They’re two of the most popular handheld gaming devices in the world. Steam Deck’s a bit newer to the market, but it’s made a massive impact so far. We’ll dissect the differences between these two popular handhelds so you can make the right decision.
Design and Construction
The Steam Deck launched in 2021 with a build most aligned with the Nintendo Switch. Featuring a 7-inch touchscreen and control inputs on both sides, Steam Deck is a bit more robust in size. Moreover, Steam Deck offers gyroscopic controls and a trackpad. Its big, but the size is needed for it to house all its powerful features.
The PS5 has a more futuristic vibe going on. It’s sleek and offers a more home based console experience. You can, in fact, pair with your TV or an external monitor. This is a big deal and certainly a major advantage for PS5.
PS5 offers DualSense controllers that amp up the immersive gaming experiences.
In conclusion, PS5’s design and ability to connect to external monitors and TVs gives it a big edge.
Gaming Libraries, Compatibility
This one’s going to be a big win for Steam Deck. The Steam gaming library is vast and includes NSFW and adult gaming options. In fact, Steam has had some adult game stop sellers in the past couple of years.
That said, it’s important to mention that Steam Deck is new and not all games found in Steam’s vast library are compatible with the device. But we expect compatibility to increase over time.
Lastly, Steam’s library offers opportunities for third-party gaming developers which highly increases the diversity of games.
On the other hand, PS5 offers up exclusve gaming experiences. Some of their recent most popular gems include The Last of Us, God of War, and Spider Man. While PS5’s library isn’t as robust as Steams, some of their exclusive gaming titles tend to make up ground.
That said, we’d go with Steam Deck as having the big advantage here.
Performance
Powered by a custom AMD APU for handheld devices, the Steam Deck combines a quad-core Zen 2 CPU with RDNA 2 graphics technology. This enables it to run current-gen games at reasonable frame rates, providing an excellent portable PC gaming experience.
Sony’s PS5 is equipped with an AMD Zen 2-based CPU with 16 threads and a custom AMD RDNA 2 GPU. The PS5 supports 4K gaming, Ray Tracing for superior graphics, and high refresh rates, promising a smoother and more visually impressive gaming experience than ever before.
We’d call this a slight edge for PS5, but not by much and Steam Deck continues to get better.
Price
You can pick up a Steam Deck in three versions.
64GB eMMC for $399
256GB NVMe SSD for $529
512GB NVMe SSD for $649
PS5 offers two versions.
The Digital Edition retails for $399
The Standard Edition with a Blu-ray disc drive is priced at $499
Overall and beyond only the price, PS5 remains the stronger contender when we consider the whole pie. That said, when it comes to game library diversity, the Steam Deck is a clear winner. In the end, it comes down to what you want in a handheld gaming unit and what you’re willing to pay.