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[Slimboy Fat]

Yeah it's mostly ironed out. I've had my deck for a while and it's gotten noticeably better. There is still some jank though, recently played DMC5 and the videos in the skills menu wouldn't play. Audio stuttering on loading screen. Tried to launch Endless Legend to no avail until I realized I had to force the proton compatability layer because the linux version won't launch. Little things like that are still present, and of course many games are still not proton compatible.

The biggest "compatability" problem is still performance though. The Deck needs about a 1,5X performance boost to really be able to comfortable play all games imo. I bet the Deck2 is going to be quite popular but when it launches in 2026 the next generation of consoles will likely be only 2 years away at which point performance requirements will begin a steep incline again. Such is life in the land of handheld PC gaming. Regardless playing PS5-gen games in your bed with an OLED HDR will still be top tier, can't wait tbh.

 

[Three]

Yeah it's mostly ironed out. I've had my deck for a while and it's gotten noticeably better. There is still some jank though, recently played DMC5 and the videos in the skills menu wouldn't play. Audio stuttering on loading screen. Tried to launch Endless Legend to no avail until I realized I had to force the proton compatability layer because the linux version won't launch. Little things like that are still present, and of course many games are still not proton compatible.

I've seen a general pattern where games that are broken on steam deck end up getting quite a few unfavourable steam reviews. Hopefully over time this will be an incentive to improve compatibility issues that are not performance related.

 

[xrnzaaas]

A PC handheld should be (mostly) plug&play and Deck seems to be doing that wonderfully. You get to the advanced stuff only if you want to emulate something or try to run unsupported games.

You just have to ask yourself if you plan on playing tech-demanding games, because it's already too weak for some of them.

 

[Frwrd]

*IMO* None seem worth that amount of money at the moment, especially without Hall Effect joysticks.
Got a homie that got three handhelds, he already got ‘stick drift’ and had to RMA one of them. Not to mention other problems he ran to with the others (screen, M.2, etc.)

I think these will be better and much more efficient (like everything in tech these days) in a few more years

 

[DenchDeckard]

When are your experiences from? I want to know if anyone can give a more up to date perspective on those problems

I sold my steamdeck around august or September of last year. It was a great device, even with it's quirks but I decided I prefered the Rog Ally for the power and windows OS.

A PC handheld should be (mostly) plug&play and Deck seems to be doing that wonderfully. You get to the advanced stuff only if you want to emulate something or try to run unsupported games.

You just have to ask yourself if you plan on playing tech-demanding games, because it's already too weak for some of them.

My experience with the Steam Deck was far from plug and play. It was not doing it wonderfully, but that may have changed.

 

[Topher]

The OP is pretty disingenuous on the price comparison.

Guess he was only taking into consideration the $550 512GB OLED and not the $400 256gb LCD model.

 

[Topher]

I really enjoy both, but welcome the extra grunt and windows os of the rog ally. So I can play everything easily across multiple launchers

I do updates on my rog ally more frequently than I originally did on my deck before I sold it but I'm used to updates so it doesn't bother me. Nothing where I had to redo windows pins or login or multiple restarts. It's just an update to armoury ctate every now and again plus the myasus check.

I'm surprised that there's so much praise for steamdeck, I guess it's totally fixed now then because I had my fair share of os oddities.

Not waking up from sleep correctly and needing a hard reset.

Controls stopping working when waking from reset.

Waking up and being un responsive.

Randomly stuttering with audio and loss of performance requiring a hard reset to fix.

Randomly just becoming unresponsive and needing a hard reboot. Where the os looked like it was working but it just stopped launching etc.

I imagine that's all ironed out now as even the rog ally has come along leagues from launch.

Some teething issues but I genuinely think these devices are amazing and are only going to go from strength to strength

I've owned Steam Deck on two different occassions and have experienced nothing like what you are describing with either. Sounds like a defective unit as if that were common there would be a lot more people complaining.

 

[dezzy8]

Every time a new thread is posted on handheld gaming, it mostly always comes down to “buy a Deck OLED”, “Windows is terrible on handheld”, “battery life is shit”.

I had a lot of time to decide which handheld was better for me, including the Deck OLED. I think a 512GB Deck OLED is $550, while a 512 Ally or Legion Go is $700.

Yes, the user experience is definitely friendlier on the Deck, with its custom OS. Also the community is stronger and bigger. But at least to me, and probably the majority of you PC gamers, it’s pretty much the same to use Windows or the SD OS. If you have at least SOME experience using Windows, which I’m sure most people buying these handhelds have, it really doesn’t take a big brain to keep it set up and updated.

Can’t say the same for folks trying to dual boot Windows to play GamePass or installing mods. That actually takes tinkering on the Deck.

For $150 more you get a much more powerful processor (giving me 20-30+ fps than the Deck at higher TDPs), bigger screen in case of the Legion, VRR in case of the Ally, and Windows. And yes, IMO Windows is much better than Linux on these handhelds (or any PC). I can just play GamePass, Destiny or COD without worrying about the anticheat BS.

With the Deck you get OLED, yes, but Id argue OLED truly matters when buying a big ass TV, not a 6in handheld. You get used to it pretty fast. OLED is obviously a great plus, but I’d rather have a better processor, a bigger screen, or the versatility of Windows.

I’m not trying to shill anything here, do what you want with your money. But after careful consideration I bought a Legion Go and I couldn't be happier. It’s sad when I see friends who got the Deck and can’t play games at decent fps or can’t play them at all.

What I mean is, if you know ANY Windows at all, don’t assume that the Deck will be your only or the best choice. Windows handhelds are good, and in my case BETTER than the Deck. Don’t just follow what a random forum guy or media outlets say.

I love the ease of use of the steam deck. Until another handheld is built around steam os I won’t look that way.

 

[Chiggs]

That is mental and not close to the experience I had. I wonder what happened to cause all that.

It was using Windows update, per Reddit.

Jeff Gerstmann trashes the ROG Ally some more. Timestamped it for you:

 

[StereoVsn]

Hmm… that’s pretty interesting. I will test it out again as well at lower TDP.

At 9w or so I do hear a little crackling if I turn audio way up. 10w seems to be fine.

 

[Kacho]

recently played DMC5 and the videos in the skills menu wouldn't play. Audio stuttering on loading screen.

Proton GE should solve this. Fixed a similar issue I had in Fatal Frame.

 

[StereoVsn]

Interestingly enough there is now a very much Steam Deck handheld coming out from collaboration between Manjaro and Orange Pi.

Looks a lot like the Deck, has 7840u processor, touchpads, etc…. Running Manjaro Linux by default. Wonder if they will have Windows image available.

Also it will be interesting to see how seamless this will be and if they will have Steam available.

Orange Pi Neo - AMD Ryzen Gaming Handheld

AMD Ryzen 7 7840U Orange Pi Neo running Manjaro operating system. Linux gaming handheld. Immutable filesystem and a sleek design

neo.manjaro.org

 

[Klosshufvud]

Interestingly enough there is now a very much Steam Deck handheld coming out from collaboration between Manjaro and Orange Pi.

Looks a lot like the Deck, has 7840u processor, touchpads, etc…. Running Manjaro Linux by default. Wonder if they will have Windows image available.

Also it will be interesting to see how seamless this will be and if they will have Steam available.

Orange Pi Neo - AMD Ryzen Gaming Handheld

AMD Ryzen 7 7840U Orange Pi Neo running Manjaro operating system. Linux gaming handheld. Immutable filesystem and a sleek design

neo.manjaro.org

Interesting. They managed to included trackpads while still keeping the design very lean. I would be up for SD2 opting for this lean design aswell. Looking forward to impressions regarding ergonomics of this device, and if the trackpads have that nice tactile feedback of SD. IMO 7840U has great driver support on Windows and there is little point in using it with Linux but sure, it's an experiment for sure.

 

[Topher]

Interestingly enough there is now a very much Steam Deck handheld coming out from collaboration between Manjaro and Orange Pi.

Looks a lot like the Deck, has 7840u processor, touchpads, etc…. Running Manjaro Linux by default. Wonder if they will have Windows image available.

Also it will be interesting to see how seamless this will be and if they will have Steam available.

Orange Pi Neo - AMD Ryzen Gaming Handheld

AMD Ryzen 7 7840U Orange Pi Neo running Manjaro operating system. Linux gaming handheld. Immutable filesystem and a sleek design

neo.manjaro.org

So this is being made by the folks who make the manjaro distro? That's interesting. Wonder how much that thing is going to cost though. That seems to be the problem with these smaller handheld makers, they are really not every competitive.

 

[StereoVsn]

So this is being made by the folks who make the manjaro distro? That's interesting. Wonder how much that thing is going to cost though. That seems to be the problem with these smaller handheld makers, they are really not every competitive.

I think it’s made by Orange Pi company from hardware perspective with Manjaro providing software expertise.

And yeah, cost is going to be a big question. Well and support. Having Ally and Legion Go in BestBuy and Microcenter is pretty huge.

And of course Steam Deck has Valve behind it.

 

[Topher]

I think it’s made by Orange Pi company from hardware perspective with Manjaro providing software expertise.

And yeah, cost is going to be a big question. Well and support. Having Ally and Legion Go in BestBuy and Microcenter is pretty huge.

And of course Steam Deck has Valve behind it.

I don't think I've heard of Orange Pi. I'll need to look them up.

Edit: ah shit.....Pi as in a Raspberry Pi. Damn.......I'm slow

 

[StereoVsn]

I don't think I've heard of Orange Pi. I'll need to look them up.

Edit: ah shit.....Pi as in a Raspberry Pi. Damn.......I'm slow

Yep, different company, but same idea. They make pretty decent SBCs that are priced quite well. So they do have experience producing hardware.

It’s going to be interesting to see this particular combo since this is way outside their “comfort zone “ so to speak.

 

[Topher]

Yep, different company, but same idea. They make pretty decent SBCs that are priced quite well. So they do have experience producing hardware.

It’s going to be interesting to see this particular combo since this is way outside their “comfort zone “ so to speak.

I'm intrigued

 

[StereoVsn]

I'm intrigued

Yep, same here. It’s great to see handheld PC market expand so much over last couple of years.

 

[Gamezone]

I own both the Steam Deck and the Rog Ally, and I agree. The Windows handheld is generelly a better device. Better screen, more power and VRR support. But I do like the Steam OS experience. It's fast and easy to setup out of the box, and I like the that there are Steam Deck "verified games" in the store.

 

[Edgelord79]

I don’t understand what people find so difficult about Windows? Is it vastly different on handheld?

No it’s not very difficult at all. In fact it’s pretty easy. But you are dealing with a mostly console crowd here so pick up and play is a pretty big deal to a lot of people.

Of course I summarily dismiss anyone who claims outright one is better than the other unanimously.

 

[64bitmodels]

Yeah, I'm also done with running Windows with 16GB of RAM. That shit is painful. 32GB is the bare minimum and anything that ships under that is a mistake.

Just the fucking OS and like a Chrome browser will eat up like 80% of your RAM on 16GB.

??? I don't know what you're running but 16GB of ram with Windows 11 has been pretty decently smooth for me all things considered. And if you're not gaming or video editing, sticking to less intensive tasks you can get away with 8.

 

[64bitmodels]

*IMO* None seem worth that amount of money at the moment, especially without Hall Effect joysticks.

You can buy Hall effect replacement joysticks for the deck

Amazon.com

The others are more questionable, but hey that's why you get a Deck. super modular and easily repairable device. Your friend sending it in for RMA made a bad choice.

 

[StereoVsn]

??? I don't know what you're running but 16GB of ram with Windows 11 has been pretty decently smooth for me all things considered. And if you're not gaming or video editing, sticking to less intensive tasks you can get away with 8.

It’s actually a lot easier to live with 16GB of RAM on a device with dedicated graphics. So a laptop or desktop would generally be alright with 16GB for gaming, barring some of the newest titles perhaps.

However, these handheld devices have to dedicate RAM to GPU. Ideally we could do so with say 8GB. But even 6GB only leaves 10GB to OS and the game. That’s not enough.

Hence why 32GB (or say 24GB but that won’t quite work) would be ideal on a handheld like that.

 

[Frwrd]

You can buy Hall effect replacement joysticks for the deck

Amazon.com

The others are more questionable, but hey that's why you get a Deck. super modular and easily repairable device. Your friend sending it in for RMA made a bad choice.

Dude, let me forward this shit to him… he’s gonna lose his shit
Big ups for this, brother. Thank you

 

[Minsc]

??? I don't know what you're running but 16GB of ram with Windows 11 has been pretty decently smooth for me all things considered. And if you're not gaming or video editing, sticking to less intensive tasks you can get away with 8.

Yeah, I just think it severely limits the device. 16GB is too little for Windows 11 for me, if you use it as a Windows device that is. You know, install shit on it, other than games. I feel like if I had a device actually running Windows, I'd want to install all the normal things I use on Windows, well besides just Chrome. But I do have a Windows laptop with just 16GB of ram and I hate it. It struggles if I open up Edge, Chrome, and a few other things at the same time (say like Plex, Youtube and a few others).

I'd treat a Windows handheld the same way, and Steam is no slouch either. That definitely is noticeable on the 16GB of ram laptop, and I often find myself needing to close Plex when I want to watch YouTube, or close Steam after a few weeks to free up some memory or whatever.

It's just not an experience I want to have ever again on a Windows device.

 

[Topher]

I own both the Steam Deck and the Rog Ally, and I agree. The Windows handheld is generelly a better device. Better screen, more power and VRR support. But I do like the Steam OS experience. It's fast and easy to setup out of the box, and I like the that there are Steam Deck "verified games" in the store.

I like the Rog Ally better than Steam Deck, but not better than OLED. I just find anything that needs that extra power is going to suck the battery dry so I tend to play less demanding games on these handhelds. Steam Deck for Steam and emulation and Rog Ally for Game Pass and pretty much everything else. And Rog Ally is also my current desktop computer. So there are certainly use cases for either, which is why I have both.

 

[ZiggyPop1991]

It's blind loyalty to Steam. I can recognize how good the Steam Deck is AND appreciate the benefits of a ROG Ally/Legion etc.

Fanboys can't do that. There is one in this very thread who claims people don't care about COD or a subscription service that has 20+ million users at least

I have no loyalty to either. I had both and I winded up keeping my steam over my rog ( second one because the first one had screen issues). I’ve already been satisfied with the stuff I’ve found on sale with steam. I still play those big games like cod on my ps5 and wouldn’t want it any other way anyways.

 

[Fafalada]

Also nearly 50 posts and no mention of HDR.

Given how limited native hdr support still is for pc games, there's a reason for that. At least in Windows handhelds I get auto hdr to compensate, albeit I only get to use it when Docked.
But that's another thing, docking with egpu support transform these devices into full fledged Switch+ console, which just isn't a thing for steam OS either.
Coupled with better sw compatibility (where tinkering goes all the way reverse on Deck when you run into issues), and better battery life on many of these handhelds, there's quite a lot of reasons to go either way. Or I guess, have both...

 

[Fafalada]

65 whr battery life? Steam Deck OLED has 50 whr. Rog Ally has 40. Lenovo Legion Go has 49.2.

There have been many windows handhelds with 65wH before Asus and Lenovo even entered the market. There's also some oled devices albeit none of them support hdr so far.
There's also a 75wH device but that one actually is larger than the Deck (The only of its kind so far).

I don't know how plugging the Steam Deck or the Windows handhelds compares to that, but the Switch is designed from the ground up with the hybrid use in mind, you never have to do anything besides put it on the dock.

It works largely the same for windows, plus side you can use egpu dock, so I switch from 1200p to actual 4k when docked.
Main negative of using egpu is that you do have to re launch games when docking/undocking(since software physically sits in a different device memory) but that's a minor thing for the benefit it offers.

 

[Hohenheim]

I often have my Legion Go connected to the TV, and it works just like a console. Start it up, it goes straight to Steam big picture mode,and the controller does everything from there.
Windows handhelds are not "difficult".

 

[WhamBamThankYouMaam]

I have consoles for console games, a pc for aaa pc games and steamdeck for a lot of both.

Couldn’t be happier with it.

 

[Minsc]

Given how limited native hdr support still is for pc games, there's a reason for that. At least in Windows handhelds I get auto hdr to compensate, albeit I only get to use it when Docked.
But that's another thing, docking with egpu support transform these devices into full fledged Switch+ console, which just isn't a thing for steam OS either.
Coupled with better sw compatibility (where tinkering goes all the way reverse on Deck when you run into issues), and better battery life on many of these handhelds, there's quite a lot of reasons to go either way. Or I guess, have both...

Yes, and also no. It works in a decent number of games IMO. Pinball Arcade, Ori, Midnight Suns, FFVII, well there's a PC wiki I'm sure you're aware of with hundreds of games.

So I guess out of the what, millions of PC games having hundreds support it isn't even a drop in the bucket, but there's some real nice entries in there, and I'd wager most anyone can find a dozen or so they'd be interested in.

Plus HDR works in every single PS5 game so if you stream with Chiaki (which nearly everyone says provides an amazing, native-like experience) the number of HDR games you have access to is vastly larger.

 

[Slimboy Fat]

How well does HDR work on windows handhelds? I heard it's quite good on the deck oled

 

[midasmulligan]

*IMO* None seem worth that amount of money at the moment, especially without Hall Effect joysticks.
Got a homie that got three handhelds, he already got ‘stick drift’ and had to RMA one of them. Not to mention other problems he ran to with the others (screen, M.2, etc.)

I think these will be better and much more efficient (like everything in tech these days) in a few more years

Legion Go has hall joysticks

 

[MonkeyClaw36]

Windows is garbage now and has not been good since 7.

/Opinion

 

[mnkl13]

You purchased a legion go and now your trying to justify your mistake… its ok we have all been there.

Sell the legion go and get a OLED steam deck, we will forgive you.

i would say deckers are trying to justify their shackles. windows handhelds come with freedom, freedom to access all games of any gamestore and play them with just a push of button.

 

[Topher]

i would say deckers are trying to justify their shackles. windows handhelds come with freedom, freedom to access all games of any gamestore and play them with just a push of button.

Eh.....no one has to justify anything. All these handhelds have pros and cons.

 

[Minsc]

i would say deckers are trying to justify their shackles. windows handhelds come with freedom, freedom to access all games of any gamestore and play them with just a push of button.

Show me the Windows handheld with an OLED display, I'm waiting.

 

[Dr.D00p]

i would say deckers are trying to justify their shackles. windows handhelds come with freedom, freedom to access all games of any gamestore and play them with just a push of button.

Heroic game launcher gives you access to non steam library games, so that's not really a problem. It's still a bit more fiddly to set up than just having Windows, of course. But games on your other launchers like Epic are easily accessed, if you really want them.

The good thing about the Deck though is the community support, there's always someone, somewhere doing interesting and cool things with it, much more so than the Windows handheld.

 

[Bergoglio]

I own both the Steam Deck and the Rog Ally, and I agree. The Windows handheld is generelly a better device. Better screen, more power and VRR support. But I do like the Steam OS experience. It's fast and easy to setup out of the box, and I like the that there are Steam Deck "verified games" in the store.

Can you run Gamepass on Steam Deck?

 

[Topher]

Can you run Gamepass on Steam Deck?

Only via streaming

 

[rodrigolfp]

Show me the Windows handheld with an OLED display, I'm waiting.

Steam Deck Oled.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Can you run Gamepass on Steam Deck?

On Windows.

 

[RickMasters]

I think the ally is the best of all these handheld PCs. So good that I bought myself one over xmas.

 

[Brock2621]

You can buy Hall effect replacement joysticks for the deck

Amazon.com

The others are more questionable, but hey that's why you get a Deck. super modular and easily repairable device. Your friend sending it in for RMA made a bad choice.

Thanks for heads up. I’m actually looking to mod my OLED Deck, any other recommendations?

 

[Minsc]

Steam Deck Oled.

Lucky me, I already own that one, but I love it too much to dual boot, it's pretty much 100% suspended in a game in Steam OS.

I guess I could buy another for Windows too lol, but naw. For Windows I want a more powerful, 32GB of RAM device. Something like the Ally 2 if it were OLED, but even if it's not, I'm always interested until I'm not.

 

[mnkl13]

Show me the Windows handheld with an OLED display, I'm waiting.

windows handhelds were out before there was a oled deck and you were fanboying by then allegedly.

suddenly oled became more important than power and framerate. i guess people with a series s and an oled screen are better served than those who got a series x and play it on an lcd then.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Windows is trash run general, but made worse by a tiny screen.

 

[Minsc]

windows handhelds were out before there was a oled deck and you were fanboying by then allegedly.

suddenly oled became more important than power and framerate. i guess people with a series s and an oled screen are better served than those who got a series x and play it on an lcd then.

Yo watch out for this deflection because shit you are playing scared. I'm spitting here and you're throwing back nothing there. I got my OLED laptop, my OLED tablet, my OLED Switch, and my OLED Deck, and my OLED HDTV.

OLED > *