Valve is one of the most prestigious companies in the gaming industry, being responsible for famous titles like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2, as well as Steam, a platform used by more than 120 million people worldwide. Now, Valve wants to make life even easier for gamers, and in February 2022 it will launch a revolutionary product: Steam Deck.
What Is Steam Deck
Steam Deck is a handheld device for remote gaming that will allow you to access your Steam Library no matter where you are. Valve has created it in association with AMD and made sure that it meets the demands of its target audience in both quality and performance. It can run the latest AAA titles and its comfortable design allows you to play for hours without getting tired.
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Pros and Cons of Steam Deck
These are some of the main reasons why you may want to buy or avoid Steam Deck.
Pros
The device is absolutely beautiful and has a very smart design. From how it keeps a decent temperature to how it fits into your hands, everything has been carefully thought out for optimal user experience. So no, you are not buying a brick that will make your friends laugh at you. This is not a fancy device that you’ll never want to use. In fact, you may end up using it even when you’re at home and have access to your computer.
Steam Deck may prove to be an excellent choice for those with back pain issues. If you buy a comfortable chair and sit in a relaxing position, you will no longer need to force your spine to deal with all the weird postures associated with long gaming sessions. When you play on a laptop or a desktop computer, you usually need to look down at your monitor. But with Steam Deck you can position the device as you choose and find a good support for your back and hands so that you don’t get tired.
Steam Deck comes with 64 GB, 256 GB, or 512 GB of storage space. If you buy the low-end version, this is actually a con. But most people will definitely buy the mid or high-end one, and that means they’ll be able to have installed around 10 – 20 games at any given time. This is more than enough for anyone.
Steam Deck’s video card is roughly the equivalent of an Nvidia GTX 1050, which is quite good for most games. You may not get the FPS of a 2080, but you’ll still be able to enjoy a high-quality gaming experience. Not to mention the fact that for most games, the hardware demands are much lower. For example, if you play esports, you won’t have the slightest issue with Steam Deck’s GPU.
Steam Deck comes with 16GB RAM, which is more than enough for your gaming sessions.
Cons
The tricky part about Steam Deck is that it requires you to learn how to play your favorite games in a whole new way. If you’ve been a mouse + keyboard gamer your whole life, switching from that to Steam Deck will feel like switching from writing with your right hand to writing with your left hand. For the first few weeks at least, your brain will be searching for the mouse.
The most affected by the change will be the esports players. CS:GO is a great game loved by more than 10 million people, who compete regularly to get to higher ranks, watch tournaments and even make predictions about their matches on the best CS:GO betting sites, such as Rivalry. Dota 2 is another great game in this category, but it’s much less dependent on the mouse than a First-Person Shooter.
After you’ve spent years building your keyboard and mouse dexterity, it can be challenging to switch to a different way of playing video games. All of your memorized combos will need to be relearned. In the heat of the battle, the last thing you want is to have to ask: “What does this button do?”
The second reason why Steam Deck might not be for you is the price, which ranges from 419 Euros to 679 Euros. Most likely, to get the full benefits of the device you’ll want to buy either the mid-range option (549 Euros) or the high-end option (679 Euros). For that amount, you could almost buy a decent ultraportable gaming laptop that you can take with you everywhere you go. Sure, it will still weigh around twice as much as a Steam Deck (1.4 kg compared to 669 g), but you’ll be able to use it for a lot more than just video games. And you won’t need to relearn how to play those games on a new device.
