Steam Deck, one month later

The Steam Deck will go down in history if it fails or succeeds. It is a bold attempt to make PC gaming more portable and affordable than ever before, an ultimate gadget with exotic features and infinitely customization controls, and perhaps the most powerful gaming PC ever sold for a mere $400.

But it was incomplete. We titled our February 28th review "Steam Deck: it's not ready", even though I called it the most fun I've had in years.

Is anything different one month later? Yes and no!

The answers to many burning questions I wasn't able to address in our original review are here.

Consider our FAQ.

What is the Steam Deck, in one sentence flat?

It's a Linux gaming PC that runs many but not all Windows games, on the go like a Nintendo Switch, only with way more horsepower, shorter battery life, and a seriously noisy fan.

It's a Windows gaming PC that runs more games, but often poorly, because Valve isn't officially supporting Windows.

I will talk about Windows later, but I don't recommend Windows on Deck at all.

How loud is that fan?

Take a listen.

I don't think it would be audible over the noise of an airplane, and my wife hasn't kicked me out of bed for repeatedly yelling.

Isn't it heavy to hold above your head in bed?

I tend to lie on my stomach and play it prone because it is not a Nintendo Switch. You can still charge it using the top port.

It hurts to drop it on your face. Is it late for Harry Potter or A Game of Throne?

Do you really need to know? I do things for readers.

My nose. That is worse than a Nintendo Switch. I've thought about the book corners over the years, but there's nothing on the Steam Deck that's really bad.

How powerful are we talking? Should I buy this instead of the PS5 that I never use?

Digital Foundry has a video that proves God of War is more PS4 than PS5 at the same settings. PS4 power in a handheld is rare. The Nintendo Switch has The Witcher 3 as a comparison.

I would argue that the Steam Deck does better than the PS4 in some games. It feels like a PS4 Pro when I play games like Control.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Is it possible that it can run Crysis / Doom here?

Yes. Yes. Probably? You can't be certain that a game will play brilliantly even if Valve has a good game.

There are examples.

• Deathloop has a green “Deck Verified” badge but doesn’t play well, with slowdown and stuttery controls
• Vampire Survivors has a green “Deck Verified” badge, which worked perfectly for me at launch but no longer detects the Deck’s controls at all
• Slay the Spire has a green “Deck Verified” badge, which worked great at launch, but the controls are broken and buggy now
• LinusTechTips says Horizon Zero Dawn, which has a green “Deck Verified” badge, only started stuttering after the first six to seven hours of the game

As a result of this, Valve is polling Steam Deck owners to verify its verification system so it can adjust its testing.

Most games seem to work. I've put a lot of time into the Elden Ring and Control Ultimate Edition on the Deck with no real issues, and the majority of games I've tried have worked. Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the games that didn't work at launch.

It was mostly due to anti-cheat software that games didn't work for me.

Why aren't game developers enabling anti-cheat?

That is the question, isn't it? It wouldn't be worth the effort.

Elden Ring and the other companies that have Easy Anti-Cheat enabled are actually working online. The games didn't work at the launch of the Steam Deck.

You can do classic halo campaigns now that microsoft has updated halo: The master chief collection.

Can the steam deck be a daily driver for my PC? Is it yours?

If I'm being completely honest, it's my daily Elden Ring machine. It works great native and also streamed from my desktop to the deck. If I were just playing single-player games like that, there would be no more titles to keep me busy. I guess I'm on a sequel kick.

Before we talk about the wide array of things you can access from the Linux desktop, like GameCube, PlayStation, Wii and even Nintendo Switch emulators, as well as launchers like Heroic that can give you access to the Epic Games Store and games from GOG.com, we need to talk about Some community members are so enthusiastic that they are building custom software for the Deck, like an app designed to automatically configure emulators for the system.

I can't make it my only computer because buds play online games that don't work on Deck. I'm still alternating between the Deck and my desktop PC.

Who is going to play competitive games on a 7-inch screen?

I don't like the challenge of spotting enemies on the deck after a couple of games. It's hard! You can plug in a hub for multiple things at the same time. The Deck's built-in global AMD FSR upscaling makes it look good on a 1440p monitor.

Here is a close-up of Elden Ring.

Is it possible to stream games to the deck? Is that a desktop you mentioned?

If your internet and wi-fi are good, you can play games on a steam deck without installing Windows. Let's do a quick rundown of each caveat.

It's free, easy, and responsive and that's why it's the lowest hanging fruit. If you want to add Chrome to your Steam library, you can use the Discover app to install it, log in with your Google account, and then add it to your library. The only thing that takes a long time is mapping the controls, since Chrome doesn't support the Steam Deck as a gamepad. There is free access to Super Bomberman R Online.

If you pay for Game Pass Ultimate, I would recommend giving Cloud gaming a try as well. It takes a long time to setup, but when you're done, it almost feels like a native app. Microsoft's cloud gaming service is a tad laggier than the competition and I wouldn't play it like that.

The setup process for GeForce Now is the same as for Stadia, and its expensive tier is responsive too. I'd probably believe you if you told me that its copy was running on the steam deck. The web client and the browser need to be fixed because they don't detect the Deck's gamepad and the login fields wouldn't properly detect the Deck's virtual keyboard. Even though it claims to support it, GeForce Now refused to launch for me in Microsoft Edge.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

You'll need to set the Deck and/or your streamer PC to send higher resolution video if you want it to work on In- Home Streaming. I miss the Deck's gyro for games where I have to aim.

Don't forget to turn off the Deck's built-in framerate limiter, which can make these streaming services artificially choppy. I had to learn that the hard way.

Related

How to play Steam games in any room of your house

Is it possible to stream from steam deck to another PC?

Yes! If you want to stream your deck to a laptop that has a larger screen, that's what you'll be able to do. It's not as ugly as plugging the Deck into a monitor, since you don't get the fancy FSR upscaling.

It sounds like there is a lot of games to play all the time. What is the issue?

One month ago, the Deck was a mess, and while I think it is getting better, I still run into issues almost every day.

Sometimes the internet drops out. It will often forget to connect after waking, and always asks me for the password even though the deck has it saved. The last time I tried to connect to a new network, it wouldn't recognize the input from the Deck's virtual keyboard. Sometimes it won't connect to the server until I fix the system. It won't recognize my hub until I restart the Deck. It has refused to power on without a hard reboot a few times. I had a crash when Valve introduced a new way to install the Chrome browser that wasn't ready.

The auto-brightness adjustment still doesn't work, and the audio is too laggy for me to use in games. Since you have been able to launch multiple apps at the same time, it doesn't work for multiple games: each app continues to run simultaneously, audio and all, consuming processing power instead of pausing.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

My Deck is often confused about what it does and doesn't have patched after I wake it from sleep, and there will always be a handful of patches for my Steam library every time I wake it. I downloaded the patch three times in two days. Some games are not being moved between the internal storage and the external storage.

A lot of games refuse to use the full screen resolution of the Steam Deck, which makes it look even bigger. Elden Ring is a game.

It doesn't seem great. Is Valve fixing this?

I was a little disappointed that some of the issues I pointed out in my review are still kicking around a month later, but Valve is issuing lots of patches.

You can now see which games your friends are playing, you can set the framerate to 15 frames per second instead of 30 or 60, and there is an average-FPS-only overlay that doesn't.

It's not as much of a problem now that you can choose from table and tableD, since I complained about patches coming too quickly during the review period.

Is it not possible to install Windows and make the problems go away?

It doesn't work that way.

I tested Windows 10 on Deck for a week, and I found it to be a worse experience than Linux, due to unfinished drivers, games that wouldn't launch properly, similar or worse performance to Linux, and a complete lack of features to make Windows comfortable on a 7-inch.

I'd launch a demanding game like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Cyberpunk 2077 and sometimes find it would bluescreen or tell me it wasn't properly installed or launch at an incredibly low resolution and I'd ignore my attempts to fullscreen the game. Shadow of the Tomb Raider did work well, but the game's framerate was not any better in Elden Ring, and it also came with some nasty hitches.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

I got two hours of demanding games, the same as with Linux, but there is no Gamescope or similar performance overlay to let you fine-tune the battery vs. performance equation here. It's one of the best things about the Steam Deck, but Valve's Greg Coomer told me there's no plan to add anything like that on the Windows side of things. We haven't had an audio driver for two weeks, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

I had a lot of problems with navigating around Windows, with disappearing cursors and randomly popping-up Steam virtual keyboards. It is difficult to adjust the brightness. There was an issue with writing data to SD cards on Windows, though a new driver appears to fix it.

You will have to wipe your Deck if you want to install Windows on the internal drive.

Sam Byford recently reviewed the Aya Neo Next, which is a Steam Deck alternative built for Windows.

How easy is it to swap the Deck's internal storage? Is the card good enough?

I am hoping to answer this question more fully when I get my own 64GB model in Q2, but I have already found myself running into issues.

Early reviews showed that the game load times are the same between the internal and external versions, and that's been my experience, too.

It's not a good idea to write games and patches to an SD card if you don't know what you're doing. It took 45 minutes before I could play when Elden Ring needed to update every single thing on my 400GB card. It happened again with the next patch, too, and I've seen that on a different game as well.

I think it's worth noting that I put three microSD cards into the Deck that no longer work, because it's pretty neat how you can swap out entire SD cards full of games. They worked fine before, but now they don't work after I formatted them. I don't mean to scare you, but it could be bad Windows drivers or user error, and some of my other cards work fine. I am one of the few people outside of Valve who have been hammering the Deck with a wide variety of microSD cards for over a month.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

If you know what you're doing, it's easy to swap the internal SSD: just eight case screws, unsnap the case, three internal screws and a bit of foil tape. Small capacity drives are cheap on eBay and Amazon. There are a lot of plastic clips in the case, and it can be difficult to unsnap it. You might damage them if you use a metal screwdriver. I can see why Valve warns people away.

What about external USB drives?

You can mount whatever you want on the Linux or Windows desktop, even if the gaming mode only recognizes the internal storage and a single card. I was able to set up a steam library on an external flash drive and download games very quickly.

I burned out the NVMe drive by using the Deck's own bus, which only supplies 7.5W for peripherals. No warning, just poof. Plugging in external power or using an external drive with its own power supply will prevent you from using a hub with a Power Delivery input.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

What is the best size and speed of storage?

I felt like the storage was filling up fast with a few games and a few reviews, even though I had a 512GG review unit and a 256GG card. I'm pretty comfortable with a huge library of games with a 400GB card. If you want to mostly carry around older or less graphically intensive titles, you might be able to get away with less.

I bought a cheap 512 gigabyte card and a cheap 256 gigabyte card to swap into my 64 gigabyte eMMC Deck when it arrives, and I think I will have plenty of room for everything I want.

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

Is it possible to back up games from my Windows machine and play them on the deck?

I formatted my external drive the same way I formatted my Windows and Linux drives, and the Deck's SteamOS was able to read my backups there, but it took so long to decompress and install one.

If you want to copy your steamapps folder to the root of a microSD card, you need a good way to write to the ext4 filesystem.

What is the pick-up-and-play experience like between a PC and a steam deck?

You can just suspend the deck, sit down at your computer and play where you left off.

The idea of saving your game to the cloud when you put it to sleep isn't necessarily a good one, but developers would have to take advantage of Valve.

You will either see a lot of messages like this or not.

Screenshot by Sean Hollister / The Verge

You will need to save and quit the game before you can pick it up.

If you're home, you can just stream your game to the deck and use your keyboard and mouse when you get there.

Does the slot have a cover?

It's a mechanical doohickey where you push it in and it pops out. I don't think there is much danger of it falling out on its own, but I have had it shoot across the room when I left. Future models might have a nice cover.

The fan curve should be turned down to make it less noisy.

It's not something that Valve orAMD are letting users adjust quite yet, on Windows, none of the sensors are exposed to apps likeMSI Afterburner, either.

Does the screen break if you drop it?

I accidentally dropped my phone onto the deck and left a nasty scratch, so I'm not going to test that one. I only see it when the screen reflects light back at me.

Is it dim enough for a dark room? Is it bright enough for outdoors?

I like the range of brightness on the screen. It is important not to wake the wife when I play a bunch of games late at night. It's not as bright as anOLED screen, but it's comfortable for low-light gaming.

It doesn't get bright enough to play in direct sunlight, but I found it fine for indirect light with games that aren't terribly dark.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

I mean all the controls, and how do they feel?

• The joysticks feel fantastic to me, as high-quality as the latest Sony and Microsoft, except for two things — they’re a little taller than usual, presumably so your palms don’t brush the touchpads, and occasionally, I can feel them brush against the unusual ribbon cables they have inside to power their capacitive touch sensors. Both things are weird at first but very manageable. Ditto the smooth tops of the sticks. Like every modern gamepad, each stick clicks in to become its own button, too
• The analog triggers have a nice long, smooth throw, way better than Switch, though they feel a little hollow and only have a single physical stage — you can set a threshold for the second stage and add some basic vibration, but nothing even close to what Sony’s DualSense can manage
• The bumpers are a little weak, IMO. Reaching up to activate them feels weird, and the way they waterfall into the triggers just makes my fingers want to slip off and hit the triggers instead. A month in, I’m finding myself binding bumper commands to the triggers or grip buttons just so I can avoid them
• The grip buttons have VERY little throw and take a bit of force to press, which is nice for buttons you can hold without accidentally pressing them all the time and less nice if you imagined yourself holding those buttons down or hammering them repeatedly. I use ‘em for quick jumps and parries and grenade throws and force powers and things
• The ABXY, start, and select face buttons have slightly loose, rattling tops on my unit, not unlike those on an Xbox 360 gamepad, but much more than most modern controllers. I actually like the old-school sound
• The D-pad is a little squishy, with a low pivot point, fully rollable, fine, but nothing to wax poetic about (but I prefer sticks anyhow)
• The “STEAM” and “...” quick access buttons are extremely, annoyingly shallow for me, hard to tell when you’ve successfully pressed them
• The volume up and down buttons are firm but with a very solid, obvious, individual press and responsive physical that makes them easy to use
• I’d describe the power button the same as the volume buttons, just shallower

One month later, I still feel like almost all the controls are in the right places for me and my average-sized hands, but I have soured on the bumpers a bit, and I still feel like the touchpads only fit when I tilt them. I use the Deck's gyro aiming when I want precision control.

Image: Valve

Does the deck work for people with small hands?

It sounds like it could be a problem.

I didn't hear about it.

That bug was introduced by Valve and has been fixed.

There is no sensor for fingerprints. Is there a better way to lock it?

There is no password check or two-factor when you log into the system for the first time. It's easy to resume games in your house.

Is it possible to connect a second controller for local play?

Yes, and not just two. The Steam Deck allows you to mix and match controllers. I just played a four-player session of Speedrunners with one PS4 controller, two Xbox 360 controllers, and the Wireless Receiver for Windows, plus the Steam Deck's internal pad. Plug that into a TV and you have a great couch gaming session.

You could theoretically get two-player games working on a single Steam Deck with no additional controls because the Steam Deck can emulate both mouse and keyboard and gamepad simultaneously. Towerfall has a controller profile that allows two people to play one-handed on each side of the deck.

Can you use an external graphics card?

Valve doesn't support either of them, but virtual reality is possible with Windows.

The purpose of having a portable console is likely to be defeated by someone hacking an eGPU onto the Deck.

Is the virtual keyboard a chore?

There is a virtual keyboard on the Steam Deck, and it is fairly barebones, but it has some nice feedback when you stab a key, a full number row, and you can navigate it with the analog stick or D-pad. You're out of luck if you want something better than that. There isn't a Steam Controller keyboard that is available outside of the Linux desktop mode.

The steam deck makes it easy to fire up a voice chat.

What is the touchscreen like in general?

It's a decent device, but it's far from what we expect from a flagship device these days. The SteamOS interface doesn't respond instantly to any kind of input, let alone a tap. I have to stab again and again because I miss small touch targets on the desktop. When I can, I use the joysticks.

Do games on the phone work?

I haven't dug into this myself yet, but the video shows it's possible through emulators, and he did have difficulty mapping some of the controls.

Is it possible to binge my shows on Deck?

Once you have installed the chrome browser, you can easily set up a chrome profile for those who want easy access via steam. I haven't looked at other streaming services yet.

The Discover store has both Linux and third-party clients for both VLC and Kodi. I haven't set up my NAS yet, but I will let you know when I do.

Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge

Does the deck have a stand?

Not a day goes by that I don't wish it did, partly because of Netflix and partly because you still have to leave the screen on while installing games. There is a connected standby on Valve's roadmap, but it hasn't been implemented yet.

Where is the steam deck dock?

You can use your own hub in the meantime, though dual-monitor ones don't.

Is it possible to buy screen protectors for it?

Yes. I haven't tried any of the protective cases yet.

The one with the built-in screen is in your review.

This is it! While testing how quickly the steam deck charges its battery, it came in handy.

Can you use an external battery pack?

You will want to be careful with which one you buy. I have a 20WPD battery that can get the Deck from 0 percent to 90 percent just fine, but only while the Deck is turned off. If you want to play and charge at the same time, you should look for a 45WPD battery or better, the same amount Valve puts out.

The deck will only draw as much as you need, so it doesn't hurt to go over. I use a 100WPD battery myself, even if that is a bit too much.

How often do you need to use Linux?

I am a Linux n00b and have been pleasantly surprised. It's easy to download apps from the Discover package manager, navigate the Dolphin file browser and play around with desktop settings if you choose to do so.

I did most of my navigating with a physical keyboard plugged in because it doesn't seem to have a decent virtual one, and the way Valve divides the user and system data, you'll probably only want to install Flat.

If you just want to play games on Steam, you will never need to touch the Windows desktop, and a few brief trips will get you up and running. There are tips on how to use the Linux desktop from Valve.

Can you work from the deck?

If you work on the web, like me, it's not hard as long as you have an external monitor and keyboard. Some people are pushing it further just because they can.

I don't think anyone should buy a Steam Deck as a work PC because it's not the most potent complete computer you can buy for $400, and you'd need to be deep into Linux to get the most out of it.

Is it possible to record and stream games from the deck?

It's on my list of things to try now that I have a decent internet connection, but I'm not sure if it's worth it.

Can you take pictures?

There is a built-in shortcut called Steam + Right Bumper. You can share them with your Steam Profile and Activity Feed, but if you want to share them on social media or a thumb drive, you'll have to do it.

Is there any other handy shortcut?

• Steam + Left Bumper is a built-in magnifier that works in any game
• Steam + Up / Down on the thumbstick raises and lowers screen brightness
• Steam + hold down B can force-close a misbehaving game
• Steam + joystick or trackpad instantly gives you a mouse cursor whenever you need one, overriding your other controls
• Steam + Left D-Pad is the escape key (handy for quitting out of fullscreen browser apps)
• Steam + Right D-Pad is enter
• Long-press Power to get to the power menu (sleep, shutdown, restart, switch to desktop)
• Volume Down + Power (when powered off) to get to the boot manager
• Volume Up + Power (when powered off) to get to the BIOS

You can use the button on the Steam one instead of the one on this.

Will the games be improved for the deck?

I think they might. The community is more enthusiastic and vocal than I have ever seen for a non-Nintendo, non-Sony handheld. For instance, the Cyberpunk 2077 team is working on a Steam Deck-specific graphical setting, Valheim's developers are tweaking a few things, and I have heard that Fall Guys may not stay incompatible with.

Are you having fun?

Absolutely. Even if the Steam Deck doesn't fulfill all my portable PC gaming dreams, it's still one of the best gadgets in recent memory, and a great way to get in bite-size game sessions on the couch.

If you have questions about the Deck, please leave them in the comments. I will try to answer the best ones in the future.