The original Steam Deck is one of the best gaming handheld consoles for playing the best PC games on the go. Due to the system's popularity, it's natural to assume we'll eventually get a follow-up.
Though the Steam Deck 2 hasn’t officially been announced, we’ve heard various reports and rumors over the years about the Steam Deck successor.
Some reports come from leakers, while some statements come directly from Valve. At the very least, the company is considering its plans for the next Steam Deck. However, now that rival handhelds like the Legion Go S will use SteamOS, will there even be a Steam Deck 2?
Here’s everything we’ve heard about the rumored Steam Deck 2.
Steam Deck 2: Potential release date
As with everything about the Steam Deck 2, you’ll have to indulge a fair bit of speculation on our part since there isn’t a lot to go on. That said, the tidbits of reports provide clues as to when Steam Deck 2 might arrive. Or rather, when it won’t release.
When our own Jason England interviewed Valve’s SteamOS designer, Pierre-Loup Griffais, during CES 2025, the latter said Valve wasn’t “thinking about new hardware until next year at least.” That effectively squashes any hopes of a Steam Deck 2 dropping in 2025.
I’ll go into more detail about this later, but one of the reasons Valve is taking its time with the next Steam Deck is that the company wants to offer a significant performance boost over the original model.
“As such, changing the performance level is not something we are taking lightly, and we only want to do so when there is a significant enough increase to be had,” said Griffais to The Verge. He doesn’t believe “such a leap to be possible in the next couple of years.”
Given these statements, we might not see a Steam Deck 2 in 2025 or even 2026. Regardless, we’re in for a long wait for the Steam Deck successor.
Steam Deck 2: Possible price
An entry-level Steam Deck currently costs $399, with the highest-end model priced at $649. If we won’t see a new Steam Deck for another two or three years, then it’s difficult to say how much that successor system will cost. That said, I think it’s safe to say the Steam Deck 2 will cost more.
Using the Nintendo Switch 2 as an example of potential pricing, a low-end Steam Deck 2 could potentially start at $499 or $100 more than its current-gen equivalent. Going by that, a high-end Deck 2 could range between $749 to $799. Given how the Asus ROG Ally X also costs $799, that price range isn’t as wild as it might initially appear.
The United States’ current tariffs on imported goods might affect the Steam Deck 2’s price. However, given how the tariff situation seems to change daily, it’s difficult to predict how tariffs will affect the prices of electronics released in the future. Still, it’s something to keep in mind regarding the Steam Deck 2’s potential price range.
Steam Deck 2: Rumored display
In a translated message from a Chinese forum thread on Chiphell (via NotebookCheck), the headline rumor is that Steam Deck 2 will feature a 900p OLED screen with a refresh rate of 90Hz. While the latter figure is the same as the Steam Deck OLED, the rumored bump up to 900p (1600 x 900) would be a big boost.
Both the original Steam Deck and OLED model sport 1280 x 800 screens, putting them slightly above 720p due to the 16:10 aspect ratio of both handheld gaming PCs.
Those rumored Steam Deck 2 screen specs are still below the Lenovo Legion Go, with its 2560 x 1600 panel that packs a 144Hz refresh rate. However, Valve has never tried to outdo its competitors with brute power. Instead, the Steam Deck is popular because SteamOS is such a breeze to use, not to mention that its OLED screen on the higher-end model is incredible.
We can’t say for certain if the first iteration of the Steam Deck 2 will pack an OLED display, or if Valve will introduce that tech with an updated Deck 2. Hopefully, the company will at least offer an OLED option at launch.
Steam Deck 2: Potential specs
At the moment, the leading processor for gaming handhelds is the AMD Ryzen Z2 chipset. In fact, many (myself included) thought we’d see the likes of an AMD Ryzen Z2 in the Steam Deck 2. However, based on our conversation with Griffais, that’s likely not happening.
“There is no Steam Deck 2 with Ryzen Z2, and we aren’t thinking about new hardware until next year at least,” Griffais commented when we interviewed him. “We want to see bigger performance and power efficiency improvements within that 8-15 watt power envelope.”
The current Zen 2-based AMD chip inside the Steam Deck runs with this level of power, and this is something Valve doesn’t want to stray from since it would sacrifice battery life.
“We don’t want to be looking at 20-30% improvement or anything like that, because we don’t think that’s meaningful enough for developers and for users,” said Griffais.
So, what can we expect from the Steam Deck 2? Griffais didn’t say. But considering the incremental gains from Z1 to Z2 during a span of 18 months, this is another sign that Steam Deck 2 won’t be arriving anytime soon.
Given how Steam Deck uses an AMD chip, the assumption was that the company would do so again with Steam Deck 2. When we asked if Valve would return to a custom AMD processor, Griffais was quick to say, “Not necessarily AMD!” It’s an interesting clarification that suggests that if the time comes for a next-gen handheld, Valve may look elsewhere, perhaps to the likes of Intel or Qualcomm.
Steam Deck 2: Will there even be another Steam Deck?
When it launched, the Steam Deck was the only gaming handheld that used SteamOS. This gave it an edge over more powerful competitors using Windows 11 since Valve’s operating system was specifically designed to work on handhelds. SteamOS was the Deck’s secret weapon, but the OS is no longer exclusive to Valve’s hardware.
The upcoming SteamOS version of the Legion Go S will be the first machine that uses Valve’s handheld OS. And as we’ve reported, there are already beta channel updates providing greater compatibility for SteamOS on more popular handhelds. It’s clear you can expect to see many more make the leap over. That being the case, will there even be a Steam Deck 2?
When asking about whether Valve is in talks with other companies beyond Lenovo, Griffais confirmed that these conversations are happening and that he sees it as a “bi-directional relationship” where both sides will have to put the work in to make it make sense.
With these relationships, where would the Steam Deck 2 fit in a world populated with other handhelds running SteamOS?
“Our hardware is in a certain segment, and there’s other segments that prioritize other things that we don’t,” Griffais said. “For example, some handhelds prioritize performance at the sacrifice of battery life, and others favor accessibility. We’re happy to slot in alongside them and offer consumers more choice.”
Valve believes there will be a place for a potential Steam Deck 2, especially if it can offer something its competitors don’t, such as better battery life or easier portability. But with multiple manufacturers using SteamOS on their handhelds, they will likely create devices that fill that sweet spot between performance and battery life that Valve takes up.
Given its name recognition, I believe Steam Deck 2 would do well even with SteamOS available on other handhelds. But as Jason speculated, it’s also possible that Valve could sit back and let other devices do the heavy lifting. Even without a Steam Deck 2, the company still wins if its user-friendly OS is on numerous handhelds.
Steam Deck 2: Outlook
The only thing we can say for certain is that Valve is thinking about the next Steam Deck. The company also wants a system with substantially better performance and battery life than the current Steam Deck.
Beyond that, all we can do is speculate what a potential Steam Deck 2 can offer and how it can distinguish itself from its competitors.
We’ll update this page with anything we hear about the Steam Deck 2, so make sure to bookmark it for the latest news!
More from Tom's Guide
- Asus ROG Ally may get a major upgrade thanks to the Steam Deck
- Steam Deck 2 is years away — and that’s absolutely fine by me
- Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders live
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