I was convinced for me it would be the 90hz refresh rate, or the improved touchscreen/haptics - but the moment I picked up the new OLED I knew my answer straight away:
The 30g they removed from the weight.
I’m sure that sounded minimal and inconsequential for a lot of us when we heard about it, but when you pick it up, you feel it immediately.
The original steam deck was always a bit too heavy for me to hold comfortably. Especially as I struggle with a disability which makes me pretty weak in general.
Now the device is so much more comfortable to hold. I can actually pick it up and hold it with one hand now, whereas before it would always overbalance and I could never keep it straight.
What’s the best upgrade from your experience so far, if any of you are lucky enough to have an OLED now?
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The battery and efficiency improvements.
The improved wifi is my favorite non-screen upgrade. It was immediately noticeable when downloading updates and games. Before, I would hardwire the Internet connection when I needed to download anything because of how slow the wifi was. Now I can just use it like any other wifi enabled device. The fact that it supports 6E (which I recently upgraded to) is just icing on the cake.
The sticks feeling way better. I can really feel extra height.
Pulling up Horizon Zero Dawn and the temps going from 80’s to high 60’s was really awesome, too.
I think the better battery life/efficiency is just as much of an upgrade (for some) as the screen. Many testers are finding that running the same game even at higher frame rates on the new model has a longer battery life than the original. Also the faster RAM (from 88GB/s to 102GB/s) allows for less stuttering during busy scenes and loading, and more consistent locked framerates according to Digital Foundry. There’s a lot of little upgrades to the machine
I’d say it’s the touch screen… now you can actually use it for games. Sure, it’s a niche but it’s there.
I don’t really care about battery, sure it’s nice but today you got a plug everywhere. Train, plane, at home. No problem!
I’m surprised to not see anyone mention the change in PCB layout and design. Granted I think it’s a bit of a geeky thing to find interesting, but it is laid out better for overall cooling. This is my first deck though but I am already looking at how to copper mod a non intrusive cooling design for the power delivery and the charging IC. Not that I think it needs it but it will theoretically transfer heat more efficiently than the current air intake/turbulent cooling. The overall design of the new PCB has a much better orientation for creating something like that.
The weight is my big thing also. I always felt the original was just a tad too heavy to the point of being boarding awkward/uncomfortable. Especially when playing in bed… And getting smacked in the face when it slipped from my grip. Pl
Picking up my special edition OLED for the first time I was shocked how much lighter it felt because it did not sound like a major change when reading the list of changes. I feel like the distribution of the weight makes it feel better also
the battery life, I can get 6-10 hours playing some games now whereas before it was 4-5 hours. For BG3 I can play it for 3.5 hours now as opposed to 2.5 hours, so it varies, but OLED will give you better battery life across the board overall
The Wi-Fi. My download speeds have GREATLY improved.
I don’t have one but the battery is the thing that almost tempted me.
I would never have thought 30g would make as much difference in hand as it does. It’s wild how much lighter it feels.
They seem to have rebalanced it massively too, so that 30g of weight makes a bigger difference than you’d think. The majority of the weight seems to be wear your hands naturally hold it, making it really comfortable.
I’m with you on the weight
Might sound stupid but I really enjoy the steam/menu buttons actually being clicky. That’s just on top of the obvious battery and screen improvements.
I don’t know, it wasn’t delivered yet.
The battery life is a massive improvement. It gets 30-50% extra at maxed out 15w tdp. Older emulated and/or indie games don’t need to run this high. It’s the biggest draw for me
