Valve’s Steam Deck is NEW handheld console to take on Nintendo Switch, PS5 and Xbox

THERE’S a brand-new handheld console in town – watch out, Nintendo.

It’s called the Steam Deck – and it’s coming out later this year.

Read the latest stories for PS5 Keep up-to-date with all the Xbox newsRead the latest gaming news

ValveIt’s got a 7-inch screen with 720p resolution[/caption]

ValveThere are analogue sticks and touchpads[/caption]

What is Valve’s Steam Deck? News and latest

The Steam Deck is a brand new handheld console created by Valve.

Game developer Valve was rumoured to be plotting such a device – but it’s now official.

It’s a handheld machine with a 7-inch display (1280 x 800 pixels for a 720p resolution).

There are ABXY buttons (like on an Xbox), as well as analogue sticks, triggers, rear buttons and two touch pads.

The Deck uses a custom processor built by AMD based on the Zen 2 design.

This features a four-core CPU and a GPU that manages 1.6TFLOPS (1.6trillion operations per second).

It also boasts 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM, a 40 watt-hour battery that lasts seven to eight hours, and a gyroscope for control.

There are three models, largely differentiated by improved and expanded storage capacities.

This includes a 64GB eMMC model, a 256GB NVMe SSD model, and a 512GB NVMe SSD model.

You can also expand storage using microSDXC or microSDHC.

Impressively, Valve says that the Steam Deck will be able to run AAA games.

And early footage shows the console supporting games like Portal 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

You’ll have access to your Steam games, and the Deck will also support rival stores like Epic Games or EA Play.

The Deck can be hooked up to an external monitor using HDMI or DisplayPort.

And this output can reach up to 4K at 120Hz or 8K at 60Hz.

Valve Steam Deck release date and price

The Steam Deck is available to pre-order this week.

But it won’t start shipping until December 2021, cutting it very close to Christmas.

It’s also only launching in select countries, including the UK, USA, Canada and the EU.

Valve says that other countries will be joining the roster in 2022.

Interestingly, Valve is also limited pre-orders to users with Steam accounts that were opened before June 2021.

This is to stop scalpers from buying up loads of stock and reselling them.

Here’s how pricing breaks down:

Steam Deck (Base) – £349 / $399Steam Deck (Mid) – £459 / $529Steam Deck (high) – £569 / $649

That’s more expensive than any Nintendo Switch model, including the new Nintendo Switch OLED.

Steam Deck at Valve for £349/$399 – buy here

ValveThe device should last between six and eight hours per charge[/caption]

All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed. Always do your own research before making any purchase.

In other news, The Sun’s favourite alternative to a games console is the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset.

Check out the wildly impressive Panasonic 65HZ1000 TV, which makes most tellies look rubbish.

Read our complete guide to Call of Duty 2021.

And Dell’s Alienware R10 Ryzen Edition is a gaming PC powerhouse that crushes both the new consoles.

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