Looking for some advice. My Switch Lite is approaching the end of its life and given that a Switch 2 is basically the same price as an OLED Steamdeck I was thinking it might be a good time to jump back to PC gaming.
I’m not much of a gamer. I got the Switch Lite because of portability and the ability to wake it up, play for ten minutes and then toss it back in my bag. My only beefs with the Switch ecosystem is that you can’t download DLC - for Cities Skylines I have the bare game on Switch but a pile of DLC on my laptop for example.
So - would going with a Steamdeck make sense? Any gotchas I should know about? Is there a better option?
Thanks all!
**edit: y’all rock. I’m ordering an OLED Steamdeck
Out of curiosity, what games do you play other than Cities Skyline?
If you just want something for portability + ten minutes of gameplay, what about an android phone you can emulate on + one of those phone controllers that turn your phone into a portable console?
To be honest - that’s probably the dream setup. The challenge is that android games seem to all be low-effort ad delivery systems.
My happiest place is turn-based strategy and RPGs. XCOM, Total War: Warhammer, anything Baldur’s Gate, 4Xs that sort of stuff.
I have several hundred hours killing time on Unciv on Android. Mindustry is fun but cramped. Polybridge was great until I finished it.
Definitely go Steam Deck then. No question. You’ll have far more to choose from, and the Deck’s suspend and resume is shockingly good considering you’d never expect that feature to work on a Windows PC mid-game.
Oh, in that case you might have a swell time with using an android phone for emulation. Just ignore playstore games for a minute.
I feel like you might not understand what emulation is based on you commenting that you aren’t much of a gamer—basically, using a phone you can emulate different consoles. And they often don’t have ads.
What type of phone do you have? On my S24 I can emulate up to Switch games, but a lot of phones can emulate up to the PS2 era. You can also look into something called “Winlator” where you can emulate windows games on the phone too.
What emulators do you recommend? I have an S23 but am about to try swapping it for a Fairphone running e/OS
Haha honestly just go find a game that’s been on your backlog for a few years, look on Wikipedia, then see if it has a console equivalent. Then go download a console emulator from the emulation wiki recommended in another comment.
For example, if I wanted to play the original Disgaea, I know it plays on the DS in addition to the PC. So why not play it on a DS emulator like Drastic?
Deck is much larger and heavier.
This was a huge surprise for me going from the OG Switch to my OLED deck. Also the short battery life while in sleep.
Edit: add switch
The OLED is the same size as the OG but lighter.
I meant my OG switch. Updated my comment.
Definitely, but as a counterpoint it’s also much more sensible ergonomically. The Switch makes my hands hurt, the Steam Deck doesn’t.
If you don’t care about Nintendo games. Go for the deck 100%
Future Nintendo games*
Shshshshshsh. We don’t say that part out loud 👀
You’ll be happier in general with the Deck I think unless you care about Nintendo exclusives
A Deck will likely be a better purchase for you. Shared library, more sales too. The Cities Skylines situation you’ve described would have been enough to make that decision for me
Obviously it depends on what games you want to play.
The one point I will mention in the Switch’s favor is that I feel like it’s a much better handheld. It’s a lot lighter and I like the feel of the JoyCons better (or I did until mine went bad, we’ll see how durable S2 JoyCons are). Still, both are ultimately too bulky for me to take on the go, instead I bought a Miyoo Mini Plus on sale and that’s become my portable while the Deck gathers dust and the Switch no longer leaves the dock.
Biased because I’m pro steam deck, but yes, Steam Deck will offer you the full steam library of games, on top of games from other platforms / consoles through emulation
This was the main selling point for me
Steam Deck will offer you the full steam library of games
*some exclusions apply.
Of my nearly 300 games in my library, 36 are fully steam deck certified. While another ~70 have some layer of compatibility. Leaving almost 1/3rd of my library not usable on the Steam Deck.
“Deck verified” is an absolutely useless metric and very often wrong. I pay no attention to them and neither should you.
I usually check protondb for more detailed data on games compatibility https://www.protondb.com/
1/3 sounds high. Just because it isn’t verified doesn’t mean it won’t work, and most of the non-anti-cheat-related compatibility problems are solved by installing Proton GE.
Yeah, I have had a really good experience with Unknown and even Unsupported. Proton just works really well.
That’s very surprising. Is your library chiefly old DOS games or something?
No, all of my MS-DOS games are through GOG.
Some games that say not supported actually work fine. I was disappointed to not be able to play some older games like Jedi Academy, but I installed it, set a community made controller mapping, and it works with zero issues.
Sure there are some games that don’t work, but a lot more do than just the ones that are steam deck certified / playable.
I love my Legion Go. Solid screen. detachable joycons. Standard Win11. It plays things like Satisfactory and RDR2 real well. Ok batt life. Meh speakers. use bluetooth.
There’s a SteamOS version too, right?
i think. never tried it. just kinda lazy lol.
If you already have a decent PC for games a Switch allow you to play more games.
If you already have a decent PC, you can emulate Switch 🤷
How it’s the emulation? Can you emulate all the games?
Not every single one, but a fair amount. People maintain compatibility lists for different emulators, for example this is one for Ryujinx https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Ryujinx_Game_Compatibility_List
Edit : better yet here’s a list from the same wiki, of emulators for the Switch, with a % of game compatibles https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Nintendo_Switch_emulators
While I emulate switch too, I have to add that it’s getting harder and harder for me to pirate. So I’ve been stockpiling on switch roms. With certain isps and the current administration , freedom of internet traffic is under threat and isn’t as reliable as it was a year or two ago.
Comcast for example has been going hard. Straight up blocking sites ( have several work arounds but now they’re throttling my vpn traffic to 0 kbs/sec no matter what the vpn or what settings I use. And half the vpns I have tried throttle torrent traffic.
So that’s something to look for.
I had a decent PC back in the day (I grew up in the era of building my own water cooling systems) but as a casual gamer I can’t wrap my head around around modern graphics card prices and I rather be able to play on the sofa for five minutes while I wait to pull something from the oven.
I’m old.
I understand you, following the hardware market has nothing to do with playing properly, I play on all the platforms I can get my hands on and I prefer systems with a lower setup, so consoles.
If you want to stay in the Nintendo eco system (or at least have no issue with that), the Switch 2 would be the better choice - better hardware, more options with the mouse feature and placing on a TV or display, etc.
If you want to be more flexible, like tempering around with a bit of config stuff and game / graphics settings, controller layout, etc. then I suggest the Steam Deck. I can honestly say that it’s a lot of fun. Non-Steam games are sometimes tedious to install and configure Proton with the right version of proton etc, bit you don’t have to do any of that, it’s just options that come with the device.
What do you mean by “end of its life” ?
Joysticks need to be replaced again, battery life is becoming tragic so that needs replacing too. Any time I pick it up at this point, the battery is dead.
Biggest issue to be honest is that I want a bigger screen and that isn’t the device’s fault.
I’m going to order a whack of parts from ifixit and spruce it back up for those Nintendo exclusive hankerings.
Steam Deck is great but keep in mind it’s way bigger and heavier than the Switch Lite. If you move around a lot, it’s not something you can just toss into a backpack.
I feel like the fragility is more of a concern than the weight. either console is sooo entertaining and nice to have on, like, a trainride or whatever that it more than pays for its weight burden in your pack; The risk of it getting its screen broken and needing to be fully replaced is a lot more daunting to me than the need to carry an additional 5 lb around. My steam deck came with a carrying case that I always really appreciate for just that reason.
The only reason you should buy a Switch is if you have no self respect, don’t give a shit about being in an abusive relationship with Nintendo, and don’t care about sending thousands of dollars to a company that hates you to get an artificially limited device, and absolutely MUST play Nintendo first-party games, in the intended fashion.
The Deck is such a better device in nearly every way.
End of life as in? Battery not keeping a charge? Joystick drifting? USB-C connector messed up? Most of those problems can be fixed, ifixit has the parts and great walk throughs. Just fix it and keep playing what you like how you like.
I’m going to go against the general consensus here and say you would probably be better served buying a Switch 2. The Steam Deck is awesome but it is bulkier, has less battery life, and is overall less suited for a “pick up, play 10mins and toss is back” usage.
However if you are up for some occasional tinkering, the SD is far more versatile than the Switch and could even replace your laptop depending on your use-cases.
Battery life definitely depends on what you are playing. In BG3 I get around 2 ish hours. But I can play older games like Morrowind, or newer retro style games like Skald against the black priory (10/10, do recommend) for 6-8 hours, maybe more.
You also have a lot of control to improve battery life like clock speed, frame rate limiting, etc.
But yeah it has a huge screen and if you play newer games with good 3d graphics it drains fast. Switch doesn’t really have those kinds of games so it’s not a 1:1 comparison.
EDIT: I also agree with your points on it being very bulky and not well suited to a 10 minute session. Launching games is slower on the deck and most PC games have more loading screens before gameplay.
even replace your laptop
If you never bring your laptop with you and already have a second monitor, sure. Using the trackpads as a mouse kinda sucks though.
You could get one of those Bluetooth keyboard/ trackpad combos and a case with a kickstand for desktop use. Small screen but usable. I personally wouldn’t replace a laptop with it, but if you didn’t have a laptop it could be useful to buy one device that does handheld gaming and other stuff too instead of buying two devices
I’d still buy two, unless I don’t need a laptop (i.e. phone is sufficient). The ergonomics of a decent laptop are just too good, and I really don’t want to haul around a decent keyboard just to get that on a handheld PC. That said, if I’ll bring both always, then I’d get a portable monitor and make the Steam Deck work, but that’s a really niche case.
