Valve’s Steam Deck has reclaimed its place as Valve’s best-selling product to date. The console dropped off of Steam’s top 10 best sellers list a few months ago, but thanks to the introduction of the Steam Deck OLED and the subsequent price cuts of the older LCD variants, the handheld console has managed to not only rejoin the list but it has jumped to number one (a position it hasn’t held in a long time).
The Steam Deck’s popularity saw a resurgence when Valve introduced the new Steam Deck OLED. The Steam Deck OLED represents the first major update to the Steam Deck since the handheld console was originally unveiled in Feb. 2022. The upgraded OLED version features a number of upgrades over its predecessor, including a larger and significantly more capable 90 Hz OLED panel, a bigger battery, upgraded wireless connectivity, upgraded haptic feedback, and better base storage (among others).
Tom’s Hardware senior editor Andrew E. Freedman reviewed the Steam Deck OLED and found that it provided a substantial upgrade over the original model with its bright, vivid, more capable display. In fact, he thought it was so good he viewed it as an ROG Ally competitor, even though the Steam Deck OLED has a substantially weaker SoC. The Steam Deck OLED is also the only handheld gaming console, aside from the Nintendo Switch, offering an OLED panel right now.
When the Steam Deck OLED launched, Valve also discounted (and is discontinuing) the original LCD versions of the Steam Deck. The 64GB eMMC LCD Steam Deck now costs just $349.99, while the NVMe 256GB and 512GB models are priced at $399 and $449, respectively. The 512GB OLED and 1TB OLED models currently cost $549 and $649, respectively, so the LCD models are quite a bit cheaper.
And that’s not all: Valve is also still selling Certified Refurbished LCD Steam Decks for an even bigger discount: the 64GB version for $279, the 256GB model for $319, and the 512GB model for $359. These are, however, currently out of stock at the time of writing.
Taking all these factors into account, it’s not surprising to see the Steam Deck at the top of Valve’s best sellers list once again. Gamers who previously couldn’t justify purchasing a Steam Deck can now grab the LCD models at a pretty big discount, and those with more expensive tastes (or more disposable income) can pick up the Steam Deck OLED with its pretty, pretty screen.
