Steam Deck OLED Announced: Pre-Orders from November 16

2021 saw the release of Valve's Steam Deck, touted to be the ultimate handheld gaming console supporting a wide range of features for gamers to try out. Fast forward to 2023, gamers can finally try out the OLED upgrade over the regular LCD screens that the previous gen featured. This time around, the new Steam Deck OLED can go up to 1,000 nits in brightness, which is a massive upgrade for a handheld device.

Gamers across the globe can grab their piece of the Steam Deck OLED from November 16, 10 am Pacific time onwards. The model will also support two variants of storage support of 512GB and 1TB for $549 and $649, respectively. 

Also read: Valve Introduces Certified Refurbished Steam Decks: Affordable Access To Premium Portable Gaming

Steam Deck OLED is a Significant Upgrade Over the Regular LCD Model Launched in 2021

For gamers who are looking to go for the regular Steam Deck model with the LCD screen are in luck as the model has received a significant price cut after the OLED model's announcement. The 256GB LCD Steam Deck model can now be purchased for $399 and will be up for grabs as an entry-level option for buyers. That said, the 64GB and 512GB LCD versions are selling out fast, with the former available for $349 and the latter for $449. Buyers must hurry before these versions are sold out of stock in the coming weeks. 

What Features Does the New Steam Deck OLED Offer?

Aside from the massive upgrade in brightness and screen quality, the new Steam Deck OLED comes with a wide range of new features that make it stand out from the rest of the handheld devices in the industry. Players can enjoy the 1289x800 resolution with its 7.4" diagonal display. It is .4" larger than the standard Steam Deck display. Moreover, the 90hz refresh rate device offers a 6 nm APU and 16 gigs of LPDDR5 RAM with 64000MHz clock speed. 

For more accessibility, gamers also get the support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 and a massive battery life of 50Wh that will last up to 12 hours of gaming. According to various technical reports, the battery life is a significant upgrade from the regular LCD models, as it is up to 50% more efficient. Gamers can also expect a lighter weight when using the console as it weighs around 30g less than the regular Steam Deck, making it a better experience for long-time gaming. Additionally, Valve also offers a 45W power supply with a cable that is included in the OLED bundle.