News JVTech Steam Deck 2: power, price, release date, here’s what we already know
A year and a half after the official release of Valve’s Steam Deck, and ten months after its release, the new version of this portable console is starting to get people talking. But where is the Steam Deck 2? It’s time to take stock of the rumors and official information from the manufacturer.
Summary
- The Steam Deck 2 will not be more powerful than the Steam Deck
- Autonomy will be one of the main challenges of Steam Deck 2
- The Steam Deck 2 could cost more
- A Steam Controller 2 could accompany the Steam Deck 2
- When will Steam Deck 2 hit the market?
The Steam Deck was made official by Valve on July 16, 2021for an exit which, after many delays, took place in February 2022. Since then, the first portable console from the studio behind the Half Life saga, but also owner of the Valve platform, has caused a lot of talk. Despite some flaws, the Steam Deck has found its audience, and its builder seems pleased with its success.
Valve boss Gabe Newell was quick to confirm that if the Steam Deck presented itself as the studio’s first console, it wouldn’t be the last. For the moment identified under the name Steam Deck 2, the second iteration of the machine is well and truly on track and some information has already leaked about it: some has even been communicated by Valve.
The Steam Deck 2 will not be more powerful than the Steam Deck
Among the information confirmed by Valve, there is that concerning the power of Steam Deck 2. The American company preferred to cut short speculation that its future portable console would be very powerful.
Asked by The Verge mid-December, developer Pierre-Loup Griffais explained that the Steam Deck 2 will not rely on increased powerbut will seek above all to improve the user experience. “I think we will keep this level of performance for a bit longer. We will increase it only when we have a significant gain”he detailed.
Thus, we can expect a Steam Deck 2 with a power very close to that of the first generation Steam Deck: we could even find there again an AMD Zen 2 APU and 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM. On the other hand, it is very likely that Valve is working to provide better battery life, a quieter console and potentially a better screen : why not an OLED panel instead of the current LCD model?
The Steam Deck – Source: Unsplash
Autonomy will be one of the main challenges of Steam Deck 2
Among the main problems of the Steam Deck, there is that of autonomy. The console’s 40 Wh battery allows it to operate between 2 and 8 hours depending on the game: if you are a fan of AAA, the autonomy can even drop below the 2 hour mark. Some optimizations have taken place with updates, but when the limit is material, it is difficult to completely overcome the difficulty.
The Valve studio is aware of the situation. Pierre-Loup Griffais’ interview for The Verge confirms this. We can therefore expect serious improvements for the Steam Deck 2.
The Steam Deck 2 could cost more
The first generation Steam Deck is sold at a price of 419 euros for its 64 GB version, 549 euros for its 256 GB version and 679 euros for its 512 GB version. Gabe Newell recently told Edge magazine that “the best-selling version is the most expensive”. The Valve boss believes that this is proof that the firm’s customers are looking for maximum power, even if the price to obtain it is higher.
“We would like to offer a more expensive version, which offers more possibilities in terms of capacity, power, or other”he added. It is therefore possible that the Steam Deck 2 will skip a 64 GB eMMC version to focus only on SKUs with higher capacity NVMe SSDs and other high-end features, like… an OLED display?
A Steam Controller 2 could accompany the Steam Deck 2
The Steam Controller is a controller sold by Valve until 2019. It was initially associated with the Steam Link, another device that the studio stopped selling in 2018 after liquidating its stocks by selling them for less than 3 euros.
However, the prospect of releasing a Steam Controller 2 seems to delight some of Valve’s developers. “Yes, we want that to happen. It remains to be seen when and how » Lawrence Yang, one of the designers of the Steam Deck, told The Verge.
Insofar as the Steam Deck can become a home console connected to a TV thanks to its docking station, like the Nintendo Switch, it seems consistent that Valve imagines offering an official controller to complete the experience. Maybe with the Steam Deck 2?
When will Steam Deck 2 hit the market?
The answer to this question is a real mystery! For the moment, Valve has left no clues on the subject. However, it can be considered thatan announcement could take place in the first half of 2023. If the studio wants to keep a configuration similar to the first Steam Deck, it can’t wait forever before releasing a new iteration without taking the risk that it will be technologically outdated. Response in the coming months.
