For today, I’d like to talk about my experience with the steam deck so far. I’ve owned a steam deck for several months; however, it feels more like just under two weeks. There’s a good reason for that, as most of my time over the last three months was spent waiting for a replacement. My first Steam Deck’s bumper buttons stopped working after four days, and my second Steam Deck had malfunctioning trackpads, followed by a third RMA that had the same issues. It’s clear Valve has some apparent manufacturing issues. The fact that I got the same trackpad issue twice in a row proves that.

However, I’d like to focus on the infinite possibilities of the Steam Deck when it’s fully functional. The most significant advantage is access to a whole Linux desktop experience. Being able to download and play games outside of my 100+ library of Steam games is insane and unmatched by any home/mobile console. For example, let’s say I wanted to play a PS2 game; I’m a few clicks away from having a nearly perfect emulation of Ace Combat 5. By contrast, it is almost impossible to play PS2 games on the PS5 outside their limited library of retro games. Also, the controls are fantastic, the joysticks feel precise, the trackpads have excellent haptics, and most buttons have a satisfying press. Almost every game outside Destiny 2 has run great on the deck, especially CloudPunk. For any PC gamer, this is a must-have device as buying a game on PC now means being able to play it almost anywhere. The hi-fi audio is also great, although I wish it had more depth.