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The Steam Deck is a 7.0 inch 16:10 Windows handheld that plays everything up to Wii U well, made by Valve. It came out in February 2022 at $399. Inside is the AMD Aerith with 16 GB of RAM.
Who it's for
Buy it if
- You want to play everything up to Wii U, plus some Switch.
- You want a 7.0 inch screen and carry it in a bag or a jacket.
Skip it if
- You want something light: it weighs 674 g.
- You only play up to PS1: handhelds under $60 do that.
Steam Deck videos
What it plays
Plays up to: Wii U. Chip: AMD Aerith.
Scores out of 100. 100 means the system runs at full speed with no known issues on this device. 80 or more plays well (green), 50 to 79 plays partly (yellow).
What owners say
“I will never regret my Steam Deck. There is nothing on the market I would trade it for.”
“I use a Steam Deck. It does pretty much everything I wanted it to do. I emulate a lot of stuff up to PS2 and it works great.”
“Love my steam deck but sometimes it's just too big to travel with.”
What the specs mean
16:10 screen
Close to widescreen: PSP and Switch nearly fill it. 4:3 home consoles show bars at the sides.
Based on: Display math: native screen shapes of each system
Sharpest fit: GBA
At 5x, GBA fills 94% of the screen with even pixels. Filling the rest means stretching, which some people smooth with a filter.
Based on: Display math: largest whole-number scale that fits the screen
Big battery for its class
Only 9 of 59 Windows handhelds in our database have a bigger battery than this 5,200 mAh (the middle one has 65 mAh).
Based on: Our handheld database: battery of 59 Windows handhelds
D-pad on top, sticks below
The d-pad has the natural thumb spot, which suits 2D games. In 3D games your thumb lives on the lower stick.
Based on: Layout data (d-pad placement)
DS on one screen
DS games show both screens shrunk side by side, or one big screen you swap. The touch screen stands in for the stylus.
Based on: Layout data: single screen with touch
Rating
How we score: what it plays 30%, how many players own and recommend it 20%, screen 15%, price compared with handhelds that play as much 10%, controls 10%, size and weight 10%, battery size for its chip 5%.
Good
- Plays everything up to Wii U well
- Video out to a TV
- Big 5,200 mAh battery
- Analog triggers
Not so good
- LCD screen, not IPS or OLED
- Heavy at 674 g
Screen fit
Screen: 7.0 inch, LCD, 16:10, 1280 x 800.
| System | Original | Sharpest scale | Screen filled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Boy | 160 x 144 | 5x (800 x 720) | 56% |
| GBA | 240 x 160 | 5x (1200 x 800) | 94% |
| NES and SNES | 256 x 224 | 3x (768 x 672) | 50% |
| Genesis | 320 x 224 | 3x (960 x 672) | 63% |
| PS1 and N64 | 320 x 240 | 3x (960 x 720) | 68% |
| DS, one screen | 256 x 192 | 4x (1024 x 768) | 77% |
| PSP | 480 x 272 | 2x (960 x 544) | 51% |
Whole-number scales keep every pixel the same size. Screen 1280 x 800.
Size
298 x 117 x 49 mm, 674 g. Too big for a jeans pocket
- Steam Deck (298 x 117 mm)
- iPhone 15 (71.6 x 147.6 mm)
True scale, front view. Jeans pocket = front no bigger than an iPhone 15 Pro Max in a case (160 x 82 mm).
Specs
| Performance | |
|---|---|
| Chip | AMD Aerith |
| CPU | AMD Zen 2 |
| Cores | 4 |
| Clock speed | 2.4 GHz - 3.5 GHz |
| GPU | AMD RDNA 2 |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR5 |
| Cooling | Yes |
| Screen | |
| Size | 7.0" |
| Type | LCD |
| Resolution | 1280 x 800 |
| Refresh rate | 60 Hz |
| Pixel density | 215 ppi |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 |
| Touch screen | Yes |
| Dual screen | No |
| Controls | |
| D-pad | Cross, Upper, outer placement |
| Analog sticks | Yes |
| Stick layout | Double, symetrical |
| L3 / R3 | Yes |
| Shoulder buttons | Stacked |
| Analog triggers | Yes |
| Rumble | Yes |
| Gyroscope | Yes |
| Connectivity | |
| Storage | 64 GB eMMC |
| SD card | Yes |
| Wi-Fi | Yes (5) |
| Bluetooth | Yes (5.0) |
| USB-C | Yes |
| Video out | Yes |
| Headphone jack | Yes |
| Build | |
| Form factor | Horizontal |
| Dimensions | 298 x 117 x 49 mm |
| Weight | 674 g |
| Battery | 5200 mAh |
| Shell | Plastic |
| Speakers | Front |
| Software | |
| Operating system | Windows, Linux |
| Windows version | 11 |
| Custom firmware | EmuDeck, Batocera |
Questions
Can the Steam Deck play PS2 games?
Yes. PS2 scores 100 out of 100 on our emulation scale.
Is the Steam Deck good for GBA?
GBA runs at full speed. At 5x it fills 94% of the screen with even pixels.
Does it have a headphone jack?
Yes.
How big is the battery?
5,200 mAh. The middle Windows handheld in our database has 65 mAh.
Can it connect to a TV?
Yes, it has video out.
How much does the Steam Deck cost?
It launched at about $399 in Feb 2022. Prices on the used market change, so check current listings.
Price and newer models
$399 at launch $250 and up
Newer in the same line: the Steam Deck OLED (Nov 2023). Compare before you buy this one new.
Compared with
Similar handhelds
Specs and emulation scores from the retrocatalog.com handheld database. The score out of 10 is our own.