Valve announces the Steam Deck OLED

Valve has just announced the Steam Deck OLED, due to release in very short order on November 16. Effectively an upgrade to the baseline Steam Deck model, the OLED variant will even have a substantially upgraded battery, making the device that much more appealing.

What’s particularly interesting here is that as the OLED model of the Steam Deck rolls in, Valve is phasing out the 64 GB and the 512 GB variants of the original device. As of right now, these version of the Deck are only going to stay in stock while supplies last (with an appropriate price drop), and new buyers will be able to purchase the following versions of the device in the future:

• 256 GB LCD version of the Steam Deck at $399
• 512 GB OLED version of the Steam Deck at $549
• 1 TB OLED version of the Steam Deck at $649

This is quite the revamp of the official Deck lineup, but what makes it particularly exciting is that the OLED versions of the device deliver substantial improvements to its core concept in all the ways that matter.

Steam Deck OLED specifications and upgrades

Aside from the obvious boon of a 7.4″ OLED display with HDR support which is “designed from the ground up for gaming,” according to Valve’s press release, the device also features the following upgrades compared to the previously available model:

• 6nm APU for improved gaming efficiency
• Wi-Fi 6E for better download speeds
• 50Whr battery delivering up to 12 hours worth of gameplay

The top-spec 1 TB version of the Deck comes with its own set of exclusive boons, including the premium anti-glare etched display that was previously reserved for the 512 GB version, a special carrying case with removable liner, an exclusive startup movie, and an exclusive virtual keyboard theme. All in all, quite the bundle of goodies.

Something worth considering here is that the Steam Deck OLED will also have a special Limited Edition of the device featuring a unique transparent chassis. The downside, however, is that this version of the device is only going to be deployed in very limited quantities, and only on the territories of the US and Canada. The regular OLED version of the Deck should, however, be availalbe as per usual.