Valve revolutionized the hand-held gaming market with the discharge of their Steam Deck in 2022.
It’s at present thought to be the trade chief over rivals Nintendo, Asus, and Ayaneo and their gaming handhelds.
So it’s little marvel there’s rising speak of Steam Deck 2, which Valve has confirmed is within the works, albeit with out giving something away by way of options and when to count on it to hit the cabinets.
Proper now, all we’ve obtained to go on are rumors, leaks and feedback from Valve to go by relating to speculating on how Steam Deck 2 will stack up in opposition to Valve’s present merchandise and its opponents.
Right here’s what we all know to this point…
Steam Deck 2: What we all know to this point and rumors
It’s value declaring that Valve has hinted that Steam Deck 2 rests on a breakthrough in what’s doable when taking handheld gaming to the subsequent degree. Talking on the launch of Steam Deck OLED in November 2023, Valve designer Lawrence Yang advised Bloomberg that “we’re fascinated with Steam Deck 2 always” however {that a} “large leap” in know-how is required first.
That factors in direction of Valve ready for a extra highly effective and superior chip to be introduced earlier than they really feel an improve is value it. For the time being, the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go use newer and quicker chips than the Steam Deck, so it definitely is sensible for Valve to attend for one thing greater and higher earlier than launching, as an alternative of hitting the market with one thing comparable in efficiency to the competitors.
Whereas we don’t but know for certain what a brand new, improved and extra highly effective chip seems like, there are some rumors and hints from Valve about Steam Deck 2 to maintain us all within the meantime.
Keep in mind, although, it’s nonetheless very early days. So not every part we wish to know is at present out there.
Show
The Steam Deck OLED’s show has a refresh charge of 90Hz, which is at present dwarfed by Asus’ ROG Ally and MSI Claw A1M, which each are available in at 120Hz. Meaning Valve could also be trying to make important upgrades on this space, though 90Hz continues to be excellent.
From a decision standpoint, a consumer on the Chiphell boards claims Steam Deck is ready for a critical improve to 900p, with a 16:10 facet ratio and 1440 x 900 dimensions.
{Hardware} & Efficiency
The above Chiphell consumer additionally claims the APU can be primarily based on AMD’s Zen 4 Hawk Level processors, with a a 16CU GPU. That’s double 8CU at present discovered within the current Steam Deck.
Dexerto suspect it might be AMD’s RDNA 4 structure powering the chip. If that’s the case, it might give Steam Deck 2 an identical aggressive benefit when it was given early entry to RDNA 2 when it launched.
Switch speeds are additionally included within the leak, with it being alleged that Steam Deck 2 will use a LPDDR5X RAM working at 8533 MT/s.
Design
Valve’s official feedback on Steam Deck 2 to this point recommend they’re extra involved about what’s beneath the hood and making certain the upgrades made to total energy and efficiency.
That doesn’t imply a slight change in total design is completely out of the query however given the design of the unique Steam Deck impressed a variety of critics, there’s clearly far much less want or urgency to make any critical upgrades in that respect.
What’s the Steam Deck 2 launch date?
There isn’t a confirmed Steam Deck 2 launch date simply but and, going by what Valve have already mentioned about it, we shouldn’t count on something this 12 months. It might not be till 2026 that we’re capable of see it within the flesh.
Lang advised Rock Paper Shotgun final 12 months that “a real next-gen Deck with a major bump in horsepower wouldn’t be for a couple of years” whereas one other Valve worker, Pierre-Loup Griffais, has beforehand advised The Verge Steam Deck 2 gained’t occur till efficiency may be improved and not using a “important price to energy effectivity and battery life” earlier than happening to confess he doesn’t anticipate that occuring “within the subsequent couple of years.”
That provides additional credence to a doable 2026 launch on the very earliest.
How a lot will the Steam Deck 2 price?
The Steam Deck OLED launched on the beginning value of $549, so we should always count on to see a way more highly effective and upgraded follow-up to be costlier, particularly when you think about the rising prices of PC parts and supplies.
Nonetheless, the President of Valve, Gabe Newell, beforehand confirmed to Edge Journal that the costliest model of Steam Deck can also be the preferred. He admitted that that is telling Valve that gaming followers are on the lookout for a costlier model with extra energy and capabilities.
With this in thoughts, we might be seeing a premium model of Steam Deck 2 nearing the $700 mark, or past.
Photographs: Steam Deck
