Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Steam Deck LCD is on the way out, what this means for your next handheld buy

Valve says it is phasing out the Steam Deck LCD 256GB, and it will no longer be available once remaining stock is gone.

Add as a preferred source on Google
Returnal running on the Steam Deck.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Valve is bringing Steam Deck LCD sales to a close for one of its core configurations. On the Steam Deck store page, Valve says it is “phasing out the Steam Deck LCD 256GB model,” and that it “will no longer be available” once remaining stock is gone.

The same message makes a point of separating sales from support. Valve says it will “continue to provide support for Steam Deck LCD on an ongoing basis,” which should ease concerns for people who already own an LCD model.

Recommended Videos

Right now, the store listing shows the Steam Deck LCD 256GB priced at $399 but out of stock, while the Steam Deck OLED models remain available.

The end is tied to inventory

Valve is not attaching a date to the change. Instead, it is tying the Steam Deck LCD 256GB’s exit to whatever stock remains, which is a different signal than a typical restock gap.

With the model flagged as being phased out and already unavailable on the store page, any reappearance could be brief.

OLED is now the clear on-ramp

Steam Deck OLED feels like the refined model. The OLED screen delivers deeper blacks and higher contrast, and the updated internals tend to stretch battery life. With OLED as the flagship, keeping a single budget LCD tier makes less sense, so it’s being sunset. While the LCD version is the first exposure of many to the game-changing handheld, the OLED has is arguably the better of the two.

What buyers should do next

If the $399 Steam Deck LCD 256GB was the selling point, the safest approach is to treat it as a limited-availability buy going forward. Waiting may work, but the phase-out language means you are betting on leftover inventory.

If you are shopping on a tighter timeline, the practical reality is that OLED is what Valve is actively selling today, and it is one of the best handhelds out in the market right now.

Paulo Vargas
Paulo Vargas is an English major turned reporter turned technical writer, with a career that has always circled back to…
The next Xbox may be backward compatible with every past Xbox generation, if publishers agree
A leaked memo details Microsoft's next console could play games from every Xbox generation, but there's a catch.
Xbox logo

A leaked internal memo suggests the next Xbox console, codenamed Project Helix, could play games from every generation the company has ever released. If true, that would make it the largest game library on any console, especially since it's also said to support PC games.

Backward compatibility for four console generations

Read more
Xbox may have a surprisingly smart plan for keeping physical games alive
Xbox’s leaked roadmap could rescue your old games from the disc-drive grave
Book, Publication, Comics

The fate of physical game discs seems to be set in stone, with an all-digital library becoming increasingly inevitable. Microsoft, though, may at least give Xbox owners a way to bring their shelves full of physical games along for the journey.

A leaked Microsoft roadmap sent to game publishers details the planned rollout of Xbox’s Disc-to-Digital program alongside a much larger backwards-compatibility push. The document reportedly targets August for general availability, October for the full launch of original Xbox games on PC, and a gradual Xbox 360 rollout beginning in 2027.

Read more
Pwnage’s new gaming mouse lets users adjust click force and travel with a screwdriver
The 49-gram Pwnage Vanta also features a movable sensor and 8,000Hz wireless polling
Computer Hardware, Electronics, Hardware

Gaming mice usually let you adjust sensitivity, polling rate, and button assignments through software. Pwnage’s new Vanta goes a step further by letting you physically change how each primary click feels.

The company describes the Vanta as the world’s first lightweight gaming mouse with mechanically adjustable clicks. Turning a pair of screws changes how much force and movement the left and right buttons require, without replacing the switches or adding more electronics.

Read more