How long before it's obsolete?

[DarkLustre]

I'm really interested in buying one, as my laptop is failing, but I'm wondering how soon until this Steam Deck becomes obsolete? My understanding is that you can't upgrade the graphics or anything but add memory with an SD card.

What are the benefits vs. issues with getting Steam Deck?

[Prezidentas]

well it's not a laptop replacement, but for handheld 720p gaming it's fine. Until AMD releases more power-efficient handheld APUs, the deck will remain current.

[thetargos]

The plan, IIRC is for it to be the 'reference' handheld device so that game developers could have a base to target and optimize games for. It indeed has been reference for even new releases, so hopefully devs will still target it. Anything more powerful will only benefit from it being the base line.

[DarkLustre]

I don't even want a handheld tbh. I want something I can take with me anywhere and then hook into a TV and play my games or get online. Someone recommended this because it's cheaper than a laptop and he thought it would do what I needed.

[deaddoof]

Originally posted by DarkLustre:

I don't even want a handheld tbh. I want something I can take with me anywhere and then hook into a TV and play my games or get online. Someone recommended this because it's cheaper than a laptop and he thought it would do what I needed.

Valve may release Deck 2 around 2026-2027. Companies should be cranking out LPDDR6 product with Apple buying their way to the front of the line.

https://www.guru3d.com/story/jedec-nears-completion-of-lpddr6-standard-for-mobile-devices/

[76561198856165040]

It won't ever be obsolete if you plan on using it for older or lowSpec/Indie games. If you like having the newest and most popular titles then it can barely run the ones like that now.

[DarkLustre]

Originally posted by SomberDreamz:

It won't ever be obsolete if you plan on using it for older or lowSpec/Indie games. If you like having the newest and most popular titles then it can barely run the ones like that now.

Really good to know. What do you think I should buy if I want to be able to play what I want, but have excellent portability?

[Zef]

Originally posted by DarkLustre:

Originally posted by SomberDreamz:

It won't ever be obsolete if you plan on using it for older or lowSpec/Indie games. If you like having the newest and most popular titles then it can barely run the ones like that now.

Really good to know. What do you think I should buy if I want to be able to play what I want, but have excellent portability?

A gaming laptop with a mobile 4090 in it. But it also will become obsolute, all (pc) hardware does eventually.

The ally and the legion go can push more FPS then the deck, but this is almost exclusively when they are tethered to a wall charger so the handhelds can increase their max TDP to 30W.

They also eat through battery life like crazy since they run windows, have high refresh rates and use higher resolution screens.

Hence why i don't exactly rate them high in terms of portability.

If you really want something portable with a battery of multiple hours get a gameboy advance SP or DS.

That or play indie games on your modern handheld.

[76561198856165040]

Originally posted by DarkLustre:

Originally posted by SomberDreamz:

It won't ever be obsolete if you plan on using it for older or lowSpec/Indie games. If you like having the newest and most popular titles then it can barely run the ones like that now.

Really good to know. What do you think I should buy if I want to be able to play what I want, but have excellent portability?

@Zef explained it quite well. Unfortunately we don't have the tech yet to provide the best portability while also having the best performance. I would say a gaming laptop, but those really aren't portable as they pretty much need to be plugged in, in order to be of use for gaming; as well as needing a controller and mouse if you don't want to use the keyboard and mouse-pad.
Your best bet for portability will be a handheld. The steam deck's software is probably the best default software on the handheld market right now, specifically due to the ability to bind the back-buttons to anything and make radial menu's with each track-pad to do different things. This can not be done on the Legion Go or ROG Ally, I have owned both. Not sure about the new MSI handheld.
As for performance & the ability to play whatever you want. You will have to get used to lowering the graphics on the games you play as well as capping frame-rate to approximately 40fps and acknowledge that some games will probably need tweaking to work on the Steam Deck. ProtonDB can help you with such.
I wish I could offer more options, but that's pretty much the most honest answer I can give you.

[Deus_nsf]

The problem isn't so much that it will be obsolete, but rather that it's not finished yet. Many many features are not implemented, or are in need of tremendous work. When it works, it works beautifully though.

[D. Flame]

If you want a high end gaming machine, it was obsolete on day 1.

If you want a decent hand held, low heat output, desktop PC, then it will last a long time.

[Prezidentas]

with these handhelds, it's all about performance per watt. currently all main handhelds have basically the same performance per watt. what you will notice is that you will start limiting framerates to get better battery life, even though many games can run at 60+, it's not a big deal to run games at 40. OLED is better, it consumes less power and has bigger battery.
Also, the steam deck is the only handheld with proper trackpads that are positioned in somewhat usable place - for camera controls its a lot better than joysticks.