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

I want a Steam Controller 2. One with more durable shoulder buttons, and a rechargeable battery pack that charges when the controller is plugged in to USB. Steam Controller was / is the best controller I've ever owned, and I'd sure love to buy a newer model.

All of what you've said! Plus charging pins or a drop-on charging port like the switch would be a nice feature too.

I would say 2025/2026 for a Deck 2: a more consistent development target platform than the standard PC upgrade cadence, but not as long as a console generation.

Things I'd like in a Deck 2:

• Get rid of the bezels. Have a bigger screen. If the performance is there to be able to have 1920×1200, make the screen big enough so that's at a feasible pixel density, otherwise stick with 1280×800.


• Have a better quality screen. Whether it's OLED or simply IPS with a more comprehensive gamut, I don't really care. Use whichever is best for battery life.


• Have a kickstand, or a prop solution that comes in the box, since external controller support is already good.


• Kensington lock slot so that game devs use it to demo their games, meaning they're necessarily making sure that running on Linux is a first class concern.


• Have much better L1/R1 shoulder buttons. These ones seem like an afterthought, aren't especially comfortable, and aren't especially consistent. PlayStation controllers do these much better.


• Have a power LED that can go amber when the battery is low.


• Have some means, either tactile or backlight, to find the supplemental buttons.


• Any magical new-fangled battery tech that lets you fit more battery inside.


• Bigger base storage in the entry-level tier. 256/512/1 TB, or even 512/1 TB/2 TB


• Better haptics. They've done what they can with what's essentially an audio output, but dedicated controllers with motors do a much better job.

I say I need....er we need a steam deck powered by quantum processor! it would be a real powerhouse and then there would be no need to update Steamos or upgrade Steam Deck ever again. It would outlast the competitors and the mankind!And what is best - Valve could include AI with Steam deck 2 which would be really fun! Imagine: Your Steam Deck Could give few very useful advices how to add a couple of zeroes on to your bank account. Or how to blow up you secret moonshine kettle and your neighbour's house at the same time!. Or it could give also some advices how to get rid of your nagging girlfriend! So a bright future awaits us!Eh i got too excited again. Sorry.I'll buy the next version of Steam deck if the price is reasonable and the improvements are good enough!

Not gonna lie, almost all the improvements I'd like to see in a Steam Deck 2 are just software updates to my existing Steam Deck 1. I'd like a better consistency in Desktop Mode between controller settings (and for common Steam/Options shortcuts to work in Desktop Mode too). I'd like the Store page to have easier navigation and better search. I have issues buying anything on the Store - the credit card check frequently fails during purchase.

In fact, the only thing hardware related I'd like to see in a Steam Deck 2 is more pronounced Steam/Options buttons. I use them to adjust brightness and finding them by touch in a dark room is hit or miss. Would be nice if the newer model is lighter too... but I'm happy with the screen, the heat, the fans, the power, and just about everything else on the hardware front. It's an amazing device. I love it.


And the battery - good grief, it's amazing. I don't play top-end games, so I restrict frames to 40, and TDP to 10, and it lasts for hours. Easily four, at least. It's incredible. And yet silky smooth gameplay on things like Soulstone Survivors, Monster Train or Ring of Pain.

I know that when we were kids, we were promised jetpacks... but until they appear, I'll take the Steam Deck, thanks.

I would say 2025/2026 for a Deck 2: a more consistent development target platform than the standard PC upgrade cadence, but not as long as a console generation.

Things I'd like in a Deck 2:

• Get rid of the bezels. Have a bigger screen. If the performance is there to be able to have 1920×1200, make the screen big enough so that's at a feasible pixel density, otherwise stick with 1280×800.


• Have a better quality screen. Whether it's OLED or simply IPS with a more comprehensive gamut, I don't really care. Use whichever is best for battery life.


• Have a kickstand, or a prop solution that comes in the box, since external controller support is already good.


• Kensington lock slot so that game devs use it to demo their games, meaning they're necessarily making sure that running on Linux is a first class concern.


• Have much better L1/R1 shoulder buttons. These ones seem like an afterthought, aren't especially comfortable, and aren't especially consistent. PlayStation controllers do these much better.


• Have a power LED that can go amber when the battery is low.


• Have some means, either tactile or backlight, to find the supplemental buttons.


• Any magical new-fangled battery tech that lets you fit more battery inside.


• Bigger base storage in the entry-level tier. 256/512/1 TB, or even 512/1 TB/2 TB


• Better haptics. They've done what they can with what's essentially an audio output, but dedicated controllers with motors do a much better job.

Completely agree. Especially the prop solution is important to me.
I'd also like to have the dual gyro NerdNest showed of with a prototype controller, recently. Seems like a perfect fit to get a Deck2 even more versatile.

Also, a lot can still be done in software. E.g. life with the 64GB model could be seriously improved if all data of microSD installed games was actually stored on the microSD. Add a fixed (configurable) size cache on the primary drive and move files on startup if necessary to ensure performance.
As storage will always be a problem, multiple microSD slots would also be really really nice.

Whatever they do, I hope Valve will release some games that show how to really target the Deck before releasing new hardware.


Last edited by const on 2 March 2023 at 1:12 pm UTC

In my opinion the next step for Valve is to sell a new Steam machine. It should be possible to build a unique looking small-form-factor PC with decent enough hardware that can play most games at 1080p. right now about 8000 games are verified or playable. This is a huge difference with 2015. Also it would prove that SteamOS is flexible enough to support more hardware than only the Deck. Ideally they launch it with a Steam Controller 2.

From most to least important for me:

- Put an additional USB-C port on the bottom;
- Reduce the screen bezel and use this space to shrink the device a little. I think the current screen size (except the bezel, obviously) and resolution are fine for now. Maybe make it a little thicker to compensate for the reduced footprint, like other similar devices do;
- Offer a reasonably priced OLED SKU;
- Try to make space for a full-sized (2280) m.2 slot. Obviously, also offer the mounting point for those who already have a 2230 SSD. 2280 SSDs are just so much cheaper, can offer much higher capacity, and are much easier to find;
- Better "Steam" and "..." buttons;
- Replace the self-tapping screws with metal threaded insert ones, so people don't have to be worried about wearing out the plastic threads when opening the device multiple times;
- Improve the haptics. I know Valve said that it can drain battery life, but make it optional for players that want to use it anyway;
- Instead of using that weird "L" shaped battery, add another layer (on the previously imagined thicker body), and make it squared, with less glue to attach it to the case to also make it easier to replace;
- Make the triggers dual-stage like the original Steam Controller;
- Make the USB-C support eGPUs;
- Manufacture the USB-C ports as daughterboards that can be detached from the motherboard for easier repair;
- Make the AC power adapter cable detachable;

BONUS:
- IMPROVE THE GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION. I know the logistics are VERY complicated, but there are a lot of people out there who want to buy the device, but can't.
- Make it a dual gyro controller. Seems like it improves a lot the stability of gyro controls: https://youtu.be/OrucAJknMys?t=262

Whatever they do they have to mantain the starting price or even lower it.

If we are talking about raw power/battery life a Steam Deck 2 shold have better battery life and enough power for modern games.

However, I think the better option would be to wait a few more years (even 4-5 like consoles) and implement frame-generation techniques like FSR 3 which would make demanding games perform better or even make them playable in some cases and preserve more battery life since it need to render less frames

Replace the self-tapping screws with metal threaded insert ones, so people don't have to be worried about wearing out the plastic threads when opening the device multiple times

That's a good point. Also recognising that replacing the battery is something that people are likely to want to do, and so make it straightforward to do.

Xbox & Playstation release a new console every 6-7 years with usually one hardware refresh in between. These refreshes do not increase performance but usually make the console smaller and decrease power draw by using smaller nm chips. We could see a "Steam Deck Slim" with same horsepower and chassis but longer battery life.

Xbox & Playstation release a new console every 6-7 years with usually one hardware refresh in between. These refreshes do not increase performance but usually make the console smaller and decrease power draw by using smaller nm chips. We could see a "Steam Deck Slim" with same horsepower and chassis but longer battery life.

Last console gen had a performance-increasing hardware refresh. I wasn't happy about this development, I hope this gen doesn't continue the trend. PS3 had 3 versions, each mostly smaller and more power efficient than the last, but no speed improvements. Now even the Switch had a small performance/battery life improvement with the OLED version.

Better screen (same res)/longer battery life on the Steam Deck is definitely what should happen as early as late this year. Then everyone can make the decision whether to upgrade or not.

Ideally, Valve have enough clout in the PC game market to convince game makers they need to make their new releases run fine (40 fps, please) on the SD for at least a couple of years. Either way, I'll be fine getting an SD2 with significant improvements come late 2024/2025.

If the screen is bigger, 1200p can make sense provided the hardware is good enough to run current (current current, not necessarily when SD2 comes out current) games mostly at native res. If the screen is the same size, 800p will be fine (though Youtube will explode with rage and Valve probably need to take it into account). Perhaps something like 1600x1000 can be a middle ground for a slightly bigger screen?

Going for more power without ensuring at least a little better battery life is a no-no, so that's definitely a requirement.

Thery can minimize reputation hit by releasing device early, if all or most 3rd party bells and whistles like memory cards, cases etc, are cross compatible between gen 1 and gen 2 devices.

- Put an additional USB-C port on the bottom;
(…)
- Instead of using that weird "L" shaped battery, add another layer (on the previously imagined thicker body), and make it squared, with less glue to attach it to the case to also make it easier to replace;
(…)
- Replace the self-tapping screws with metal threaded insert ones, so people don't have to be worried about wearing out the plastic threads when opening the device multiple times;
(…)
- Manufacture the USB-C ports as daughterboards that can be detached from the motherboard for easier repair;
- Make the AC power adapter cable detachable;

Those are my top improvement wishes.


Last edited by Klaas on 2 March 2023 at 4:25 pm UTC

I personally would love to see a Steam Deck 1.5 prior to a Steam Deck 2. The 1.5 version could focus on topics such as battery and screen, while keeping the performance the same to allow for the single performance target. This matches what Valve has said they want to do, while also allowing for some pain points to be fixed. Obviously the main changes would be to screen and battery (I don't think OLED is needed as more power draw is a terrible idea, but just a higher quality LCD screen instead.) There could be some potential upgrades to spots like haptics (although I do think that less is more here, and it's better to focus on the main flaws rather than changing everything). Something I do feel strongly about, however, is stick drift. The 1.5 version could perhaps include a partnership with Gulikit so that Valve could officially sell Hall Effect sticks with the 1.5 version, and perhaps have them be purchasable separately for both joystick versions so that Deck 1.0 users could upgrade to them. I also think that trade-in could be huge if they gave the 1.0 Deck an excellent trade-in value. Sending your 1.0 deck in, paying an extra 100-200 dollars, and getting the 1.5 version back would be amazing. Ny absolute number one feature for a 1.5 version is probably not realistic, but it'd be keeping the chassis the same to allow for drop-in upgrades. This would mean that more experienced users could purchase the parts that had changed since the original Deck and just swap them out, while less experienced users could pay a bit more money for the trade-in option. However, I do see an issue with the drop-in mentality, as it would make it quite difficult to improve aspects like battery while having to keep all the sizes the same. But even if that didn't happen, I think trade-in done well would be enough to make the newer version worth it. As for a Deck 2.0, my #1 feature is 3D V-cache on the CPU with a GPU based on RDNA 3 architecture, and no real loss to efficiency. I would want that in a few years, though, perhaps 2025 or 2026. I think Deck 1.5 would be perfect for either late 2023 or 2024.

Valve has said they won't start thinking about Steam Deck 2 until they can offer a significant performance advantage over the Steam Deck, which I'm happy about. I would love to get several years out of the current iteration.

I don't think we need a Steam Deck 2, as in we don't need a Steam Deck that uses an entirely new APU from AMD. But we do need something like a Steam Deck "mini", or a Steam Deck "Pro" with increased battery and better screen. The Nintendo DS "Phat" came out in November 2004, and DS Lite came out in March 2006, so this type of practise is completely normal in the world of handhelds and has been going on for years; the Steam Deck should be no different.

A lot of people will disagree with me, but personally, I would like to see Valve make a Steam Deck that has detachable controllers, kinda like the Switch's Joy-Cons, but a lot more sturdy and wobble-free, when attached (like, you can literally lock them to the sides with screws).

Why? Because then you could have the option to have the default large Steam Deck, where the side controllers have the trackpads, etc, or you could buy slimmer, 3rd party ones, that makes the entire thing more pocketable. The bezels around the screen would also need to be heavily reduced, too. I think such a design would be a lot easier to tear down and get to the internal guts, battery, NVME, etc, because you wouldn't have to worry about the controller motherboard bits getting in the way; you can just pop those off, and remove the backplate from the "tablet portion".


Last edited by Mrowl on 2 March 2023 at 6:50 pm UTC

I find a lot of these Steam Deck 2 wishlists lack consistency, are hopelessly unrealistic, and most of them are just too early. This isn't a smartphone seeing annual revisions, nor is it a locked-down walled-garden console where the manufacturer has total system/UI control. I think when SD2 does come out we will see an awful lot of disappointment from the community where they decry the lack of Killer-But-Totally-Necessary Feature (120hz, VRR, 32gb, 1920x1200, OLED, IPS, removable controllers, etc).
Keep your expectations in check guys: moving from RDNA2 to 3 (or 4) but moving resolution up to 1200 will result in no performance gains and hang-wringing about playing at 800p (but then you're missing out on 1200 pixel density!). Adding more battery will make the device heavier. Adding OLED won't be possible at "reasonable" prices (Valve doesn't move Nintendo unit quantities).
I'd prefer they wait until 2024, announce a refresh/2.0, release in 2025. Problem is then any competitor has a spec target to match/beat at a lower price.

I would change
- joysticks with magnetic ones
- The APU, a RDNA3 one
- Only one model with 1 TB NVMe as they are cheaper now
- Another battery easy to switch, with replacements and an external charger - optional -

I would not change
- Everything else, including the screen

I would add

- Waydroid or any other Android compatibility layer
- eSIM for 5G+ and phone use
- Webcam for broadcasting and video conference
(if it is as a plugin and you can make pictures or selfies just plugin it backwards, better)




Unless a better screen tech saving energy appears.

And let the OLED version for the SD 3 or later or other brands.

Make the power button bulge out like the volume buttons instead of in; on not a few occasions I've tried to power on/wake up my Deck without looking only to realize I'm pressing the USB-C port which is right nearby and feels similar to my fingertips. 😂

Though realistically, I'm happy with what I have and not looking for any sort of upgrade at the moment, since I don't use mine for pushing the envelope with demanding games. Maybe the one upgrade I'd like would be a bump in screen resolution; for the games I'm usually playing it wouldn't really need more power, but it'd easier to read small text and just look nicer in general.