Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Android

Why Steam Deck doesn’t stack up to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on Android

Ajay Kumar
By

The promise of handheld PC gaming has always been something of a siren’s call for manufacturers. From the defunct Nvidia Shield Portable to Dell’s prototype Alienware Concept UFO, and the profusion of Kickstarted vaporware products, many have tried over the years, and many have failed.

Valve is a more prominent name in the game in some ways, with Steam as the single biggest PC gaming platform in the world despite Epic’s aspirations. It’s only logical that the company would try to launch the Steam Deck, a Switch-like portable console that should be in the hands of gamers by December. But Valve hardly has the best track record with hardware, as anyone that purchased one of its Steam Machines, Steam Box, or Steam Controller can attest to.

Someone playing the Steam Deck.
Steam

But there is reason to be optimistic. These came out before the Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite took the gaming world by storm and spawned an infinite number of copycats. Given the furor over the Switch OLED model not living up to gamer’s hardware expectations, if there’s any time when a powerful PC gaming handheld to succeed, it’s right now.

Related

Or is it? With cloud gaming subscriptions steadily getting better in their selection and smoothness, and improved compatibility with Android and iOS devices, it raises the question of whether there really is a value to be found in handheld PC gaming consoles compared to cloud gaming on your phone or tablet.

Recommended Videos

Let’s break it down with numbers. The Steam Deck has a starting price of $399 for its base 64GB eMMC model. That’s barely enough to fit many PC games like Jedi Fallen Order (55GB), and it won’t fit Death Stranding 80GB) or Call of Duty: Cold War (82GB) at all. If you want better, faster storage you’ll need to shell out $529 for a Deck with a 256GB NVMe SSD or $649 for a 512GB NVMe SSD. If you need or want even more storage, it does support a microSD card, but at that point, you’re already paying twice what most current-gen consoles cost (when you can find them available), and you’re not too far from what a budget gaming PC will run you.

Image shows all the tiers of the Xbox Game Pass

There’s another possibility that can give you better bang for your buck — getting a Samsung Galaxy Tab S7/S7 Plus ($600-650) or any other Android tablet or phone of your choice — and the Xbox GamePass Ultimate ($15). The combination of the two will run you about the same price as the maximum storage Steam Deck, but there are several key advantages you simply won’t get with a dedicated handheld console.

For one, both the Tab S7 and S7+ have high-refresh 12.4-inch/11-inch Quad HD 120Hz screens, while the S7+ has a high-refresh Super AMOLED panel, giving you dense inky black, and sharp colors. You don’t need to have it in your hands to know it’ll put the 7-inc h 1280×800 LCD on the Steam Deck to shame. Not to mention it only supports a 60Hz refresh rate, half of what you get with the Tab S7 or most current flagship phones.

Both models of the Tab S7 are fully compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 accessories, meaning you can connect an Xbox Core or any other wireless controller to work with your games. It also has an optional keyboard case with a touchpad and the ability to connect a mouse, meaning it’s better suited for FPS and strategy lovers than the Steam Deck. It’ll also be better for productivity and multimedia than the Steam Deck – which, mind you, doesn’t include the dock if you want to use it with a monitor.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus keyboard in use.

If portability is a bigger concern, the combination of a top-tier Android phone and the Razer Kishi ($100) together with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will give you a pocket-sized, portable gaming console. The average iPhone and Android also have better, sharp screens and don’t require you to carry around an extra device day-to-day.

Most PC gamers have better gaming rigs at home or gaming laptops that give you just as much power and portability. When cloud gaming enters the equation, it lets you play a huge chunk of PC and console games on Android and, very soon, iOS. It’s true there are times when you’ll want games stored on your device, but with most airports and airplanes getting Wi-Fi, and 5G rollout continuing, the occasions where you’re completely without connectivity are few and far between. Ultimately, the Steam Deck seems like a solution searching for a problem with better alternatives for handheld gaming already existing on the market.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Ajay Kumar
Ajay Kumar
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ajay Kumar is the Section Editor, Mobile overseeing Digital Trend's coverage of phones, tablets, wearables, and other mobile…
Sony doesn’t need an Xbox Game Pass killer — it already has one
PS4 (Playstation 4) using PS Now.

PlayStation Now was the first major step in game streaming services. Yes, we had plenty of other attempts with services like OnLive (which I also tried back in 2010), but none ever had the weight of a massive corporation behind it. Sony acquired the service formerly known as Gaikai in 2012 and transformed it into its very own exclusive streaming service that it's been working on to this day.

The thing is, after that initial purchase push, Sony has been pretty silent about PS Now. It's quietly gained 3.2 million subscribers as of March 2021, which isn't all that much when you compare it to the number of PS+ subscribers but is still a substantial number.

Read more
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7 makes the best of a bad situation among Android tablets
samsung galaxy tab s7 best bad situation keyboard on table

Android tablets, on the whole, aren't good. The hardware on offer across the market is solid, the specs are strong, and the pricing is accessible and competitive. The problem is the software — most notably app support, or the lack thereof.

Samsung makes the best of this bad situation with the new Galaxy Tab S7 with myriad improvements, including its DeX desktop-style interface and windowed apps. But in many ways, the overall experience of using an Android tablet still comes up short. Very short.

Read more
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate adds cloud gaming on September 15
Project xCloud running on Android phone

Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass Ultimate cloud gaming is launching in a little over a month. And some new controllers to facilitate anywhere play will be available with it.

Project xCloud gaming will be available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on September 15, Microsoft said in a blog post on Tuesday. The service will launch with more than 100 games, including Minecraft Dungeons, Destiny 2, and Gears 5. Microsoft reiterated that any new Xbox Game Studios title, including Halo Infinite, will also be available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers on launch day.

Read more