Updated SteamOS partner guidelines seem to point to an imminent full-scale launch of SteamOS on other gaming handhelds out of the box, nevermind simply as an ISO for gamers to install on their own machines. Previous work suggests the Asus ROG Ally may be among the first to receive "Powered by SteamOS" certification.
To be clear, I’m not advocating to enforcing a minimum spec. I’m saying that there isn’t a need to add a performance rating to a SteamOS certification or to the SteamOS compatibility badges because if they’re all based on Steam Deck performance they will be valid for all the other certified devices by default. At least until a Deck 2 is released.
I love small handhelds. The Retroid Pocket Mini is great (shame about the bad scaling on the screen). But those are typically Android handhelds for a reason. I don’t think a PC handheld in that form factor is worth it. You can just run Linux on ARM and get the form factor without the whole thing running like a hot potato for 15 minutes before it dies. There’s a lot of native ports of small PC indie games in that space and ongoing work for per-game port support, too.
Now, all that could change if the upcoming mobile chips we get are great at running at very low wattages and somehow get amazing power management options on the software side out of nowhere. But… I just don’t think that’s a priority for anybody specifically because ARM chips already have a well established ecosystem to give you basically what you want without having to tie the X64 platform in knots for the sake of running this over Steam instead of Android.
Well, yeah, I get that, but honestly, if you can’t get what you want on that front from a GPD Win 4, an Ayaneo Air S1 or Flip… well, then what you want is better Windows on ARM support. These are still laptop chips we’re cramming into handhelds, it’s not a matter of size vs performance at that point. There’s a reason the Steam Deck is that size.
Honestly, at that point I’d try streaming, which those smaller ARM devices will do just fine. But even that I don’t think is worth it. That’s mobile hardware territory.
Cool? I mean, it changes nothing. Whether you run the ARM handhelds on Android or barebones Linux and the X64 handhelds on Windows or Linux the results are the same. Bazzite, JelOS, Windows, Android, whatever. Go nuts.
Heat is still heat and batteries are still batteries, though.
To be clear, I’m not advocating to enforcing a minimum spec. I’m saying that there isn’t a need to add a performance rating to a SteamOS certification or to the SteamOS compatibility badges because if they’re all based on Steam Deck performance they will be valid for all the other certified devices by default. At least until a Deck 2 is released.
I love small handhelds. The Retroid Pocket Mini is great (shame about the bad scaling on the screen). But those are typically Android handhelds for a reason. I don’t think a PC handheld in that form factor is worth it. You can just run Linux on ARM and get the form factor without the whole thing running like a hot potato for 15 minutes before it dies. There’s a lot of native ports of small PC indie games in that space and ongoing work for per-game port support, too.
Now, all that could change if the upcoming mobile chips we get are great at running at very low wattages and somehow get amazing power management options on the software side out of nowhere. But… I just don’t think that’s a priority for anybody specifically because ARM chips already have a well established ecosystem to give you basically what you want without having to tie the X64 platform in knots for the sake of running this over Steam instead of Android.
An Android device doesn’t run my Steam library.
I’m aware of Portmaster, but that’s a manual process that is only possible for certain engines. Whereas SteamOS can just run all my games.
Well, yeah, I get that, but honestly, if you can’t get what you want on that front from a GPD Win 4, an Ayaneo Air S1 or Flip… well, then what you want is better Windows on ARM support. These are still laptop chips we’re cramming into handhelds, it’s not a matter of size vs performance at that point. There’s a reason the Steam Deck is that size.
Honestly, at that point I’d try streaming, which those smaller ARM devices will do just fine. But even that I don’t think is worth it. That’s mobile hardware territory.
I absolutely do not want Windows.
Cool? I mean, it changes nothing. Whether you run the ARM handhelds on Android or barebones Linux and the X64 handhelds on Windows or Linux the results are the same. Bazzite, JelOS, Windows, Android, whatever. Go nuts.
Heat is still heat and batteries are still batteries, though.