Skip to main content

Refurbished Steam Decks are now official — here’s how to buy one

Steam Deck sitting on a pink background.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

After product pages went live early, Valve has officially opened up orders for “certified refurbished” Steam Decks. All three capacities Valve offers are available to purchase, and there are some hefty discounts over list price:

  • 64GB model — $319 (down from $399)
  • 256GB model — $419 (down from $549)
  • 512GB model — $519 (down from $649)

Eagle-eyed viewers will probably spot that these prices match the recent drops the Steam Deck saw during the Steam Summer Sale. These will be available outside of sales, however, and it’s possible they’ll eventually see a discount, as well.

For Valve, a “certified refurbished” Steam Deck must “meet or even exceed the performance standards of new retail units.” However, Valve points out that the devices may have minor cosmetic blemishes. The devices still go through a complete factory reset, software update, and gauntlet of over 100 tests before being put up for sale.

Valve says refurbished models come with the same one year warranty as a new Steam Deck, and they come with a carrying case, quick start guide, and refurbished power supply. This power supply, like the Steam Deck itself, has been fully tested but may include minor cosmetic marks. Presumably, the carrying case is brand new, but Valve hasn’t clarified if that’s the case or not.

The Steam Deck is now over a year old, and the company has likely built up quite an inventory of returns and repair requests, so it’s not surprising to see refurbished models. The performance is also starting to slip in some cases, especially as challengers like the Asus ROG Ally and Ayaneo 2S promise higher frame rates (though at a much higher price).

Although the performance doesn’t always top charts, the Steam Deck has shaped up surprisingly well over the past year. As you can read in our Asus ROG Ally versus Steam Deck comparison, the Deck still provides solid performance at its native resolution and a much better software suite.

In addition, new games are continuing to join the Deck Verified list. Baldur’s Gate 3 is the most recent example of a major release receiving Steam Deck verification, and FromSoftware has confirmed the upcoming Armored Core VI will be “fully supported” on Steam Deck.

Editors' Recommendations

Jacob Roach
Senior Staff Writer, Computing
Jacob Roach is a writer covering computing and gaming at Digital Trends. After realizing Crysis wouldn't run on a laptop, he…
Steam Deck 2? This leak suggests Valve is working on new hardware
Steam Deck sitting on a pink background.

An exciting piece of gossip just dropped, and it might have something to do with the Steam Deck -- or it could be something else entirely. We're talking about a mysterious new device made by Valve that has just received radio certification from the South Korea National Radio Research Agency. Code-named "RC-V1V-1030," the product is referred to as a "low-power wireless device." What's Valve up to now?

The problem is that it could be nearly anything. Aside from a Steam Deck 2, or perhaps even just a refresh to the existing console, Valve has expressed interest in making a new virtual reality (VR) gaming headset to follow up on the Valve Index. Even an updated Steam Controller fits the description. The only thing to be learned from the certification is that the device uses 5GHz Wi-Fi, which could apply to all three of those potential products.

Read more
Here’s how you can win this insane, custom Starfield PC
custom starfield pc giveaway

Gaming PC Modeled After Starfield Control Panel?! [Giveaway]

Modders always come out with some wild PC designs for new game releases, but this custom Starfield PC from Skytech Gaming might be one of the coolest I've ever seen. It's a machine that comes from a collaboration between Skytech Gaming, Intel, and SignalRGB, and you can enter for a chance to win it.

Read more
After four months with the ROG Ally, I’m going back to my Steam Deck
Final Fantasy VII Remake running on the Steam Deck.

By nearly all objective measures, the ROG Ally is better than the Steam Deck. It has solid battery life, a nicer screen, more power, and Windows 11, allowing it to access a much wider library of games than the Steam Deck offers. After four months of using both devices, though, I'm fine keeping my Steam Deck.

That might surprise you, especially if you caught my ROG Ally review when I first took a look at the device nearly four months ago. I even tried replacing my desktop with the device on the strength of Asus' impressive XG Mobile. But after using the ROG Ally for just about every purpose possible, I've been picking up my Steam Deck to play games.
What you want, what you need

Read more