Valve has already carried out the onerous half with the Steam Deck. It proved {that a} handheld gaming PC can supply a console-like expertise whereas nonetheless being sensible and enjoyable. With the Steam Deck OLED, the corporate solely sharpened this strategy with a greater display screen, bigger battery, and a handful of good upgrades.
So the Steam Deck 2 doesn’t must chase some wild new identification. The present Steam Deck isn’t flawless, however it additionally doesn’t must win some pointless spec conflict. What I actually need is a mixture of quality-of-life enhancements and {hardware} upgrades that tighten up the expertise in significant methods.
Give me a greater display screen, however make it work tougher for effectivity
Steam Deck OLED Jacob Roach / Digital Developments
The Steam Deck OLED already has a beautiful show. Valve’s determination to maneuver to OLED, a smoother 90Hz refresh price, and a bigger 7.4-inch display screen made for a really welcome refresh, and I might completely need OLED to return on the Steam Deck 2 as nicely. However the bizarre factor is that Valve nonetheless stopped wanting one characteristic that might make an enormous distinction on a handheld: built-in VRR (Variable Refresh Price). This omission actually caught out since VRR is fairly helpful on transportable programs like this.
It could assist video games really feel smoother with out forcing the system to chase inflexible body targets, and that may additionally translate into higher battery conduct. Oddly sufficient, the Steam Deck OLED does help VRR on sure exterior shows over USB-C, simply not by itself display screen. Give the Steam Deck 2 a smoother 120Hz OLED panel and VRR, and it will likely be on even floor with the competitors.
Battery life and charging want an even bigger leap
Valve
Battery life continues to be the most important quality-of-life battleground for handheld PCs. Valve made significant enhancements with the OLED mannequin, due to its bigger 50Wh battery and higher effectivity. Even so, it didn’t take lengthy for evaluations to level out that heavier titles can nonetheless drain the Deck OLED fairly rapidly.
An even bigger battery would make an actual distinction. The ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X is a good comparability with its big 80Wh cell. So even one thing within the 70Wh vary on a Steam Deck 2 would go a great distance towards making the system really feel much less tethered to a charger.
Charging deserves some love too. Valve ships the Steam Deck with a 45W energy provide, and whereas the 20% to 80% figures sound respectable on paper, a full top-up nonetheless takes longer than I would love. Sleep conduct additionally wants work. With the present fashions, battery drain throughout sleep has been probably the most mentioned points locally. A fast wake-up is barely helpful if the gadget isn’t quietly burning by means of battery whereas it sits in a bag or on a desk.
Replaceable Battery?
That is positively a tall-order request, however a replaceable battery on the Steam Deck 2 can be unimaginable. To be honest, Valve has already made the OLED simpler to restore than the unique, with Torx screws and higher inner entry. And with the EU persevering with to push tougher on detachable and replaceable battery guidelines for transportable electronics, there’s no less than an infinitesimal probability that handhelds might ultimately profit from that shift too.
Larger deal with controls and core {hardware}
To make the Steam Deck 2 really feel future-proof, I’ve a couple of grasping asks.
Initially, give it two USB-C ports, as a result of one nonetheless feels too limiting on a handheld PC that additionally wants the identical port for charging. A type of might even be Thunderbolt. This isn’t some remoted wishlist merchandise both—customers on the Steam Deck subreddit have been asking for the additional port for some time now. We additionally want extra reminiscence headroom. 16GB feels just like the naked minimal now, not a cushty goal.
On the controls facet, I might love Valve to look significantly at TMR joystick sensors as a substitute of settling for a similar outdated Corridor Impact dialog. TMR is beginning to get traction as a result of it affords the identical broad “drift-resistant magnetic stick” attraction whereas utilizing far much less energy. The corporate has already given it a go together with its new Steam Controller, which makes use of twin TMR magnetic thumbsticks. So it’s greater than only a nerdy tech improve, becoming into Valve’s thought of “generational leap” in tech.
New Steam Controller Valve
Steam Deck 2 doesn’t should be flashy
Valve doesn’t must make the quickest or most effective handheld available on the market. It simply wants Steam Deck 2 to stay to the strengths that already made the unique work, after which refine the expertise even additional.
Even when the corporate doesn’t carry all of those upgrades talked about above, I’d nonetheless belief Valve to get the system proper. The corporate has by no means seemed most fascinating when it’s making an attempt to comply with the business. It solely stood out as a result of it’s prepared to take a good suggestion, hold experimenting (like with the unique Steam Machine), and enhance it with out getting distracted by the remainder of the market.
As certainly one of my favourite YouTubers, DJ Peach Cobbler, put it: “Valve isn’t a massively profitable firm regardless of their failures, they’re massively profitable as a result of they’re prepared to fail.”
