Top 5 Handheld Gaming Consoles of the Year: Your Next Gaming Companion!

I really hope so. Only had consoles so far but the Steam Deck OLED looks so good, I'm ready to make the leap!

@@chamoto2 I have a Steam Deck. It's as simple or advanced as you want. You can just browse the store to buy games or your library to download and play them, or you can dive into the menus for settings and customizations, or you can switch to desktop mode and use it like a PC, install apps, games outside of Steam, other storefronts, browse the web, do work, etc.
It's as console-like or PC-like as you want. Usually I use it as a console, but if I need to set something up like emulation then I switch to Desktop Mode to do it, then go back to gaming mode to continue with the "just play" experience.
My favorite part of the experience is that I can just suspend or resume playing in an instant by pressing the power button. It saved me many times when playing on the bus.

@@Lestibournes Thanks for the detailed response. Actually you just reminded me that I'm super excited about the emulation part. Can't wait to play some of the classics I grew up on, all in the palm of my ✋!

There is actually a learning curve on the steam deck because it allows for so much more than just the casual handheld console system.
1) It comes with a linux based OS, not everyone is used to using anything outside of windows and android. Installing stuff on a linux based OS is more complicated than the 2 other i mentioned before. Heavily restricted on what you can use and the install procedure isn't as simple as press install and get to it. (i'm talking about linux apps in desktop mode, not games on steam app)
2) You have to setup things before gaming, which implies learning some basic stuff when messing around with the settings
3) The touch pads. I still can't use these, and i have used a steam controller in the past too, the pad back then was also a massive issue for me to get used to
4) Two modes, as you stated, gaming and desktop. Casuals will not have a clue about this unless they are told, shown or they research
5) 64gb model storage upgrade, a manual process you have to do yourself or find someone doing it for you. It's not a complex thing, but it implies understanding what to do and what not to do
6) Game compatibility issues. Some games are not supported but they work. Some games are not supported and can get you into trouble if you play them with the deck while using proton
7) System bugs, deck has issues quite often. Deck not reading SD card properly after boot, a simple restart fixes it at times. System turning on but screen is all black, which is usually fixed if you do a factory reset. System getting stuck/frozen on loading system logo, forcing you to shut down manually.
and so on...

@@CHT1992 almost everything you wrote only applies to people who decide to dig deeper into settings and desktop mode, but that's entirely optional as you can simply use it as a console and never touch that stuff.