Bye Nintendo Switch? In a surprise move, Valve has unveiled a new gaming handheld device. Going by as Steam Deck, this AMD-powered gizmo could be the perfect Windows mobile gaming solution.
There were rumors that the gaming giant was working on such a project.
And they came true today.
The company officially unveiled the Steam Deck today, claiming that this all-in-one portable gaming PC has enough horsepower to run AAA games smoothly. It is powered by a new version of SteamOS. But since this is a PC, users will be able to run any operating system on it — including Windows.
Powered by AMD magic, the Deck houses an APU that has a Zen 2 four-core eight-thread CPU paired with a RDNA 2 GPU that is good enough for 1.6 TFLOPs of performance. 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM completes the trifecta.
Internal storage goes up to 512GB of NVMe, though the base disappointingly has to make do with 64GB of eMMC storage. A high-speed microSD card is available, though, for expansion.
On the outside, we have a 7-inch display that comes in at a 1280 x 800 resolution with a 60Hz refresh rate. The screen is touch-enabled.
The handheld has two analog sticks with capacitive touch, two trackpads with adjustable pressure sensitivity and haptic feedback, a 6-axis gyro, as well as the usual selection of controller buttons like ABXY, D-pad, triggers, bumpers, and more.
Valve says that the 40Whr battery of the Steam Deck will last 2-8 hours, depending on the game being played. An official dock will also be sold separately to plug the handheld to a TV and game on the big screen.
The gaming handheld will be available in three price categories, where the graphics quality and frame rates remain the same, but moving up brings better internal storage, anti-glare glass, and other goodies.
Pricing for the three tiers is set at $399 for the base model with 64GB eMMC, $529 for the 256GB SSD affair, all the way up to $649 for the 512GB SSD piece.
Valve is set to open reservations soon across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, with several more regions to be added next year.
Shipping begins in December 2021.
