I got my steam deck in July and have been playing a lot with it. Well, maybe not a lot compared to others, but certainly a lot from my point of view. I also bought more games in the last six months than every before in my life. I guess that is a win for valve and the steam deck.

Looking back, the steam deck certainly isn’t a perfect device. It would be nice if the screen was slightly bigger. Not necessarily higher resolution. Just a slightly bigger screen. If the bezels weren’t there and the screen was actually that size, it would be enough. That is pretty much the only complaint I have about the hardware itself.

The other big component is of course the software. Valve does frequent updates and there are lots of improvements. All in all, I am really happy with the software itself. A few layout tweaks, maybe. It would be nice if I could tell it to start with my library, instead of my home screen. Or at least make it a lot easier to switch to the library. I don’t always want to play the last game. I find that I do jump around a lot.

Now the biggest one, games. This one is really a mixed bag, and it’s not even the steam deck’s fault. Some games just have very complex inputs. Some games just work best with a mouse. Even if there is a console version of the game, you still play the PC version. The other issue is the UI in some games. Valheim is an excellent example. The letters are rather small and on the small screen it can be really hard to read. It would be nice if games would include a option for a “large UI”. Another example is Wildermyth. At least the last time I played it. The text can be really hard to read and if you use the screen magnifier, the letters are rather blurry. It’s not a big issue if you just have to read something here and there, but reading a lot of text can become very difficult. A game I really is “Art of Rally”. It plays perfect on the steam deck.

Looking back, I can say I do not regret getting it. I probably will get a dock for the deck. This would allow me to play some games where the UI of the game is simply too small/detailed for the screen of the deck.