Nintendo Switch Finds a Worthy Rival in Valve's New Steam Deck Handheld Console

Teased earlier this year, the Steam Deck is a powerful and feature-rich portable PC gaming console created in partnership with AMD. It features an AMD APU with a Zen 2 CPU and 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM. The console has a 7-inch display with a 1280 x 800 touchscreen and packs a 40Wh battery that delivers up to eight hours of playtime if you opt for lighter use and 2D games. Otherwise, for most games, the Steam Deck will still offer several hours of fun.

You can choose between three storage versions: 64GB eMMC (priced at $400), 256GB NVMe SSD (priced at $529), or 512GB (priced at $650). You can also expand your storage thanks to the MicroSD slot available on the portable game.

As far as the controls on the console go, you’ve got two thumbsticks, a D-pad, two trackpads (which are a first on a handheld game), four grip buttons on the back, and more. There’s also a dedicated headphone jack, and if you’re willing to pay extra, Valve also throws in a dock, which is sold separately, so you can prop the game up and plug it in your TV, for instance.

All in all, the Steam Deck gives you a lot of control over how to customize the layout according to your gaming preferences.

And since it was built for Steam, the console gives you access to your entire Steam library, as soon as you log into your account. This way, you’ll be able to quickly access your favorite games, collections, etc.

Valve’s new portable game has a lot going on in its favor. The only aspect where Nintendo managed to still stay on top is the display of its new Switch, which is now OLED, as supposed to the LCD on the Steam Deck.

The new Steam Deck handheld game from Valve is ready to preorder starting today, July 16. You’ll hopefully be able to get your hands on it sometime in December, which would make a great Christmas present.