Valve's Steam Deck appeared in early 2022 and helped relaunch the handheld gaming market with a whole new set of devices. But it's been over three years, and despite advances in the handheld gaming PC market thanks to chipmakers AMD and Intel, Valve has yet to unleash a sequel to the highly popular handheld.

Valve's characteristic silence on the future of its handheld, combined with the immediate popularity of the Nintendo Switch 2, and the release of SteamOS on non-Valve devices like the Lenovo Legion Go S, meant some gamers gave up on the Steam Deck 2. Community projects like HoloISO, which allow users to create Steam Deck-like projects, didn't help matters. However, there are new rumors about the second Steam Deck, and it just might be worth holding out for. So if you were eyeing a good deal on the Nintendo Switch 2, you might want to hold off. However, there are some things to be aware of if you're planning to save up for a new Steam Deck.

It's over two years away. Maybe.

Rumors put a 2028 release date on the second-gen Steam Deck.

If the latest rumors are correct, the Steam Deck 2 could be over two years away. But those rumors could also be false. After all, Valve is a pretty close-mouthed company that tends to keep major moves under wraps as much as possible. Several of Valve's biggest games have launched with barely a whisper appearing before the official announcement, so it wouldn't be a shock if the Steam Deck 2 is the same way.

Valve was pretty quiet about the original prior to launch, after all. Valve announced the original Steam Deck on July 15, 2021, with pre-orders following immediately after. The first systems started shipping in February 2022. So, if Valve keeps to a similar pattern with the Steam Deck 2, a 2028 launch would mean a reveal in 2027. Assuming the most recent report on the Steam Deck 2's launch is correct, though I wouldn't put too much stock in that.

Typically, hardware rumors are pretty accurate, but Valve is a wildcard in a way that Intel and AMD can't be. So, the official announcement could come at any time.

The hardware may not be as powerful as suggested

Valve went for a custom 4-core APU last time.

While the Steam Deck 2 is still an unannounced product with only rumored specs, early leaks suggest Valve is not keeping to a similar budget-to-performance ratio with the second-generation handheld.

The Steam Deck 2 is rumored to feature a custom AMD "Magnus" APU with 11 CPU cores. However, the Magnus APU is also tipped for the next-generation PlayStation console, so the idea that it would also power a handheld gaming PC is somewhat suspect. The PlayStation 6 isn't expected to be a handheld console and will have access to significantly more power than the Steam Deck 2.

The original Steam Deck uses a custom AMD "Van Gogh" APU with just 4 CPU cores and 8 RDNA CUs on the GPU tile. The base model comes with just 64GB of internal storage and 16GB of RAM.

If I had to hazard a guess, I would expect Valve to go with a more efficient APU, similar to the "Van Gogh" chipset, with fewer CPU cores. Although I would prefer at least six cores rather than four. The Steam Deck 2 will have to function smoothly on battery power alone, and SteamOS isn't as hefty an operating system, so Valve can get away with a smaller number of CPU cores on the Steam Deck 2's APU. This would offer better battery life, though it would cut performance compared to the rumored "Magnus" APU.

The original is still the best handheld

The Nintendo Switch 2 is a great product, but it just can't beat the Steam Deck.

No one denies that Nintendo made a great product. The Switch 2 is a worthy successor, and we'd love to see the Steam Deck 2 copy some features from the second-gen Switch.

However, the Steam Deck is still the superior handheld. The Steam Deck has better games, has perfected the handheld gaming PC design, and can easily do more than just run games. You can run AI systems like Obsidian on your Steam Deck, side by side with your Steam game library.

Nintendo will never offer that level of user control over any of its consoles. However, the Steam Deck runs a custom variant of Linux that is easy to use and highly customizable. Additionally, you can pin non-gaming programs to the Steam library for easier access using the Steam Deck's onboard controls.

All handhelds have a place

But the Steam Deck 2 is the one we're more excited about.

I may own an MSI Claw 7 AI+. I may also end up buying a Nintendo Switch 2 because I really enjoy some first-party Nintendo games. But that doesn't mean the Steam Deck 2 isn't the handheld I'm most anticipating.

Valve's original Steam Deck helped kick-start the handheld gaming PC market. It's still one of the only affordable modern handhelds. And it's got the best performance-to-price ratio of any of the current slate of handheld gaming PCs. While the MSI Claw 8 AI+, Asus ROG Ally X, and the Lenovo Legion Go may all have the Steam Deck beat in raw power, running Windows 11 means those handhelds can't leverage that power with quite the same finesse as the Steam Deck.

There's plenty of reason to hold out for the Steam Deck 2. Even if we still don't know when it will launch or what kind of power it might have.