Steam Deck OLED jumps to $949 after 40% price hike

Valve bumped Steam Deck prices by over 40% this week, according to VGC. The 1TB OLED model now costs $949, up from $649. The 512GB OLED jumped to $679. Both LCD models saw similar increases. No official explanation yet.

That puts the top-tier Deck within spitting distance of entry-level gaming laptops. A $950 handheld needs to justify itself against a $1,100 laptop that hits double the framerate in most games. The value proposition shifts hard at this price.

If you bought one last month, you saved $300. If you were waiting for a sale, you're now priced into ROG Ally or Legion Go territory. The Deck's biggest selling point was price-to-performance. This erodes that.

Check which games still make sense on handheld hardware.