Many players still question “Is The Steam Deck Worth It” in this 2023 year? Steam Deck is Valve’s portable gaming handheld for the unversed, capable of running several games from the Steam digital store. The device has won over players in various parts of the world since its launch on February 25, 2022. Even if the handheld is unavailable in many countries, some third-party sellers offer the Steam Deck through stores such as Amazon, Best Buy, etc., depending on storage. Check out some of the pros and cons of Steam Deck to see if it’s worth buying today.
Is The Steam Deck Worth It in 2023?
We will not be talking about Valve’s handheld in brief below, which includes its technical specs, strengths, and negative points, and based on this data, you will be able to know if the Steam Deck is worth it in 2023.
Steam Deck Technical Specifications
The Steam Deck is equivalent to a mid-cost gaming PC, with a custom AMD Zen 2 processor running between 2.4 and 3.5 GHz and an RDNA 2 GPU with eight compute units capable of reaching 1.6 Teraflops. Its 7-inch screen displays visuals at a resolution of 1280 x 800p in a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is a bit outside the most popular standard, 16:9.
The device is also equipped with 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory and has storage that varies depending on the version purchased: 64 GB, 256 GB, or 512 GB. In Brazil, only the cheapest 64 GB version is currently available. The Steam Deck runs its operating system, SteamOS, based on Linux. This will, thus, make you realize whether the Steam Deck is worth it or not.
Steam Deck Pros
- You can play anywhere.
The best part of Steam Deck is its ability to offer users the ability to play their Steam game library anywhere. As long as the game is compatible with the Steam Deck, you can play it wherever you want, even older titles not designed to be played on a handheld, like Elden Ring or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO).
Steam Deck battery life may vary depending on the game in question. Lighter titles, such as FTL-style independent games like Faster Than Light or OlliOlli World, can allow up to 7 hours of gameplay. Heavier games, such as God of War or Forza Horizon 5, will make the device last only one and a half hours of play.
- It costs less than consoles and gaming PCs.
The cheapest version of the Steam Deck has a selling price of $399, so you can easily make it out that it is still cheaper than a good gaming notebook or traditional consoles like the PlayStation 5 (PS5) and Xbox Series X. When using a dock, it is possible to connect the portable console to the TV and play current games without worrying about problems such as battery life. Since manufacturers such as Sony and Microsoft have published their games on the PC, the model can become a good option even for running previously exclusive games.
- Cross-progression with the PC
The Steam Deck allows players to save their games via the Steam cloud, offering a type of “Cross-Progression” between the device and their PC. With this, the user will always have access to their most recent saved file data on their device. It is possible to start playing a game on the PC, continue later on the Steam Deck, return to the computer to complete a few more levels, and finish it on the handheld.
Steam Deck Negative Points
- Limited operating system
Steam Deck uses SteamOS as its operating system, based on Linux. Microsoft’s Windows platform is still the standard for PC games; most titles are designed to run on it. A large amount of the Steam game library is compatible with SteamOS and will run perfectly on the Steam Deck; however, some games will be impossible to run due to this limitation. In addition, some games may not work if they require extra software, such as anti-cheat protection, often used in competitive online games. This will make the more advanced users think if the Steam Deck is worth it to buy in 2023 or not.
- Little Storage Space
The cheapest model of the Steam Deck only has 64GB of eMMC storage, which isn’t much for PC gaming. To give you an idea, GTA 5 needs 72 GB to be installed, according to Steam’s requirements. Internationally, the Steam portable handheld is also available in versions with 256 GB NVMe space for $529 and 512 GB NVMe for $649. However, these versions do not offer as much storage space as an 825 GB PlayStation 5 (PS5), a 1 TB Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S Carbon, and a good gaming PC with SSD. This is the biggest con that will also make Steam Deck worth it for future purchase or not.
That’s all there is to know about is the Steam Deck worth it in 2023? In the meantime, check out our other Steam Deck Tutorials such as fixing Baldur’s Gate 3 launching issues, and fixing Compatibility Tool Failed error.