Valve has announced Steam Deck OLED, a mid-gen (sort of) refresh of its popular PC handheld gaming console.

The new version features a 7.4″ HDR OLED display, a bigger 50Whr battery, faster downloads with WiFi 6E, improved thermals, and a 5% lighter construction than the previous LCD models.

Steam Deck OLED will be solid in two storage options: the 512GB version will cost $549, while the 1TB version will set you back by $649.

Valve will also release a limited edition translucent version, which will come with a 1TB storage option and an exclusive design carrying case. It will cost a little more than the standard version at $679.

Bigger, Better, But Not Faster

Despite the slew of hardware upgrades, the Steam Deck OLED won’t necessarily offer better performance. While the new OLED screen is bigger than the LCD models (7.4″ vs 7″) and supports HDR and 90Hz refresh rate, it will still output at a native 1280×800 resolution.

But the bigger battery pack is the most significant upgrade for new buyers or those looking to upgrade. The 50Whr battery (over the 40Whr battery pack of the LCD models) seems to offer a significantly longer run time, with Valve claiming a nearly 50% increase in uptime in most cases.

The overall construction has also received a few tweaks. It’s lighter than the previous models – around 5% or 30g lighter – making it slightly easier to carry around in your backpack, although the overall shape and size remain the same. So it’s still a chonky boy. The OLED version has also been fitted with a different version of the joysticks, but they are not Hall Effect ones, so it’s not a significant upgrade by any means.

LCD Models Are Now Cheaper

With the launch of the Steam Deck OLED, Valve is reducing the prices of the LCD models and announced that they will be discontinuing the 64GB and 512GB versions.

Here are the new prices for the LCD models:

  • 64GB Model – $349 (previously $399), until stocks last
  • 256GB Model – $399 (previously $529)
  • 512GB Model – $449 (previously $649), until stocks last

Steam Deck OLED will be available from November 16 in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, European Union, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. It won’t be officially available in the UAE; however, just like the LCD models, expect online and physical stores to carry the new models relatively soon with a slight markup in price.

Mufaddal Fakhruddin
Mufaddal Fakhruddin

Mufaddal Fakhruddin has been writing about games and technology for the past 15 years. He has lost count as to how many reviews he has written over the years, but he is sure headphone reviews make up at least 70% of that.

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