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The Steam Deck OLED is now official. This much-needed refresh to the popular handheld gaming machine from Valve brings an OLED display as the highlight. However, its internal hardware hasn't received any updates. The machine will still use the same AMD APU as the first-generation Steam Deck currently on shelves. The new handheld is launching on Thursday, November 16, at 10 am PT.
The latest Steam Deck follows in the footsteps of the Nintendo Switch, which also received a better-quality OLED refresh late last year. Much like the Switch OLED, Valve's alternative brings a bigger battery to power the display. Coupled with that, it pairs support for WiFi 6E and is now lighter than ever before.
Steam Deck OLED announced, brings quality-of-life upgrades
The new Steam Deck OLED has been upgraded in every possible way to ensure a much better experience. For starters, it now features a 6nm APU, down from the 7nm tech used in the original handheld. With a larger fan and faster memory, the console now runs cooler and loads up games faster.
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Display
The display is the highlight of the upgrade. It is an HDR OLED panel with support for 110% of the P3 color space. It measures 7.4 inches (up from the 7-inch Stea Deck) and features a 90 Hz refresh rate. The OLED display has improved responsiveness thanks to an improved 180 Hz polling rate.
- HDR OLED
- 1000 nits of peak brightness
- ~110% of P3 color space
- 180 Hz polling rate
- 90 Hz refresh rate (vs. 60 Hz on the Steam Deck)
Connectivity
Besides this, the console's connectivity features have been improved. It now supports WiFi 6E, which promises better download speeds. The Steam Deck OLED also features Bluetooth 5.3, ensuring better connectivity and performance while using Bluetooth and WiFi simultaneously.
- WiFI 6E support
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Added support for wake via Bluetooth controller
- Increased performance and reduced latency
The battery life of the Steam Deck has now improved thanks to its bigger capacity cell. The device is advertised to go from 20% to 80% charge in as little as 45 minutes. The audio system has also been enhanced with louder speakers and better bass. The refreshed handheld achieves this while cutting the overall weight by 30g.
Steam Deck OLED release date and price
The Steam Deck OLED is launching on Thursday, November 16, at 10 am Pacific Time, right before Black Friday and the holiday season. It is available in three storage options: 512 GB, 1TB, and a limited edition. The pricing for these variants is listed below.
- 512 GB Steam Deck OLED - $549
- 1 TB Steam Deck OLED - $649
- 1 TB Steam Deck Limited Edition: $679
The vanilla versions with LCD displays are being massively discounted following this introduction. The 64 GB edition is down from $399 to just $349. The 256 GB option is getting an even larger cut from $529 to just $399. The 512 GB is also going from $649 to just $449. These offers make the entire Steam Deck lineup lucrative choices for gaming.
