When to Buy a Steam Deck OLED Display and When to Buy a Switch OLED Display
When Valve announced the new OLED Steam Deck last week, you probably couldn’t help but compare the new update to another handheld gaming system on the market: the Nintendo Switch OLED . While both devices are similar in size and feature OLED displays, there isn’t much in common between them. These devices serve very different purposes, and knowing this can help you make the right decision when choosing what to buy.
Steam Deck OLED and Nintendo Switch OLED Specifications
The specs alone aren’t really what will entice most people to choose a Steam Deck or Switch. However, it is important to know what you are getting for your money:
OLED switch characteristics:
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Display: 7-inch OLED touchscreen with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution.
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Processor: NVIDIA Tegra X1.
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RAM: 4 GB
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Memory: 64 GB (expandable via microSD)
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Battery life: 4.5 to 9 hours
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Size and Weight: 9.5 x 4 x 0.55 inches, 0.93 lbs.
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Price: US$349.
Steam Deck OLED Specifications:
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Display: 7.4-inch HDR OLED touchscreen with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution.
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Processor: 6nm AMD custom APU
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RAM: 16 GB
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Storage: 512GB/1TB NVMe SSD (expandable via microSD)
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Battery life: 3 to 12 hours
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Size and Weight: 298 x 117 x 49 mm, approximately 1.41 lbs.
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Price: from $549.
Just looking at the specs, it’s clear that the Steam Deck OLED packs more power under its chassis. This increase in performance comes with some trade-offs, such as increased weight and size, as well as a noticeable difference in price. But as I noted above, when comparing these two portable devices, you won’t be looking at the specs alone.
Software and game access
Since the Switch is a Nintendo console, you’re pretty much locked into everything Nintendo has to offer in terms of gaming. Luckily, the Switch enjoys broad support from both Nintendo’s own software and third-party developers. Most recently, Switch gamers were able to get their hands on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom , as well as Super Mario Bros. Wonder . When they’re done playing them, they ‘ll also be able to choose from a huge library of indie games , including Cuphead , Hades and Celeste .
While the Nintendo Switch OLED is focused on Nintendo gaming with plenty of third-party titles, the Steam Deck is designed to bring Steam’s vast library of PC games to the portable device. This means it has access to hundreds of thousands of games, although not every one of them will be optimized for the Steam Deck’s weaker, slower processor – at least compared to what you can install on your computer.
Steam Deck OLED is also exceptionally good at emulating, although there are some unclear moral discussions surrounding this particular topic. In theory, you can emulate some Switch games on the Steam Deck, as well as games from other consoles, but you’ll be relying on the performance of those emulator systems, which the Steam Deck itself isn’t responsible for. However, it is an option if you really care about this kind of thing.
Emulation is also possible on Switch, although it’s heavily geared toward retro gaming. You can jailbreak your Switch to play any games you like (again, questionable ethics aside), but the easiest way to emulate a Switch is with a Nintendo monthly subscription. With this service, you can access old SNES, NES, Game Boy, Sega Genesis and Nintendo 64 video games through an emulator system designed specifically to work with the Switch.
The real choice here depends on what games you want to play. If you prefer to play PC-centric games or want access to a larger library, then the Steam Deck OLED simply offers more. However, the Nintendo Switch’s OLED display gives you access to a variety of first-party and third-party games, many of which were designed specifically to run on the Switch’s low-power hardware. Some games on Switch will offer better performance simply because they are more optimized for it. On the other hand, Steam Deck relies on game developers to make them compatible. Often you’ll just have to make do with what a small laptop can handle.
Display and battery life
Besides access to games and software, there is the issue of console displays. First, the Steam Deck offers a higher screen refresh rate of 90Hz, which means some games will look smoother while playing. Both displays here are OLED, so expect brighter colors and darker blacks than both handhelds’ LCD counterparts.
However, Steam Deck OLED does have some “superpower” in the form of HDR. This means you can take advantage of various HDR settings in games to improve the contrast ratio while gaming, although using this feature will likely require more battery life than running without it.
The displays are also similar in size, although the Steam Deck’s OLED display is slightly larger at 7.4 inches compared to the Switch’s 7-inch OLED display. Both have the same resolution, although the Steam Deck is slightly higher. However, most people won’t pay attention to this when using these devices: the screens are probably too small for most people to see the pixels.
On the downside, you’ll definitely notice battery life, and the Steam Deck’s OLED display will likely suffer from the same unreliable power outages as the original Steam Deck. Sure, the box says three to 12 hours, but that will end up changing a lot depending on what settings you use. The Nintendo Switch, on the other hand, talks about four to nine hours, and while your mileage may vary, Nintendo’s settings are much more locked in than Valve’s. All games on Switch run at the settings they were designed for, so you don’t have to worry about causing your Switch to crash faster. (Unless, of course, you decide to overclock your Switch , which you probably shouldn’t do.)
Of course, both devices rely heavily on what you do to determine how long the battery will last. Ultimately, they’re both good for portable gaming, but I’d recommend keeping a charger handy for both of them, especially if you plan on playing more intense games like Red Dead Redemption 2 on the Steam Deck or Tears of the Kingdom on the Switch .
Final Thoughts
Overall, both of these portable devices offer different experiences for different people. The Steam Deck OLED is slightly better, offering a better display, better processor, and more memory. For the most part, however, this doesn’t matter, especially if you add a microSD card to the mix, which can expand the storage capacity of any portable device. If you’re seriously trying to decide between these two devices, I would ask yourself one question: what games do I want to play? This will be the deciding factor here. If you want to play PC games on the go or only want to play indie games on the best portable hardware, then the Steam Deck OLED is for you. If you want to play new Nintendo games at all, you know how to do it.