Which Handheld Would you get?

[kapone32]

I have been looking at handhelds for a minute and know that there are more coming soon but before that Black Friday is coming. The Steam Deck is already $373 and you know Valve are more aware than us of what AMD has coming down the pipeline I did my taxes for the first time in like 10 years so I have had a bit of a windfall from the Govt. I am probably willing to go as high as $1000 Canadian but would prefer to stay under $700. Storage size is not a concern for me either and they all support USB C. Which would you get?

 

[welly321]

Def go with the OLED steamdeck. The steam UI is perfect for big picture mode plus you can go into desktop/linux mode. The OLED screen is amazing and the device is just great. I am probably bias though as i have an OG steamdeck and a OLED steamdeck. I keep the OG on the dock in my living room and use the OLED as the handheld.

 

[mafia97]

I do the same, I have OG always docked and OLED for portable play.
Definitely go for Steam Deck

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Just to be clear I wouldn't buy any of them I don't like the current offerings in general but if someone held a gun to my head and told me to pick one I'd go with the SD Oled. All of them hardware wise underwhelm me so I'd just pick the one with the best screen.

 

[TheDeeGee]

Steam Deck OLED... IF i could properly game with thumbsticks, but i can't nor do i want to so i shouldn't have voted.

 

[yfn_ratchet]

The Steam Deck is rather underpowered by now and is in need of an APU refresh, maybe something along the lines of a cut-down Z2 or Z3 die with a 10W power target. That much I consider a downside.

What always sold the Deck for me, though, is the soft factors: wonderful ergonomics, amazing controller scheme, booming aftermarket parts trade, good cooling, and an OS/software suite that, for the most part, just works, and if it doesn't for one reason or another, It'll tell you.

I can look past the Deck not being able to play Cyberpunk or BM:W all that well (or at all) because those games are in all honesty not what I'll consider playing on a Steam Deck. I'm gonna be playing Dead Cells, Stardew Valley, Hades, Hero's Hour, Celeste, Terraria, Forza Horizon 5. Games that work well on a controller, games that are nice to pick up and play for an hour or so.

With all the improvements the OLED refresh gives the system I think it the obvious choice if it's within your budget—and with it consistently beating out its competitors in price, that's not a big ask.

 

[Ruru]

Gotta be honest and say ROG Ally X just because of its performance.

The Steam Deck is rather underpowered by now

Exactly. A good device otherwise but simply a crappy GPU side of its APU. If AMD could make a low-powered APU with, let's say, 6600 XT performance, that would be dope for a device like Steam Deck.

 

[AusWolf]

Perfect timing! I'm actually contemplating on getting a Steam Deck right now.

Personally, I don't want the OLED version because I'm scared of burn-in. I'm still using my PSP up to this day, and I want an equally long lifespan out of my next thing, if not longer.

I also like the more expensive Windows consoles, like the Asus ROG Ally, but they're not worth my extra investment, as I'm a 98% PC gamer who just wants something for long trips 1-2x per year.

If you want something to be your main gaming platform, I'd suggest getting one with the most powerful AMD APU that you can afford.
If you're like me, though, and just want something to pass some downtime during your travels, the Steam Deck (either LCD or OLED) should be fine.

 

[Ruru]

Perfect timing! I'm actually contemplating on getting a Steam Deck right now.

Personally, I don't want the OLED version because I'm scared of burn-in. I'm still using my PSP up to this day, and I want an equally long lifespan out of my next thing, if not longer.

I also like the more expensive Windows consoles, like the Asus ROG Ally, but they're not worth my extra investment, as I'm a 98% PC gamer who just wants something for long trips 1-2x per year.

If you want something to be your main gaming platform, I'd suggest getting one with the most powerful AMD APU that you can afford.
If you're like me, though, and just want something to pass some downtime during your travels, the Steam Deck (either LCD or OLED) should be fine.

Personally I don't mind about LCD if it's a good panel. I don't mind my phone having an IPS panel at all.

 

[AusWolf]

Personally I don't mind about LCD if it's a good panel. I don't mind my phone having an IPS panel at all.

As long as OLED has any potential to suffer from burn-in, ever, I don't want it in any of my devices. Sure, it looks great, but I'm not the kind of person to swap phones, monitors, TV, etc. every 1-3 years. Like I mentioned, I still use my PSP (a 20 year-old handheld console) up to this day. If it was OLED, it would probably be unusable due to burnt-in HUD elements by now. And like you said, regular LCD can be great, too.

 

[welly321]

As long as OLED has any potential to suffer from burn-in, ever, I don't want it in any of my devices. Sure, it looks great, but I'm not the kind of person to swap phones, monitors, TV, etc. every 1-3 years. Like I mentioned, I still use my PSP (a 20 year-old handheld console) up to this day. If it was OLED, it would probably be unusable due to burnt-in HUD elements by now. And like you said, regular LCD can be great, too.

I really doubt any steam deck would end up with burnin. That happens when you watch TV with a logo in the same place. How would that even happen on a gaming device like the steam deck? Has there been any reports at all , even a single one, of burn in on a handheld?

 

[AusWolf]

I really doubt any steam deck would end up with burnin. That happens when you watch TV with a logo in the same place. How would that even happen on a gaming device like the steam deck? Has there been any reports at all , even a single one, of burn in on a handheld?

I've read about some reports, yes. HUD elements can easily burn into a screen. Personally, I'd also use my Deck to watch Nascar while I'm away, which does have a TV logo and standings bar on it.

Edit: Reducing brightness does help, but it only delays the inevitable. In my case, I'm not talking about 3-5 years. I'm talking about 10+ that a handheld has to survive, just like my PSP has so far.

 

[Neo_Morpheus]

The Steam Deck is rather underpowered by now and is in need of an APU refresh

Agreed but at the same time, I like the fact that they are taking their time to release a new and more powerful version.
Look at the Switch, its SOC was already old when it launched and still selling like crazy.

Also, I kind of like the baseline that the Steam Deck creates for developers.

Just look at AyaNeo…personally, i lost interest on their offerings, since it looks like they release a new unit every two weeks or so.

As long as OLED has any potential to suffer from burn-in, ever, I don't want it in any of my devices.

I dont know how Valve handles anti burn in, but my LG C9 tv has zero burn-in, in over 4 years of heavy use, so i dont think that is something to worry much.

 

[ET3D]

The Phawx did a burn-in test for the Steam Deck OLED. It's obviously possible to get it burned-in, but this might not happen when gaming normally.

As for what to buy, it depends on your needs. I have a GPD Win 4, and it's a nice device but the 6" screen is too small for some of the games I want to play. I'm sure that even a 7" screen will be on the small side.

In my view the main draws of the Steam Deck are its low price and decent battery life, but for people who have games mainly on Steam (not the case for me), the good Steam integration might also be a draw.

The MSI Claw is crap. However, next gen is around the corner, and that might be better.

 

[WhiteNoise]

I will vote for the Ally X. I own and have experience with, The Asus Rog ally and besides the battery (which I back up with an Anker 737) this thing plays everything I throw at it. My best friend has the SD and though I think it's a great handheld, he is limited to what he can play on it or do with it compared to me. If it were my money, I'd grab the Ally X just for the upgrades to the Ally Elite

 

[A Computer Guy]

I'd probably go for steam deck/steam deck oled just because it's likely to get software support first for any issues that might come up. Sometimes less is more. Also the other vendors can afford to throw in the towel at any time. Steam with so much investment needs steam deck to work and would likely stick with it longer to make it work.

...but if someone held a gun to my head ...

Let's hope sales don't ever get that aggressive.

 

[gffermari]

Where is the ''none'' option?

 

[Sithaer]

Not that I want to buy one anytime soon but if I HAD to pick one right now then it would be the Rog Ally or any of the other Windows based ones.
Reason being is that I play various kind of games and I don't want to rely on the 'Deck verified thingy to run things properly' so I would like one that can run whatever I run on my PC too.
I was actually kinda interested in the MSI Claw cause I've liked its design but then it turned out to be a nope.

 

[AusWolf]

On the note of Windows handhelds, I'd be more inclined to get one if they were running 10, not 11 with all its online login and telemetry crap. Seems a bit too bloated for a handheld anyway. I like simplicity.

 

[Flogger23m]

IMO, Nintendo Switch and/or Steam Deck.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

IMO, Nintendo Switch and/or Steam Deck.

Yeah i have a switch would buy it over a steam deck any day but if I'm gaming on a handheld rather it be Nintendo games.

I'd be waiting for a switch 2 over any of these handhelds

 

[welly321]

Just emulate switch on steamdeck. Runs 90% of games perfectly if not better than on original hardware.

 

[WhiteNoise]

Where is the ''none'' option?

The "none" option is not responding to this thread. lol

 

[kapone32]

Just emulate switch on steamdeck. Runs 90% of games perfectly if not better than on original hardware.

I have one of those retro drives from Amazon with all of the Old consoles and some PS3. I plan on playing the snot out of that with whatever handheld I get but I also have a USB hub that should work nicely with whatever one I choose. The choices seem to be the Ally X for now but I hope TPU does not close this thread until after Black Friday as that is when I plan to pull the trigger.

 

[AusWolf]

Yeah i have a switch would buy it over a steam deck any day but if I'm gaming on a handheld rather it be Nintendo games.

I'd be waiting for a switch 2 over any of these handhelds

I'd be happy to have a Switch myself. The only thing that puts me off is that I have no games for it, while I have over 500 on Steam.