When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.

Valve’s innovative handheld, theSteamDeck, was hugely popular at launch - and it’s no surprise.

But is the Steam Deck OLED worth buying over the original model?

The Steam Deck on a red background beside a Steam Deck OLED on a navy background

Once you decide which to get, verify you fill your Steam library with thebest PC gamesandbest Steam games.

At the time of writing, there’s only one Steam Deck model available: the 256GB LCD version.

Unsurprisingly, the Steam Deck OLED is more expensive, but there are two models available.

Steam Deck on sparkly background

This means the OLED offers more vivid visuals with brighter contrast and richer color than the Steam Deck.

During testing, we found the difference between the two to be noticeable.

This screen doesn’t make the Steam Deck OLED larger than the Steam Deck, though.

Steam Deck on a desk, showing the home screen

The two have the same dimensions, and the OLED is actually slightly lighter than the Steam Deck.

Regardless of which model you go for, both boast a high-quality build and great design.

Firstly, there’s the storage capacity.

Photo of Steam Deck handheld console playing God of War

Then there’s the screen itself.

During testing, we found several “Deck Verified” titles still struggled on the Steam Deck OLED.

The Steam Deck OLED, on the other hand, allows for three to 12 hours.

Person holding a Steam Deck in their hands playing a game on it

Wind Waker HD running on a Steam Deck