The original review and video I created remain unchanged, but the Steam Deck available for purchase today in 2022 has undergone significant improvements. Valve has released over 100 updates that have enhanced its reliability and responsiveness, optimized game performance, and introduced new features that set this handheld Linux gaming PC apart from the rest. I have personally used the Steam Deck as my primary device, and for a more detailed analysis, you can refer to my latest long-term review.
The implications for my initial evaluation, which is available for your perusal below, are significant. It remains the optimal source for understanding the hardware’s capabilities. Additionally, we aim to maintain a comprehensive account of the Steam Deck’s performance from its inception.
I am adding bolded notes to indicate the areas where the experience has significantly shifted.
2. I have included bolded annotations to highlight the areas where the experience has undergone significant changes.
The Steam Deck is in disarray. It has been hastily released, incomplete, riddled with bugs, and lacks stability. If Valve were to sell this console at Best Buy or GameStop, customers would quickly return it in large numbers.
Valve is not distributing this handheld gaming PC at Best Buy. Instead, the company is slowly releasing it directly to dedicated Steam fans, the platform that first introduced the concept of selling “early access” games before they are fully developed. Do you remember when Valve allowed an unknown developer to sell a flawed, buggy game called PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds in early access? This decision had a significant impact on the gaming world. Despite the bugs, the game’s untested concept was so enjoyable that PUBG, its imitators, and the games it influenced (such as Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends) are now among the most popular titles worldwide.
The Steam Deck offers a distinctive combination as well. It functions as a Linux computer that is capable of running Windows games, similar to a Nintendo Switch, and provides exceptional value for the price. Similar to my experience with PUBG, a game I have spent 452 hours playing despite encountering glitches, I find it to be incredibly addictive.
Welcome to the early access game console. There will be bugs.
The display and audio quality are exceptional for a product with a starting price of. The visuals and sound are sharp and distinct.
The screen and speakers exceed expectations for a device priced at. The display is sharp and the audio is clear.
The most appealing aspect of the Deck, in my opinion, is the ability to suspend the entire SteamOS session instantly, without the need to pause or save. During a critical boss battle with a menacing dark demon in Control, my battery was running low, but I managed to seamlessly pick up where I left off after pressing the power button. Despite taking an hour to find a charger, I was able to resume my game without any setbacks.
When it comes to the battery, it is a weak point, but it is not as severe as I had anticipated. I managed to play Control on the Deck for just under two hours at 60fps and around 60 percent brightness. However, I was able to get nearly four hours of gameplay when I set it to 30fps or played less intensive games. I never had to worry about how much battery life was left or how to prolong it because the Deck can instantly provide information on its total power draw. For example, if you see 20W in MangoHud/Gamescope, you can expect around two hours of usage from the Deck’s 40Wh battery pack. Control consumed 12 watts at 30fps, Max Payne 2 used 10W at 60fps, and Nidhogg only required 6W. Not all games follow this pattern, though; for instance, Resident Evil 2 drew over 20W at 30fps, and many games exceeded the 24W mark at 60fps. It is important to note that downloading games at high speeds can put a significant strain on the system, consuming a lot of electricity and causing stuttering when trying to play Call of Juarez at the same time.
The sessions typically lasted for a sufficient amount of time to meet my needs, even though I always have a high-wattage USB-C PD battery close by. It’s worth mentioning that the original Nintendo Switch wasn’t significantly hindered by the fact that it could only run Breath of the Wild for 2.5 hours on a single charge. However, I am concerned about the battery’s performance after a year or two as it ages, especially considering iFixit’s indication that it’s not a simple task to replace it.
Valve’s Lawrence Yang informed me that the battery will be available as one of the replacement parts, and it is designed to protect the battery while charging. The system’s power draw never exceeded 30 watts, except when playing a game. It slowed down to half-speed when it reached three-quarters of the way, and then trickle-charged the last 10 percent. The final 4 percent took 15 minutes to complete. The entire charging process takes 2 hours and 45 minutes, and the device will not continue charging indefinitely when plugged in: Valve allows it to drain to 95 percent after “a long period of time.”
I am not pleased with the fan on the Steam Deck. It constantly makes noise, the sudden increase in speed can be disruptive, and although Valve’s team is working on optimizing it, they mentioned that “high-end games that push the APU to its limits may not see significant improvements.” However, on a positive note, the fan effectively prevents the Deck from overheating or causing discomfort when holding or using the controls.
The Steam Deck’s fan is unsatisfactory to me. It consistently produces noise, the sudden increase in speed can be disruptive, and while Valve’s designers are working on optimizing it, they have mentioned that “high-end games that push the APU to its limits may not see significant improvements.” Nevertheless, the fan effectively prevents the Deck from overheating or causing discomfort when holding or using the controls.
Valve has made changes to the fan curve, introduced an “engineered foam solution to minimize fan noise,” and sent replacement fans to iFixit for purchase and installation to swap out the whining noise with a more pleasant “whoosh.” While not completely satisfied, the improvements are significant.
The screen appears to have an excessive amount of bezel, and the button for the “Steam” menu could benefit from a more tactile feedback when pressed.
However, the crucial factor here is timing. The software of the Steam Deck is being rolled out with more intensity than any other device I have ever evaluated. Throughout my time using the Steam Deck, I found myself constantly navigating through error messages, bugs, crashes, black screens, UI glitches, regressions, and even complete feature alterations from Valve just before the launch.
I struggled to keep track of the number of times I had to restart the system or re-establish connections for Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or an SD card due to malfunctions. Some of the games I attempted to download failed to complete the installation process, halting unexpectedly or claiming insufficient space. Certain games displayed messages indicating that their “content” was “locked” when I tried to transfer them, or that they had obtained “corrupt update files.” At times, sections of my game library, or all of the games on my SD card, would temporarily disappear. I accidentally ruined one card when the Deck froze during formatting, and I foolishly reset the console while writing to flash memory. There were instances when I encountered difficulty accessing the Steam servers to download saved games or verify ownership of a title — and it was truly frustrating to discover that I couldn’t play a single-player game like Control or Red Dead Redemption 2 on the go due to DRM. (Fortunately, my phone hotspot came in handy in those situations.)
Update: I am no longer experiencing any of the aforementioned issues, except for occasional difficulties in moving games from SD cards. Valve has stated that they have resolved the problems related to SD card formatting. Additionally, Control now loads even without an internet connection, provided that I wait for a sufficient amount of time.
From time to time, the entire system would become unresponsive. On occasion, the user interface would malfunction or display poorly when connecting or disconnecting an external monitor. Although I didn’t encounter many issues when playing or installing games to the SD card, I did experience numerous problems when transferring data between the SD card and the internal drive, with unusually long transfer times during which the system was unresponsive. Games that were already installed would suddenly require new updates or randomly need to re-verify large amounts of content, and I had to download Elden Ring a second time even after preloading it. Even when the Steam Deck is offline, it takes a long time to launch games, presumably to check for cloud saves.
Update: I continue to experience sporadic instances of freezing, crashing, and rebooting – approximately twice a month. However, none of the other previously mentioned issues persist.
Valve’s developers have acknowledged numerous instances where I identified a bug, and it is commendable that significant improvements have been made in the last fortnight. The user interface was previously quite rough, but it is now much more fluid. I am now able to consistently stream games to Deck from my desktop PC, although I am currently unable to utilize the Deck’s controls or gyro. (Update: this is now possible!) Following at least three major adjustments to the frame limiter, stability has been achieved. A substantial update to Proton has expanded the range of compatible games.
Valve’s developers have recognized several cases where I discovered a bug, and it is praiseworthy that considerable changes have been implemented in the past two weeks. The UI was once extremely choppy, but it is now significantly smoother. I can now reliably stream games to Deck from my desktop PC, even though I am not yet able to use the Deck’s controls or gyro there. (Update: now you can!) After at least three significant tweaks to the frame limiter, stability has finally been achieved. A major update to Proton has enabled a wide variety of additional games.
However, despite my efforts to communicate these issues, Valve has not yet addressed the Bluetooth problems that persistently cause lag, skipping, and failure to reconnect after waking from sleep. Additionally, a recent update has caused the Deck to no longer automatically reconnect to Wi-Fi, even though I have enabled auto-connect and saved the password. The auto-brightness adjustment feature has consistently failed to function correctly for me, despite Valve’s attempts to improve it. Furthermore, the latest update appears to have disrupted the download progress indicator, indicating a pattern of unresolved issues.
The Bluetooth audio continues to experience lag, however, I have resolved the connectivity issues with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and the auto-brightness feature is now functioning properly.
Valve openly admitted to The Verge in an interview that they are aware many features will not be ready on the initial launch day. They have been focusing on addressing critical bugs and hardware production, while putting other tasks on the back burner. According to Valve veteran Greg Coomer, numerous updates will be released shortly after the launch, in the weeks that follow. He emphasized that they view the launch as the beginning, not the end. Lawrence Yang from Valve also mentioned that early adopters should anticipate frequent updates for a while, even if they may not notice as many changes per day as seen during the review period.
Frequent updates may not always be a negative thing. Having early access to new features can be quite enjoyable. Witnessing the sudden appearance of new features, such as the ability to play games on an external monitor with various upscaling options, including AMD’s FSR, can be quite thrilling. The quick application of FSR to any game from the settings menu significantly improved the visual quality of Fallout 4 on a larger monitor.
However, it may not be ideal if you are interested in knowing the performance of the Steam Deck with Windows before making a purchase, as I did not have the opportunity to test it yet – Valve’s promised GPU drivers have not been released.
The Steam Deck has been equipped with all the required Windows drivers since May, however, the experience of using Windows 10 or 11 on the Deck is not as satisfactory. Community tools do provide some assistance.
The ABXY face buttons exhibit a slight rattle when the Deck is shaken, yet I appreciate the tactile feedback they provide when pressed.
You may have a genuine interest in the performance of the Steam Deck when running Windows. Despite Valve’s attempts, the most frustrating aspect is the predictability that everyone anticipated: currently, you cannot be certain if a game will run on Linux until after you have downloaded it, installed it, patched it, allowed it to install the initial launch dependencies, and clicked play.
Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, based on Wine, significantly enhances the gaming experience on Linux by allowing many Windows games to run smoothly. Despite encountering occasional glitches, such as strange effects in Max Payne 3 and choppy cutscenes in Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, the overall performance is impressive. It wouldn’t be surprising if these issues were also present in the Windows versions.
The glitches have been resolved.
Valve also employs a group of individuals who assess the complete Steam catalog to evaluate gameplay. As of February 24th, 419 games are deemed to “work great,” while 398 are considered “playable” with adjustments, as reported by SteamDB scrapers. (Update: By January 2023, 2,758 titles have been verified for Steam Deck compatibility, and 4,518 are labeled as “playable.”) For further information, users can refer to ProtonDB community reports to identify any issues with specific games or utilize Valve’s checker to determine the compatibility of games in their personal library.
However, in practical terms, I found it difficult to fully trust any of those sources when it was time to start playing. Each of them has its own shortcomings. Duck Game is officially certified on ProtonDB, but it is marked as unsupported on Steam Deck, and I encountered issues when trying to run it. Even though Valve put in the effort to make Persona 4 Golden work, their database still shows it as completely unsupported, yet I managed to play it without any problems. I strongly disagree with the statement that Deathloop runs smoothly on Deck “right out of the box,” as I experienced a low frame rate and stuttering Xbox gamepad emulation when attempting to play. Valve also considers Half-Life 2 as a “great on Deck” game, but the default control scheme was not functional for me (although a custom one worked perfectly).
Despite the accuracy of the listings today, there is a possibility that they may not be accurate tomorrow. This is similar to the situation with Cyberpunk 2077, which was still not functioning properly even after the major patch. As of now, I am unable to run it at all.
Accessing games from an SD card was never an issue, however, the write speeds seemed to be a bit sluggish. Despite being advertised as up to 90MB/sec, this card typically only delivered half of that speed.
If you wish to enjoy some of the most popular games worldwide, many of which utilize anti-cheat software, Windows may be necessary. Recall the comparison I made to PUBG at the start of this narrative? PUBG, Destiny 2, Apex Legends, GTA 5, and Lost Ark are all incompatible. On my initial evening with the Steam Deck, I realized that it does not support the key games I engage in with my companions — Halo Infinite and Back 4 Blood — and this is not an isolated incident. When we reached out to major game developers regarding the possibility of incorporating anti-cheat now that Valve provides integrated support, most of them opted not to respond. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney was more forthcoming, explicitly explaining why Fortnite will not do so — the benefits do not outweigh the effort required to ensure that cheaters are not gaining entry.
The latest information is that Apex Legends, GTA V, Halo Infinite, and Back 4 Blood are all functioning properly at this time.
Additionally, Valve does not make a distinction between the verified version of a game, whether it is for Windows or Linux. It is important to be cautious as some games may have both versions available. For example, my review unit installed the Linux version of Rocket League, which no longer supports multiplayer, and the Windows version of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which does not launch at all. Although you can access a compatibility menu to download the other version, there is no indication of which is which. Unfortunately, the Linux version of Shadow of the Tomb Raider does not support Windows cloud saves, so starting from scratch may be necessary.
Valve’s decision to release the Steam Deck before it is fully prepared is understandable. With a significant number of preorders to fulfill, it is likely that many early adopters will be willing to overlook any initial bugs in order to be among the first to experience the device. Additionally, the impressive performance of the Deck may not remain unique for long, as RDNA 2 integrated graphics are becoming more common in other portable devices. It is reasonable to assume that Valve wants to avoid selling outdated technology.
However, it’s important to note that this also implies that reviewers such as myself were unable to thoroughly test everything: not Windows, not the delayed Dock, not Xbox Cloud Gaming (as we are still awaiting the Linux browser version to support the Steam Deck’s gamepad), and not the ability to switch between two apps, as this was a feature added by Valve at the eleventh hour. At The Verge, we do not review gadgets based on their potential. Our reviews are based on what we can physically see and interact with.
I have confidence in Valve due to my ownership of an original Steam Controller and the Steam Link streaming HDMI dongle, my interest in the Valve Index VR headset, and my ability to connect the Steam Deck to Valve’s unsuccessful Steam Machines. I believe Valve is sincere in its commitment to continuously update the Deck and expand the portable gaming category. The Steam Controller and Steam Link received bug fixes and feature enhancements for an extended period, even after it was evident that they would not revolutionize the industry.
If you are not interested in early access, you may consider waiting for the release of Steam Deck 2. Valve has hinted at the possibility of a sequel, as they believe in the longevity of the product. Valve’s founder, Gabe Newell, mentioned in an interview that future iterations will focus on the unique capabilities that mobile gaming offers, surpassing traditional desktop or laptop gaming environments.
Upon my visit to Valve’s headquarters in August to preview the Steam Deck, I explained my decision to invest in it: the appeal of being able to play my PC games on the go, seamlessly continuing where I left off on my desktop. This would finally allow me the opportunity to delve into titles like Control, Resident Evil 2, Fallout 4, The Witcher 3, and a plethora of indie games that I previously had to wait years to purchase on the Switch due to time constraints. Thus far, this aspect of the Steam Deck has been functioning well, and I am optimistic that it will only improve in the future.
Perhaps game developers will focus on developing games specifically for the Deck. They may also address the issue of anti-cheat software. Alternatively, similar to my experience with the Nvidia Shield portable that I bought and reviewed back in 2013, it could end up sitting on a shelf, mocking me with its untapped capabilities. However, it is reassuring to know that this device already has a good selection of games available right from the start.
Maybe game creators will target the Deck as their primary platform. They might also resolve any concerns related to anti-cheat measures. On the other hand, much like the Nvidia Shield portable that I acquired and assessed in 2013, it could remain unused on a shelf, teasing me with its unexplored possibilities. Nevertheless, it is comforting to see that this device already boasts a substantial collection of compatible games.
Currently, I am enjoying myself. I will receive my own 64GB model in Q2, and I am eagerly anticipating the early access to its eMMC storage — and possibly, I will replace it with the SSD I have already purchased.