Source is KeplerL2, who is generally considered a reliable source for insider hardware info, particularly on AMD GPU hardware and AMD SoC for consoles.
Previously I would have personally estimated Steam Deck 2 to release mid 2026-early 2027, but the recent info about an upcoming Steam Machine made me think that maybe I should push back that estimate.
Of course even if we assume this is reliable insider info, a lot can change in couple years, so things can definitely change.
I don’t know why people are so eager for it, the deck is great, it’s a great purchase. I wish I had gotten the OLED, but I’m very very happy with it. I don’t see that it needs to be replaced annually or even every 2-3 years. It’s like the switch, why not go 4+ years before hardware drives that a new one is possible
Because the capitalist system has trained the consumer to always want new, shiny things.
There you go, that’s the answer. Can’t just be happy with what we have, not even for a couple of years. Time to throw it away, get the new one!
PC gamers are very excited that there’s a handheld PC on the market thats made by Valve, but they don’t understand its meant to be a low-power gaming device. its not meant to be a 500+fps massive rig with all the trimmings and fixins.
They are trying to apply their upgrade logic/obsessive consumerism to a device that neither wants nor needs that in its own market.
This has been a major annoyance I’ve had too with gamers. It was never meant to play games at 240fps with ultra graphics. It’s meant as a way to make “most” games playable on the road. A great low cost entry point, or something to compliment your big gaming rig. I don’t need an upgrade because it does what it does great, plays most games on decent settings well enough for the duration of a flight or trip. If you want ultra graphics, you will have to pay ultra prices and probably do a big desktop. Even “Steam Deck 2” will still probably only do 30-45fps games on medium, just newer games will be a bit more playable.
I want a higher resolution screen to make specific games more playable, by rendering text and stuff like that at higher resolution (while the rest of the game could keep targeting lower resolutions and get upscaled)
As described in more detail here; https://infosec.pub/comment/17743689
This machine is incredible, it easily plays the backlog of 5000+ games I haven’t played before but of which a lot are way cooler than a lot of AAA being published today because it predates many current bad game development practices. DOS, NES, SNES, Wii, GB, GBA, GAMECUBE, PSP, PS1, PS2, SEGACD, … The list goes on. Steamdeck with Emudeck is a truly amazing experience. I don’t need a steamdeck 2 anytime soon.
same! i have recently been playing wow with friends on it and we are talking about doing a BG3 multiplayer game soon. and i use the steam deck as my daily gaming device!
its also my emulation setup as well. its just so good.
The only reason I want the Deck 2 to release is to get a cheap Deck 1. I don’t really need one, so I’m not paying the price they’re asking for it. If 2 comes out and there are some cheap 1s people are getting rid of, I’ll probably snatch one up. Other than that, I think it plays about any game I’d want to play on it.
When I first got the steam deck, I thought it was so great and used it all the time; I still do.
I told my wife that I liked it so much that I would buy the next one as soon as it released.
After having it for some time, I realized that all the games I play run on it easily and there is no real need to upgrade.
So, I plan to use this steamdeck until it it stops working. I imagine that will be a while as I’m going to repair it when/if something breaks.
I want a second one because I know it’ll blow the first one out of the water, with the first one they had to figure out all the r&d from scratch, with the two they should be able to refine the hell out of it, I think there’s a good chance the 2 will be basically perfect. Shame they’ll never make a 3 though.
I’m not really sure what’s not perfect with the OLED already, lol. Maybe a second USB-C port would be nice, so we could charge it while using a non-hub device, or use a cheap hub to add even more controllers? That’s a minor, incremental improvement, though.
It could always be smaller/thinner/quieter, I guess, but I can’t think of anything I’d really want to change with my Deck. I have lots of minor pain points with other tech, but I literally can’t think of anything with the Deck, so I’m curious if you have any specifics, or if you’re just trusting that Valve has put some real thought and research into this and will surprise us with design changes for the better that aren’t obvious.
I mean, could it? Maybe it’s because my laptop fans sound like a goddamn Harley Davidson, but I feel like my SD is nearly silent.
Hall effect everything, adaptive triggers, higher screen to body ratio, reduced weight, usb-c on top and bottom, enough performance to play spiderman 2 in particular on nice settings, 1080p, detachable siderail controllers, better haptics, better speakers. There’s honestly a lot wrong with the steam deck these things were all off the top of my head, if they fix everything on that list I won’t want any other gaming machine ever, though.
Hall effect joysticks would be great. The rest I don’t really count; obviously, better performance/bigger screen would be an incremental improvement, but I don’t need it. The OLED screen is plenty big enough.
I (personally) would never use detachable controllers and wouldn’t want more moving parts that could break. Haptics and adaptive triggers I don’t care about improving. For sound, I prefer headphones for when I want “good” sound, too, so that wouldn’t make a difference for me.
Even hall effect joysticks are only going to matter to me if my current joysticks break or develop play.
I really do think the current OLED is amazing.
You said you aren’t sure what isn’t perfect, I made a big list and you went “yeah but I’m fine with those imperfections” which is fine so stay with the original, but these are valid areas of improvement.
i’m not, especially the haptics and speakers suck, imo.
I want to get a steamdeck but I feel (felt?) I’m too late in so I figured I’d just wait for the second one…
Same…I was thnking of getting one Q1 2026… Might just wait it out I guess . maybe firmer date by then?
Cuz there are a lot of games that it can not run due to performance? I mean there are a lot of games on my wishlist that are waiting for a steam deck 2 so I can actually play them if i buy them… On top of that I have the OG LCD version and it’s not worth for me to upgrade to the OLED, a steam deck 2 on the other hand
Your question depends on your definition of “can it run”. To me, as a portable device I get 45 fps on the witcher on medium settings and that’s very playable. If you want to use it as a desktop and expect that the next version will rival a 5000 series GPU, that’s unrealistic.
In bg3 even with lowest settings I had 20 fps, in the last arc I had 2 fps even with 240p… I tired cyberpunk recently and it ran with 30 fps diped some times, which is playable I guess but my battery lasts 30-45 min… And the same issue I have the same issue with all AAA games, I can lower the settings to make them playable at 40 fps, but my battery life is so short that it’s not even worth playing.
In the first place with this it’s best to just compare price to performance with the competitors and even now the steam deck has lost its lead, and it will only get worse if Asus releases a better performing device every year.
The same thing happened with the valve index.
I’ve been playing cyberpunk and prey on mine recently and I’ve had no problems with either. I don’t count FPS unless it is annoying, but I’ve not noticed any problems with either. Prey looks gorgeous in fact.
[This conversation isn’t worth it; leave my inbox alone now, please]
Underpowered?! I can play fucking Elden Ring!
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How is that the standard for a thing that costs less than just my graphics card and is fully portable?? I don’t even need my gaming pc to do that shit.
For what it is, the steam deck performs exceedingly well.
On a handheld? What even for?
60 FPS is already a meme on computer, even more now that certain companies hallucinate frames for their games with AI.
Yeah what an absurd comment lol… That said, the OLED model does do 90fps
Yeah I’m amazed at how the tiktok brainrot has made it impossible for a whole generation to understand that on a thing that you are going to hold far too close to your face, you don’t want to have to squint and dry your eyes at far too many things going on at the same time too fast. Monster Hunter 4 did wonders on the 3DS and that was a 244p game!
What handheld, wait no, console period can?
Most people don’t care that much to play at 90 fps on 1440p on a mobile device.
I suspect part of the issue is you’re a kbm player primarily?
Even on desktop PCs, you need a relatively recent gpu to play at that level, one of those gpus is almost the entire size of the deck lmfao
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I think you misunderstand what the Deck is. It’s a handheld laptop with a built-in controller with the express purpose of playing games. It’s not a GPU with a screen.
I feel you about GPU pricing, but the Deck is one of the few things I’ve bought in recent years where I didn’t feel buyer’s remorse, even slightly. How it’s priced is fair for what you get: an ultra-portable Linux gaming laptop. Plus, you get the added benefit of knowing that you’re further supporting gaming on Linux; Proton literally changed the gaming landscape, and Valve has directly partnered with Arch Linux.
I still frequently play my Desktop, but there are times when I just want to chill in bed, sit on the couch, play on vacation, and there’s simply no way I can take my desktop computer with me to those places.
See other comments, this was on purpose to make it more portable. The deck doesn’t need to be a powerhouse, it needs to be portable. We already have powerhouse desktops
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By definition it cannot exist. You can have a powerhouse or portable. The fact that they made the deck as powerful as they did is frankly amazing.