Valve may have already released the “Best Handheld,” as we called it in our Steam Deck review, but the company is already hard at work building Steam Deck 2. Not that surprising considering how many people are clearly interested in the Deck, with reservations that are already pressing. the expected availability of the device until “after the second quarter” of this year. However, time will tell how many upgrades it will offer and whether it can stand up to competitors like the Ayaneo Next.
Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve, casually confirmed the existence of Steam Deck 2 in an interview with Edge magazine, stating that the release of the company’s portable gaming PC “will help shape our vision for Deck 2.” “. Newell explained that the design of the new platform will aim to capitalize on “the possibilities that mobile connectivity gives us beyond what you would get in a traditional desktop or laptop gaming environment.”
Unfortunately, Valve is keeping the finer details of what it’s doing in its Washington DC offices under strict lockdown measures. That said, we do have some ideas on what to expect from the Steam Deck 2’s specs compared to the company’s current portable powerhouse.
Here’s everything we know about Steam Deck 2:
Steam Deck 2 release date
Considering that Valve just released the first Steam Deck, we shouldn’t expect a Steam Deck 2 release date anytime soon. However, that doesn’t mean we won’t see upgraded versions of the existing game in the near future, similar to how Nintendo updated its Switch lineup with an OLED model.
Steam Deck 2 Cost
Gabe Newell has previously described getting to the $399/£349 Steam Deck base model as “painful”, so it’s possible Steam Deck 2 will cost more, especially as the prices for the materials needed to make PC components are staggering. . . However, Valve is able to compensate for the lower margins of the entry-level Steam Deck 2 models by producing more capable variants.
Speaking to Edge magazine, Newell shared that “the most popular Deck item is the most expensive.” He says the company sees this concentrated demand as customers’ words: “We need an even more expensive version of this car in terms of horsepower or whatever.” So we could see a premium version of Steam Deck 2 that breaks the existing cap of $649/£569.
Steam Deck 2 Specifications
There are no official words or major leaks regarding Steam Deck 2 specs, but we can make educated guesses based on the existing deck composition. Battery life can be significantly extended compared to the current bridge by increasing the battery capacity above 40 Wh, which will help solve one of the main problems associated with it.
An OLED or QD-OLED screen will provide much higher color fidelity than the current IPS LCD panel and will also allow Valve to significantly reduce the bezels surrounding the screen.
The current version of Valve’s handheld features an RDNA 2 chip, but Steam Deck 2 could feature the new AMD Ryzen APU. Dubbed the “Little Phoenix”, it is intended to be an “ultra low power” version of the latest generation Phoenix Point processor with four cores, eight threads and four workgroup processors.
Steam Bridge Performance 2
Until we get closer to its release date, there won’t be any official or leaked performance benchmarks for Steam Deck 2. As such, we hope to at least see Valve improve battery life and game performance compared to the original Steam Deck 2. current platform. Either way, playing video games on Steam Deck 2 should require less guesswork, as more levels of Steam game compatibility need to be documented.
Source : PC Gamesn
