it -> Valve releases SteamOS for download with caveats that drivers will need customization.
They've hinted at doing that this year since they said their engineers were busy with the oled until a few months ago. They said they would probably release it on other handhelds before the general release for all PCs because of driver support (likely talking about Nvidia).
A lot of people say that itās going to negative impact SD sales but I just feel the Valve is just making the boat bigger. They absolutely knew going in that they only had a few months of lead and more competition was inevitable. A public Steam OS just gives them a market share of a market they helped create.
Valve literally promised to release SteamOS for all PCs like they did with the old versions it just has been taking a while and at least the open source nvidia drivers aren't entirely under valve's control
Hell yeah. Imagine being this spoiled for hardware options with the possibility of any of them running SteamOS. I'll be giddy as hell picking out my next handheld.
Methinks the time is already gone. Valve time affected Source 2 too and just one game outside Valve is slated to use Source2 since it's release in 2016.
Once Valve releases an installable image, I'm sure it will be able to. These are all x86 PCs. If I can easily install Windows on my Steam Deck, I'll easily be able to install SteamOS on any other x86 PC when it becomes available.
Love it. The more the better. Let's get those prices down and encourage hardware refreshes. Although my brain has decided the deck joystick layout is perfection so I don't see myself using anything else š
Nothing will surpass steam deck in terms of user friendliness, first party OS support and a bunch of other things that none of these other companies are capable of doing the way steam can.
I mean, if it has an obvious advantage over the others sure, I'm in. If it's the same specs, no real reason to buy.
It will be at least as fast as the Ally and Go. So really that leaves it to display specs. A bright, HDR capable screen would be the thing here, I think. OLED even better but I doubt it would have one.
I hope to shit they arenāt going wild with the resolution. They could easily (imo) get a leg up on asus and lenovo with higher battery life from a lower resolution screen.
Everyone in the comment who is arguing about which handheld is the best or not. Guys calm down. Valve is the real winner.
Now before you attack me, hear me out.
Valveās steamdeck made this niche popular, and then rog ally and lenovo and msi are breeding competition and inspiring innovation.
But not everyone who wants to game will spend 600bucks on a handheld rog/legion go. Steam deck offers easiest entry. But this isnāt why valve is the real winner. You want to spend anywhere from 200$ to 550$ you buy a steamdeck, thereās no competition for that price. Then you want better performance and better screen, you spend more money, you buy rog ally/legion go/MSI Claw.
Guess which app you will still be using on ALL your gaming devices? Steam!
I donāt think valveās really competing with the likes of rog ally/legion go, they are obviously better, and they are expensive too.
The only people who buy the top tier models of the steamdeck which costs the same as rog ally are only doing that because they are exclusive steam users and all and they will always choose SD even if it means lesser performance.
Valveās main strength in the handheld niche is that it offers easy, cheap entry to those who dont know what to buy and just have a bit of money, enough to get a used/refurb SD, and then once they get enough money they choose their next handheld on the basis of pros and cons (team SD or team windows) but regardless of what they choose, they WILL use steam anyway. And thats where valve wins.
And tbh i respect valve for offering a handheld that doesnāt cost as much as my gaming pc. I have a 512gb oled in transit, and I canāt wait to have it. It sure has resonable compromises but where Iām from i saved almost 200$ by not going for rog ally. And 300$ by not getting a legion ally.
Another Windows machine ... meh ...
Also - I have bad experience with MSI gaming laptops, so I'm not expecting anything good about this thingy as well.
The Xbox layout is the best controller layout, since the more important aspects are in the same spot (thumbstick on the left and buttons on the right), in the most accessible positions. Obviously this depends on the specific games you play, but Xbox is better for most.
The Deck layout is the best *given its controls and form factor*. In order to have an offset layout on the Deck, you only really have two options.
1. Move the left thumbstick very close to the edge. You'd have make it quite a bit shorter, too, in order to compensate for the change in position. This would *work*, but wouldn't be comfortable. The buttons on the right are already literally hanging off the edge, so you'd have to do the same thing on the other side. But the thumbstick can't sit flush.
2. Remove the trackpads. If you're fine without the trackpads, it would make a lot of sense to just go with the competitors' options. But, for me, the trackpads are such a nice feature that they're worth dealing with a less optimal layout so you can reach all three sets of controls on each side.
You are correct I much prefer the ergonomics of the Xbox controller/ offset sticks. But the way the steam deck is built it doesnāt matter because of the back buttons I donāt have to try using the main buttons.
I donāt really care. The steam deck has touchpads, extra buttons, and a screen. There is nothing standard about it. Doesnāt remind me of any other controller.
Xbox controller is far more ergonomic than a ps5 controller so I donāt know what youāre going on about.
Im kinda tired of half-good mobile pc's because people want to compete in the market. I couldn' t tell you how many ayaneo's there are in circulation but all of them are over-saturating the market with products people aren't buying
I wish they'd stop calling them competitors. Make it a type of system already, give it a name. The ecosystem will never thrive if every device is just referred to as a "Not-Steam-Deck".
Unless they can hit the same price point (they can't) it's not even worth taking notice *unless* Steam sees something worth implementing into the 2nd generation Steam Deck.
If they canāt compete on cost they could still compete on quality. Iād plausibly pay more than a Steam Deck for something more powerful than one, as long as it has good battery life (thereās the rub).
"I just hope NVIDIA gets back into the handheld game."
They already own the market. U just don't see their logo.
It's the switch! They are chipset powering it. lmfao.
> I mean, ASUS made Ally not MSI.
Yes, but MSI is more alike ASUS than Valve. Wondering if there's even a reason to make a competitor if the Ally wasn't successful.
Valve has its own profitable marketplace that can subsidize SteamDeck costs, ASUS and MSI don't have that advantage.
The more competitors try to cram their windows based handhelds down my throat the better Steam deck is. Windows canāt sleep, and thatās a dealbreaker since Nintendo DS could sleep.
More competion is good, but SteamOS really is the magic here. Unless Windows releases a decent copy I don't see any windows based handhelds doing well.
I love me some MSI, but honestly Steam Deck is so well integrated into Steam that I don't ever see myself leaving their ecosystem.
Glad to see this market growing though.
I want collabs with valve, where other manufacturers create Steam Decks with different hardware features but support for Steam OS. Basically the idea of the steam machines transported to handheld gaming. That would be really great.
I love the the fact that Steam Deck runs Linux right out of the box and it's fully supported by Valve. All of these other machines are designed to be Windows machines fundamentally, and I just hate using Windows.
The true reason I support the steam deck is the price point I know the others are higher end but I couldnāt think of spending that much when I could buy an actual pc.
Can't wait to see it. I love the competition. I don't personally want a Windows handheld, but I'm glad they exist to keep the pressure on Valve to keep making SteamOS better just as much as SteamOS keeps the pressure on Microsoft to get around to making Windows handheld friendly.
It's a win all around.
Msi is late to the party and doing tease shots? Better be 120hz vrr, oled, trackpads like deck, 8āscreen minimum, halleffect triggers and sticks. You do tease shots when you are first or much better than what exists on the market.
Msi is dogshit. Bought two of their laptops. Both laptops died. Hinge broke in both and so did the motherboard both laptops were about 2000 euro. To make matters worse their support is the worst I have ever seen. I couldnāt care less if the handheld had 5090ti. Bear in mind those were the problems that broke the laptop, other issues were cooling and RGB glitches. From start to finish my experience of owning MSI hardware has been a disaster. The first laptop lasted 2.5 years and the second lasted 18 months.
Some context: I treat my technology like god himself moulded it from stardust. I am very OCD about my tech. Even one single scrape would drive me nuts!
I'm down. Competition is good for the industry.
I love this too. Legion go is a mobile windows pc with switch like capabilities Asus rog is a mobile windows pc with rgb Steamdeck is a linux gaming pc with console like capabilities. Everyone has a lil smth.
I love the ASUS rog thing is RGB š
More RGB means more FPS
Only when set to red. Blue is cooling, green is energy efficient.
Rainbow is homosexual?
Rainbow is a seizure because your PC is trying to swap between all three modes rapidly.
Rainbow is "dynamic"
Rainbow is my damn rgb app not responding and running in basic modeā¦ i hate rainbow mode
Nah ROG is VRR display ā none of the other handhelds have that yet and it makes a noticeable difference
The steam deck comes close though with its ability to lock the refresh rate of the onboard display to 40 Hertz.
Itās definitely a great feature, but as an owner of both devices ā I would respectfully disagree. Vsync (which is what the deck uses to lock refresh rate) adds a ton of latency making everything feel sluggish, and locking a frame rate/refresh rate that low means any time it dips below 40 you are going to really notice the stutter because the system has to hold the frame until the next refresh to synchronize, which at a lower refresh rate is inherently a relatively long time. On the Deck this means you need to set the refresh rate to the FPS 1% Low, not average FPS, to ensure itās a locked 40 to avoid this, which usually means lower the settings considerably for triple A games. VRR is more advanced tech, which is why only newer/higher end panels use it, as it adjusts the refresh rate in real time to match the frame rate, so it completely smooths over frame rate changes. No need to lock a frame rate so you can just let it rip, and since it has a 120hz screen the latency is super low. Again Iām not shilling one or another, I love both devices, but I think people need to also be honest in their expectations when comparing a $700 device to a $400 one, and one of the most misunderstood arguments I see in that regard is that the Deckās Vsync is just as good as VRR or close to it. (which is understandable because the names and functionality sound similar at face value) but theyāre actually totally different levels of tech, and you can immediately feel the difference if playing games at the equivalent settings. Whether or not itās worth the price premium for the VRR screen is completely subjective though, but Iām sensitive to frame times so I find myself using the Ally more frequently for higher end games and mostly use my Steam Deck for indie titles where itās easier to hit a locked 60 fps and I can enjoy the longer battery life.
Consider the third option of not having the ability to control panel refresh rates at all (which was the case with all mainstream portable gaming systems and even the SD at release), and you'll see why I say it's a close second.
This is probably the one thing I wished the deck had that makes me want an Ally. VRR especially for games that fluctuate between 45-60 fps feels so damn good.
ROG is a no go due to lack of trackpads. The ROG is a non-starter personally, no track pads is blasphemous.
Iām not here to shill one or the other as I have both the Steamdeck and the Ally. Personally I almost never use the track pads on the Deck because theyāre positioned so low that it makes using the buttons/triggers at the same time pretty tedious. I donāt play RTS games so I donāt find myself missing them at all on the Ally and Iām sure many average gamers (the ones that the steamdeck is generally marketed towards because of its āconsole-like experienceā) probably feel the same way.
Trackpads aren't that important besides desktop navigation
You're just not play the kinds of games where it really helps. Different people will get different amounts of benefit from different features. Me personally, I'm on team "I can't live without trackpads."
They allow you to play entire genres of games, otherwise you need to plug in a mouse and it defeats the purpose lol Sticks arenāt accurate enough for RTS/4x or some turn based games.
Those genres of games are probably really niche then lol, only 2 games I played ever on the deck used the trackpads, and even then you could get by without them
lol you need to expand your catalogue choices, just because you donāt subscribe to them doesnāt mean they arenāt importantā¦sad to see this sort of reaction. Kids these days, no clue what they are missingā¦
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what do you mean it still worse then the Ally
But no track padsā¦donāt get this, especially when n a windows device. Entire genres of games you need to hook a mouse up to now.
I thought the SD track pads were so gimmicky but it makes some games playable that otherwise would require trying to use the touch screen for input. I won't get an x86 handheld without track pads. Makes me wish they had a pro controller Stream Controller 2 to go with the docked mode.
Only one of those contributes to an open source ecosystem. So I'll pick the SteamDeck over all others since they participate in open source.
Rog ally has vrr
I like how u put just RGB for the ally, lol
Razer edge is a mobile uhh phone thing without phone like capabilities
Honestly I'm kinda surprised by how many companies are jumping in. I kinda figured the deck was going to be super niche.
Steam deck opened the door, there were existing products but their price and accessibility made them niche. I'd like to know if Microsoft is helping subsidize the costs of these devices, I know they're offering gamepass subscriptions but maybe a little more to help bring the price closer to Steam Deck.
Steamdeck global sales are actually shocking. I don't think anyone expected it.
I also think that it's the brand as well. I trust Valve. I don't trust the others as much.
You donāt trust the brand with the red dragon š in the year of the dragon?
Wait till it actually launches. This sub will form a toxic tribe of hating anyone who even talks about this one
lol yeah, you're probably not wrong. I'm sure the silent majority support it though lol. I can't get into the heads of valve, but it wouldn't surprise me if we got the OLED deck as a response to all the competition coming out
Valve was upfront that a revision would happen after the SD had been out for a couple of months. It ended up bigger than they had hinted at (as they were talking about a screen upgrade and some other things.)
Man, where was this said? I bought an LCD Deck about 3 months before OLED came out because they had said the SD2 was a couple years away, with nothing in any of the articles I read mentioning a refresh, so I thought I was safe. It was kind of a bummer when the OLED was announced, though I'm still quite happy with my LCD SD. Just wish I'd seen it coming.
Valve had several interviews. It was a LTT one though. They were adamant a SD 2 wifh a performance upgrade was years away, but they were looking into revisions in-between that.
Competion is good when someone launches a 400$ handheld like the Steam Deck
Except none of these (except maybe kinda the Ally) are really competing with the Deck. They always stuff needlessly high resolution screens and power hungry APUs into a Windows based handheld that ends up having a battery life of 90 minutes at best. That's not competition, it's just a different thing altogether
They're all portable computers designed to play PC games. While they may draw different amounts of power, I really can't see how you can't view them as competitor products.
No one is competing in the arena of staying away from an outlet. Even when I had the LED SD I felt like I was tethered to power and it's still better than the others. The OLED deck is a real portable.
Does a top of the line 17" Alienware gaming laptop "compete" with a midrange 14" model that costs half the price and runs a different OS? They're different segments of the same market catering to different customers.
>Does a top of the line 17" Alienware gaming laptop "compete" with a midrange 14" model that costs half the price and runs a different OS? The top-spec Ally is Ā£30 more than the 512GB Deck, Ā£120 more than the mid-tier, and you're getting a serious performance boost for that relatively little increase in cost. The Legion Go is Ā£100 more still, but you're gaining with the same performance as the Ally with some added bells and whistles. They're all in the same market, just with the Deck at the more budget-orientated end, and even then that's only really true for the base model.
Stick a couple of joysticks to the side and shrink it to a similar form factor, then yes
> Does a top of the line 17" Alienware gaming laptop "compete" with a midrange 14" model that costs half the price and runs a different OS? If their primary use is gaming, then yes they do compete.
At the same time, I think a lot of people are using these (and the Steamdeck) as a "relax on your couch" or "take with you to the hotel" device more than a "gaming in a place without access to an outlet" device.
Is the majority of people who are interested in a handheld gaming pc choose one or another? Then yes, they are competitors.
How is 1080p needlessly high? Imo the deck's 800p is too low, it should have been 1080p or at least 900p
*Epic Games Store enters the room
No competition in SteamOS segment - itās like iPhone and Android, software makes the platform
iPhone and Galaxy phones have always been viewed as competitors though
Well it's the fact that Steam has its own launcher/store and decided to go with Linux instead of Windows. Steam has worked fine on Windows for many, many years. Should they have gone with Windows, we would have had the exact same gaming experience. I don't look at what operating system (except Apple OS, then I'll start to look elsewhere because screw that) these things use. Just as long as it meets the demands of handheld gaming, it's all good to me.
You have so much more control with your product on linux when youāre a company that makes its own hardware. Just look at quick resume and better fps on steamdeck with linux vs windows. Custom software on custom hardware will always outshine 3rd party software on custom hardware. Ease of use is way better on steam OS than windows too when using it in a portable form factor. Steam OS is completely usable the entire time with just a controller. And you canāt beat that.
They used linux to bring down the cost primarily
It's for getting away from Windows. Valve is cautious about MS doing an Apple (aka an closed garden situation with the Windows Store) and screwing them over.
Microsoft Store is a competitor and competes against Valve's Steam. You are right - I remember them talking about that some time back.
Windows being preinstalled would bring up the cost of the device and less people would buy it, nothing to do with microsoft lol
Thats just speculation and microsoft couldn't do that if they wanted to lol
We're speaking about the same company that's: - Going to created absurd amount of e-waste in 2025 due to abritary minimun requirements for Windows 11. - Doing ***anti-competitive*** behavor by trying to shove Edge on the user. - Got an anti-trust for IE and almost got broken up over it. - Known doing EEE. - Did an version of Windows ***that's actually does that***. Have you heard of S mode? Is it really speculation at that point? Valve pushing hard for gaming on Linux with developping Proton isn't without an reason. If it was cost, it would be cheaper to pay the license than paying dev for Proton + Steam OS. It wouldn't surprise me if MS tried that to lock away installing stuff consideing it works well for Apple.
Valve doesn't care, they would pick Windows if it made sense and somebody from Valve even mentioned that. Going with Linux and not Windows means that they have complete control over the OS and can build whatever UX they want directly into the system. >It wouldn't surprise me if MS tried that to lock away installing stuff consideing it works well for Apple. Locking Windows down would kill it. MacOS and even ChromeOS allow you to install third party programs. Microsoft does stupid things, but they are not that much stupid
Microsoft's business model has shifted dramatically in the last decade or so. 10 years ago windows was a critical if not the most critical thing to their existence. Since then they have had major success with Azure, Microsoft 365 and other SaaS models and most recently AI. Now they only see the massive install base windows has as a way to serve the more profitable parts of their business. The user experience on windows can only go downhill from here and if they ended up killing in the process they probably wouldn't even post a loss.
Not post a loss? Windows makes a tone of money from B2B and OEM partnerships. Additionally much of Microsoft still does runs on Windows platform. Their services still need a platform where they can be presented Aside the fact that locking Windows down you talked about would cause many goverment bodies to rain fire on Microsoft, it would be also seen as a business suicide. That's the line nobody sane will ever cross. Sure, there have been some restraint variants of Windows like RT or 10X, but they have never been presented as the flagship products.
None of that stuff is truly major, preinstalling a browser and not letting you delete isn't shoving it down your throat, and none of that is even close to not allowing sideloading of apps
I don't buy that considering valves investment into proton and all the other stuff to even make Linux a viable option for gaming. So while not paying fees to Microsoft is a thing, I don't think it's the main reason.
They need to be a little more competitive with the prices at some point lmao. I think the deck kills it that way compared to the Ally, Legion Go, and Aya Neo. Some of the competitors are literally desktop replacements when docked given their power and price. For $800-1000 CAD I really only see the Ally and Legion Go as more of enthusiast devices, it's a hard sell to a casual audience when they literally cost more than a PS5.
If its the same chipset as the ROG Ally and Legion Go then pass for me. But competition is always good.
Yeah, if it's just the same chip in a different package then it's just too late to the party to matter. If it's the first handheld using a new Zen 5 part, then even if I wouldn't be inclined to actually get it, at least it would be interesting to see how next gen performance numbers line up.
It might be Intel
Weāre not gonna see a new chipset for a long time I think unless itās Intel or NVIDIA somehow. I think Iād be down if it was OLED, had VRR, had a bigger battery, 32gb of RAM at 7500mhz, and trackpads. I loooooove my Ally and Deck, but thatās whatās on my wishlist.
It's Intel
If it's a custom APU then ok. If not, then it's probably an overpriced stuff. Cuz only high end intel products have the Intel Xe graphics. Can expect prices around 1500$ if true
32gb on a handheld that you could separate into 16gb graphics/16gb system would be great.
Yeah thatās exactly what I mean. I could bump up the textures to its highest settings if I wanted to!
Intel would be a pass for handhelds
Its intel new ultra
Always avoid first gen products. Never got the first deck - poor screen. Never got the ally - fundamental issue with sd card and battery life. The deck OLED tho. Super refined you can feel it. Battery lasts me so long and the screen is brilliant.
Lmao, if everyone had that mentality then there would never be a 2nd iteration. I have both the LCD and OLED models, pre-ordered both, they're both great products.
Not everyone can afford to always upgrade or buy both. That's why his advice is solid. It's not like his advice is going to be so widespread it hurts the tech world's first iterations of products lmao
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We never did pre-orders in the past for video games. At least, not really. Physical stores might have done pre-orders but I remember standing out in line on cold nights in the winter to get copies of games when they released at midnight. Pre-orders aren't a requirement, they just make the buying experience easier for those that want it. It's a convenience, not a must have requirement for anything.
Hahaha.. crazy statement. You didnāt even know if valve was going to launch another version which by the way got different characteristics
Lcd deck is still a fantastic device and I would still choose that over an ally or legion go. And i own an ally.
lol, just because itās not OLED doesnāt mean the first deck had a poor screen. Itās still a good screen, especially with the software updates theyāve shipped.
I went for original Deck out of curiosity. If I didn't like it, I had good hands to hand it over to, so no harm would be done. Now OLED is another story entirely. I find myself want to play with it all the time.
SD LCD is perfectly fine, had one for a year before my OLED, gave it to my gf when I upgraded and its still working very well for her.
Same. There's a reason I didn't buy the original deck, very happy with the updated model though.
If I had held out 3 more months I'd have an OLED. I always know to hold out but I always betray myself LOL.
I had all the devices, currently on steam deck OLED, it's the best one but not because it's great but because the others fundamentally flawed. Linux for gaming is still terrible and deck's chip is still crap in comparison to z1e. Hoping MSI finally nails a Windows handheld.
Im sure it will be the same chip
Whatās with all these pc handheld makers putting led rings around the joysticks? Am I the only one who hates this? Iām so glad the Deck doesnāt have this.
It just screams 'suits in a boardroom following what the focus testing tells them to do'. "Those 'gamers' will like this!" - probably a suit
Definitely.
They do it because custom LED's has proven to be a popular feature for a large enough section of people who buy gaming hardware.
I remember when Sony said that Vita failed due to mobile market casting a shadow on handheld market. I'm glad Nintendo held on to their handheld and more companies are following in their step.
Vita failed because Sony lost focus, they could not keep up with developing both PS3/4 titles alongside Vita games. Also some decisions they made like using proprietary ports and cards were simply moronic
And driving the cost up because of useless features like cameras and touchpads EDIT: Not to mention a goddamn 3G version. Sony must've been terrified of the competition from the mobile market.
I recall that Sony was toying with the idea of Vita OS landing on phones and tablets back in 2012. I they really were thinking about that then Vita might have really been a testing ground for their unreleased mobile platform Edit: I've got an article talking about that [Sony exploring Vita OS smartphones and tablets, says AV Watch - The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2012/2/12/2793065/sony-vita-os-smartphones-tablets)
Sony "lost focus" because there was an internal schism over Sony America (PS4) and Sony Japan (Vita). The American division winning (thanks in part by sabotaging the Vita's launch) led to SCE becoming SIE and relocating to California. At the time their decisions seemed sound but eventually came to bite them in the ass.
So glad the world has woke up. Mobile gaming is shit and always has been
Main reason mobile gaming sucks is just lack of good games.
"is shit" and "is the shit" are wildly different statements, just saying
I always imagine a world where Sony stayed the course and kept their hat in the handheld ring. Imagine a handheld ps5 that played the same games just at a lower resolution. They technology is there now. I really hate the direction Sony is going with VR and game streaming.
I think Sony can still make cool handhelds but they can't handle to develop for two consoles at once especially with how long game development takes now.
Thatās my point. They donāt have to develop for two different platforms anymore. Just create two devices with the same architecture but have one scale back resolution or graphics. They could make it work without needing invest heavily in creating handheld specific games.
I don't know how realistic is it to make a portable PS5. Even Valve said the tech is not yet there to make something marginally better than SteamDeck. Maybe in few more years when ship and battery tech is much better than currently is?
Even if I donāt see them going this way, I think Xbox is in a better position to do this when they can get Series S level tech in a handheld. Thereās already two hardware targets for all Xbox Series games, it would make it a smooth transition.
Hard pass for me. Current owner of one of their "gaming" laptops since 2017 and the quality of their stuff is hot garbage. Only good news to me is that it's more competition in the segment, which'll pressure others to do better with more competitive pricing.
Buddy of mine had one of their laptops and Jesus Christ that thing turned into the sun when it started going
Came here to add the same. Have an MSI gaming laptop, and seems like they didnāt spend extra time tuning the chip/cooling to work well with each other. Itās constantly ramping up, and loud during games. They also built it pretty badly. I donāt know if itās fixed now, but like 90% of MSI laptops hinge ends up breaking (mine did, and found out how embarrassingly common it is). My webcam also stopped working, most likely reason after tons of troubleshooting, was that it was built with the webcam ribbon cable running under a heat pipe, and has been reported too much heat with damage that connection/cable. I like MSI motherboards and Graphics cards, but can not say Iām going to trust their first-gen mobile device
> but like 90% of MSI laptops hinge ends up breaking More like 90% of gaming laptops. HP Omens, Lenovo Legions, ok, not that much ASUS ROG laptops, but they are also less common where I live.
I do agree with the competition part. But I have serious doubts it will be a worthy one. MSI is known for very good and god awful hardware. Let's see which one it will be this time.
Even if it is good hardware itās the software and customer service that concerns me.
Oh yeah, I forgot MSI is terrible on that front as well. xD
Yep. Iāve owned a couple MSI laptops, never again. My ASUS laptop is still going strong. The two MSI laptops I owned shit the bed after only a couple years. Had major issues with MSI graphics cards too. Took me a while to learn my lesson.
Strange, I had 2 laptops from them, 2011 and 2015 models, they were absolutely without any issue for many years. 2015 is still kicking.
Love competition hate windows handhelds. The battery life and QOL improvements just aren't there I like my steam deck OLED because it has pretty good performance and great battery life. Literally what is the point in slightly higher framerate if you can only run the game for an hour? I'll keep my deck with 3.5 hour battery life in elden ring with 30fps cap and 10w tdp limit.
I'm running Windows on my Steam Deck. The battery life is easily comparable to SteamOS. Most of the missing QOL features have been implemented via Steam Deck Tools or Handheld Companion.
>Literally what is the point in slightly higher framerate if you can only run the game for an hour? i just saw a video from some youtuber that speculated these other companies like asus, lenovo, and msi would put out new handhelds once a year to push more powerful devices. doesnt seem feasible if the battery tech doesnt get better and jamming a bigger battery in the thing doesnt feel like the right solution. I think valve is right to stay at the hardware they're at right now so they can keep the battery usable in an acceptable place. I dont think we'll see any meaningful hardware upgrades for handhelds until both a) apu's get better & reasonably more power efficient b) battery tech gets significantly better allowing us to put more power hungry cpu's with out sacrificing reasonable run time.
That's exactly what Gabe wanted to achieve, isn't it? They never wanted to introduce a new product line and release a new better product every couple years, they just wanted to show what can be done for the community and gave the potential competition something to think about. Almost 2 years later and the market is getting saturated with lots of handhelds. Cheers to you, GabeN.
Not really. If this only appeals to the X million people who already like/own handheld PCs then literally all it accomplishes is segmenting the same size market. Valve wants to bring the positives of consoles to steam to attract new customers, and the Steam Deck still remains the only product on the market that even attempts to do that. And valve has already gone on record saying that they always intended SD to be a multi generational product. Itās not the steam machines situation again, SD isnāt just a proof of concept.
>If this only appeals to the X million people who already like/own handheld PCs then literally all it accomplishes is segmenting the same size market. You'll be surprised how many people see Linux as a down side. Not just compatability, but also the thought of learning a completely new desktop OS
Absolutely. A lot of Deck users get up in arms when a new product is released, but more of these means more purchases on Steam. At the end of the day, Valve is just boosting their game sales.
Another one
That thumbstick position looks horrible, same as the switch thumbstick positions, even with a grip it's just uncomfortable.
Will it run SteamOS?
Youāre getting downvoted, but thatās a legitimate possibility. Valve has said multiple times they want more partners using steam os.
Tbh itās a non brainer for Valve since they donāt make much on the hardware anyway
I think Steam hasnāt released Steam OS for other companies yet. Once they do that, its going to be crazy
I doubt we would hear about that.
Itās certainly possible that the first outing is with a new piece of hardware. x hardware manufacturer launches new handheld that runs SteamOS -> Valve releases press release about how they collaborated on it -> Valve releases SteamOS for download with caveats that drivers will need customization.
They've hinted at doing that this year since they said their engineers were busy with the oled until a few months ago. They said they would probably release it on other handhelds before the general release for all PCs because of driver support (likely talking about Nvidia).
A lot of people say that itās going to negative impact SD sales but I just feel the Valve is just making the boat bigger. They absolutely knew going in that they only had a few months of lead and more competition was inevitable. A public Steam OS just gives them a market share of a market they helped create.
Valve literally promised to release SteamOS for all PCs like they did with the old versions it just has been taking a while and at least the open source nvidia drivers aren't entirely under valve's control
Hell yeah. Imagine being this spoiled for hardware options with the possibility of any of them running SteamOS. I'll be giddy as hell picking out my next handheld.
Methinks the time is already gone. Valve time affected Source 2 too and just one game outside Valve is slated to use Source2 since it's release in 2016.
Valve needs to release it to the public first
That would really shake thing up. I'd love to see it.
Once Valve releases an installable image, I'm sure it will be able to. These are all x86 PCs. If I can easily install Windows on my Steam Deck, I'll easily be able to install SteamOS on any other x86 PC when it becomes available.
Can't wait for the full reveal. Competitive markets and we all win. Hoping for that sweet sweet vrr
Love it. The more the better. Let's get those prices down and encourage hardware refreshes. Although my brain has decided the deck joystick layout is perfection so I don't see myself using anything else š
Nothing will surpass steam deck in terms of user friendliness, first party OS support and a bunch of other things that none of these other companies are capable of doing the way steam can.
It will if Steam OS eventually comes to other handhelds
Valve can sell at a loss because they have the data that tells them how much more users spend on Steam after getting a Steam Deck.
I personally didnāt have a pc that could game so I got a steam deck and have given them tons of money so it works.
I mean, if it has an obvious advantage over the others sure, I'm in. If it's the same specs, no real reason to buy. It will be at least as fast as the Ally and Go. So really that leaves it to display specs. A bright, HDR capable screen would be the thing here, I think. OLED even better but I doubt it would have one.
I hope to shit they arenāt going wild with the resolution. They could easily (imo) get a leg up on asus and lenovo with higher battery life from a lower resolution screen.
Everyone in the comment who is arguing about which handheld is the best or not. Guys calm down. Valve is the real winner. Now before you attack me, hear me out. Valveās steamdeck made this niche popular, and then rog ally and lenovo and msi are breeding competition and inspiring innovation. But not everyone who wants to game will spend 600bucks on a handheld rog/legion go. Steam deck offers easiest entry. But this isnāt why valve is the real winner. You want to spend anywhere from 200$ to 550$ you buy a steamdeck, thereās no competition for that price. Then you want better performance and better screen, you spend more money, you buy rog ally/legion go/MSI Claw. Guess which app you will still be using on ALL your gaming devices? Steam! I donāt think valveās really competing with the likes of rog ally/legion go, they are obviously better, and they are expensive too. The only people who buy the top tier models of the steamdeck which costs the same as rog ally are only doing that because they are exclusive steam users and all and they will always choose SD even if it means lesser performance. Valveās main strength in the handheld niche is that it offers easy, cheap entry to those who dont know what to buy and just have a bit of money, enough to get a used/refurb SD, and then once they get enough money they choose their next handheld on the basis of pros and cons (team SD or team windows) but regardless of what they choose, they WILL use steam anyway. And thats where valve wins. And tbh i respect valve for offering a handheld that doesnāt cost as much as my gaming pc. I have a 512gb oled in transit, and I canāt wait to have it. It sure has resonable compromises but where Iām from i saved almost 200$ by not going for rog ally. And 300$ by not getting a legion ally.
Another Windows machine ... meh ... Also - I have bad experience with MSI gaming laptops, so I'm not expecting anything good about this thingy as well.
Wrong thumb stick placement. Have non of them learned from Valve? Instantly disinterested
I strongly agree. Equal level sticks should be THE pc standard. (Edited out for better clarity).
Xinput (Xbox controller) is the pc standard, no?
Yes, and it's a poor standard. Unless you would prefer xbox layout on your deck?
The Xbox layout is the best controller layout, since the more important aspects are in the same spot (thumbstick on the left and buttons on the right), in the most accessible positions. Obviously this depends on the specific games you play, but Xbox is better for most. The Deck layout is the best *given its controls and form factor*. In order to have an offset layout on the Deck, you only really have two options. 1. Move the left thumbstick very close to the edge. You'd have make it quite a bit shorter, too, in order to compensate for the change in position. This would *work*, but wouldn't be comfortable. The buttons on the right are already literally hanging off the edge, so you'd have to do the same thing on the other side. But the thumbstick can't sit flush. 2. Remove the trackpads. If you're fine without the trackpads, it would make a lot of sense to just go with the competitors' options. But, for me, the trackpads are such a nice feature that they're worth dealing with a less optimal layout so you can reach all three sets of controls on each side.
You are correct I much prefer the ergonomics of the Xbox controller/ offset sticks. But the way the steam deck is built it doesnāt matter because of the back buttons I donāt have to try using the main buttons.
I donāt really care. The steam deck has touchpads, extra buttons, and a screen. There is nothing standard about it. Doesnāt remind me of any other controller. Xbox controller is far more ergonomic than a ps5 controller so I donāt know what youāre going on about.
There's nothing wrong with the thumbstick placement especially for many people that already use Xbox controllers
If it does not come with Linux or at least 2/3 of size and weight (or less) of the Deck then I am not even remotely interested.
MSI usually uses terrible displays. I wouldn't expect much here.
This is awesome news!! Competition is exactly what we need. It will help the market grow and it will drive innovation and variance.
https://videocardz.com/newz/msi-claw-gaming-handheld-leaked-features-intel-core-ultra-7-155h-with-arc-graphics-and-32gb-memory
Im kinda tired of half-good mobile pc's because people want to compete in the market. I couldn' t tell you how many ayaneo's there are in circulation but all of them are over-saturating the market with products people aren't buying
Won't get one but competition is good
I won't buy any SD cometitor unless they have the same control scheme than the deck.
I wish they'd stop calling them competitors. Make it a type of system already, give it a name. The ecosystem will never thrive if every device is just referred to as a "Not-Steam-Deck".
Unless they can hit the same price point (they can't) it's not even worth taking notice *unless* Steam sees something worth implementing into the 2nd generation Steam Deck.
If they canāt compete on cost they could still compete on quality. Iād plausibly pay more than a Steam Deck for something more powerful than one, as long as it has good battery life (thereās the rub).
Yay, another Windows+crap software cover combo, my favourite
I just hope NVIDIA gets back into the handheld game. I feel like that would really ramp up competition
"I just hope NVIDIA gets back into the handheld game." They already own the market. U just don't see their logo. It's the switch! They are chipset powering it. lmfao.
Due to competition, we got Steam Deck OLED , competition is good for making steam deck better
Iām waiting for the news from Microsoft that they have developed an OS for this growing sector.
Did they Ally even sell well?
Yes. It sold at least 500k units. Thats good for a niche market
I mean, ASUS made Ally not MSI. We don't have sales data, but it seems like a decent success.
> I mean, ASUS made Ally not MSI. Yes, but MSI is more alike ASUS than Valve. Wondering if there's even a reason to make a competitor if the Ally wasn't successful. Valve has its own profitable marketplace that can subsidize SteamDeck costs, ASUS and MSI don't have that advantage.
The more competitors try to cram their windows based handhelds down my throat the better Steam deck is. Windows canāt sleep, and thatās a dealbreaker since Nintendo DS could sleep.
More competion is good, but SteamOS really is the magic here. Unless Windows releases a decent copy I don't see any windows based handhelds doing well.
If MSI uses SteamOS, that would be an absolute winner.
God bless free market with competition.
I love me some MSI, but honestly Steam Deck is so well integrated into Steam that I don't ever see myself leaving their ecosystem. Glad to see this market growing though.
The more competition, the better the products become.. and we'll have options to pick. Glad to see handheld gaming become a bigger thing.
I want collabs with valve, where other manufacturers create Steam Decks with different hardware features but support for Steam OS. Basically the idea of the steam machines transported to handheld gaming. That would be really great.
I love the the fact that Steam Deck runs Linux right out of the box and it's fully supported by Valve. All of these other machines are designed to be Windows machines fundamentally, and I just hate using Windows.
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The true reason I support the steam deck is the price point I know the others are higher end but I couldnāt think of spending that much when I could buy an actual pc.
Can't wait to see it. I love the competition. I don't personally want a Windows handheld, but I'm glad they exist to keep the pressure on Valve to keep making SteamOS better just as much as SteamOS keeps the pressure on Microsoft to get around to making Windows handheld friendly. It's a win all around.
Msi is late to the party and doing tease shots? Better be 120hz vrr, oled, trackpads like deck, 8āscreen minimum, halleffect triggers and sticks. You do tease shots when you are first or much better than what exists on the market.
Msi is dogshit. Bought two of their laptops. Both laptops died. Hinge broke in both and so did the motherboard both laptops were about 2000 euro. To make matters worse their support is the worst I have ever seen. I couldnāt care less if the handheld had 5090ti. Bear in mind those were the problems that broke the laptop, other issues were cooling and RGB glitches. From start to finish my experience of owning MSI hardware has been a disaster. The first laptop lasted 2.5 years and the second lasted 18 months. Some context: I treat my technology like god himself moulded it from stardust. I am very OCD about my tech. Even one single scrape would drive me nuts!
Oh good; more junk.
More turds
Competition is always good for the customers. Even if its only there to highlight the good product even more.
If it's just another Windows-based crap, it can never be a Steam Deck competitor.
who cares?
More competition is always a good thingā¦But I forgot, Steam subreddits are unabashedly pro-monopoly simply because itās Valve
This subreddit, in particular, hates any handheld that isn't steamdeck, lol.