The future is now! Valve dropped a bomb on the gaming community yesterday when they announced their handheld gaming PC, the Steam Deck! This brand-new piece of equipment does everything you’d want a handheld console to do but takes it up a notch by being a literal portable PC.

Its design is rather unique as the main focus of it is drawn towards its dual touchpad layout. It also has all of the normal buttons you’d come to expect from a controller. It even adds a feature or two from the pro-style controllers such as four mappable buttons on its backside.

It also has some other features that are going to turn some heads for sure. The first being that you can start a game on PC and then resume from the same spot on your Steam Deck through SteamOS. The same can be done vice-versa. It’s something that I think will draw a lot of PC players to it right off the bat.

Another trick it can do is display itself on your tv or monitor. This is something we’ve become accustomed to thanks to the Nintendo Switch but the Steam Deck takes it a step further by being a fully functional computer. You don’t have to just play Steam games. You’ll be allowed to use it however you’d like, just as you would a normal computer. Add other gaming libraries, different OSs, or just surf the web.

And because it’s a gaming PC, you can also use any of your peripherals as well. It’s an extremely versatile little piece of tech that could change the landscape of the gaming industry for good. Only time will tell though how well gamers adopt it. But from what I’ve seen, everyone is very excited about it.

There are the different variations of the Steam Dock to choose from and can be checked out below as well as all of the Steam Deck’s specs. Reservations start today (July 16th) at 1 pm EST so have your credit cards ready! The Steam Deck is listed as shipping out this December but no official date has been announced.

Bundles

$399.00

• 64GB

• eMMC

• Carrying case

$529.00

• 256GB

• NVMe SSD

• Faster storage

• Carrying case

• Exclusive Steam Community profile bundle

$649.00

• 512GB

• NVMe SSD

• Fastest storage

• Premium anti-glare etched glass

• Exclusive carrying case

• Exclusive Steam Community profile bundle

• Exclusive virtual keyboard theme

Speeds and Feeds

Compute

• Processor - AMD APU, CPU: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32), GPU: 8 RDNA 2 CUs, 1.0-1.6GHz (up to 1.6 TFlops FP32), APU power: 4-15W

• RAM - 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (5500 MT/s)

• Storage - 64 GB eMMC (PCIe Gen 2 x1), 256 GB NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4), 512 GB high-speed NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 3 x4), All models include high-speed microSD card slot

Controls and Input

• Gamepad controls - A B X Y buttons, D-pad, L & R analog triggers, L & R bumpers, View & Menu buttons, 4 x assignable grip buttons

• Thumbsticks - 2 x full-size analog sticks with capacitive touch

• Haptics - HD haptics

• Trackpads - 2 x 32.5mm square trackpads with haptic feedback 55% better latency compared to Steam Controller Pressure-sensitivity for configurable click strength

• Gyro - 6-Axis IMU

Display

• Resolution - 1280 x 800px (16:10 aspect ratio)

• Type - Optically bonded LCD for enhanced readability

• Display size - 7" diagonal

• Brightness - 400 nits typical

• Refresh rate - 60Hz

• Touch-enabled - Yes

• Sensors - Ambient light sensor

Connectivity

• Bluetooth - Bluetooth 5.0 (support for controllers, accessories and audio)

• Wi-Fi - Dual-band Wi-Fi radio, 2.4GHz and 5GHz, 2 x 2 MIMO, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac

Audio

• Channels - Stereo with embedded DSP for an immersive listening experience

• Microphones - Dual microphone array

• Headphone / mic jack - 3.5mm stereo headphone / headset jack

• Digital - Multichannel audio via DisplayPort over USB-C, standard USB-C, or Bluetooth 5.0

Power

• Input - 45W USB Type-C PD3.0 power supply

• Battery - 40Whr battery. 2 - 8 hours of gameplay

Expansion

• microSD - UHS-I supports SD, SDXC, and SDHC

• External connectivity for controllers & displays - USB-C with DisplayPort 1.4 Alt-mode support; up to 8K @60Hz or 4K @120Hz, USB 3.2 Gen 2

Size and Weight

• Size - 298mm x 117mm x 49mm

• Weight - Approx. 669 grams

Software

• Operating System - SteamOS 3.0 (Arch-based)

• Desktop - KDE Plasma

Official Dock

Expansion

• Peripherals - 1 x USB-A 3.1 Port, 2 x USB-A 2.0 Ports

• Networking - Ethernet

• External displays - DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0

Power

• Input - USB-C Power Delivery passthrough input

• Desktop Connection - 6" USB-C captive cable with low profile 90° connector

Size and Weight

• Size - 117mm x 29mm x 50.5mm

• Weight - Approx. 120 grams