Valve upgrades Steam Deck to OLED and improved internals

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Steam Deck OLED

$549

The Steam Deck OLED has a slightly larger screen at 7.4 inches but the same 1280x800 resolution, HDR support, an upgraded battery at 50Wh, Wi-Fi 6E, and a new 6nm APU that should be better for battery life.

What we liked: 7.4-inch OLED screen running at 90Hz refresh rate
New 6nm AMD APU for better battery life
Bigger 50Wh battery for between three and twelve hours of playtime
Improved storage capacity on every tier
Limited Edition model with transparent case and 1TB of storage
Wi-Fi 6E

What we didn't like: Low resolution screen
Tricky to use games from non-Steam launchers

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Valve just announced a new, refreshed Steam Deck OLED, following in the footsteps of Nintendo in improving its portable gaming console.

READ MORE: How much is the Steam Deck OLED?

It’s the same size and shape as the existing model, so most of the best Steam Deck accessories will still work, but the screen is now increased to 7.4 inches in size and is a 90Hz OLED panel with HDR support.

The upgrades continue under the hood with a bigger battery, more storage, and a new processor.

Steam Deck OLED has more going on under the hood

For starters, the AMD APU that powers the Steam Deck has changed nodes down to 6nm, which promises better battery life and efficiency and potentially better performance.

The battery has been increased in size to 50Wh (a 25% increase), adding up to three to twelve hours of playtime. And connectivity has improved, with Wi-Fi 6E and a dedicated Bluetooth antenna for when using multiple controllers.

The touchscreen is now 7.4 inches (up from 7) and supports HDR, but hasn’t changed resolution from 1280×800. That’s okay, although the exciting thing is HDR support, something that was lacking on Linux before now.

Storage tiers now start from 512GB ($549), and there’s a 1TB option for $649. Or buyers in the US and Canada can get a Limited Edition with a transparent case, limited edition carrying case, and some digital extras.

All three new Steam Deck OLED options are coming soon, with preorders opening at 10 a.m. PT, 1 p.m. ET on November 16.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.