Steam Deck is a densely packed handheld console
Dismantling Steam Deck might not be complicated, but Valve does not recommend doing it.
The video posted by the official Valve account on YouTube shows the process of Steam Deck teardown, focusing mainly on the analog stick and SSD replacement. Valve promises that at some point replacement parts will become available so a video like this will become handly should anyone need to replace those components.
Steam Deck, Source: Valve
What was made clear is that SSD replacement is not recommended. The drive which was carefully chosen for the console has been thoroughly tested in terms of power consumption and electromagnetic interference. The fact that SSD is located closely to wireless network adapter is definitely an important factor here and it is unclear how other SSDs would affect it.
Steam Deck will become available to people who preordered the console starting from December. New orders will not be fulfilled till the second quarter of 2022 at least, that’s assuming no component shortages.
The console is equipped with AMD Van Gogh APU based on Zen2 and RDNA2 microarchitecture. It is offered with 64GB, 256GB, and 512TB storage options, which can further be expanded through the MicroSD slot, which is a recommended way according to the video. Steam Deck features 16GB of LPDDR5 memory, a 7-inch 1280×800 display, and a 40 Whr battery. The console costs 399 USD up to 649 USD depending on the storage option.
| Handheld Gaming Consoles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VideoCardz | Steam Deck | One XPlayer | Aya Neo 2021 | Aya Neo 2021 Pro | Nintendo Switch | Nintendo Switch OLED |
| Picture |  |  |  | |  |  |
| Architecture | AMD Zen2 & RDNA2 | Intel Tiger Lake | AMD Zen2 (Renoir) | AMD Zen2 (Renoir) | ARM Cortex | ARM Cortex |
| SoC | AMD Van Gogh | Core i7-1185G7*** Core i7-1165G7** Core i7-1135G7* | Ryzen 5 4500U | Ryzen 7 4800U | NVIDIA Tegra X1 | NVIDIA Tegra X1 |
| SoC CPU | 4C/8T @ 3.5 GHz | 4C/8T * 4.2*, 4.7**, 4.8*** GHz | 6C/6T @ 4.0 GHz | 8C/16T @ 4.2 GHz | 4x A57 | 4x A57 |
| SoC GPU | AMD RDNA2 8 CUs @ 1.6 GHz | Xe-LP (Iris) 96 EUs @ 1.35 GHz | AMD Radeon Vega 6 @ 1.5 GHz | AMD Radeon Vega 8 @ 1.750 GHz | NVIDIA Maxwell 256 CUDA | NVIDIA Maxwell 256 CUDA |
| Memory | 16GB LPDDR5-5500 | 16GB LPDDR4X-4266 | 16GB LPDDR4X-4266 | 16GB LPDDR4X-4266 | 4GB LPDDR4-3200 | 4GB LPDDR4-3200 |
| Storage | 64GB eMMC (PCIe Gen2x1) 256GB/512GB NVMe (PCIe Gen3x4) | 512GB*, 1TB **, 2TB *** NVMe | 512 GB / 1TB NVMe | 1TB / 2TB NVMe SSD | 32GB | 64GB |
| Display | 7″ 1280×800 IPS | 8.4″ 2560×1600 IPS | 7″ 1280×800 IPS | 7″ 1280×800 IPS | 6.2″ 1280×720 5.5″ 1280×720* | 7″ 1280×720 OLED |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, USB 4.0 x2 | WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 | WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 | WiFi 5, Bluetooth 4.1 | WiFi 5, |
| Battery | 40 Whr | 15,300 mAh | 12,300 mAh | 12,300 mAh | 4310 mAh | |
| Weight | 669 g | 820 g | 650 g | 650 g | 400g / 277g* | 420g |
| Dimensions | 29.8 x 11.7 x 4.9 cm | 28.8 x 13.0 x 2.1 mm | 25.5 x 10.6 x 2.0 cm | 25.5 x 10.6 x 2.0 cm | 23.9 x 10.1 x 1.4 cm 20.8 x 9.1 x 1.4 cm* | 24.2 x 10.2 x 1.39 cm |
| OS | Steam OS 3.0 (Arch) | Windows 10 | Windows 10 | Windows 10 | Custom | Custom |
| Release Price | $399 (64GB) $529 (256GB) $649 (512GB) | $1,059 * $1,158 ** $1,599 *** | $925 (16G/512GB) $1,015 (16G/1TB) | $1,215 (16G/1TB) $? (16G/2TB) | $299 $199* | $349 |
| Release Date | Holiday 2021 | June/July 2021 | March 2021 | TBC | March 2017 Sep 2019* | Holiday 2021 |
| * Standard Edition ** Pro Edition *** Ultimate Edition | * Lite |