I really want to make a purchase on the top OLED model but the whole discussion about the loss of saturation and deep blacks on the anti-glare screen is holding me back.
Out of curiosity, would playing in low light conditions have any visual difference between anti-glare and gloss? Is this loss in colour only present in harsh light conditions? I understand no one has hold of both models to fully compare the two, but surely that’s how it would work?
Check out this video where he shows off the viewing angles of the Deck OLED in a dark room. Perfect blacks it seems.
That being said the anti-glare screen will probably still affect image sharpness just a tiny bit.
You can also check this video Has some in depth side by side comparisons.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=wMuxg0h0vYAW6TMp&v=-_PrCVjpmNg
I’m shocked by how many people are being swayed by Dave2D’s video. After reading all the discourse, I took out my Switch OLED and 512 Steam Deck in my apartment during a sunny day. The etched glass was by far superior - the OLED was just a reflection of my face. While it won’t be the absolute blackest blacks, it will be damn close and at least remove any distracting reflections. Also yes to answer your question - playing at night will let you see the pure OLED experience
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.