First Impressions of the Steam Deck are Very Positive and What Valve Should Do Going Forward
Introduction
We are just 10 days away until the first batches of Valve's Steam Deck ship out and the embargo lifts. The console-like PC handheld really grabbed my attention thanks to its impressive specs for its form factor and its surprising modularity and repairability. What made me the most excited was the Deck's potential contributions to Linux gaming as a whole.
For a brief history lesson, Valve actually tried to push Linux gaming back in 2015 with the Steam Machines, but the initiative ultimately failed. The Steam Machines could only play Linux-native games and developers were not willing to put in the resources to maintain a Linux build. On top of that, the old SteamOS was based on Debian which used stable, but very outdated packages for drivers.
Fast forward to now and Valve has put in a lot of preparation ahead of the Steam Deck's launch. In 2018, the company launched the Proton compatibility layer which allowed Windows-only games to run on Linux. Back in September 2021, Valve managed to make Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye support for Linux/Proton as easy as possible as a way to address Linux gaming's Achilles heel: online multiplayer games. This time, SteamOS 3.0 will be based on Arch which uses more up-to-date packages.
Of course, all of this sounds cool and all, but the Deck will fail if it does not do what it's advertised to do: play most games hassle-free. While the NDA is still in effect, Valve has allowed a trio of tech enthusiasts, Linus Tech Tips, Gamers Nexus, and The Phawx to review the hardware as well as some of the software. And so far, the feedback has been extremely positive.
The Hardware Review (with a Bit of Software)
In February 7, Linus Tech Tips, Gamers Nexus, and The Phawx published their hardware reviews of the Steam Deck on YouTube. While they gave feedback on the same hardware, their styles were different enough to provide unique perspectives. For instance, Linus Tech Tips took a more holistic view on the hardware whereas Gamers Nexus took a more scientific approach and focused more on aspects like ventilation, thermals, and VRMs. Meanwhile, The Phawx spent the most time showing game performance of various games at different settings.
It's not necessary to watch all three of them, but here were some key takeaways:
The ergonomics are very good though people with small hands may need to make micro-adjustments.
The cooling system does its job well with the caveat that the fan may be a little loud at max speed.
The speakers were surprisingly top notch. Linus Tech Tips went as far as to compare them to the M1 Macbook's.
Game performance significantly outmatches other PC handhelds such as the Aya Neo Next and GPD Win 3 at a much lower pricetag.
The Phawx was able to play Forza Horizon 5 at high settings at nearly a consistent 30 fps. This is in spite of the VKD3D translation layer still having lots of room for improvement.
Input latency is between 50-60 ms.
Loading speeds from the internal SSD vs. micro-SD are almost the same with the latter taking a bit more time.
The haptics are very underwhelming and were likely at the bottom of Valve's list of priorities.
In addition, LTT and Gamers Nexus both did a hardware teardown of the device to assess its repairability.
Overall, disassembling the Steam Deck seems to be mostly easy. Both had little problems taking out the analog sticks and the SSD, which bodes well for those who want to put in a 1TB SSD. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed when I learned that the battery was a major pain to remove from the chassis. Other than analog sticks, batteries can be the first component to go and thus, will need to be replaced. While it is not impossible to do a DIY replacement, it will take a lot of finagling. iFixit was able to take the Deck apart, put it together, and operate the device as if it came out of the box, so I guess it's doable.
Lastly, The Phawx recently uploaded a video on how AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) can help boost performance and save battery life for the Steam Deck.
Thanks to the open-source of FSR, it can be implemented system-wide for games that do not internally support it. When The Phawx ran Control at a native 720p image, the device drew in 24 watts. However, under an upscaled 540p image with FSR, he was able to lower the power draw to 17 watts which will add a lot of extra playing time on battery. And because the screen is small, the reduction in image quality will not be that apparent, so I think the pros far outweigh the cons.
Closing Thoughts: Make SteamOS 3.0 Available to Everyone, Valve
There are still lots of unknown variables surrounding the Steam Deck. How many devices can Valve ship given the supply chain issues? How many more multiplayer games will enable anti-cheat support for Linux? Will the Steam Deck offer an It Just Works™ experience both in handheld and desktop modes?
What I can say for sure is that the hardware is very high quality. The ergonomics, wide array of control options, good thermals, high repairability, and impressive speakers show that Valve really cares about the Deck's success. On top of that, the performance on a select array of games is impressive. Provided that the feedback on the software side is as positive as the hardware side and the Deck sells well, this can change Linux gaming in a significant way.
However, what I look forward to the most is Valve making the SteamOS 3.0 ISO available to everyone. While Valve is still working on the software as we speak, I really hope it will not take long after the Steam Deck's launch until the standalone operating system is available. SteamOS 3.0 has the potential to be as user-friendly as Ubuntu, but also be more "gaming ready" which will greatly reduce the uneasiness of switching from Windows to Linux. Additional software such as Lutris and Bottles further enhances compatibility with Windows software. Heck, there is even the potential for Valve to revive the Steam Machines if the Steam Deck and the operating system gain enough popularity, though I'm getting ahead of myself.
