Been thinking about getting a steam deck. Talk me in or out of it. I’ve got a desktop, but thinking something handheld would be good when I want to sit on the couch. What are your favorite and least favorite things about your steam deck?
Honestly, I love it for what it is. It nails almost everything I want. Yeah it can get a little hot. Yeah the battery should be improved at some point. But I am 100% happy with what I got.
Only thing I don’t like is certain devs screaming their eyes out about refusing to support Linux, implementing DRM, and that Linux users are ‘cheaters’ (we are not).
Its a new market. Embrace it or be left behind, because I am starting to avoid games that don’t play nicely with Proton
For me:
Positives:
- It runs Linux, I am a big Linux fan so this is a big plus for me because it helps advance Linux gaming.
- It has better emulation capability than almost anything else.
- It’s more affordable than alternatives.
- It has great battery life vs power especially for emulation.
- It has enough power it can handle almost any game you can think of running at least at 30 FPS.
- It’s pretty comfortable despite it’s large size (that’s what she said).
Negatives:
- Mine had a stuck B button despite them saying Q2 2022 units would have it fixed, I had to sand down the edge of the case where the button would get stuck, sliding the 240 grit sandpaper back and forth between the button and the case with.
- Mine has the noisy Delta fan, this isn’t a huge problem honestly I don’t even find it that noticable but it may bother some people to varying degrees.
- It’s a bit bulky, but it’s also understandable and the large screen is pretty nice.
It’s my favourite gaming handheld device I have ever had. I’d absolutely recommend one.
I have an early Q3 deck, and I’ve never had any issues with a sticking b-button. So maybe you got unlucky and ended up with one shortly before the change or something.
I gotta admit, two of my friends who pre-ordered on a whim and ended selling theirs had perfect units, and I was looking forward to mine so much and would never sell it, I was the one to get a “faulty” unit I was pretty angry lol.
With that said, after I fixed the button, it’s now been the perfect device for me. I heard the ROG Ally has similar stuck buttons but even worse than the Deck had so that would have made me way more angry lol
The ROG Ally had buttons that would press flat with the faceplate, and had sharp edges. So if you pushed it down unevenly at all it would dip beneath the faceplate and get stuck. Multiple reviewers reported it as a frequent issue, but supposedly Asus was going to fix it before shipping pre-orders.
It’s great for playing slower paced games, not so great for shooters etc, anything that really relies on the fast accuracy of a mouse (at least in handheld which is all I use mine for). A good way to start working through the backlog of cozy indie freebies we’ve all been pointlessly gathering from Epic.
Big downside for me is the size and weight, I’m a woman with stereotypically slender hands and this thing was definitely designed for someone with a slightly longer reach.
Shooters are wonderful with Gyro. Like Roboquest or Gunfire Reborn with just the right settings can feel amazing. But online shooters like Battlebit Remastered I definitely recommend using a bigger screen for such smaller details in the distance that could kill you.
Also the d-pad, although I have a very early release version, is atrocious. Only useful for inventory and not for actual older games or fighters because the diagonals require ridiculous squeezing to input. I might need to do a tape modification of something.
Other than that, the Deck is absolutely amazing!
My girlfriend has a similar complaint. Hours upon hours poured into Civilization VI, but after long sessions her arms get tired from holding it up due to the weight. Haven’t heard any complaints about reach though, but maybe that’s not as big of a deal as the weight.
My case has a kick stand. If I’m holding it too long and not docking it I’m not ashamed to just prop it up, hook up an external controller, and keep playing.
You just described what i was looking for. I found myself using my old work laptop to get into some of those slower paced/less resource intensive games while on the couch with the dogs, but it’s pretty awkward and clunky that way.
the deck is fantastic for couch lounging or playing in bed
If you get used to using the touchpads+gyro, shooters are suddenly very fun to play as your accuracy is much batter than with the sticks.
It was honestly a life saver for me. I got Long Covid and became increasingly bed bound. The Deck enabled me to somewhat keep me sanity by playing in bed.
And that way I don’t have to fight with my kids over the desktop PC. Although they sometimes want the Deck for those games that play better with a gamepad.
Simultaneous play also showed the dark side of Steam. Unless one of the devices is offline you cannot play two games from one Steam library at the same time. Luckily I also have many games on Battle.net, GOG and on my old discs, so I can easily move to another game in case of a clash.
I’m currently playing Spider-Man Miles Morales and having a blast.
Put one of the steam instances into offline mode then you can play on 2 machines.
Yes, I know. Stupid workaround to an artificial problem.
What I love about the steam deck:
It can play most of my library flawlessly.
I can relax on the couch and watch TV while I play games.
The buttons and controls are excellent and I can game for several hours.
What I dislike about the steam deck:
Sometimes it gets really hot after an intense gaming session.
The battery life isn’t the greatest. (Although I usually have a charger close by.)
WiFi kinda sucks on it. I use a cheap Ethernet dongle when I need to install games.
Sometimes my eyes hurt and get blurry if I use the deck too long. My advice is to take a break from time to time once I realized that the culprit was the steam deck.
Favorite thing: the ability to suspend a game anytime, and pick up exactly where you left off.
Least favorite thing: a tie between the weight and the weak battery life. Never have my hands been so numb after extended sessions on the Steam Deck.
Favourite thing? It’s replaced my Switch for the most part. So not only do you get cheaper games on Steam, but they also run better.
I still use my PC for gaming, too. I just prefer some games on the Steamdeck and others on PC.my favorite thing is how open it is. the usb-c port is the latest at the time of finalizing the specs with nothing added or taken away. its a linux desktop you can do damn near anything on. my least favorite is the fact it onl has one usb-c port. literally all they need is a second one.
My favourite thing about my Steam Deck is that I can add gyro controls to pretty much any shooter. I’ve always struggled with using control sticks for fine aiming but now I can just add in motion control and play very well. It really has ignited my passion for shooters. Playing 300 hours of Splatoon 2 on my switch really got me comfortable with motion based aiming and now I couldn’t go back.
Best is the sleep function. Combined with it being a dedicated gaming device (I’m not using it for work etc) I can leave a game open on it for weeks. No boot up times, no loading into game times, just press the power button, play as long as I’m able, and back to sleep.
Controls are great too. The addition of the highly versatile trackpads, 4 back buttons, gyro, and steam input settings has ruined other controllers for me. I have a dock but rarely use it because I miss the extra buttons and controls when using a different controller.
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I agree with everything here. I just want to leave behind a little nugget for anyone searching in the future that runs across this after searching 4k.
My deck would run 4k for a few minutes on my TV. Then it would disconnect from the dock. I actually didn’t realize I had it in 4k because I had set it to 1280x800 manually on another dock back when I got it.
I had a hard time figuring out why my new dock seemed to be busted. A friend who had recently ran into the same issue told me to change my resolution and suddenly everything worked.
All I could find searching for it was people complaining that their dock cut out on them intermittently.
A big positive is that it is the reason I’m dipping into genres I don’t normally touch. I’m playing Chained Echoes right now, which is a modern-day 16-bit RPG. I normally don’t bother with those, because if I’m at my PC with a 3080TI in it, I’m not playing a 16-bit game, and my PS5 is already building a bit of a backlog with so many good games coming, so I don’t play smaller games when I’m on my big plush couch, I want to play stuff that takes advantage of the hardware and tends to be more cinematic. On Deck, I’m playing these smaller games while laying in bed next to my wife while we have the TV on. It’s also nice to take to hotels when I travel for work, which I used to take my PS5 for. The hotel TVs always suck and you can’t adjust any settings so it’s nice to not be lugging the PS5 around any more.
The only drawback is the weight; my wrists start to get tired after 45 minutes or so, so I need to sit up or adjust my position to keep playing comfortably.Least: Poor and inconsistent WiFi
Best: Finally enjoy my games without a huge PC or TV, including emulated games
Likes: Portable, play games like on a console but have access computer exclusive things, like console commands, grate control customization, and nice button layout.
Dislikes: Not so great battery life, a bit too heavy for my taste, and doesn’t come with a dock.
My opinion is likely outdated. I was really excited for the stream deck, but it struggled to work properly when I received it. And there were often issues with the clock and wifi that made it nearly impossible to use. Throw in some issues with audio not playing over tv speakers…
It ended up becoming an expensive paperweight over the last few months as it brought me memories of frustration and buyers regret rather than joy.
I’m not trying to make anyone angry or anything. Many people here seem to love it, so maybe I should give it another go. I hope some updates have maybe increased its performance. Just wanted to share my honest experience…
Why not update it and try it out again?
