The Steam Deck seemed too good to be true at first glance: a handheld PC that could run your Steam Library with barely any hiccups was a dream come true. I was extremely excited at the prospect of such a machine and from the get-go, I knew I wanted to get my hands on one. The prospect of playing games such as The Witcher 3 on the go was too tempting to ignore.

I got the Steam Deck right before I moved out for university — sometime mid 2023 — where I would often not get the time to go back to my room, making it the ideal gaming device.

Due to its compact form-factor, it fits pretty easily in my backpack amongst my academic coursepacks and such. As a result, I was able to play games way more than I would be able to if I had to constantly hunt for a plug-point.

Sure, if you were playing a heavy title the battery life left some things to be desired, but considering the fact that most of my sessions ended up being short bursts lasting 30 to 45 minutes, I didn’t have much of an issue with it. On top of that, it runs most titles extremely well, with a lot of them having specific Steam Deck-compatibility modes that ensure a smooth experience. I have had the Steam Deck for about 1.5 years now and it works as well as it did out of the box.

Admittedly, it was a bit hard to procure a model in India considering that Valve does not officially ship to the country yet. This places things like warranties and official support in a very grey area.

However, you always have the option to open up the machine yourself and replace parts (which are easily available online) as you see fit and there are plenty of tutorials that guide you through the process as well. On a side note, it uses the Europe/North-American charging pins, so you might have to get an adaptor.

The Steam Deck functions in a very console-like way, making sure that you don’t have to troubleshoot various issues as often as you do on a PC. It also has a neat pick-up-and-play feature, letting you put it to sleep in the middle of the game and resuming exactly where you left off once you power it on. You can also switch to desktop mode, letting you experience it like a proper PC — especially if you dock it to a monitor — where it runs the linux-based SteamOS. This means it often comes in handy for notetaking and other academic needs as well.

VERDICT: The Steam Deck is a godsend for people who wish to game but are having trouble taking time out for it. With it, you can play (or emulate!) most games wherever you want: on the couch, in bed or while travelling. Minus an okayish battery-life, it has heralded a new era of PC gaming. I give it 10 out of 10.