Steam Deck is a hand-held gaming console developed by Valve. The console brings back memories from the likes of Nintendo Switch and PlayStation Portable. The Steam Deck is a powerful computing device which can run Steam games on it. You can also plug it to a monitor and play full sized games and use all the social features along with it. The device runs on Steam OS which is an operating system developed by Valve on the Linux platform. It is also rumored that you can play Windows games which are not supported on Linux through its compatibility technology and even run full Windows OS on it.
The device is likely to roll out in December 2021 or in early 2022. If you are excited for its release, here are the top 5 features that would be loved in the gaming community.
Hardware Features
The device has a 7 inch display with a 1280×800 resolution which is fine for handheld gaming standards but you can connect it to an external monitor to get at least 720P gaming on the go. The AMD APU is clocked between 2.4 GHz to 3.5 GHz which would give optimum gaming performance. It would be paired with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and eMMC/NVMe SSD ROMS. Lastly, like any other modern portable mobile, it has gyro, ambient light sensors, HD vibration motors, Wi-Fi up to 5 GHz, stereo speakers and USB C connectivity with up to 8k @60 GHz display out. These hardware features function as good as it sounds on paper.
Steam Features
Steam Deck is embedded with all the Steam features that you would use on your PC. Steam Chat, Remote Play, Store, Community support and much more. These features enrich the experience even more. You can also access you game library remotely i.e. access all your steam games from the console anywhere you go.
PC Support
You can use the Steam Deck as a personal computer too. Simply plug in the device to your display port and controller and you would have a full-fledged PC on your desk. You can also install Windows OS on it.
Steam OS
This is easily one of the most anticipated features on the device since it is a completely new OS from Valve. The operating system is optimized with Proton which allows gamers to install unsupported Linux games on the device without actually having to port data manually. It also hosts features like navigation, steam online, quick access and much more. The OS adapts its user interface if you connect it to a monitor.
The Dock
Steam Deck comes with the support of a proprietary dock that is sold separately. This dock has all the essential ports to make readily available to be set up as a PC. The dock has USB ports, Ethernet support, and audio video inputs which makes it a complete device. It is also rumored that the dock would host virtual reality glasses support to enhance the experience.
There are many more features to the Steam Deck and it is being discussed on the Steam Community regularly. Currently the device is available for pre-booking on their website. The pre-booking amount will be adjusted during your actual purchase. It comes in 3 variants ranging from 64GB storage to 512 GB SSD and all the 3 devices have micro SD card storage expansion. All support options from Valve relating to warranty, service and technical help about the device would be open once the product is up for sale.
