Steam Deck OLED Thoughts - After Six Months

"Welcome back to Joey's Retro Handhelds. I"m Joey and I'm on the toilet."

I'm a Windows guy myself, I had zero experience with Linux before the steam deck. So to me, the steam deck's OS.... Well, is the steam deck OS and not Linux. Desktop mode is close enough to Windows for me to feel like I can do what I need to do with the little time I need to open it.

I've been a Mac user and I haven't had a gaming PC since 2004. I was wanting to get back into pc gaming but I don't really have the space for a another full computer. I got the steam deck OLED this past December for Christmas and I love it. For me and what I want to do as not a super hardcore PC gamer it's perfect. With that, multiple retro handhelds, and my Xbox I kind of have all of my bases covered for everything that I personally want to play.

Joey's Retro Toilet.

I had the same thought about wishing the Steam Deck had more power, but then I found its biggest strength for me. It gave me a reason to tackle my backlog of 1000+ Steam games I've curated over the last like 15 years lmao. I play all the new games on my gaming rig with fancy peripherals and save all the other stuff for my SD. Currently playing through WH40k Space Marines to prep for Space Marines 2 and man that OLED panel really makes these games pop.

Yeah... fully disagree with the "800p" isn't great anymore Joey, sorry. These devices are barely powerful enough to run modern games at 30fps / 800p without massive visual downgrades while already straining battery life limitations.A 1080p screen seems like a waste of resources you don't have, not to mention even typical resolutions like 720p do not scale perfectly to 1080p, leading to blurrier images. I can totally empathize preferring Windows over Steam OS for game compatibility though 👍 even if it's objectively a pretty sub-par experience from a UX perspective due to the poor scaling, lack of gamepad/touch friendly UI, and broken sleep functionality. Overall, I think your observations make sense if you care that much about graphics/fluidity. Seeing it's primarily a streaming device, I can see why you'd want a 1080p that much. Though I understand why the practicality of portable play keeps games like Helldivers 2 / Elden Ring / Baldur's Gate near the top of Steam Deck's play charts. They might not run or look great, but the Steam Deck makes them so much easier/more practical to pick up and play anywhere than on a stationary Desktop PC, or even a ROG Ally at times.

I’m seeing a lot of content creators covering the steam deck this week, this is my sign to get one😎

Great intro 😂

I bought the original Steam Deck & Sold it as soon as they announced the Oled. I love the Steam Deck & use it pretty much like you do to play things it runs well which happens to be enough to keep me happy.

I vastly prefer SteamOS but it's pretty egregious that Windows drivers haven't been rolled out. Even though I'd spend 90% of my time in SteamOS I'd still like to be able to dual boot for docked general use and the few games that don't play nice with Linux.

The steam deck officially released in 2022, therefore, making it 2 years old it’s not that old bro

Nice review. In my opinion, the lack of power is actually the greatest selling point for the SD, at least for me. With less power, you can maintain the battery use for more time even with a small battery and as a portable pc, battery is a valuable asset. Dont know if is just me, but since i always played my games on old tech and notebooks, the higher 4k60fps is not that needed, if it runs at 720p on 30fps is more than better (maybe my needs are a little low on that part)

Learn to downscale higher resolutions on your Steam Deck. The 800p screen will be the least of your worries.

I've been finding myself using the steam deck the way you use it. I first wanted to take AAAs on the go. I bought Helldiver's for it, Elden Ring, and Hogwarts Legacy as well. Although I had a good time playing those on the deck, I ultimately decided to wait until I have a full blown desktop to play those games. It has slowly been morphing into a roguelite machine.

For me, ergonomics, battery life, and OLED are king.

Love the content bro, i would love to know from where you got those thumb grips they look siick! Thank you

I can relate, I purchased a bunch of the lower end handhelds but my second voice keeps bugging me about this device. I think I will hold on to see what is around the corner.

i have many many docks but nowdays i just only this ugreen dock with all my handhelds.... its amazing one

This is the exact reason im sticking with the Odin 2 until the steamdeck 2 comes out 😊 the steam deck is so close to being perfect after the oled but its just not powerful enough just yet 😉😉 i really hope they offer a way with the steam deck 2 that can duel boot windows by switching out the SSD that would be easily accessible like the onexplayer x1 series :)

Great intro lol. Also great video