After multiple stabs at the hardware market, Valve finally hit big with the Steam Deck — a handheld gaming console built to play PC games on the go. The black behemoth portable has silenced any naysayers, proving to be a hugely popular Nintendo Switch alternative that used a killer combo of Linux, SteamOS, and a Proton compatibility layer to run an ever-increasing number of the millions of games in the Steam library.
Such unprecedented success for a PC-centric handheld has unsurprisingly drawn the eyes of several competitors. Be it the Windows-powered ASUS ROG Ally, cloud gaming-focused systems like the Razer Edge, or maybe even the long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2, the Steam Deck should remain a fan favorite, but some of its shortcomings will become a little harder to live with as its rivals start to up their game.