In a surprise move, Valve has revealed an upgraded version of the Steam Deck that features an OLED display, improved battery life and other minor improvements. However, the new Steam Deck OLED doesn’t offer more hardware power — the company is likely saving that upgrade for the Steam Deck 2.
According to Valve, the Steam Deck OLED features between a 30-50 percent battery life improvement over the launch version, a larger 90Hz 7.4-inch HDR OLED screen with smaller bezels — a relatively minor increase over the 7-inch original Steam Deck display — alongside 512GB/1TB storage options.
The outside of the Steam Deck OLED (other than the display changes) remains identical to the original version. Image credit: Valve
Diving into the upgraded battery specifically, the OLED Steam Deck features a 50Whr battery compared to the 40Whr version the launch model offers. This is a great move by Valve, given one of the main issues with the original Steam deck is its lacklustre battery life (in some cases, mine only lasts an hour when running high-end games). Valve says the new version of the Steam Deck will also charge faster.
Along with launching the Steam Deck OLED, Valve is reducing the price of the LCD Steam Deck and is discontinuing the 64GB/512GB version.
Below is the pricing for the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED:
Steam Deck OLED (512GB): $689
Steam Deck OLED (1TB): $819
Steam Deck LCD (256GB): $499
While early adopters will likely feel a bit burned by a new Steam Deck arriving so soon, it’s great to see that Valve remains committed to the handheld space. The improvements over the base-level Steam Deck are relatively minor, though they’ll definitely be meaningful for some users. I’m a big fan of Valve’s Steam Deck, and over the past few years, it’s quickly become my go-to device for retro emulators.
The transparent Steam Deck OLED looks undeniably cool. Image credit: Valve
The Steam Deck OLED will be available to order on Valve’s website on November 16th at 1pm ET/10am PT. The company is also releasing a special transparent version of the Steam Deck OLED with red accent colours that looks extremely cool.
Image credit: Valve
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
