I've had mine for about 2 months now and I have to say, high school me would've been completely mind blown by this. And honestly, adult me is pretty stoked too. Have played so many different games on it already and having an absolute blast!

Really appreciate the considered and mature approach you have to presenting, can't wait for mine to arrive!

This was probably the most thorough tech evaluation video I have ever watched. You did an amazing job in describing the pros and cons.

I'm pleased to report that we're now at the point where the Steam Deck is generally available for everyone. I ordered a 512GB model completely on a whim yesterday and it has already shipped. No preorder whatsoever.

I got rid of my ps4 and switch and got a deck love it so far got ps2 games running on it as well. I got tired of the console maker charging for everything online should be free. Steam sales you can’t beat them.

One of the best reviews I've seen so far. I like that you get the details right. Almost no one else mentioned the menu and view buttons, for instance, which left me confused, because I don't have controller experience.

Just took delivery of my 512GB Deck about an hour ago. I live in the US. I really love it, and I really love your videos. So clean and concise and well presented, and you pretty much gave me a Getting Started Guide for my own Deck! Thanks for that, and keep up the excellent work!

I just discovered the steam deck 3 days ago - must be living behind the moon... 😁 And right now I am getting rid of my 30 year old Game Boy, SNES and even older Atari console (which I could NEVER sell before)... and I am probably even selling my old desktop PC (just keeping the 2020 model to play newer games). This is just mindblowing! It feels like the start of a new era and still it also feels like the unification of everything I ever loved gaming-wise. ☺

Dude,,,,, What an awesome & a genuine review. The calmness in your personality is admirable. I clicked the video just to see how you'd review a product for may be 10 seconds & stayed for over 20 mints, if that doesnt speak volumes, then I dont know what does. TWO THUMBS UP. 👍 👍

Great video; this is an excellent overview of everything the Steam Deck can do and its intended uses.

Damn, this is the gadget I’ve dreamed about when I was a kid 😅

Great video! (clicks subscribe) I was super lucky and got my Steam Deck early and it has become my most played gaming device, and frequently get that feeling of awe that you can play huge AAA PC games on such a small(ish) thing. Sometimes it feels like sorcery at work.

Im so glad i come across this. Im about to order one and u have help me loads

The grip buttons (L4/L5/R4/R5) and the trackpads are some of my favorite features on the Deck. I don't use or need them for every game but for in some games I'm really glad they are there. I enjoyed Valve's Steam Controller but I'm glad the Steam Deck's inputs improved on it by having two sticks instead of one and a d-pad, and four grip buttons instead of just two. In some situations I really like using a trackpad, sometimes a d-pad and sometimes a stick. The Deck has all three on the left side, and basically the same on the right side too except ABXY instead of the d-pad. This way it's up to the player to decide whichever method they prefer. You may not find use for some of those but then someone else might so I like that it was planned with multiple different type of gamers in mind. Something I've noticed about the games that have been rated by Valve into those categories is that there are even some games that are listed as unsupported but may still work. The verification is work in progress so it is possible those games may have indeed not worked when Valve rated them but then updates to SteamOS, Proton or the games themselves may have fixed some issues. I typically take the ratings with grain of salt. I trust the verified games to work on the Deck because otherwise I feel like Valve is making empty promises, and I pay attention to playable games and what kind of problems they may have. I try to avoid buying games for the Deck that are listed as unsupported, especially if the reason is known such as anti-cheat. For the unknown games I may look at the Steam discussions for the game and see if any users have provided feedback there. For the games that are already in my Steam library I may try anything because all I lose is basically some time spent on downloading and installing a game. However, unsupported games that I don't have yet come with a risk of losing money if I can't play them on the Deck. For the most part many of the problems listed in playable category are often minor enough that I don't mind those issues. Something like having to navigate through a launcher once per a session doesn't really affect the gameplay much but very small text or the game constantly showing keyboard and mouse glyphs could potentially be annoying during the game. Overall the Deck is a fantastic piece of technology, and it has clearly increased my time spent on playing games, and despite of a few small issues I've been very much satisfied with it.

I like the option to play at 40 fps 40 hz. I can play with high settings instead of low settings 60 fps.. and to be honest i don’t notice much difference between 40 and 60! But the higher graphics i do notice. Nice in depth review!

Really appreciate the work you put into the video. I just ordered one today since they are now mass producing them and it should be here in two week and this was a really helpful video on things that overall i feel a lot of people just kind gloss over

You are brilliant when it comes to game technology ! Wow ! I didn’t understand half of what was said, because I’m not that good with all that, so thank you for all the help !

Really well done video. Perfect for pushing me over the edge and deciding on making the switch to Steam Deck. No pun intended.

That was a very well paced video. Informative, engaging yet relaxed.

Solid review. After spending a week with my Steam Deck, I wouldn't even compare it to the Nintendo Wii past the fact they are both handhelds. I'd compare the Steam Deck to modern next gen consoles and say it blows them out of the water. The more I mess around with the Steam Deck the more things I figure out it can do. For only $400 at the low end, this is the best gaming console I've ever had. If I want to, with a $15 USBC to HDMI cable I can hook this Steam Deck up to my TV, and then connect wirelessly to it with my PS4 controller via blue tooth. I ran Cyberpunk 2077 on here the other day without issues. ...Well with only the usual Cyberpunk 2077 in game issues, but the Steam Deck did it's part well. I'd honestly tell people to buy a Steam Deck before buying a next gen Xbox or PlayStation. Try to find anyone who's not both blown away by the over-performance of the Steam Deck, and who think it's not well worth the money after purchase.

People were able to play MW2 Beta at near constant 60fps at native resolution around low-medium on TDM/DOM/Normal Gamemodes with Windows on it. Now that is pretty impressive. Steam also has Family Sharing, where you can share your entire library with a friend.

good reviews. you covered all the major points well. i got mine last month. had a bit of a hiccup because on the second day i used a charger that was not meant to output 45watts, and it "killed" my deck. i was about to RMA it, but once i opened it up to put the 64gb emmc drive back in for the RMA process, turns out that disconnecting the battery cleared the problem. other than that, i've been loving it. it will be replacing my switch lite and my pixel 3/razer kishi combo i used for emulation. and speaking of emulation, it's amazing. honestly, all i cared about was being able to emulate up to ps2/gamecube since after that (xbox 360, ps3) most titles in which i have interest have made to the pc. the steam deck does this amazingly well. it runs those systems very well, with plenty of control options (main controls plus back buttons/trackpads for extra inputs). of course, emulation was only one half of it, since the main thing will be for my actual steam library backlog. however, there are some negatives, just like any other devices. first off, the battery. if running newer stuff 2 or 3 hours will be the norm. while not a dealbreaker, i got used to my switch lite's 4-5 hours battery life. also, i'm never far from a plug, and i'll be getting a power back so it works out for me ( not to mention that the stuff i'm playing right now gives 4-6 hours on it). and second, i do find it a bit heavy for my liking. granted, i'm coming from a switch lite so it's to be expected. saying that, i'll take the bigger screen size, and more ergonomic feel of the deck any day over what the switch lite offers.

Loved the video! Just wanted to say that for me, more intense games tend to get around 3 to 3 and a half hours. Like the Witcher 3. But for most of the games I'm playing I get around 4 to 7 hours, including titles from Fallout New Vegas to Stardew Valley.

Thank you for the review !

I registered last Friday (9/30) and got in the invite to buy the Monday (10/3) after. Going to purchase it tomorrow and I'm super excited.

Just wanted to say your review was excellent I've watched like 20 reviews because I want a deck and yours was the best

Reserved mine yesterday and payed last night, got the shipping email this morning! I'm in the UK.

I've had my steam deck for about a week now and I love it so much. I have hardly even touched my gaming PC since it arrived. The performance is top notch for a handheld and even better than I imagined it would be. Almost every game I have tried has worked although some need tinkering with controls but once you got it set up for each game, steam remembers the settings so you don't have to do it again later. Steam deck is the most well designed and implemented gaming hardware I have ever owned. If you are on the fence, I say just buy it, you won't regret it.

I got the 64 GB version, SteamOS takes around 10-15 GBs so you're left with

This is a great video! Very insightful. I’m waiting for the day the Deck becomes available in Australia 🤞🏻

Man , really solid well put together review. Really good work

One of the best reviews I’ve seen so far.

Great review!

My handheld history is like yours I own or have had it all the Steam Deck is absolutely amazing I haven't had much interest in playing my other handhelds or consoles since getting the Deck. It's a fantastic experience believe the hype!

Thanks so much for this video I'm trying to decide on a Christmas present. You have covered so much in this video, and it's made my decision a lot easier now thanks!

Wow. Outstanding review.

First time on your channel and OMG the video was put together great. Very pleasant to watch, straight to the point, and you covered everything that had to be covered. You deserve a like, subscribe, and a hug but I’ll just give you the first two. Thank you and cheers.

Great video review. Dave has very nice hands on cutscenes playing Steam deck!!!😀 Prob Erin lol.

Picked up a new 512 for 20% off on their anniversary sale. First game I played was elder scrolls iv Oblivion. It looks gorgeous for an old game and the deck runs it like a champ on max graphics settings. Picked up a bunch of other games as well. The sales are incredible on Steam!

I just wanted to comment on the rear trigger buttons. A KZfaqr by the name of Shane R Monroe did a video on these and how most people (including myself) actually use them incorrectly. Sure you can pull the trigger on the side but its a bit awkward and not as effective as pushing it in near the edge adjacent to the middle. Try it MUCH easier to use them this way! :) Great video cheers m8!

A small addition: Unsupported games CAN actually run just fine - sometimes all you need is a Proton GE installation on the Deck. I'd recommend to search the web when in doubt, many games actually work just fine.

Great info!

considering my purchase of a steam deck, love my switch, but having my steam library portable is way too tempting. This however is one of the best reviews i have seen for a product, relaxed and matter of fact 👍 Subscribed!!

One again a terrific review. I don't own any games. Never did. But your genuine excitement about the Steam Deck has me reconsidering that. I suspect if I bought one, my wife would take it over. She used to love to play games on the Apple II.

Wow, this is one of the best most comprehensive review I've seen for the Deck.

Mine just arrived today. I'm enjoying it so far. It's giving me some nostalgia with it being reminiscent of the Game Gear. I grew up mostly playing on consoles, with portables being my gateway starting with the Game Boy, but in 2013 I built my first PC with a Radeon HD 8350 GPU and an AMD FX-6300, which got me started on earnest on PC gaming (I was a big Warcraft 2 and StarCraft fan, but I was playing those on my parents' Compaq Presario). These days my main rig is an RTX 3070 with a Ryzen 5 5600X. For portable gaming I rely on my Switch, but when there's a game I'm heavily focused on, I would love to be able to take it with me and have my progress saved both at home and on the go. When I was deep in my PlayStation phase, the combo of a PS4 and PS Vita came close, but it was so heavily dependent on strong internet that it was relatively useless when I was traveling long distance. So I'm sure I'm going to end up loving the Steam Deck, and I can't wait to fully dive in.

Ordered mine a bout a week after they went live (had to do research on its components) with preorders, got my hands on the device in July. Once I get a MicroSD card 500-1TB I I'll be installing GoG galaxy (hopefully) regardless my GoG library is going to get some love in desktop mode on this bad boy. GoG being GoG lots of the games are golden age games like the original fallout CRPGs and Dos platformers, so this device will fit quite nicely. Plus, it's been awhile since I had to put my software tinkering and code manipulation game to the test. It's kinda exciting.

I love my Deck! Just an amazing machine! Got mine after two months!

Great info. Thanks.

Timberborn actually is okay for me. The community layout seems to work fine, all I really needed to to was to bump up the UI size to make it more legible. That said, it's definitely better when I connect a keyboard and mouse.

Just snagged a refurbished 512GB deck! So excited to try it out!

I just got mine and I’m in love with it. Best money on a console I’ve ever spent. My switch is going to grow cobwebs after I play bayonetta 3.

Got my 512gb Steam Deck today! It's a BEAUTIFUL machine!

Terrific review man.

I put in my reservation on Friday and was able to place my order Monday. Today is Tuesday and I got my shipping notification. Valve has caught up.

Thinking about getting a Steam Deck (that is highly likely) and have been watching reviews and videos about it for a few days now during the evening. I Must say that this was the best review so far, with no fuzz or extra unnecessary content, Great job! It would be interesting to know how many buy a lower tier Deck and upgrade the internal SSD themself or is this something you need wast experience on, I assume not... (Another gamer from 1990 that misses the old classics)

Love my steam deck. I was doubting whether I'd buy it after some less than perfect performance reviews, but I'm glad i got it.

Just ordered mine today and I'm really excited. I mainly play on the Switch but wanted to expand my options. Let's be honest I'd love Rainbow Six on Steam.

Probbly one of the best steam deck reviews, and I watched all of them!

My deck finally arrives today, placed my order on September 5th and I only had to wait basically exactly a month!

When talking about quick settings you should mention that you can limit the framerate of the screen and the game to 40 Hz and 40 FPS for an improved battery life.

After gaming since 1978, I recently fell out of love with it. I sold my PC components and my console too. I've not played anything since Jan this year until I decided to give the Deck a try after finding a brand new 256gb model for £400 on Facebook Marketplace. I've not had much time to play on it but the experience I've had so far is excellent. I've been trying to complete Max Payne 3 and Half Life 2. Games that sat in my Steam library for years. I've also tried to run through the paid of Overwatch 2's shader load in. I'm at an hour or so now and it's still no compiled. Hopefully other companies realise that the Deck is a big part of gaming now and take advantage of it.

Great review sir..

I ordered my 512gb 2 days ago I can't wait to have it in my hands

I got the base model and am honestly really happy with it. I'm not a gamer (or I guess at this point I'm more of a newbie gamer) so I didn't want to invest too much money, and I already have a couple of 126 GB microSDs I figured I could repurpose for storage. I ended up buying a 512 GB card anyway, but honestly I would've been fine without it. I've got a couple of hundred hours on it by now and I'm very happy with my purchase. Installing ProtonUp-Qt and adjusting those settings is all the tinkering I've had to do for my older games. I've had a couple of crashes, it's definitely not been as smooth an experience as with Nintendo Switch, but it's not been that far off tbh. Certainly not enough to make the Nintendo tax on games worth the difference. I'm keeping my Switch Lite for Nintendo exclusives (Zelda in particular), but that's about it. I do have some things I hope they change for the next gen (smaller bezels around the display, a cover for the microSD slot, fairly minor things), but overall I think it's a great device - best tech purchase I've made in years, for sure!

Absolutely mirrors my experience with the Steam Deck. May I suggest PowerTools and, in extension of that, vibrantDeck - it‘s a game changer and while not quite at Switch OLED awesomeness, will transform the way you experience content on your SD. I have mine set to 155 saturation, absolutely stunning!

My deck goes in my nightstand where I used to keep a book or 2. Not as much reading lately.

It is my birthday today, I am turning 61 and thought that would be fitting to allow myself a present. We are not doing much around Christmas these days other than go to church and eat so I thought a little gaming on the couch might be enjoyable. I have some games I used to love to play on Steam but I have had no time to build a PC. Unfortunately it is another wait game as everything is sold out. I already have the 512Gb SSD in my office so I am just waiting for the okay to hand them the money. Actually a good point about butter fingers and dropsies. And I will, for sure, get a kick stand in the cover. The Nintendo has been placed in the dock and I have not taken it out for 6 months. We recently had a gaming afternoon at work and I did bring it with me but got very frustrated with the tiny screen, even when it is OLED. The screen protector will for sure be an item I will put on the Steam Deck. By the way, when I ordered all three versions were backlogged here in Canada. It seems to be a common thing and not much we can do about it. I am old enough to be patient and I have lots of games to play this season.

I can feel the excitement radiating from this video

Jumped the gun on this review, haha. Lots of new updates as of last night - RIP the purchase queue, and the Dock is now on sale!!!

I always dreamed of using that 4 player hub that came with f1 race on og gameboy

Nice gadget! Thanks, Dave.

You got my like and suscribe for this review, very informative and good point. I went for 64gb and i cant wait to arrive in 1-2 weeks it was nice the 512 gb model but the income salary in country is like 400 500 euro and that cost 679 euro a outrouges price in my money. I will swap in the future with a larger ssd but for now just with micro sd.

Very descriptive..ty

I got the 64gb one and just installed a 512gb micro, saved me bunch of money

As someone whos had a love for handhelds since the original gameboy I want one of these so much but this model in Australia is going for around $1700 and lower gb models around $1200

I got mine with the intention of playing my smaller sized STEAM games on it and emulatung PS2. I feel the need to keep the AAA games at home on my Gaming PC. Just to have that difference when it comes to gaming makes me look forward sitting at home and playing.

I put in mine on the 30th and it was ready yesterday.

I just bought a preowned one in great condition for $350 at my local game store. It’s the previous top tier model 512gb I also added a 512gb sd card from my old Nintendo switch

I love my steam deck ..its a gamers dream.

Mine should be arriving in 2 weeks!

i just ordered mine, i really love that you can upgrade the internal ssd at any time, saving up for a 1TB SSD for now.

In lebanon our salaries are 200$ a month and the steam deck costs 800$ for the 64gb version... you guys are very lucky.

Great review! Tempted to get a Steam Deck, but think I might wait for version 2.0.

I am holding out until Christmas. I dropped a hint, telling my wife I want one. No hint lol. Anyway, I'll get myself one if she doesn't. I like the 256 screen more, even though I had my mind made up on the 512 model because of the screen. Interesting comparison. So, I'll either get it for Christmas or save myself a little and get the 256 based on your video.

Ps. You can magnify any area of the screen to view small text in games with a small interface if necessary.

Only reason really to get the highest model is the anti glare screen if you care if not get the base model and upgrade storage on your own can get a lot of storage for the same price

I have my 512GB, so far I've tested RDR2, MK11, Death Stranding, Portal 1 & 2, Heroes of the storm in desktop mode, Sea of Thieves and a few minor titles, everything works fine, I'm in shock... steamdeck stays with me ❤️

15:30 Instead of rebinding the controls ingame like you did with tombraider, it is actually easier to leave those as is and use the steam control settings in the overlay and rebind buttons there. For example with the touchpad as a thumstick click you can say in the steam controls the touchpad should behave as a mouse for instance then bind mouse left click to touch pad click. Then when you press the touchpad ingame the game will think you are clicking the right mousebutton instead. Easier example if a game uses R to reload but has no/bad keybinding settings. You could go into the steam controls and tell it that when you press L4 you want it to be Keyboard "R". Now the game will still think you are pressing "R" but actually you are hitting L4

I can finally order the Steam Deck in my country so I ordered my 512gb version today! I'll get it next week probably. I am also getting a free 256GB sd card with it!

14:40 check protondb, in my experienced 9 out of 10 games marked as "unplayable" can be tweaked to work on the deck, some require small tweaks, such as changing the proton version, other require more significant changes, unless the game has something like an anti-cheat solution that specifically targets linux OS, i say the mayority of "unplayable" games on the steam deck can be run I got Age of Wonders Shadow Magic, Serious Sam Classic First Encounter, Crown Trick and Child of Light running on the Deck despite being marked as "unplayable"

I badly want one of these, even though I’m not sure what I would use it for. I already own a gaming laptop, which has me covered for gaming on the go, but there’s something about this handheld device I find sexy. I still have reservations: Most PC games I play are best played with a mouse and keyboard, so I’m not sure how they would work with thumbstick controls. Another reservation I have is the screen brightness. I tend to play outdoors when I have free time at work, a task for which my laptop screen is just barely adequate. I don’t know if the Steam Deck will be bright enough. Another bummer is the lack of anti-cheat support for multiplayer, but I have a feeling they will work that out eventually.

Yes, this will be my - 30 years later -Atari Lynx successor, too!

Awesome! Thanks.

I was looking between the steam deck and the Xbox series X and the right to repair friendliness and the fact that they developed drivers for you to install windows definitely made up my mind. I also like that out of the box it’s a full blown Arch PC. That makes it way more than a console and in my eyes way more valuable than the series X

Does putting a glass screen protector over the etched glass negate the anti reflective characteristics of the 512 model?

uk here, pre-ordered 256 model 2 weeks ago, got purchase email a week ago, following the (awful) tracking system presently, hoping to see it early next week at this point

Hey there, fantastic review! I intend on purchasing the 512 Steam Deck in the new year, but am a little worried about the delivery process. I live on the UK like yourself. I have a couple of questions if you wouldn’t mind answering them if you have a spare few minutes. Firstly, which courier delivered the deck, or was it just Royal Mail? (This could be a problem as they like to strike at the moment). Was there decent tracking, and a delivery window etc? Any feedback you could provide would definitely put my mind at ease! Thanks, Dean.

U did a great job in this review imo! So I looked through ur videos hoping you gave this kind of attention to a Aya neo 2 for review but you haven't. Now I'm curious if the deck is the only handheld pc that caught ur interest?

Put my reservation in at the beginning of august and will be getting it tomorrow, so reservation time has shrunk quite a bit