A few hours ago, Valve surprisingly presented two new Steam Decks. These versions feature a slightly larger, more responsive HDR OLED screen and other technical modifications. At this stage, we can’t speak of a Steam Deck 2, but rather a refresh . In fact, the current equipped versions are still in the catalog and have been repositioned with a more aggressive price tag. It’s highly likely that these versions will be cleaned up quickly, and two variants should soon be discontinued.
the “old” Steam Deck above and its OLED version below.
Two new Steam Decks with OLED screens
These new references will replace the two top versions of the current range from November 16. Aesthetically, there are no changes. It’s all down to the hardware. Specifically, the screen has been upgraded from 7 to 7.4 inches, and from 60 Hz to 90 Hz. Resolution remains at 1,280×800 pixels, so pixel density drops slightly from 215 ppi to 203 ppi. The AMD APU has also been updated, though without revolution. However, the new versions consume less power and have much quieter ventilation. Memory, on the other hand, has been upgraded from 5,500 MT/s to 6,400 MT/s bandwidth. On paper, this change should bring FPS gains in the single-digit percentage range. The other key point is the evolution of the battery from 40 to 50 watt-hours. This will increase autonomy by 30 to 50%, depending on the game (according to Valve).
Technical differences between classic and OLED versions
Steam Deck OLED | Steam Deck LCD | |
---|---|---|
APU | AMD Sephiroth | AMD Aerith |
Lithography | TSMC 6nm | TSMC 7nm |
CPU | AMD Zen 2 (4-core, 8-thread) | AMD Zen 2 (4-core, 8-thread) |
Clock speed | 2.4 – 3.5GHz | 2.4 – 3.5GHz |
GPU | AMD RDNA 2 (8 CUs) | AMD RDNA 2 (8 CUs) |
Clock speed | 1.6GHz | 1.6GHz |
RAM | 16GB LPDDR5-6400 | 16GB LPDDR5-5500 |
Display | 7.4-inch OLED | 7-inch LCD |
Resolution | 1280 x 800 | 1280 x 800 |
Refresh rate | 90Hz | 60Hz |
Storage | 512GB | 1TB NVMe SSD | 64GB eMMC | 256GB | 512GB NVMe SSD |
Network | Wi-Fi 6E, BT 5.3 | Wi-Fi 5, BT 5.0 |
Battery | 50Wh | 40Wh |
Weight | 640g | 669g |