Valve has officially announced an OLED variant of its Steam Deck handheld gaming PC. Slated to launch on November 16th starting at $549, new model retains the original’s performance but upgrades to an OLED display for more vibrant and responsive visuals.
While specifications like the AMD APU, memory, and storage options remain unchanged, 7-inch LCD panel has been replaced by a 7,4-inch OLED screen, OLED advantage comes from superior contrast and pixel response times.
According to Valve, it is the first gaming handheld with an HDR-capable OLED display, touts a 90Hz maximum refresh rate and peak brightness of 1000 nits for punchy HDR effects. OLED’s per-pixel lighting control also enables true blacks without backlight bleed.
However, the relatively low 1280×800 resolution means the Steam Deck won’t fully benefit from OLED’s enhanced sharpness, upgrade focuses mainly on boosting contrast, colors and response compared to the standard model’s LCD screen.
Offering a 6nm process AMD Zen 2 SoC, but GPU remains RDNA 2, CPU frequency is 3.5GHz, while the GPU operates at 1.6GHz. power consumption ranges from 4-15W, and the memory has been upgraded to LPDDR5 6400, supports Wi-Fi 6E.
Battery life sees a nice bump as well, with Valve claiming the OLED Steam Deck lasts 30-50% longer than the LCD version thanks to OLED’s efficiency advantages.
Pricing falls in line with the existing Steam Deck models, at $549 for 512GB storage or $649 for 1TB, OLED screen brings better portable visual immersion without impacting performance or battery, Lenovo also launched new Legion Go gaming handheld packs high-end specs and windows flexibility.
For gamers wanting more vivid and responsive gameplay from their Steam library untethered, the OLED Steam Deck will offer a compelling upgrade. While resolution remains limited, it should provide a welcome display enhancement on the go.
Addition of the OLED variant also further cements the Steam Deck as a powerful handheld gaming PC platform here to stay. With Valve continuing to refine the hardware and expand compatibility, the Steam Deck ecosystem looks poised for growth into 2024 and beyond.