Valve launches Steam Deck OLED this month

eurogamer.net:

Valve has announced Steam Deck OLED, a revamped version of its popular handheld PC which boasts — as you might guess — a shiny new OLED screen as its star feature.

Steam Deck OLED retains the existing size and main technical specs of the current Steam Deck (so all current Steam Deck verified games will run the same on OLED models), but includes an improved display that's bigger and uses HDR.

The new OLED models go on sale next week, on 16th November at 6pm UK time priced at $549 for a 512GB model or $649 for a 1TB model. (There's also a lower $399 price right now for the 256GB current LCD model, which is sticking around as an entry-price alternative.)

Steam Deck OLED features a longer battery life, is lighter, has better cooling, more onboard storage, and a faster Wi-Fi module.

The new model is the first handheld with an OLED display, and will work out of the box with HDR-capable games already available on Steam. The screen now measures 7.4 inches (up from 7) with a 90Hz refresh rate (up from 60Hz) and a 1000 nit peak brightness (up from 400).

For fans of exact measurements, the OLED now averages out at a weight of 640 grams across its various models, down five percent from the 669 grams of its LCD model. Its dimensions are 298mm x 117mm x 50mm — an increase of 1mm in height due to reshaped thumbsticks.

Battery savings — which Valve estimates will see Steam Deck OLED last around 30 to 50 percent longer before needing a new charge versus the current model — come from a larger 50Whr battery (up from 40Whr), a newer more power efficent AMD APU and savings from the more power efficient OLED display.

Despite the bigger battery, the OLED is lighter overall due to, again, savings from the OLED display which is thinner