Valve could have already launched “the very best handheld round” as we coined it in our Steam Deck assessment, however the firm is already laborious at work placing collectively Steam Deck 2. This isn’t too stunning given how many individuals are clearly within the Deck, with the quantity of reservations already pushing the anticipated availability of the system all the way in which again to ‘after Q2’ of this 12 months. Time will inform, nonetheless, how a lot of an improve it’s going to supply and whether or not it may possibly stand as much as rivals just like the Ayaneo Subsequent.
Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve, nonchalantly confirmed the existence of Steam Deck 2 in an interview with Edge journal, saying that the discharge of the corporate’s handheld gaming PC would “assist body our pondering for Deck 2.” Newell elaborated that the design of a brand new Deck would concern itself with capitalizing on “the capabilities that cellular offers us, above and past what you’d get in a conventional desk or laptop computer gaming atmosphere.”
Sadly, Valve is holding the finer particulars of what it’s cooking up in its Washington places of work beneath strict lock and key. Nonetheless, we do have some concepts of what to anticipate from the Steam Deck 2’s specs in comparison with the corporate’s present moveable powerhouse.
Right here’s every part we learn about Steam Deck 2:
Steam Deck 2 launch date
Provided that Valve simply launched the inaugural Steam Deck, we shouldn’t anticipate the Steam Deck 2 launch date to come back round anytime quickly. Nonetheless, this doesn’t imply that we couldn’t see refined variations of the present Deck within the close to future, much like how Nintendo refreshed its Swap line-up with the OLED mannequin.
Steam Deck 2 worth
Gabe Newell beforehand described hitting the $399 USD / £349 MSRP of Steam Deck’s base mannequin as “painful”, so it’s attainable that Steam Deck 2 might value extra, particularly on condition that the value of supplies wanted to make PC elements continues to rise. Nonetheless, Valve might be able to offset the decrease revenue margins of entry-level Steam Deck 2 fashions by producing extra high-spec variants.
Talking with Edge journal, Newell shared that the Deck’s “hottest SKU is the most costly one”. He says that the corporate is studying this concentrated demand as clients saying, “we want an much more costly model of this, when it comes to horsepower capabilities or no matter.” So, we might see a premium model of Steam Deck 2 surpassing the present $649 USD / £569 GBP ceiling.
Steam Deck 2 specs
There’s no official phrase or any substantial leaks surrounding Steam Deck 2 specs, however we will make some educated guesses based mostly on the make-up of the present Deck. Battery life could possibly be a lot improved over the present Deck by rising the battery capability above 40Whr which might assist to deal with one of many core complaints about it.
An OLED or QD-OLED show would supply a lot larger color accuracy over the present IPS LCD panel, whereas additionally permitting Valve to considerably cut back the borders surrounding the display.
The present model of Valve’s handheld wields an RDNA 2 chip, however the Steam Deck 2 might come geared up with a brand new AMD Ryzen APU. Dubbed “Little Phoenix”, it goals to be an “extremely low powered” model of the next-gen Phoenix level CPU, that includes 4 cores, eight threads, and 4 WorkGroup Processors.
Steam Deck 2 efficiency
Till we get nearer to its launch date, there received’t be any official or leaked Steam Deck 2 efficiency benchmarks to pour-over. As such, we hope on the very least to see Valve make enhancements to battery life and gaming efficiency in comparison with the present deck. Both approach, taking part in videogames on a Steam Deck 2 ought to require much less guesswork, as extra Steam video games’ compatibility ranges ought to be documented.
