We’ve all given the device so much unanimous praise, but I’m curious if there’s anyone out there who regrets diving in and getting the OLED model?
I’m especially curious to hear from Double Deckers, who already had a Steam Deck but gave into temptation and upgraded to the OLED (like me, I’ll hold my hand up)
Initially I was very hesitant, and only gave into temptation after hearing so many testimonials. I’m a power user of the Steam Deck as I’m disabled and mostly bedbound, so the device is a godsend.
I do somewhat feel irresponsible for getting the OLED, but using it 4-6 hours every day at least means I’m getting my money’s worth. I’m hoping to give my original Deck to a friend or family member as a Christmas present to balance out the selfishness I feel.
How do you other Deckheads feel about your OLED purchase?
Just got mine yesterday, so haven’t had a ton of time to try it. I’ve played a couple of different games, and tried streaming on it. However, based on that experience, overall I’m happy.
The first thing I noticed is how much lighter it is, or at least feels. Granted, I have the LE, which I’ve heard is actually lighter than the regular models because of the transparent plastic, but wow. It doesn’t sound like much on paper, but it’s significant in the hand.
Battery life is just insane. It’s not like it goes for days, of course, but that extra bit is enough to remove all the concern I had over making sure it was fully charged before I started a play session, like I usually always did with the LCD. Again, it’s one of those things where just being told it lasts longer on battery doesn’t really convey the full experience.
Oddly enough, I’ve been less impressed with the screen. It’s good, don’t get me wrong. It’s OLED, of course it is, and having true blacks really is huge. Otherwise, though? Meh. I think this is more a testament to how much Valve improved the LCD screen. I’ve been on preview for forever, so all the LCD screen improvements people have been raving about recently, I’ve had for a while, and have already gotten use to. If you were bothered by backlight bleed or seeing greyish black bars with non-16:10 aspect ratios, the OLED fixes all that. Otherwise, I think the LCD screen is perfectly serviceable and the OLED is not nearly the huge upgrade it’s being made out to be.
The other thing is performance. Maybe it’s placebo, but I swear games play better than they did before. I’m sure the 90Hz display with less input lag is helping there, but still. Even in multiple tests by different outlets, there’s only maybe a few FPS difference, but it feels better than the data tells. I think it’s just another one of those relatively small things that actually has far more impact on the experience than it does on paper.
Don’t worry, it’s not a placebo. I’m not great with technical stuff, but some testing was done to show that the 90hz rate makes games feel more responsive. In a lot of cases there’s 0.2-0.3ms faster inputs with games. Here’s a video explaining it better!
I’m with you on the screen! It’s interesting that the most advertised feature was the most disappointing part of it. Not that it’s bad, just I’m actually happier about all the other improvements. Especially the weight. I can hold it one hand now without difficult balancing it. I’m curious how the LE feels.
Glad you’re having a good experience with it so far, hopefully you get more time to use it soon!