Valve made quite an impression in the gaming world when they announcement the Steam Deck, a handheld device designed for player to play any game available in their Steam library either on the go or anywhere in your household. Shipping is expected to start late 2021, so if you’re keen to see know more about Valve’s latest product, here’s a breakdown of all the details you need to know if the Steam Deck is a good fit for you.

What exactly is a Steam Deck?

To put it simply, it’s a PC designed as a handheld device capable of running operating systems such as Linux and Windows. It’s can run almost all PC games available on Steam, with built-in controls to cover all types of genres from action adventures, competitive FPS games, to even strategy games like Civilization. Just like the Nintendo Switch, the Steam Deck can be played on your TV or monitor through Valve’s docking station.

The Steam Deck has a variety of buttons as it features a big touchscreen, two thumb sticks, two trackpads, the usual trigger buttons, and four grip buttons found at the back. The trackpads is the big question mark as Valve says it will "give you a competitive edge when playing fast paced FPS games." It’s too early to know if that statement is accurate but it’ll be quite the accomplishment if these trackpads can perfectly emulate the use of a mouse without making it feel awkward when holding the device.

What are the specs of the Steam Deck?

The Steam Deck was designed to play almost all modern triple A titles when it starts shipping later this year and is pretty decent to do so based on what’s under the hood. It’s not in the levels of high-end PCs or current generation consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X, but it’s right at the doorstep and will do the job.

CPU: AMD Zen 2
Core count: 4-core/8-thread
CPU clock speed: 2.4–3.5GHz
GPU: AMD RDNA 2
GPU Compute Units: 8
GPU clock speed: 1–1.6GHz
RAM: 16GB LPDDR5 @ 5,500MT/s
Storage: 64GB eMMC / 256GB NVMe SSD / 512GB NVMe SSD
Display: 7” LCD touchscreen
Resolution: 1280 x 800
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB Type-C with DisplayPort 1.4 support
Refresh rate: 60Hz
Audio: Stereo speakers, 3.5mm jack, dual mics, USB Type-C/Bluetooth
Battery: 40Whr
Size: 11.7 x 4.6 x 1.8-inch (298 x 117 x 49mm)
Weight: ~1.47 lbs (669 grams)

How much is the Steam Deck?

Valve will be releasing three versions of the Steam Deck, and the only difference is it’s storage space, meaning there won’t be a difference in performance between between each version.

The Steam Deck starts at a price of $399 with 64GB eMMC of storage space. Go up to $529 and you are given 256GB NVMe SDD for storage. And lastly, 512 GB of NVMe SDD storage for $649.

Steam Deck reservations are not available to users in the Philippines.

There is currently no suggested retail price for the Steam Deck in the Philippines, but with the current exchange rate in U.S. Dollar to Philippine Peso, the Steam Deck price starts at ~PHP 20,000.

When will the Steam Deck be released?

Valve expects to deliver the first wave of Steam Deck devices in late 2021. Pre-orders have come and gone and is only available online for reservation at select regions. For those in the Philippines, it’s unavailable in our region, so we’ll have to wait for local retailers to bring over some units, or find other means to secure one.

For those in other regions that are allowed to reserve a Steam Deck, pre-orders are now open. If you were one of the lucky few that were able to reserve a unit, it’s going to be a long wait as Valve isn’t committing to a specific delivery date at this moment as users that reserved are given different “expected order availability”, from as early as late 2021 to as long a Q3 2022. It’s still unknown as to why it could take long and reasons can vary per region.

I’ll update this section once Valve provides more information on this.

What kind of games can I play on the Steam Deck?

The Steam Deck will run any game that supports it’s SteamOS system, which is the default operating system installed when you get your device. Based on the specs mentioned above, the Steam Deck should be able to run any game on your Steam account smoothly with no issues. Valve’s concept is for players to turn on the Steam Deck, sign in to your Steam account and go play with whatever game you have installed in the device.

But the Steam Deck at this moment won’t be able to run at least half of Steam’s most popular games. According to ProtonDB, games such as like Apex Legends, Destiny 2, Rainbow Six: Siege, and PUBG are not compatible with SteamOS thanks to Linux being incompatible with their respective anti-cheat systems. Valve has stated that they are working on making the SteamOS installed in the Steam Deck to support games with specific anti-cheat programs. No timetable was given and we will update this once they provide more information.

If you’re wondering which games are compatible to SteamOS on day one, you can find the list of games here.

Can I install a different operating system on the Steam Deck?

Yes. On default, the Steam Deck is powered by a new version of the Steam OS, a custom Linux operating system created by Valve, but you can remove it and work with something else. According to a report from The Verge, Valve has said that the “Steam Deck is a PC so you can install third-party software and operating systems,”

That makes installing Windows 10 an option, making it another prime candidate for portable gaming to those subscribed to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass. The Steam Deck isn’t tied down to a single operating system. It’s designed to be a PC at the palm of your hands, so there’s a lot of options available to you if you’re thinking of using the Steam Deck in various ways.

Who is the Steam Deck for, exactly?

Everyone, really. On paper it seems to be a solid piece of hardware at a reasonable price. The Steam Deck should never be seen as a replacement or an upgrade to those who own a high-end PC running a crazy GPU, but it will definitely complement the games you play on it as the option to play any game on your Steam library is a big plus.

Those who appeal to the Nintendo Switch will also appreciate what the Steam Deck can offer thanks to…again, portability. Gamers with families or those always on the go will likely appreciate the device that can run a highly anticipated title to the indie gems only available on PC.

The Steam Deck can also be a budget option to those that don’t have a PC capable of running modern games, or has a PC that has fallen behind in specs, struggling to run the latest games. In the end, the Steam Deck is a PC.

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