If you\u2019re plugged into the world of gaming, you will have heard of the Steam Deck by now, even if you didn\u2019t know there was also an amped-up OLED version available to buy<\/a>.<\/p>\n The original Steam Deck<\/a> was first launched by Valve in February 2022, quickly taking the PC world by storm, with the fancier-screened OLED edition<\/a> dropping much more recently, in November 2023.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve somehow landed on this page without knowing what the Steam Deck is, it\u2019s basically a portable PC. It\u2019s a handheld gaming device, with a similar-ish form factor to the Nintendo Switch, that plays PC games.<\/p>\n Love gaming? Listen to our podcast One More Life!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Owners of \u2018the Deck\u2019 can bring their vast libraries of Steam games on the go, which is something of a game-changer for long-term users of Steam. (Steam, if you\u2019ve really been living under a rock, is the largest online store for PC games.)<\/p>\n But is the Steam Deck OLED worth buying? With a starting price of \u00a3479 \u2014 a fair bit more than the original LCD version\u2019s \u00a3349 \u2014 is it worth the cost of admission? We\u2019ve been testing it out for weeks, so keep on reading for our verdict! We\u2019ll start by getting right to the point\u2026<\/p>\n Yes, we\u2019d say that the Steam Deck OLED is worth it<\/strong>, especially if you\u2019ve been looking for a way to unlock your Steam library and access all those great games without having to be tethered to a traditional personal computer.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re wondering where to buy the Steam Deck OLED, it looks like Valve\u2019s online store<\/a> is currently your best bet. Other versions of the Steam Deck are available at a wider range of retailers, but the OLED version still seems to be exclusive to Valve.<\/p>\n [squirrel-affiliate-embed widget_type=\u201dprice_comparison\u201d squirrel_id=\u201d468524\u2033 \/]<\/p>\n Honestly, it\u2019s hard to think of anything negative to say about the Steam Deck OLED. Whether you\u2019re playing with it on the sofa, in bed, on public transport or even in an office or hotel, it\u2019s a really enjoyable device that makes PC gaming so much more accessible.<\/p>\n In terms of the specific upgrades that come with the OLED version, the improved screen is really nice, capable of rendering even complex games with beautifully bright colours and precise movement to boot.<\/p>\n The battery life on the OLED version is also better than that of the original LCD edition, with the new 50WHr battery claiming to allow three to 12 hours of gameplay (dependent on what you\u2019re playing). And if you can plug into a power source, you can keep playing indefinitely!<\/p>\n There are two sides to this review, really \u2014 first, we\u2019ll be reviewing the very concept of the Steam Deck itself, and secondly we\u2019ll be rating the specific upgrades that the OLED model has to offer.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve been wondering whether it\u2019s worth buying a Steam Deck in general, that\u2019s a purchase that we\u2019d wholeheartedly encourage on every level, no matter what your pre-existing relationship with Steam is.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re already a big PC player, the Deck is a great way to bring all your favourites with you. And if you\u2019re not yet a PC-centric player, the Deck is a fabulous place to get started, allowing you to access all those epic Steam sales in a form factor that won\u2019t feel alien to console users.<\/p> You might be worrying that the Steam Deck, containing as it does the power of an entire PC, would be quite a heavy item to carry around. We were pleasantly surprised in this regard, finding it easily manageable to hold for long play sessions (and it won\u2019t weigh down your rucksack too much, either).<\/p>\n Holding the Deck is really comfortable, not that different to gripping a Switch, and it\u2019s cool that the developers at Valve have evolved the handheld form factor a little, with two small touch pads allowing you a wider range of options when it comes to navigating games and menus.<\/p>\n There aren\u2019t that many games yet that were solely designed for the Deck, but Valve\u2019s own Aperture Desk Job \u2014 a fun little demo set in the same universe as Portal \u2014 provides a really enjoyable example of what a Deck-first game could look and feel like. It\u2019s a gag-filled flash in the pan experience that we\u2019d recommend trying first, when you boot up the Deck.<\/p>\n The real gift of the Steam Deck, however, is not Deck-first games built especially for this platform \u2013 rather, it\u2019s all about that vast library of PC games that have existed on Steam for years, many of which have already been optimised for the Deck.<\/p>\n Setting up the Deck is easy, and the gaming world will be your oyster as soon as you\u2019re online!<\/p>\n There\u2019s a whole ranking system that will tell you which games will and won\u2019t run well on the Deck, which is very welcome indeed (and will save you from wasting time or money on a game that isn\u2019t right for this style of play).<\/p>\n Even in cases like that, where the controls on the Deck don\u2019t match up to the pre-existing PC game in question, the Steam Deck does have a solution for you \u2014 using any USB-C dock (like this cheap option from Amazon<\/a>), you can connect a keyboard, mouse and\/or monitor to use the Deck as an\u00a0actual\u00a0<\/em>PC in the old-fashioned way.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve loved our time with the Deck so far, with the device making us much more likely to dip into Steam for a quick play session when we have a spare few minutes. Removing the the pomp of sitting down at the PC and booting it up, Valve has made PC gaming seem that little bit more like casual fun.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve played all sorts of games on the Deck, from the superhero tactics of Marvel\u2019s Midnight Suns<\/a> to the demonic hordes of Diablo 4 \u2014 not to mention the retro fun of Half-Life and the AAA action of Marvel\u2019s Spider-Man \u2014 and everything has run really well and looked pretty great.<\/p> Is the Steam Deck OLED worth it? Our verdict<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Steam Deck OLED review: Why do we recommend it?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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