Three years later, the Steam Deck has dominated handheld PC gaming
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If you're just looking for sales numbers, which we haven't had much of for a long time, the long and short of it is:
4M Steam Decks since launch, 2M of all of its competitors combined; expected that all handheld PCs sharing this AMD tech will sell about 2M more this year.
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The legion go s with steam OS should replace it 10000% but I don't know if it will. There will never be a steam deck 2 and the steam deck is already outdated and slow.
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The legion go s with steam OS should replace it 10000% but I don't know if it will. There will never be a steam deck 2 and the steam deck is already outdated and slow.
touchpads
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The legion go s with steam OS should replace it 10000% but I don't know if it will. There will never be a steam deck 2 and the steam deck is already outdated and slow.
Why would there never be a Steam Deck 2?
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touchpads
Legion go will have one for mouse. Not great for games I'd imagine. But I'd also imagine 99% of people use the joysticks on a steam deck when playing a game.
But, software usually dies before hardware does.
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The legion go s with steam OS should replace it 10000% but I don't know if it will. There will never be a steam deck 2 and the steam deck is already outdated and slow.
Citation for there never being a Steam Deck 2?
Because the interview at CES 2025 heavily implied it: https://youtu.be/UI-C-nZnDE8?t=525
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Citation for there never being a Steam Deck 2?
Because the interview at CES 2025 heavily implied it: https://youtu.be/UI-C-nZnDE8?t=525
And the article we're commenting on mentioned it.
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If you're just looking for sales numbers, which we haven't had much of for a long time, the long and short of it is:
4M Steam Decks since launch, 2M of all of its competitors combined; expected that all handheld PCs sharing this AMD tech will sell about 2M more this year.
To put it in perspective there are 150 million Switches and 75 million PS5s out there. And 15 million Wii Us, if anybody is counting. This puts PC handhelds some ways ahead of the N-Gage and well behind the Game Gear.
I'm less concerned about who's ahead in the handheld PC market and more interested on whether it'll ever become a mass market space. I think a lot depends on prices for integrated GPUs not skyrocketing like their desktop counterparts and their performance stepping up a notch or two. We'll see.
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touchpads
Man, I strongly dislike the touchpads on all of Valve's controllers. They just hurt my wrists a bunch.
I prefer the optical nub on the GPD Win, which I noticed is making a reappearance in the Legion Go S, actually, so that's a step up for me. Not that I'm in the market for a handheld this gen, I'm mostly set.
Of course the weird mouse mode thing of the big boy Legion Go is a much better brute force solution than either, if you need to use one for any stretch of time beyond clicking the one thing. It's going to be very weird have that turn out to be the model for the Switch 2's mouse gimmick if and when that gets confirmed.
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To put it in perspective there are 150 million Switches and 75 million PS5s out there. And 15 million Wii Us, if anybody is counting. This puts PC handhelds some ways ahead of the N-Gage and well behind the Game Gear.
I'm less concerned about who's ahead in the handheld PC market and more interested on whether it'll ever become a mass market space. I think a lot depends on prices for integrated GPUs not skyrocketing like their desktop counterparts and their performance stepping up a notch or two. We'll see.
It's worth keeping in mind what's different here though. If the Steam Deck came out in the early 90s, it wouldn't be analogous to the Game Gear; it would be competing with the Nomad. It plays the same games as a PC but handheld, so it's capturing specifically the market that wants to extend that library to be handheld as well. Every Switch sold is handheld, but outside of the Switch Lite, we don't know who values that system for its handheld capabilities (I basically never used my Switch handheld back when I actually used it). There was also literally no competition for it when it launched, so it will be interesting to see how many opt for a handheld PC instead when the handheld part is what they're looking for.
Additionally, there's this rising market segment of mini PCs that are powered by the same tech that's in these handhelds. I've got one that I like to bring around for local multiplayer games, and if you only ever intend to use a computer at a desk for basic documents and web browsing, they can undercut low-end laptop prices for the same level of power and run the same operating system. Based on recent rumors, this tech could wind up in a new crop of Steam Machine-esque consoles very soon but with the library problem more or less solved compared to ten years ago.
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Man, I strongly dislike the touchpads on all of Valve's controllers. They just hurt my wrists a bunch.
I prefer the optical nub on the GPD Win, which I noticed is making a reappearance in the Legion Go S, actually, so that's a step up for me. Not that I'm in the market for a handheld this gen, I'm mostly set.
Of course the weird mouse mode thing of the big boy Legion Go is a much better brute force solution than either, if you need to use one for any stretch of time beyond clicking the one thing. It's going to be very weird have that turn out to be the model for the Switch 2's mouse gimmick if and when that gets confirmed.
IMO Valve has the highest quality touchpads that I have ever interacted with on any product. They also pioneered haptic feedback, which makes their touchpads more usable than any other implementation that currently exists.
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Citation for there never being a Steam Deck 2?
Because the interview at CES 2025 heavily implied it: https://youtu.be/UI-C-nZnDE8?t=525
Well that's cool. I heard just last year they weren't going to and instead just make steam os more available. I'm not going to scrounge the internet for one video I saw several months ago sorry.
But what's weird is when I look for steam deck 2 I get contradicting info like "steam deck several years away" and in the exact same particle "possibly late 2025"
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The legion go s with steam OS should replace it 10000% but I don't know if it will. There will never be a steam deck 2 and the steam deck is already outdated and slow.
wrote on last edited by [email protected].
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IMO Valve has the highest quality touchpads that I have ever interacted with on any product. They also pioneered haptic feedback, which makes their touchpads more usable than any other implementation that currently exists.
As a touchpad, maybe. But they're not being used as a touchpad, they're being used as this weird physical input substitute thing that is meant to work with your thumb. Two thumbs, actually. Sliding my thumb that way while holding the thing I'm using causes excruciating pain almost immediately, but even in the brief period until it does it's less functional than a large touchpad, let alone a mouse or a stick.
I know some people swear by them, I just don't think they're worth the space they take up as a pointer device and I don't think they're particularly useful as anything else.
But hey, that's the point of PCs, right? People who agree with me can get the Legion Go S with the actually good Thinkpad-style optical nub and people who like playing games by scratching a plastic square for some reason can stick to the Deck.
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Why would there never be a Steam Deck 2?
Because some people love going off headlines, and not the actual articles, and then further twist information, to promote their narrative.
They never said there will never be one. They said there won't be yearly incremental releases, because they want a substantial performance leap. And that is something I strongly admire. Makes the customers feel more secure in their choice, and lets Valve work on new stuff in peace
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It's worth keeping in mind what's different here though. If the Steam Deck came out in the early 90s, it wouldn't be analogous to the Game Gear; it would be competing with the Nomad. It plays the same games as a PC but handheld, so it's capturing specifically the market that wants to extend that library to be handheld as well. Every Switch sold is handheld, but outside of the Switch Lite, we don't know who values that system for its handheld capabilities (I basically never used my Switch handheld back when I actually used it). There was also literally no competition for it when it launched, so it will be interesting to see how many opt for a handheld PC instead when the handheld part is what they're looking for.
Additionally, there's this rising market segment of mini PCs that are powered by the same tech that's in these handhelds. I've got one that I like to bring around for local multiplayer games, and if you only ever intend to use a computer at a desk for basic documents and web browsing, they can undercut low-end laptop prices for the same level of power and run the same operating system. Based on recent rumors, this tech could wind up in a new crop of Steam Machine-esque consoles very soon but with the library problem more or less solved compared to ten years ago.
Yeeeah, I don't know that "it'd slot in next to the Nomad" is a ringing endorsement of mainstream appeal.
You, by the way, are not in the majority in your usage pattern for the Switch. Every bit of info available suggests that handheld vs docked use of the Switch is pretty much evenly split. Which is surprising to me, because I see it as a handheld first and foremost.
I do agree that it'll be interesting to see how the Switch 2 fares in a market where it's not the only thing in its class, but if I had to place any bets, they have a humongous lead despite PC handhelds having been around for ages and the Deck having taken a very good stab at competitive pricing and performance a whole three years ago (what is even time, holy crap).
As for mini PCs... Man, I don't get mini PCs. I'm very much an early adopter of weird tech, I have more SBCs and handheld devices than I know what to do with, but... who wants a screenless laptop? Or an underpowered, overpriced desktop? I can see some use cases for it, I've had some NUCs and thin clients here and there, I just don't think the value proposition is there to use them even as a media device. But hey, it's a small but clearly competitive space, and if this gen APUs do indeed match a 4060 desktop level of performance when fed enough power maybe that starts to make sense next to a Xbox Series S or something as a gaming device. We'll see.
For the record, I do have a PC plugged into a TV for gaming, mostly made out of spares and hand-me-downs built into a smaller, less garish case. I haven't seen a mini PC that made me question that choice yet. I'm open to having my mind changed, it just hasn't happened yet.
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As a touchpad, maybe. But they're not being used as a touchpad, they're being used as this weird physical input substitute thing that is meant to work with your thumb. Two thumbs, actually. Sliding my thumb that way while holding the thing I'm using causes excruciating pain almost immediately, but even in the brief period until it does it's less functional than a large touchpad, let alone a mouse or a stick.
I know some people swear by them, I just don't think they're worth the space they take up as a pointer device and I don't think they're particularly useful as anything else.
But hey, that's the point of PCs, right? People who agree with me can get the Legion Go S with the actually good Thinkpad-style optical nub and people who like playing games by scratching a plastic square for some reason can stick to the Deck.
Sliding my thumb that way while holding the thing I’m using causes excruciating pain almost immediately
Super bizarre and atypical. Probably a conversation you should have with your doctor.
I, along with pretty much anyone else that has used it, find they are surprisingly usable with thumbs, as they were designed to be. The left touchpad is especially useful as virtual menu and allows the device to be used effectively in many more games than is possible with other devices that are lacking these hardware features.
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Yeeeah, I don't know that "it'd slot in next to the Nomad" is a ringing endorsement of mainstream appeal.
You, by the way, are not in the majority in your usage pattern for the Switch. Every bit of info available suggests that handheld vs docked use of the Switch is pretty much evenly split. Which is surprising to me, because I see it as a handheld first and foremost.
I do agree that it'll be interesting to see how the Switch 2 fares in a market where it's not the only thing in its class, but if I had to place any bets, they have a humongous lead despite PC handhelds having been around for ages and the Deck having taken a very good stab at competitive pricing and performance a whole three years ago (what is even time, holy crap).
As for mini PCs... Man, I don't get mini PCs. I'm very much an early adopter of weird tech, I have more SBCs and handheld devices than I know what to do with, but... who wants a screenless laptop? Or an underpowered, overpriced desktop? I can see some use cases for it, I've had some NUCs and thin clients here and there, I just don't think the value proposition is there to use them even as a media device. But hey, it's a small but clearly competitive space, and if this gen APUs do indeed match a 4060 desktop level of performance when fed enough power maybe that starts to make sense next to a Xbox Series S or something as a gaming device. We'll see.
For the record, I do have a PC plugged into a TV for gaming, mostly made out of spares and hand-me-downs built into a smaller, less garish case. I haven't seen a mini PC that made me question that choice yet. I'm open to having my mind changed, it just hasn't happened yet.
Yeeeah, I don’t know that “it’d slot in next to the Nomad” is a ringing endorsement of mainstream appeal.
PC gaming has mainstream appeal, measurably. There are lots of reasons to play games on PC, and this is an additional one, particularly compared to PlayStation and Xbox, moreso than Switch.
Every bit of info available suggests that handheld vs docked use of the Switch is pretty much evenly split.
I haven't seen any reporting on that in a long time, since before this PC form factor existed, but I'd happy to peruse a link. I see some people playing Switch on the subway from time to time, but also anecdotally, most of my friends, all adults, play them docked just about exclusively. I've definitely seen children playing Switch Lites at the laundromat as a tool that parents use to keep them busy.
As for mini PCs… Man, I don’t get mini PCs. I’m very much an early adopter of weird tech, I have more SBCs and handheld devices than I know what to do with, but… who wants a screenless laptop? Or an underpowered, overpriced desktop?
My use case is I have a very easily packed and unpacked local multiplayer machine, for emulators and fighting games especially. The Steam Deck is a bit of a pain to set up for this use case, and it can't run Street Fighter 6 very well or at the resolutions I'd want it to, but the mini PC does all of that very well. That use case, and some interested fighting game tournament organizers I've been talking to, are admittedly very niche, but I think the alternative for a laptop has real legs. My friend just got one for her dad (in his late 60s) for a little north of $150. It runs Windows. It allows him to browse the web and run his office applications, plus whatever else he needs to run on x64. Most older folks I see using laptops only ever use them in a single place like a desk anyway, and they'd rather output them to a larger monitor. This is where I think this form factor will sing in the coming years, plus the real possibility of whatever living room PC game machine that Valve can put together for decent value. The other advantage is that not only can they be cheap up front and take up less space, they also use less electricity and produce less waste heat.
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Sliding my thumb that way while holding the thing I’m using causes excruciating pain almost immediately
Super bizarre and atypical. Probably a conversation you should have with your doctor.
I, along with pretty much anyone else that has used it, find they are surprisingly usable with thumbs, as they were designed to be. The left touchpad is especially useful as virtual menu and allows the device to be used effectively in many more games than is possible with other devices that are lacking these hardware features.
It is atypical, and certainly a medical issue, but I'm not alone there by any means. People who like these do tend to be loud and proud about it, so they stand out more, but it's worth pointing out that any time Valve has tried to have them as a primary input they had to either reintroduce sticks alongside them or swap them out for sticks altogether. Accessibility wise I know people who share my issues and people who say they interact better with their own mobility problems. That's always the case with ergonomics and accessibility issues. On the plus side, that has taken me into a lively and very expensive habit of controller collecting, so... yay for me.
FWIW, I'm aware of the functionality, which works just as well with a modifier button and a stick. Those things and a lot of the features attached to them are, and have always been, a solution looking for a problem. There are very few games where the developer hasn't provided a viable control mapping that the Steam layers turn into a comfortable gaming experience. In most cases if it's not intended to be used with a controller I'd much rather go sit somewhere with a mouse and keyboard.
