The upcoming release ofValve’s Steam Deckhas had the gaming community buzzing for months. Valve, the company behind the popular PC gaming platform Steam, revealed the new portable console during the summer of 2021. Developers say they are on track for the first round ofSteam Decks to ship out in February of 2022, just weeks away.
At the moment, fans interested in getting their hands on aSteam Deckhave to pre-register for $5. Steam’s website says the Steam Decks reserved now will be available sometime after Q2 of 2022, so fans who want one need to get a reservation fast in order to minimize the wait time. But there are three different models of the Steam Deck at three different prices. Each model has unique specifications and offers different benefits for different types of gamers.
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64GB eMMC Steam Deck
Fans on a budget or unsure about purchasing tech at a high price point will be pleased to hear that one version of the Steam Deck is only $399, retailing at only $100 more than a Nintendo Switch. This Steam Deck is being called “entry-level” by the team at Valve, and not for a bad reason. At the reduced price point, this Steam Deck offers the smallest amount of storage of the three at only 64 gigabytes. To put that in perspective,Hitman 2is 149 GB all on its own, so this small storage size may hinder players interested in taking ongames with massive file sizes. Additionally, this model processes data and storage much slower than the other models. Due to the eMMC drive, this Steam Deck will max out at 500 MB per second. However, it still offers a great experience for particular gamers, especially those who are new to gaming or are interested in smaller titles likeStardew ValleyorTerraria.
256GB NVMe SSD Steam Deck
The mid-tierSteam Deck offers more storageand faster processing thanks to the increased storage capacity and SSD. But it also costs significantly more than the entry-level model at $529. While the $130 price jump may seem like a lot for two versions of the same console, it’s important to consider that this model literally quadruples the storage capacity. This version of the Steam Deck retails at a slightly higher price than next-gen consoles PS4 and Xbox One. However, the Steam Deck’s ability to be completely portable and function as a personal PC may make the higher price worthwhile, even at the mid-tier level. In addition to the faster, larger internal storage, this model comes with an exclusive Steam community profile bundle, which will likely be cosmetics for a player’s Steam profile page.
512GB NVMe SSD Steam Deck
The highest-tier version of the Steam Deck is retailing at a whopping $649. At the increased price, it doubles the storage of its mid-tier counterpart (which is eight times more than the entry-level model) and the same high-speed storage, maxing out at 4 GB per second. Additionally,this model comes with a screen made of anti-glare etched glass, which is intended to look nicer, be higher quality, and be much more durable over time. While the price point is high in comparison to other gaming consoles on the market, its functionality as a personal PC puts it in a different league—and its price point is minuscule compared to most gaming computers available now.
Fans interested in the Steam Deck will likely have to choose one of the three models, and there is no wrong answer. Every gamer wants different things in their tech. Whether a lower price point is crucial or massive storage is a priority, theSteam Deck has a variety of offeringsfor fans.
TheSteam Deckis set to launch in February 2022.
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