Valve announces Steam Deck OLED, featuring an improved screen and better battery life

Valve has announced the Steam Deck OLED, a new model of their popular Steam Deck handheld PC that features a host of welcome hardware improvements.

Released back in 2022, the original Steam Deck was an absolute game-changer in  the world of portable PC gaming. While there were already other handheld PCs on the market, like the Anbernic RG552, the Steam Deck offered fantastic performance and far more polished software experience when it came to playing your library of Steam games.

This older model did have its flaws, however, like the extremely short battery life. Our testing found that, when playing God of War: Ragnarok, the handheld could barely sustain over an hour and a half of juice before running out of charge which, undeniably, somewhat hampered our dream of being able to play some the best PC games for hours on end in the bath. 

Thankfully, Valve has clearly taken these complaints into consideration when creating this upcoming revised model. Announced on the Steam Deck page of the Steam store, the Steam Deck OLED is set to launch on November 16 and features a more vibrant OLED screen, a 30-50% bigger battery, and Wi-Fi 6E support for up to 3 times faster game downloads.

This is all alongside “updated thermals” under the hood, that should help the handheld stay cooler during more intensive gaming sessions. The Steam Deck carrying case, which comes included with more expensive models, has also received some tweaks including the addition of a removable liner that offers a thinner and lighter way to protect your system.

There are currently two major models of the Steam Deck OLED on the horizon: the $549 / £479 512GB model and the $649 / £569 1TB model. A premium limited edition version with a unique colorway will become available later on November 16 for $679 - although it will only be available in very limited quantities exclusively in the US and Canada.

The older edition of the Steam Deck, now referred to as the LCD model, has also received a price cut. It now costs just $399 / £349 for the 256GB model - potentially making it a good option for those who want to save a little bit of cash. This is now the only version of the LCD model available, however, as the 64GB and 512GB configurations have been wholly discontinued. While stock is still available now for heavily discounted prices via the Steam Store, such models will not be restocked in future.

Planning on upgrading your handheld gaming hardware? Visit our guide to the best Black Friday gaming deals or best Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals for some big early savings.