The comparisons between the new Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch have been consistent, and now there is another way in which we can solidly differentiate the two. The Nintendo Switch performs better while it's docked, but the Steam Deck will have no difference in performance regardless of which way you’re using it.
Related: Valve Is Looking Into Putting Games On SD Cards So The Steam Deck Might Have Physical Media
In an interview with PC Gamer, Steam Deck designer Greg Coomer was asked whether Valve considered a higher power mode when docked. In response, he said, “Yes, but we didn't choose to make it a really high priority design target… we felt that it was actually better all things considered to not modify based on docked status or mobile status.”
Coomer goes on to explain that they wanted to focus on how they felt the Steam Deck would be used most, which they suspect is mobile. “And so since we were focusing on that, and we chose like a threshold where the machine will run well, and with a good frame rate with AAA games in that scenario. We didn't really feel like we should target also going after the dock scenario at higher resolutions. We wanted a simpler design target and to prioritize that.” Though it makes sense for Valve to focus on the aspect that they believe will be utilized most, we’re still a little surprised to hear that there won’t be any different in performance between mobile and docked.
Just the other day, we also got confirmation that the Steam Deck can stream games for up to eight hours, which is a couple hours longer than you could play games locally. They make it clear though that using public Wi-Fi probably won’t be enough to pull this off, so you’ll need a pretty strong internet connection. Additionally, though many games can be played locally for five or six hours, more intensive titles may only last for around two.
Next: Ubisoft Is Looking To Steam Deck Performance To See If It Will Bring Its Games Back To Steam
