Sure, playing high-end PC games on the go is cool, but it turns out repairability might actually be the best thing about the Steam Deck.
The tech wizards over at iFixIt released their official teardown of Valve’s new handheld PC. The two biggest takeaways are that folks who are familiar with building their own gaming PCs shouldn’t have too hard a time prying it open and switching out parts if needed, and that fixing the stick drift (where one thumbstick constantly moves in one direction even when you’re not touching it) that plagues so many modern controllers should be super easy.
Generally, accessing the guts of the Steam Deck looks pretty easy. Simply dispatch eight screws and some plastic clips and you’re in, without dealing with any exotic parts or glue, per iFixIt. All the internals are clearly labeled, so even PC repair novices should be able to navigate their way around the device with careful observation. The Framework Laptop was one of the coolest devices of 2021 because of how friendly it was, with clear labels and easy disassembly, to repair newcomers. So it’s good to see Valve going that route with Steam Deck.
But let’s talk about the analog sticks. Stick drift has been one of the worst things about gaming hardware for the last several years. There are DIY solutions like using a slip of paper on a Nintendo Switch Joy-Con, but as iFixIt points out, the only true solution is to replace the stick itself. With the Steam Deck, you can pop the old stick out and jam a new one in there, and iFixIt said Valve may sell replacement parts to users to facilitate that process.
Considering that almost everyone I know with a Switch has experienced stick drift on their Joy-Cons (I’ve been mercifully spared, mostly because I favor the Pro Controller), this is a pleasant development. I personally just bought my third DualSense PS5 controller (the console has only been out for a little more than a year, folks) because of drift, so I’m more than a little jealous of Steam Deck owners right now.
It’s tough to say right now whether Steam Deck will truly make a splash in the handheld gaming market or if it’s a little too expensive and niche, starting at $400, to compete with the Switch ($250 to start), but it’s definitely got Nintendo beat on the stick drift front. Maybe Valve can shuttle us into a world where my guy in Apex Legends isn’t annoyingly, slowly, turning right all the time.
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