Kataploom
Gold Member
It's pretty similar to launch Switch 1 tho, almost the same duration
DF: Switch 2 vs Steam Deck OLED: Handheld/Docked Gaming, Battery Life, Display Comparison + More
- Thread starter Zuzu
- Start date
Dr.Morris79
Member
Little Mac
Member
After the April 2nd Nintendo Direct Switch 2 deep dive, I decided to buy a certified refurbished Steam Deck OLED, and quite frankly, I fucking love it. It's just an amazing experience all around. Also these comparisons tend to gloss over or overlook the value Steam brings to the consumer. Want me to list what $80 dollars gets you during a quarterly Steam Sale? Regardless, the only time I put the Steam Deck down is to play Sony exclusives on my PS5 Pro. I'll be there day 1 for a Steam Deck 2.
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I'm out of the loop -- what's the ETA for a Steam Deck 2? One of the off-putting things about Steam Deck is it feels like it is due a major update.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
OS: Switch 2? Like what
?
Ar¢tos
Member
Maybe he prefers FreeBSD to Arch linux...OS: Switch 2? Like what
Little Mac
Member
Who knows. Rumors online seems to suggest 2026 or 2027 based on statements made by Valve years ago along the lines of "we're not releasing a Steam Deck 2 until there is a chipset available that provides a substantial leap over the first one."
I took a risk and got one in the end of April as soon as a refurb'd 512 OLED was avaialble. I'm glad I did. Figured tariff situation would either increase the price of the current one or possibly delay the announcement of the second one. Regardless, buy at your own risk. Also the certified refurbished one from Valave I got is honestly brand new … and 110 cheaper than retail. I'd go that route if one is available.
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memoryman3
Member
OS: Switch 2? Like what
Yes. The software on Switch 2 is entirely seamless and performs all functions a gamer would expect it to - including connecting controllers, recording video and docking/undocking the system without games having major issues with hanging or crashing. The only real problems manifest with the system trying to translate certain Switch 1 games (Nier Automata, Batman Arkham Knight), which Nintendo are actively working to address with frequent software updates.
This is something that MS/Valve have to actively work on if they want to promote truly open software platforms as the future of gaming.
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kevboard
Member
OS: Switch 2? Like what
SteamOS has a lot of bugs and unpolished elements.
just recently a game I played didn't work with the sidebars. every time I opened either of them they just disappeared after 5 seconds and wouldn't come back up again.
the shortcut for closing a game also didn't work, and the only way I could go back to the home menu was bringing up the virtual keyboard, which would fix the sidebars for another 5 seconds of use, and then quickly exiting the game through the sidebar before it disappeared again
Buggy Loop
Gold Member
Same for me except that it's useless because I have a PC desktop with really good hardware
I'm mainly playing switch 1 and 2 docked, it ends up being a nice feature to carry it on a business travel but that's pretty much it.
Buying a steam deck or other OC handheld when I have a rig that slaps the living shit out of it makes no sense. For travel you would say but again switch fills the role nicely too and it's seldom rare for me. Are peoples with PC rigs really using steam deck all that much? Always travelling? Or novelty item you play on the shitter and eventually it collects dust like what happened to one of my friend?
To play Nintendo games you need switch 2. Simple as that.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
SteamOS and Proton also have a massively greater scope and a degree of user customisability and hacking that Switch OS just dreams of. Despite that let's not take corner cases when you have bug also on these custom tailored to HW very bare bone OS's… it is fast sure, but that is not really as impressive as it would have been on the original Wii HW or something…
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That's called User Experience, conflating it all under OS is very misleading tbh (especially since most of Switch OS isn't that different in the first place).
But yes Switch has a clear edge on this (PCs just aren't that polished of an experience, no matter who builds them).
I agree, and frankly there's examples of doing this 'right' (or at least, console comparable) already - NVidia of all companies shows how it could be done...
However...
If you want that highly curated experience, you also leave customization behind(it would need an explicit separation of sorts) - Valve is not ideally positioned for this because so much of what they offer relies on user to work-around compatibility issues. MS - they could, but their track record with UX is horrendous.
I think the real interesting conversation starts when you add higher end devices into the mix. Use XBox Ally if you must have branding attached to it (and frankly it's priced a bit better).
Then all performance lines go to the PC device as well - so we're left with 'OS'/UX and price + Nintendo games.
Which - when you think about it - is what consoles were always sold on, so we're not really discovering anything new here.
It does make me wonder if dockeable PCs are a future though (I personally think I'm never going back to a desktop/tower for PC use ever again) and how much would it matter if someone actually spent time fixing the experience (it's still - pretty cumbersome all considered - compared to Switch extremely so).
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CoreyFlawless
Member
I'm just waiting for the steam deck 2. When's that coming out?
I've had handhelds replace my PC entirely (I did scavenge the Power Supply, extra storage and GPU from it though)- it's both my living-room device (docked) and portable. I still use a laptop for work - but that's about it for computer use.
I can appreciate the hobbyist aspects of building PC rigs - but not really my thing anymore. And if I really wanted something more stationary still I'd probably get one of those mini-boxes that still use the same docking protocols as the handheld, and keep the same setup.
Synless
Member
Probably never now that steam OS is available to other pc handhelds.
Ar¢tos
Member
I'm more excited by a potential SteamOS release for any PC so I can finally switch to pc gaming.
kevboard
Member
SteamOS doesn't even have a controller optimised storefront. the Steam Store on SteamOS is just a browser window with almost no adjustments made.
and if you play something while downloading in the background, the CPU will often be completely overwhelmed and game performance crawls to a halt.
so you basically are forced to turn background downloads off.
putting it into standby and suspending a game is also buggy and on top of that very slow and unresponsive.
it's a feature I essentially never use because I don't trust it, while I can trust it easily on Switch 2.
and then there's the whole issue of offline mode. forgot taking it into offline mode and you don't have a connection? well, you're fucked... now your licenses don't work.
SteamOS is very noticeably still a PC OS and not even close to being as polished as that of any of the consoles. of course it's more open and customisable, but that doesn't change the fact that the out of the box experience on Switch 2 is far superior.
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Topher
Identifies as young
Why would you be downloading in game mode in SteamOS? Are you talking about desktop mode?
Edit: nevermind.....you could be installing a game in game mode. Need more coffee I think
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This category is only for the usability of the OS. Oliver makes it clear in the video that Switch 2 can't compete with the customization options available on the Steam Deck.OS: Switch 2? Like what
Topher
Identifies as young
OS: Switch 2? Like what
Quoted from the article:
"Moving on to device software, SteamOS is solid, but it doesn't compare favourably to a console. There are elements of the Steam Deck interface that require touch input, like some sections of the Steam Store. Stability is also more of a concern, and sleeping and waking can be inconsistent, sometimes requiring a device restart. Switch 2 has a thoroughly tested, controller-driven interface, which has been perfectly stable for me so far. As much as I dislike some of Nintendo's changes to the virtual game card system, I still find it easier to use than Steam Deck. And it has GameChat and GameShare, which don't necessarily have good analogues on Steam Deck.
Obviously, it's impressive that Valve, which is a relatively small company, has been able to produce a handheld OS that far exceeds any competing PC-based platform. However, people who are used to the ease of a console system may still find it rough in comparison. On the flipside, the Deck offers vastly more configuration options for individual games. With the Switch 2, it's much more of a traditional console experience, where games are set up to work in a limited number of ways. That helps a lot dealing with the vast variety of PC software that the Deck can host, which stretches back over decades. Switch 2 can't really compete with this library of titles. Most games with controller support are bound to be a good experience, save games with compatibility issues or heavy performance demands."
Kataploom
Gold Member
Optimized for gaming, running games natively over PC versions I guessOS: Switch 2? Like what
CloudShiner
Member
"but...but...it only use 5.8w.....'
I can make a sandwich without using any watts at all, but it doesn't make it better than a fucking steak.
I can make a sandwich without using any watts at all, but it doesn't make it better than a fucking steak.
kevboard
Member
yes
I was talking about downloads in game mode.either updates or game downloads. as soon as you try to play a semi-modern game while downloading anything, it will completely destroy performance.
that's the benefit of having a console OS that has specifically reserved hardware resources for the OS alone, VS having a PC OS that uses the hardware as it pleases.
also, if you run a demanding game, your sidebar menus will also be extremely slow and laggy. another thing that typically doesn't happen on a console OS.
so while Steam OS is the most user friendly and polished game focused PC OS, it's still a PC. and a PC will never be as optimised as a console.
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Mister Wolf
Member
Yeah, that confused me when I went to the store on my Lenovo. I also don't like that you cant navigate the discussions pages with the controller.
Gameplay Gods Bless
Member
Yea I mean the vast majority of consumers not die hard console fans which makes up a minority of a minority of players. It's the same with PC gaming and the 4060, die hards shat on the 4060 as the worst card that no one should buy meanwhile the majority steam users bought a 4060 over any other then current card. Loud minorities love making a ruckus.
My biggest issue is all of those "reviews" showing how horrible the 4060 is have all of the settings cranked to ultra. I'm not sure when people with budget to mid ranged hardware started cranking up every single settings. Especially with the newly named GeForce App that will configure the settings for a large number of games for you letting your prioritize quality or performance. Oh no, by not enabling that setting the softening effect of the edge of the boundary of close versus distant objects aren't accurate to how the human eye sees things.... WTF I'll take the 40% higher FPS, thanks.
There were some games that had terrible performance with the 8GB of VRAM. However, that's been proven to be the shit optimization in modern games. Devs used to look at memory usage, the complexity of objects, etc. Now it's seem to mostly be a bunch of crap a mixed together and let the extra brute force power handle it. A single 4K frame buffer at 32bit is 33MB of space. For all the shit they get on focusing on AI, NVIDIA's tech to convert a texture on the fly to something that's 1/10th the size but can look as good or better than the original solves this problem.
Then there's the complaints that there aren't any low end graphics card for the budget sector anymore. But you only need to look and see that APU are running the latest games at playable frame rates at the resolutions and lowest quality settings you used to need to use for the low end models. And if AMD makes the move to play the Strix Halo GPU in their desktop APUs. IMO, it's all over. ~RX 9060 performance as a low end baseline? Why would budget gamers need a GPU at all?