The casing grinds (squicks? rubs?) along the seams

[YawningPersian]

Hi! I couldn't see anyone else discussing it, so I don't know if it is just me. Does anyone else's Deck's cover moves (bends?) and squicks where the top part of the plastic meets the bottom part?

I mean, its not a huge thing, and I am in love with SteamDeck otherwise, but it makes the casing feel very weak and fragile and I have to be super careful when removing the device from the protective case. It is hard to lift its weight without squeezing it too much!

It is unfortunate because Ive only had my Deck for a few weeks and it is already a problem, whereas Ive had a Switch for about 3 years and never had any issues with its casing.

Just hope the devs will take it into consideration when designing SD2 and will use stronger material/ connect the pieces better?

[Nathan]

Did you disassemble your deck? This will weaken the structural integrity.

[Haruspex]

Interesting.

I remember seeing a Youtuber or two talk about how sturdy it feels, and proceed to trying to twist the whole device to demonstrate how it doesn't budge.

I'm still waiting on my Email. (Q2. I'm hoping in May.) I don't yet have a Steam Deck to check, but I would like to do a comparison of other devices and see how the Deck compares.

First, my Gameboy Color. It feels solid enough. Squeezing and twisting the whole device does elicit a few plastic-on-plastic squeak noises. The battery door is a little bit rattley, but that might just be mine.

My OG, release day Nintendo Switch. Squeaks less than the Gameboy Color, but the joycon themselves flex more than I like against the system itself. Feels like they could break off. If I remove the joycon I can get absolutely no squeak or flex out of the system. It's very solid.

Gameboy Advance SP. Less squeaky than the Gameboy Color, probably due to it's small size. Overall solid.

Gameboy Advance original. Roughly the same amount of squeak and rattle as my Gameboy Color. Still, it holds up in spite of this, considering how many years I've had it.

Nintendo Switch Lite. Very solid. Minimal plastic-on-plastic sound. Not quite a solid as the OG switch minus joycons, but certainly more solid than with, and overall the most solid of all the Nintendo handhelds.

I think with any device made of plastic, you can expect a certain amount of plastic-on-plastic sound and flex. I don't think it's anything to worry about.

[my new friend]

I've tried the twist and turn to try and see if it flexes or makes too much noise. Mine doesn't flex all that much and there is barely any noise from the pieces rubbing.

[CircumSamurai]

Mine's pretty solid aside from a tiny click if I squeeze the very bottom part of the case where the seam rubs against itself or something.

[YawningPersian]

Originally posted by CircumSamurai:

Mine's pretty solid aside from a tiny click if I squeeze the very bottom part of the case where the seam rubs against itself or something.

Yeah mine started there too. And responding to the first question, no i absolutely did not disassemble it. I handle it like its a holy grail haha 😂

I won't push my luck to twist it around and see what happens. I hope it won't get any worse