If you're reading this on day one, that means you now officially have the opportunity to order the venerable Steam Deck OLED - a mid-generation refresh of the original Steam Deck. This means you're, naturally, getting some key improvements to the base device, but if you're unsure about the specifics, we don't blame you!

You see, the Steam Deck OLED is, decidedly, not Steam Deck 2. According to Valve itself, Steam Deck 2 proper is only going to happen once a "generational increase [in performance]" is possible at the handheld's targeted power envelope. In other words, we're looking at a wait of at least two to three years before the device is announced and made available.

This posits some interesting questions for you, our dear reader, then. Firstly, if you do not have a Deck and would like to own one, should you be gunning for the OLED model, or the regular 256-gig LCD version that's going to remain on sale? Secondly, if you do have a baseline Deck, should you be upgrading to the OLED model? Would it be better to wait for Steam Deck 2 to drop? In this article, we aim to help you decide!

READ MORE: Can You Use SteamOS on Your PC?

What is the Steam Deck OLED?

Valve has introduced the Steam Deck OLED with an eminent availability date of November 16. The device starts at the price of 569,00€, and it promises a hugely improved display compared to the original, substantially improved battery life, and an assortment of other, arguably much-needed improvements.

The big takeaway here, however, is that the Steam Deck OLED is still not more powerful than its top-tier competitors. Indeed, both the ROG Ally and the Legion GO will outperform the Deck OLED quite handily. As with most things, though, there's a catch here: these devices will only outperform the Deck if you crank up their wattages and let them draw huge amounts of power. In other words, you're sacrificing your battery life and portability.

One of the main reasons Valve has struck gold with the Steam Deck is that this device will play games extremely well at extremely low wattages. At 4-5 Watts, the ROG Ally gets beaten down by the Deck, implying huge effort has gone into optimizing the Deck's chipset for low-wattage gaming. While it won't be to everyone's tastes, we're thrilled to report that the Deck OLED leans into this niche further still, and it's bound to remain unbeaten for years to come.

How does Steam Deck OLED improve the original hardware spec sheet?

Let's talk hard numbers for a bit. First, we're going to give you the two Deck models' respective spec sheets, and then we're going to explain what it all mains for you, the end-user. Let's start with the baseline LCD Steam Deck.

LCD Steam Deck specs

OLED Steam Deck specs

So, what you're going to notice here is that the hardware has, for the most part, only incrementally improved. You're getting the same APU here, except on a smaller production node. You're getting the same RAM here, too, except a fair bit faster. The device is, overall, lighter as well, and it comes with far superior connectivity for better download speeds (if your networking solution allows for it).

That's because Valve is targeting the exact same power envelope with the Deck OLED as it did with the Deck LCD. There are some performance gains to be had here, as explained by Digital Foundry's wonderful review video, but the biggest upgrade of them all is twofold:

Combine these with the OLED's lighter weight, and you've got the clear, obvious winner. Yes - if you're buying your Steam Deck now, we heartily recommend splurging on the OLED, because the experience will be far, far superior overall.

What about those of us who already have the Steam Deck LCD?

Things complicate a bit if you already have a baseline Steam Deck, however. For all of the OLED's draws and improvements, notice that you're not getting a transformative gameplay experience, performance-wise. Games will, broadly, run the same on the OLED as they do on the LCD model, you're just not going to be able to play as long, and you'll have a less stellar visual experience due to the display.

We'll be honest: if you already have your LCD Deck and you're happy with it, it may be better to wait for the Steam Deck 2 in a few years' time. Both the LCD and the OLED Decks are, in essence, the same device. You're only getting minuscule optimizations if you don't care about the screen and the battery life, and the performance bump-up of 2-3 FPS in AAA games is just not worth the relatively expensive upgrade.

So, if you're happy using your LCD Steam Deck for a few more years, we recommend doing so. In fact, that's what yours truly aims to do, as everything implies the Steam Deck 2 will, inevitably, be a truly transformative experience. Besides, it's not the second Valve hardware generation you've got to worry about, but the third.

OLED is Great, but the LCD Model is Pretty Good as Well!

This header is the obvious summary of the discussions surrounding this topic. Some may be understandably miffed that Valve would be so quick on the trigger when it comes to iterating upon the baseline Deck, but the OLED model is obviously an incremental upgrade. Those who are happy with their LCD devices should stick with them, and SteamOS 3.5 promises heaps of improvements for their displays, too, thanks to the new colour calibration functionality and other assorted boons.

At the same time, keeping the OLED and the LCD models of the Deck in the same performance bracket allows Valve to push just one patch pipeline while Steam Deck 2 is in production. We hope this article helps you pull the trigger on the right version of the Deck for your use case, and remember that you're getting a phenomenal PC gaming handheld, no matter which option you end up going with. Have fun!

CHECK OUT: 2023's Best Handheld PC Games

 

If you’re reading this on day one, that means you now officially have the opportunity to order the venerable Steam Deck OLED – a mid-generation refresh of the original Steam Deck. This means you’re, naturally, getting some key improvements to the base device, but if you’re unsure about the specifics, we don’t blame you! You […]