Valve doesn't need much to make a Steam Deck 2 a huge success

I think 3 years after the Steam Deck 1 is the right period of time to launch a successor. By then, the latest APU should be much faster and probably more power efficient too (meaning the battery doesn't have to be that much bigger). Apart from APU improvements, they should have a better screen with smaller bezels to allow 8" 1080p without increasing overall size. Other hardware improvements could be: a fingerprint reader, a second USB C port on the bottom, move storage tiers up so they are all SSD between 256GB and 1TB and maybe a good Webcam with a privacy shutter. You will not see a $399 Deck 2 - I suspect it would start at $499 or maybe even higher.

They should also launch a Steam Controller 2 at the same time modelled on the Deck controls. Assuming SteamOS 3 is finally out as a standalone ISO by then (c'mon Valve, you're taking too long!), then Valve should offer SteamOS 3 and the Steam Controller 2 to major OEMs as a free or partly subsidised gaming bundle for desktops/laptops (Valve would certify SteamOS on the OEM hardware but insist that it's a simple radio button to switch between Windows 11 and SteamOS when purchasing [i.e. not hidden on a separate product page, which would kill sales as we've seen with Dell and Lenovo's Linux efforts in the past]).

We desperately need big OEMs to ship Linux pre-installed for Linux gaming to take off and SteamOS might be able to do it.


Last edited by rkl on 3 March 2023 at 8:17 am UTC

What I liked to see in a Steam Deck 2 would be a removable battery. Maybe it would also need a more secure charger port so that the cable doesn’t fall out while you play.
I only play with the charger connected and the steam deck is just a bit heavy.
For this year though I agree with the previous posters: a new steam controller would be awesome!

The Steam Deck2 should have AirJet cooling, if it proves to be as good as they claim.

And it should be a foldable like the Gameboy advance sp was for better mobility.

I think it's pretty good as it. Its come so far since release day. I remember it was a buggy mess lol.
We are only just getting to the good software updates. Doom has Raytracing on a handheld device! Lets wait till devs actually make something with the steamdeck in mind. Most current games have been 3-5years in the making so haven't been targeting the deck & lets be honest all these 'presets' that are being included are rubbish they just put everthing on low when it can do a few on high.

- I think they should actually keep the same res screen for the gen2 BUT give it a nice boosted shiny APU so it can run docked mode at higher res easily.
- OLED or MINI LED display and can go brighter (800-1000nits)
- Put some battery cells in the grips.
- Dimmable led behind some of the buttons like the steam button.
- Configurable LED GLOW aroudn the joysticks.
- Quick docking ports under the deck
- Better rumble
- I expect the PS5 will have a new update soon (they useally make it smaller & more energy efficient so maybe thats the way to go with the deck, upgrades rather than a revolution.


Last edited by dopeytree on 3 March 2023 at 5:16 pm UTC

Right now I´d pay premium money for a simple Steam Deck 1.5 with:

- OLED Screen
- 2280 m.2 Slot
- Second USB-C port
- Easier exchangable battery
- A backplate with a built-in Deckmate connector

So of course these things would also be high on my wishlist for a Steam Deck 2. I also hope they stick with 800p as I don´t see the benefits of higher resolutions outwheigh the drawbacks anytime soon, unless there are some major jumps in technology. Apart from that, the topic of resolution turned out to be a fast and reliable way to determine if a reviewer knows what hes talking about or not, so thats a boon


Last edited by RavenWings on 3 March 2023 at 9:03 pm UTC

Given that other more expensive handhelds with a 6800U in them were doing similar performance at 1080p as SD and about 50% faster at 800p setting.

I think there is room to produce a SD2 at this stage given AMD has new generation APU's in house already which no doubt Valve has access too.

I would like to see Value attempt to use a 6c/12t CPU this time around, at least as the minimal.

Also I'd like to see them use several of those SOLID STATE COOLER CHIPS that company developed (forgot name now)

It would be a huge step ahead if they designed the battery(s) in positions where they can be interchangeable, just takes a bit of plastic mold like SOME mobile phones with back panels that pop off....


Last edited by TheRiddick on 4 March 2023 at 1:08 am UTC

While I agree, I feel like the Deck was successful in achieving what it aimed to do, it hasn't gone overly smoothly. However, it's not valves fault, nor any developers fault this time around.

But rather.. the entitled gaming community. Generally being crappy as usual. For example, still, to this day, when a dev proudly announces "Hey, we're Steam deck verified", the community still sends a ton of crap and hate their way. For example, Cyberpunk 2077:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/1091500/eventcomments/3772365358800523525

Most of the comments are:
- Misleading or incorrect regarding the decks capabilities
- Pure FUD
- Generally anti-Deck
- Some anti-linux
- Overall mocking

For it to be smoother, we need to get the community to stop effectively shitting on it for no particular reason other than "I know best, despite knowing nothing about it, so I'm just going to post some random crap comment to hate on it.", which appears to be the mind set of most of the commenters.

But why is this a problem? Simple, imagine your a game developer and you think "cool, we'll expand our customer base a bit by supporting this platform somewhat-officially as well". Then you read those responses. What would your next move be?

But rather.. the entitled gaming community. Generally being crappy as usual. For example, still, to this day, when a dev proudly announces "Hey, we're Steam deck verified", the community still sends a ton of crap and hate their way. For example, Cyberpunk 2077:

I didn't step through many pages, but aren't most people there angry about the game's quality itself and are using every chance to bitch around?

But rather.. the entitled gaming community. Generally being crappy as usual. For example, still, to this day, when a dev proudly announces "Hey, we're Steam deck verified", the community still sends a ton of crap and hate their way. For example, Cyberpunk 2077:

I didn't step through many pages, but aren't most people there angry about the game's quality itself and are using every chance to bitch around?

They are, but the sad part is they're also basically crapping on the deck too. Claiming it has poor performance and so on.

With that said, as a player of that game, on Linux using both Desktop & Deck, it really isn't as bad as they'd have you believe. So far my only complaints are lag after using map (restart game to fix) and extended sessions (4+ hrs) will cause it to eventually crash. Although, my own install is not a regular one (I use lots of mods). It has it's glitches, but honestly what game doesn't?

To begin with, I really like my Steam Deck the way it is.

If I had one wish, it would be egpu support integrated into the docking station. Some chinese company did miracles with the RX6600m mobile chip. Maybe something equivalent, at the current gpu gen? Along with the Steam Controller 2 release, It would make for an awesome Steam Machine.

I don't see the point in the resolution race. 1280x800 is pretty fine, imo. Maybe 1600x1000, but I wouldn't go higher than that. I'd use a more powerfull apu to try and reach stable 60fps in most AAA games, personally. But in any case, it would require better battery life, so...

I still think Valve hit the sweet spot, with the current Steam Deck. And please don't consider any modifications to the inputs layout. It's awesome as it is.

I don't see the point in the resolution race.

Game devs are more likely to test their UI at 1080p than 720p (unless they're targeting the Deck specifically, in which case the actual resolution doesn't matter, since they're testing for whatever it is). The bezels are too big so, if you get rid of those, you either get a smaller screen, bigger pixels, or more pixels. Of those (assuming there's adequate performance), more pixels is best. That's why I suggested it, anyway; OEMs just like putting big numbers on spec sheets.

I don't see the point in the resolution race.

Game devs are more likely to test their UI at 1080p than 720p (unless they're targeting the Deck specifically, in which case the actual resolution doesn't matter, since they're testing for whatever it is). The bezels are too big so, if you get rid of those, you either get a smaller screen, bigger pixels, or more pixels. Of those (assuming there's adequate performance), more pixels is best. That's why I suggested it, anyway; OEMs just like putting big numbers on spec sheets.

My point is more pixels means more strain on the APU. Unless the Steam Deck 2 comes with a much more powerful APU, which may mean shorter battery autonomy, that's a tradeoff I would avoid. Actually the Steam Deck is 800p and many devs already take that into account. Lots of games have been updated to cope with that. I have confidence they will continue to do so, no matter what Valve settles for.

As for the bezel thing it might be caused by the internal components that require too much space? Since Valve didn't want bigger/more pixels, they may have decided to fill the space with bezels? Just a mechanical designer perspective on the matter and only one example of what may have been. Personally, I'm fine with them.

But hey, your opinion is as good as mine.


Last edited by Mohandevir on 4 March 2023 at 9:57 pm UTC

My point is more pixels means more strain on the APU. Unless the Steam Deck 2 comes with a much more powerful APU, which may mean shorter battery autonomy, that's a tradeoff I would avoid.

For sure, it's definitely a balance that need to be struck. APU and battery tech improvements might cover it by the time the next gen is ready, and if they don't just stick with the lower res.

As for the bezel thing it might be caused by the internal components that require too much space?

Nah, it's because they were trying to hit a price point, the same as it not having great colour reproduction. The bezel is the (quite chunky in this case) part of the screen that doesn't display anything. Having pixels that go all, or almost all, the way to the edge is an engineering challenge, so displays where they've managed to do so are more expensive.

My point is more pixels means more strain on the APU. Unless the Steam Deck 2 comes with a much more powerful APU, which may mean shorter battery autonomy, that's a tradeoff I would avoid.

For sure, it's definitely a balance that need to be struck. APU and battery tech improvements might cover it by the time the next gen is ready, and if they don't just stick with the lower res.

As for the bezel thing it might be caused by the internal components that require too much space?

Nah, it's because they were trying to hit a price point, the same as it not having great colour reproduction. The bezel is the (quite chunky in this case) part of the screen that doesn't display anything. Having pixels that go all, or almost all, the way to the edge is an engineering challenge, so displays where they've managed to do so are more expensive.

Still, I wonder what design choice they would have made in using a 1280x800 8" no bezel screen... Meaning, keep the exact display size surface and just remove the actual bezels. Could the Steam Deck get smaller? Would it cause airflow issues? Does these no-bezel screens generate more heat than the one they chose?


Last edited by Mohandevir on 5 March 2023 at 5:17 pm UTC

I would have never seen this b(r)etzel thing if you had not talked so much about it, and now I cannot unsee it!

I would have never seen this b(r)etzel thing if you had not talked so much about it, and now I cannot unsee it!

Lol! Sorry.

Personally, it's not really an issue.

This said, I didn't even mentionned possible interferences... Valve warned user to be careful when replacing the original nvme because it could cause interferences. Could be similar with the screens. Some may cause interferences, other may be too sensible to them. Every time you change a component in such a compact design, you must revalidate the whole thing. There are always unforseen surprises... Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

Still, I wonder what design choice they would have made in using a 1280x800 8" no bezel screen... Meaning, keep the exact display size surface and just remove the actual bezels. Could the Steam Deck get smaller? Would it cause airflow issues? Does these no-bezel screens generate more heat than the one they chose?

If they'd known for sure what the demand would be, so they could order in sufficient quantity to still hit their price point with a better screen, I think they'd have kept everything else the same without the bezels. Same resolution, since the APU has solid performance at 1280×800 but would be too weak for too much of the catalogue at a higher resolution, and the same size, since they had to work hard at the cooling and fitting everything in. Just with physically more of the front of the device showing an image.

Games That Won't Work At All Due To Incompatibility Issues On Linux For SteamOS Steam Deck -

Entropia Universe
Fallen Earth
The Chronicles Of Riddick, DVD Complete Set.

So Far, Those Are The Games That Won't Even Boot Up Due To Either Launches Or Default Video Resolution Not Correcting Itself Automatically Under SteamOS. Which Crashes The SteamDeck.

That Said, We Need Steam Deck 2, To Fully Run Older Exe Launchers That Rely On Programs Like Internet Explorer And So On, We Need More Development On These Issues That Aren't Being Focused On, To Fully Get Off The Reliance Of Windows Desktops. So For Me, I'm Okay With The Battery Life, I'm Okay With My 512GB Model, However.. SteamDeck 2 Should Have The Maximum Of 2TB By Standard And Minimum Should Be 250GB For The Cheaper Models. I Think It Was A Mistake For The 64GB Model Bc Of SSDs Having Limited Writing Before The Drives Fail Compared To HDDs.

If They Can't Focus On Older Games To Launch Properly Like Fallen Earth For Example, My Primary Focus For Steam Would Be To Focus On Us Desktoppers That Want To Ditch Windows Entirely And Focus On Desktop SteamOS Whereas We Can Put Our Own HardWare Into Our Machines And Run Older Or Games Like Entropia Universe At Our Higher Frame rates Or Resolution Sets To Get Some Games To Boot.

Games That Won't Work At All Due To Incompatibility Issues On Linux For SteamOS Steam Deck -

Entropia Universe
Fallen Earth
The Chronicles Of Riddick, DVD Complete Set.

So Far, Those Are The Games That Won't Even Boot Up Due To Either Launches Or Default Video Resolution Not Correcting Itself Automatically Under SteamOS. Which Crashes The SteamDeck.

That Said, We Need Steam Deck 2, To Fully Run Older Exe Launchers That Rely On Programs Like Internet Explorer And So On, We Need More Development On These Issues That Aren't Being Focused On, To Fully Get Off The Reliance Of Windows Desktops. So For Me, I'm Okay With The Battery Life, I'm Okay With My 512GB Model, However.. SteamDeck 2 Should Have The Maximum Of 2TB By Standard And Minimum Should Be 250GB For The Cheaper Models. I Think It Was A Mistake For The 64GB Model Bc Of SSDs Having Limited Writing Before The Drives Fail Compared To HDDs.

If They Can't Focus On Older Games To Launch Properly Like Fallen Earth For Example, My Primary Focus For Steam Would Be To Focus On Us Desktoppers That Want To Ditch Windows Entirely And Focus On Desktop SteamOS Whereas We Can Put Our Own HardWare Into Our Machines And Run Older Or Games Like Entropia Universe At Our Higher Frame rates Or Resolution Sets To Get Some Games To Boot.

So weird that I can't really read this comment, just because every word is capitalised! I keep having to re-read each word to understand why, and I can't quite bring myself to form the full sentence, because of that. It's like, every three words becomes a Title and then they lose meaning in the wider structure of the sentence.

Thinking about it... I think they'll release an Index 2 or Steam Controller 2 next. It actually makes sense to do an SC2 first, to bring it up to par with the new features on the Steam Deck. I certainly hope their release cadence is more in line for game consoles than computers as far as the Steam Deck goes. A 5 year release cycle makes a lot more sense than people wanting a 2 in a year or two.