The Steam Deck is getting closer than ever to its official release on February 25th, and there are already a lot of early hardware impressions on the actual retail version. The short answer: things are going quite well for Valve's new handheld device.
One of the most notable things about the Deck, according to PCGamer, is it's SD card's speed. Early tests by Linus Tech Tips found that the handheld's microSD card was as fast as a typical NVMe SSD in terms of game load times, which is quite impressive.
Granted, the tests were done on specific titles: "Control," "Dead Cells," and "Street Fighter 5" to be specific. But this makes a compelling case for even the cheapest Deck model, which only comes with a paltry 64GB of internal storage.
The only times when the microSD didn't go toe-to-toe with an SSD was with "Ghostrunner" and "Portal 2." In these two games, the microSD card lagged behind by roughly 10 to 17 seconds.
But while these results do look promising, however, user mileage may vary depending on the games. Not to mention, Valve revealed that the Steam Deck's software is far from flawless at this point, so there could still be a few more improvements left on the table when it comes to loading speeds.
Here is the video from Linus Tech Tips. Be sure to check the 13:29 mark:
The Deck is scheduled to come in three different variants of ascending storage capacity and price. There's a 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB model. The cheapest one you can get is obviously the 64GB model, which comes at $399-far cheaper than competing handheld PCs like the Aya Neo or GPD Win.
That 64GB storage capacity does sound a little tight. But considering how fast the microSD was in loading up games, it looks like you'll be fine with the cheapest Deck variant if you just slap a 256GB microSD card in there for a quick storage upgrade.
MORE Steam Deck Hardware Impressions
That's not the end of the early Steam Deck reviews, as Valve's handheld still has more stuff to offer-or be wary of.
For instance, the handheld's battery life, while not too bad, can prove to be a problem if you don't cap your games' performance. According to PCGamer, the console can drain its battery in just 90 minutes if you don't cap your FPS.
GamersNexus tested the Deck's battery life in a handful of intensive runs. They used demanding AAA titles like "Control," and their results revealed that with a 60 FPS frame rate cap at the low settings, you can play "Control" on the deck for around 85-90 minutes until the battery runs out.
"Dead Cells" was the best case scenario, as it was able to squeeze six full hours of battery life by capping the frame rate to 60Hz. The next in line was "Devil May Cry 5," which was playable for two hours with low settings and a 60 FPS cap.
Here is GamersNexus' video. Check the 20:37 mark:
But if you want to squeeze every last drop of power from the Steam Deck's battery, tech YouTuber The Phawx recommends that you run every game you play at a capped 30 FPS, as reported by The Verge. With this, he claims that you can "easily get four hours" of gametime from the handheld.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by RJ Pierce
