Valve Announces Upgraded Steam Deck with Enhanced Display

Valve has unveiled an updated version of the Steam Deck, featuring a new 7.4-inch OLED display. The new display is slightly larger than the original LCD display, measuring 0.4 inches bigger, and maintains the same 1280 x 800 resolution. However, Valve has made several improvements to the display, including an increased refresh rate of 90 Hz compared to the previous 60 Hz. The display is also brighter, with an SDR rating of 600 nits and an HDR rating of 1000 nits. Valve claims a 110 percent P3 colour gamut, a one million to one contrast ratio, and a sub 0.1 ms response time. Additionally, Valve has introduced "high performance touch" technology to enhance display responsiveness.

Not only has the display been upgraded, but Valve has also switched to a 6 nm AMD Zen 2 based SoC. This change allows the GPU to run at a constant 1.6 GHz, as Valve no longer specifies a frequency range for the GPU. The power envelope remains the same, ranging from 4 to 15 Watts. The new SoC is paired with faster LPDDR5 memory operating at 6400 MT/s, an improvement from the previous 5500 MT/s, which should result in a slight boost in gaming performance. Valve has also implemented an improved cooling solution, likely contributing to the more consistent GPU clocks.

The entry-level storage SKUs have been removed, and the OLED version of the Steam Deck is only available with 512 GB or 1 TB of internal storage. The WiFi and Bluetooth module has been upgraded to support WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. The battery capacity has been increased from 40 Whr to 50 Whr, and Valve claims a battery life of three to 12 hours during gaming, as well as faster charging times. Additionally, the weight of the device has been reduced by 29 grams, a notable achievement considering the larger battery pack.

However, the upgraded features come at a higher price. The 512 GB version of the Steam Deck is priced at US$549/€569, while the 1 TB version is priced at US$649/€679. The upgraded Steam Deck will be available for purchase on November 16th.