Valve Announces Steam Deck, a Handheld Gaming PC [Updated July 16, 2021]

After rumors started swirling earlier this year, Valve has officially announced its own handheld, the Steam Deck.

Steam Deck is essentially a handheld gaming PC designed to run your entire Steam library, and the system will have three different versions. The basic version with 64GB eMMC storage starts at $399.99, while the version with 256GB NVMe SSD storage runs $529 and the 512GB of high-speed NVME SSD storage runs $649.

Steam Deck will come with a few typical Steam features as well, such as Steam Chat, Remote Play, Cloud Saves, Community and more. Valve is utilizing a reservation for purchases, so if you’re interested in purchasing the Steam Deck you should head over to the official page and put a reservation in, as it states “Choose which version to reserve below. When inventory is available, customers will be notified in the order reservations were made to make their purchase.” Do note, however, that there is a reservation fee that will be refunded upon the full purchase, according to Valve.

There are certainly some similarities between the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch, especially as Steam’s handheld comes with a dock that can hook up to external displays, USB peripherals, and power.

In terms of specs, Steam Deck will apparently be running a new version of SteamOS and has a custom APU developed in partnership with AMD (Zen 2 + RDNA). The display will run at a resolution of 1280x800px with a refresh rate of 60Hz, and it will also be touch-enabled. Below you can see more of the essential specs.

ProcessorAMD APU
CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32)
APU power: 4-15WRAM16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (5500 MT/s)

RAM
16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (5500 MT/s)

Gamepad controls
A B X Y buttons
D-pad
L & R analog triggers
L & R bumpers
View & Menu buttons
4 x assignable grip buttons

Thumbsticks
2 x full-size analog sticks with capacitive touch

Haptics
HD haptics

Trackpads
2 x 32.5mm square trackpads with haptic feedback
55% better latency compared to Steam Controller
Pressure-sensitivity for configurable click strength

Gyro
6-Axis IMU

The official Steam page for Steam Deck has more information, as well as an FAQ that answers some essential questions.

UPDATE FROM VALVE:

“July 16, 2021 – Valve is pleased to announce Steam Deck reservations are now open in select regions, with shipments scheduled to start in December 2021. Steam Deck is a powerful, portable gaming PC that will let customers take their Steam library with them wherever they go.

Choose from three versions of Steam Deck:

• $399 (64GB)
• $529 (256GB)
• $649 (512GB)

Customers will be notified to make their purchase in the order reservations were made as inventory comes available.

Reservations can be made here: https://store.steampowered.com/steamdeck“

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