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?
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