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Sephiran on 30 June 2025
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Conina said:
Soundwave said:

The OG Steam Deck's display wasn't anything special and only 720p 

No, 800p. Get your facts straight!

Soundwave said:

was there a bunch of crying about that? No, there wasn't. 

Yes, there was. The Switch OLED released just a few months before the Steam Deck, so it was an important comparison point.


https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2022-steam-deck-review-a-handheld-pc-capable-of-console-quality-gaming

The audio-video experience offered by the handheld is both good and bad. Concerns were raised about the quality of the screen when the first hardware reviews emerged a couple of weeks back and the display does feel compromised. Colour reproduction, black levels and brightness are all average and the omission of variable refresh rate (VRR) is a missed opportunity for a system where so many games unlocked sit between 45-60fps. Sit Steam Deck side-by-side with Switch OLED and it's a night and day difference in favour of the Nintendo machine and I think I even prefer the original Switch LCD display.

https://www.ign.com/articles/steam-deck-review 

I have no complaints about the resolution – at this screen size there’s a diminishing return on packing in extra pixels. I have to say, though, that the OLED screen on the latest model of the Nintendo Switch has spoiled me on handheld screens, and the Steam Deck doesn't live up to the vibrance and clarity afforded by Nintendo's latest update.

And without the complaints of the tech reviewers and Steam Deck players, Valve probably wouldn't have switched to OLED that fast to fix it.

No, back then the only discussion about the Switch among the same type who now complains about Switch 2 specs and screen is that the Steam Deck would crush the Switch, the Steam Deck was universally praised as the future of handheld gaming. The Switch OLED model was seen as an low effort upgrade by Nintendo because it only featured a screen upgrade while the importance was in performance upgrades.

There is no market in catering to the tech community because there will always be more expensive PC handhelds that they can rave about and compare favorable to the Switch 2.