VALVE STEAM DECK OLED

Is this the closest thing to handheld PC gaming nirvana in 2025?

- Words Alan Wen & Tom Morgan-Freelander

The Steam Deck OLED arrived at the tail end of 2023 as an upgrade to Valve's handheld PC. As well as having a superior screen this model is also lighter and quieter, and crucially has a battery that lasts considerably longer. It's still pretty chunky, but it sits in the hands nice and snugly.

If this is your first handheld gaming PC, you're likely to be blown away by what the Steam Deck OLED can do. OK, it's not powerful enough to run modern AAA games at anything close to 90fps, but the fact that you can play Batman: Arkham Knight (still one of the best-looking games ever) on a handheld without making it look like sludge - albeit after tweaking the framerate - is remarkable.

Tints you've been gone

The OLED display has a genuinely transformative effect on games. The colour accuracy is so clearly superior and images far more vibrant than on the original model; and while there aren't that many games that support HDR, those that do are rich in colour and bursting with light. There's no escaping the fact that the 1200x800 resolution is lower than many rivals, though.

Valve reckons the battery should last up to 50% longer than the original Steam Deck's, but it's still very easy to burn through a full charge in under 3hrs. If you want it to cover a long train journey, be prepared for some compromise.

The Linux-based OS gives the Steam Deck a console-like feel, but at its core this is still a PC. It'll indicate which of your games are certified to work without any issues (and plenty that aren't still run fine), but newcomers should know it's not as 'plug and play' as they might be used to.

It has a lot more competition now, but the Steam Deck remains the portable gaming PC to beat.

from £479/ go.stuff.tv/DeckOLED

Key specs