Steam Deck is Valve's new handheld, starts at $400

(Image credit: Valve)

Valve bequeath start shipping a new handheld play device called Steam Deck in December 2021. (Update: Reservations are available now, and the expected ship date has been pushed into 2022.)

According to Valve, the twist is an AMD "powerhouse" which can run "the latest AAA games." The chunky soiled rectangle includes a 7-inch, 1280x800 touchscreen, trackpads corresponding the Steam Controller, and round-sized analog sticks.

Maybe a wagerer way to reckon about it is that it's a small PC with a controller attached as opposed to a play console.

Lawrence Yang, Valve

On the computer software root, Steamer Decorate runs on a new interlingual rendition of SteamOS, the Linux-based operating system Valve hoped to make a living elbow room staple back when Steam clean Machines were a thing. That doesn't mean that the Steam Coldcock will be limited to Linux games, though. Valve says that its Proton compatibility software has been "vastly improved," and plant with anti-cheat systems. You'll be able to play Windows games that get into't have prescribed Linux support, put simply.

You can also tinker with the Steam clean Deck of cards—information technology isn't a fastened package—and even apply it as a regular Microcomputer by plugging it into a monitor and peripherals. "Browse the web, vigil flowing television, do your normal productiveness clobber, set u other game stores, whatever," says Valve. An optional USB-C pier will furnish DisplayPort and HDMI yield, an Ethernet adapter, and three USB ports.

If you want, you can plane plain SteamOS hit of the device and install Windows, or something else.

"We don't think masses should be locked into a certain direction or a predestinate set ahead of software that they can install," Valve interior designer Lawrence Yang told IGN. "If you buy a Steam Pack of cards, IT's a PC. You crapper install whatever you want on it, you can attach some peripherals you want to it. Perchance a better path to call back about information technology is that it's a petite PC with a accountant attached as opposed to a play console."

Steamer Floor ironware specs

Here are the specifications of the handheld itself, accordant to Valve:

CPU: AMD Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32)
Chock up: 16 GB LPDDR5
Storage: 64GB, 256GB, 512GB versions; elastic with MicroSD cards
Display: 7" diagonal, 1280x800 (16:10), 60Hz LCD touchscreen
Audio: Stereo speakers that "pack a punch," says Valve, 3.5mm stereo jack, threefold mics, multichannel USB-C/Bluetooth output
Controls: Deuce analog sticks with capacitive touch, D-pad, face buttons, analog triggers, bumpers, alienable grip buttons, "persuasion" and "menu" buttons, gyro
Trackpads: There's 2 of them, and Valve says that they take in "55% better latency compared to Steam Controller."
Wireless connectivity: Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Wired connectivity: USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4 Alt-mode support; raised to 8K @60Hz or 4K @120Hz, USB 3.2 Gen 2
Barrage fire: 40Whr, "2-8 hours of gameplay"
Size: 11.7" x 4.6" x 1.8" (298mm x 117mm x 49mm)
Weight: Approximately 1.47 lbs (669 grams)

Valve claims that the Steam Decorate has "much enough carrying into action to melt down the latest AAA games in a same streamlined power gasbag." I wouldn't expect it to perform especially well with diagrammatically-taxing games at 1080p Oregon high, merely information technology should suffice at its own riddle's 1280x800 resolution. The promotional material includes shots of people playing Doom Unending, Control, and Jedi: Fallen Order. We look forward to putt a Steam Bedeck to the tryout with those games and others as soon as we have unmatched. (We will make sure it arse run Crysis, of course, but I seriously do wonder how it fares in something ilk Hunt: Showdown.)

One potential dashing hopes is the battery life. Valve says that the Steam Bedeck's battery will last for "several hours" while playing most games, and IT maxes prohibited at 8 hours in "barge use cases like game streaming, smaller 2D games, or web browsing." At a minimum, it should last two hours acting a resource-intensive game. Hope your airplane seat has an retail store, then.

A fast suspend/resume function will let you pause the Steamer Coldcock and send IT to sleep mode, and then promptly wake it up and die off cover to your game when you're ready. (When you've plugged it in, for deterrent example.)

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Steamer Deck price and availability

The Steam Deck starts at $399 for a 64GB version. Thither's too a 256GB version for $529 and a 512GB version for $649. The ii more expensive versions also feature faster NVMe storage, and in all three versions, storage can be increased with a microSD card.

Valve boss Gabe Newell said that picking a price for the Steamer Deck was "painful," but that at long las the device had to comprise all-powerful enough to do well.

"Our view is, if we're doing this right, we're going to be selling these in millions of units, and it's clearly going to be establishing a cartesian product class that ourselves and other PC manufacturers are going to be healthy to participate in," said Newell. "And that's going to have long-term benefits for us. So that's sort of the couc in which we're intelligent about this."

Protrusive this Friday at 10 am Ocean, Steamer Decks will be for sale for reservation on Steam clean for a $5 fix. Valve plans to start shipping them in December. That depends where you live, though: December 2021 volition see units shipped to the U.S.A, Canada, the European Union, and the UK, with more regions coming in 2022.

The chuck-full Steam Deck details and specs rear be found connected the Steamer Deck site.

John Tyler has spent all over 1,200 hours playing Eruca sativa Conference, and somewhat fewer carping the PC Gamer style guide. His primary news program beat is game stores: Steam, Epic, and whatever launcher squeezes into our taskbars next.