You've seen the announcement, now it's time for the nitty-gritty details.

Valve just announced the Steam Deck, a handheld, fully-featured portable gaming machine. It's a powerful little device that starts at $399 (USD), but we didn't really share just how powerful this hardware is.

Let's take a little look at the Steam Deck's technical specs, its design, the hardware, and the software powering it all.

Valve notes that things like the software are up to the user. If you don't want to use SteamOS, you don't have to. You are free to install a copy of Windows to the Steam Deck if you really want to. Valve also made sure to note that the Steam Deck will include a microSD card slot for expandable storage, which will be great for those that opt to pick up the smallest capacity model at launch.

Valve also briefly touched upon the Steam Deck's official dock. This "official dock" as it's simply called, will be sold separately. Valve hopes to share more details about the dock soon. Until then, there is a handy diagram of the dock to check out along with some technical specs (that are subject to change).


Valve also touts the connectivity of the Steam Deck. You can connect Bluetooth-capable peripherals to the Deck. This obviously includes hardware such as a Bluetooth mouse, keyboard, headphones, or controller. You can also use the included USB-C connector on the Steam Deck itself to connect another device.

Want to plug the Deck into your PC? You can. The USB-C port can carry all of that data. Optionally, you can use the optional Steam Deck dock with its included ports to make that a bit easier to manage.

On the operating system side of things, Steam Deck comes with SteamOS 3.0, the latest version of Valve's Linux-based operating system. The Steam experience on Steam Deck is akin to what you would get on a normal desktop experience. You still have all of the Steam features you've come to know and maybe even love. There is still Steam Chat, Remote Play, notifications, the Steam Store, cloud saves, access to the community, and everything else.

If you're looking for a more hands-on experience, of which we here at TGN have none, you should check out IGN's latest video. They were able to go hands-on with an early build of the Steam Deck. I've included their video below for easy viewing.

Steam Deck goes on sale starting July 16, 2021. You will need to put down $5 for a reservation. Orders will begin shipping in December 2021.