I’m going to wait till everyone has their new deck to see which one to buy. I love the etched LCD though.

I’m struggling with the same decision. In Dave2D’s video @ 3:40 he shows how the screen protector enhances the color on the right half the screen while the left half appears duller… but the protector also enhances the reflections of his studio equipment, which is distracting. When he puts the deck on the table @ 3:57, the colors look the same without the direct light shining on it. I think I’m going to wait for more reviews to come out before buying.

I really wanted the Special Edition but I definitely don’t want an anti reflective screen. It’s giving me purchase paralysis, which probably is a good thing since I have the original.

I would never replace the storage myself on a device. That’s why i want the larger storage out of the box. I use my etched steamdeck original daily. It absolutely is not blurry lol. The screen looks great, and its just LCD. It will be even better with oled. How much this is being blown out of proportion is crazy. You get a lot of benefits with etched - more storage, anti glare, freedom to play anywhere, more durable screen, most premium model. with the one tradeoff of BARELY noticable color downgrade. You would think from all these comments that the etched glass makes games unplayable. I played my deck yesterday. First in the living room with all the lights on. My son was playing his oled switch. My screen was perfect, his was filled with glare. then i played later in the dark, and my screen looked excellent. Once you get the device, you are never going to notice or care about a tiny downgrade in screen brightness or blacks. But you will notice the glare, the ability to play anywhere anytime, and the fact that the etched is so durable the screen will not scratch. If someone wants to buy the cheaper model because of the savings, then that makes sense. But trying to twist this argument into saying that glossy version is a better device is simply untrue. When i’m traveling or going anywhere, i dont have to give it a second thought about my lighting environments. It’s a portable device, thats why Valve chose to put etched on their top model. Anyone with the glossy has to plan and think about how to make it work when they play in different light environments. In the end, the obsession over making the screen look 5% better, is going to be such a moot point compared to all the benefits of etched.