The handheld from Valve is good, but it could always be better.
So far, Valve’s Steam Deck has been a success. It has (relatively) simple specs, but the size of the screen and the fact that you can play it on the bus make up for that. But since it’s basically a small PC, there’s always the urge to make it better.
In their latest video, Linus Tech Tips did just that, taking Valve’s simple handheld and making it better in some key ways. Even though they can’t change the Steam Deck’s CPU or GPU, they could add or replace some key parts elsewhere to try to make the device run better.
That means taking out the potentiometer-based joysticks on the Steam Deck and replacing them with electromagnetic ones. These have many benefits, such as being more durable (they won’t drift) and having a smaller “dead zone.”
The storage on the handheld has also been improved. An experimental 2TB SSD unit fits neatly into the device, avoiding all the trouble that people can have—trouble that Valve has specifically warned against—when installing larger, hotter solutions. This Steam Deck now has 3TB of storage space, which is a ridiculous amount for such a small computer.
There’s also an extra fan helping an enormous heatsink (that protrudes straight out the back of the unit), a tempered glass screen protector and an external battery upgrade that is not the most elegant way of prolonging the Steam Deck’s screen time, but is incredibly satisfying since it attaches to the back of the handheld via magnets.
The final device looks less like a handheld gamer and more like something characters in a 90s sci-fi movie would use to open a locked door, but as you can see in the video below, the results, which are mostly about durability, longevity, and quietness, speak for themselves.
