The Steam Deck Review – Game Informer

Valve’s long-awaited Steam Deck is finally here, offering up a portable gaming solution with broad appeal. It is possible to see the appeal in a different way depending on what you are looking at. A low cost entry may prove to be an option for console-oriented gamers. For more dedicated PC players, it provides a chance to take what may already be an extensive Steam library on the go – albeit with only specific titles optimized right now. Either way, the Steam Deck is an impressive first step into a promising future of portable PC play – with some significant issues holding it back from greatness.

The Steam Deck is huge. At nearly a foot in width and weighing in at about 1.5 pounds, it’s a bit surprising the first time you pick it up – even knowing ahead of time about its bulk. The benefits of this weight are obvious with large controls and a multitude of inputs. But the most important thing is the impressive 7 inch display.

It is touch sensitive, used primarily to navigate the user interface. And the screen’s 1280×800 pixels are enough to bring out the best in games like Deathloop, Horizon Zero Dawn, and others. Although most users will plug in Bluetooth headphones or use compatible Bluetooth options, I was surprised at the quality of the speakers that came with my laptop. The stereo speakers provide crisp and clear percussive audio, even at a low volume.

While heavy, the unit feels good in the hand, with a pleasing round curve beneath the palms that is more like a PlayStation controller than the flat Switch handholds against which it’s most likely to be compared. Although the thumbsticks feel snappy and tactile, larger hands may find their position a little too high to be completely relaxed at rest. That’s due to the location of the two touchpads just below. They provided a pleasant haptic feedback that I appreciated. The touchpad is functional for the games that need it in play, but I had trouble getting anywhere near the precision I’d expect from an actual mouse.

Steam’s custom version runs flawlessly, no matter how you navigate the store or chat with friends. The quick access buttons were a great feature that allowed me to adjust the brightness, audio and performance settings as well as get overlay options which helped me tweak my tech settings.

Valve have been working to improve performance and firmware up until release. The device will probably continue to evolve in the weeks to come. Nonetheless, compatibility at launch isn’t guaranteed. Although many Steam games are compatible with minimal compromises, some have noticeable limitations, such as display issues or in-game text. Even so, it’s remarkable to see games like God of War and Dark Souls III running smoothly. In testing across dozens of games, many ran quite well, and with settings you’d expect in a proper mid-range rig.

The battery life can be a problem. The framerate can be lowered, brightness and volume increased, as well as other taxing actions that may affect the system, which will reduce the playtime to less than 2 hours. It is possible to increase it by lowering the settings. You can expect the hard drive to take up a lot of space, regardless of how large your PC games are. I was able to run games from a microSD card, which gives you a lot more storage. I’m also a bit bummed about the absence of an ethernet port for quicker download speeds, but a sold-separately USB-C hub fixes that.

Steam Deck is like all gaming PCs. Many features are likely to change. But as Valve’s foray into the handheld market, it offers access to a wealth of portable games on the go that you’ll never get on a mobile phone or even on your Switch. And for many, that should be reason enough to overlook any failings, even if it’s never going to fit in your back pocket.