The more I use the Steam Deck, the more I
marvel at all the pieces Valve had to perfectly
align to pull this off. The UI is intuitive. Steam’s
controller configurator is so clutch, simulating
the mouse in an emulator or letting me pick a
perfect community-made profile for a kb/m
game. Games mostly just... work! I’m fantasizing
about a v2 that’s an inch narrower and 25%
lighter – the Deck really is a chunky lad – but it’s
still sinking in that this is a proper PC that’s as
easy to use as it is powerful.Wes Fenlon
VERDICTThe performance of the Steam Deck is a marvel,
but the fact you have to tweak settings to get the
system and your games running right means any
hope of it delivering a simple console-like
experience are long gone. I mean, it will just work,
it just won’t work well. Or have anything like a
functional battery life if you don’t dig around in
those advanced Deck settings. But I also can’t
forget that price, and that any other equivalent
handheld PC I’ve ever toyed with has the same
struggles, and costs three times as much.Dave James
VERDICTDeck
Te c h
Could it replace
your PC?By Dave JamesPlug and play
1
Plug the Deck into a dock,
connect a keyboard, mouse,
and monitor, and you’ve got
yourself a whole gaming rig ready to roll.
You can go with the standard SteamOS
UI, like a modded version of Big Picture
Mode, but there is also a desktop mode.
This operates like a normal Linux
desktop, and functions a lot like the
Windows OS you’re used to. USB
devices are plug and play, and most of
your favourite apps can be loaded from
its Discover software centre. The only
issue I’ve had so far is lack of
DisplayPort support and a complete
refusal to output at the 21:9 ratio of my
ultrawide monitor.Office-ready
2
I’ve played Resident Evil Village
on the bus into the PC Gamer
office, then plugged the Deck
into my monitor at my desk and started
work. In fact, I’m writing this copy on a
wee TKL gaming keyboard plugged into
my Deck, listening to Spotify playing in
the background on the desktop through
my wireless Razer gaming headset.
And, with so many of our productivity
tasks bound to online portals, such as
Google Docs, who needs Word these
days? It’s genuinely impressive that I
can do my entire job on the Deck, from
writing, to CMSing copy, firing emails off
into the ether, and editing images on
GIMP, it’s all just a dock away.Stream Deck
3
The top machine only comes
with 512GB of storage, but
with the latent game
streaming potential of the device that
becomes less of an issue with a solid
internet connection. It also means only
good things for extending your battery
life. Steam’s Remote Play means you
can stream games from your more
powerful desktop rig should you wish,
and with Chrome installed on the
desktop UI you have instant access to
GeForce Now. So yes, you can play
Fortnite on the Steam Deck, and any
number of other high-end games at
blistering framerates via Nvidia’s
streaming setup. Sadly only with
keyboard and mouse right now, as the
controller isn’t recognised by Chrome.Costcutters
4
With the Index, Valve went for
the biggest, baddest VR
headset it could make, but
the Deck sees Gabe’s gang taking a
different tack. This is affordable
computing in a world where such a
thing seems to have taken a back seat.
And don’t think about this as just a
handheld gaming device either, this is a
full budget gaming PC. Handheld
gaming PCs often cost well in excess of
£1,000, and the fact the mid-tier Deck
is less than half that shows where
Valve’s priorities lie with this device. If
you want a versatile, affordable gaming
PC, and can’t face the costs of desktop
GPUs or gaming laptops, then the
Steam Deck is an incredibly tempting,
cost-effective alternative.