Steam Deck

The Steam Deck, or colloquially Deck, is a handheld gaming PC developed by Valve. I own the non-OLED one.

Personal history

I got my Steam Deck back in July 2023. At time of writing (November 2025), I still actively use it without any issue. The reason why I remember quite well when I got the Deck is that I got it when I dropped out of grad school.

The Deck was already waiting at home when I flew back—my mom got it off DataBlitz and it was sitting on a table somewhere, mostly untouched, apart from the obvious testing that it booted up.

This is a core memory since I haven’t my personal PC for a month or two. The machine was sitting inside a balikbayan box on some random ship since I didn’t want to bring it with me from Daejeon to Incheon, along with other hardware. Specifically, the case and the power supply were still in transit—I had the important parts with me, of course, such as the mobo and the GPU, but I just really can’t be bothered to set it up without the case. Call me lazy, but whatever.

Going back, I haven’t my regular gaming machine. So the Deck was a daily necessity as I could just hop on its Desktop Mode and run it like any other Linux machine. I hooked it up with an old 1080p 27-inch BenQ monitor, my keyboard, and my mouse, and it runs like any other gaming PC, actually.

I vividly remember playing Battlebit with my friends since it also just recently released then. When the remaining parts of my PC came, the Deck was, and still is, a mainstay.

Use cases

Out travelling

The Deck is a crucial part of my travel gear. You could squeeze out a lot of gameplay even on two-hour domestic flights; since, mind you, you’d still spend an hour or two waiting for the actual flight. The base battery life is great for low-wattage games (and you could use the internal TDP Limit to extend it further), and the selection of which is wide-ranging. Of course, the battery life could be extended if you could find an outlet, or get a powerbank.

It also gets a lot of use outside of the journey itself—I get to game for a bit while winding down at the hotel or if I don’t have anything better to do¹.

A notable example was my Batanes trip in 2025, when I played Hades 2 (when it was also still in Early Access).

At home

Sometimes I just like to sit back, or lie down, and just game on the Deck. I grew up with the PSP, the 3DS, and the Xbox 360—PC gaming for me was only relatively recent since I wouldn’t have a capable machine until late 2017, a year before college.

I do still feel a bit out of my element when gaming on the PC, specifically games that feel better when played with a controller. Sure, I could sit back on my office chair, Dualsense on my hand; but it’s a matter of time before the lower back pain catches up to me. Would be great if I could get some sort of couch gaming setup that’s as powerful (and as easy to use) as my PC.

Pros and cons

The positives

• It’s essentially 1:1 in functionality as my gaming PC. Those unfamiliar with Linux would disagree, but what I regularly do on my Windows gaming desktop, I could do with the Deck, even with sans peripherals.
• The suspend functionality. I believe this is missing (though I’m not quite sure) with major competitors. It completely saves your game state when you tap on the power button, and you could continue where you left off, even after a day or two. The battery drain when the Deck is suspended is also negligible.
• The touchpads, oh the touchpads. At first I was skeptical, but I can’t use a gaming handheld without one anymore. Makes me want to get a Steam Controller, or get the new one they’re developing now (?) if and when it comes out. The mouse (and keyboard) control with the touchpads is just insane. And you’re gonna call me insane when you find out I play Civ and Stellaris on this thing.
• Customizability. Software is highly customizable (e.g. Decky), as well as hardware. People swap out the joysticks, the touchpads, some bits of the hardware, and most notably its housing. I’ve seen Decks of all colors, clear-case Decks, and even Decks that don’t look share the same silhouette anymore.
• There are people who play cracked copies of Switch 2 games on this thing. Or old PS1 games. Or anything that you could emulate. The community’s quite active on that regard as well, so I’ll leave it at that.

The negatives

• Ergonomics. My hand, I believe, is of a suboptimal shape for the deck. I understand it’s hard to make a one-size-fits-all design, which is why you have some third party options to improve your grip on the Deck.
• The weight. Maybe I got used to the PSP and the 3DS, but it’s definitely something that could be improved upon. Not a dealbreaker since I mostly play on top of its case/bag, or on top of some pillows when lying down.
• If you play games with Windows-only DRM (looking at you, EA), then it’ll probably fail on the Deck. I don’t, so it’s not a dealbreaker; but if you’re planning to play Battlefield 6 on this thing, too bad.

Footnotes

1. “What the hell? You’re on vacation at LOCATION and you’re there just playing games?” What I say to that is: all the cocaine in the world, and you choose to stick your nose in my business. Kidding aside, even you would have downtimes on vacation. You don’t see me lambasting you when you’re on your phone on vacation too. ↩