Look, it's easy to get all hyped about the Steam Deck 2, especially since Valve just confirmed it's "hard at work" developing the gaming handheld. For what it's worth, I'm pretty keen to see Valve shake up the portable PC scene yet again since things have come to a standstill. But, I don't think it's worth thinking about any of that until the Steam Machine actually launches, as the next Deck needs the mini PC to thrive.
I'll admit, it's a pretty crummy time to be into handhelds. That's largely thanks to the Steam Deck OLED being out of stock and other premium options like the ROG Xbox Ally X coming in at $1,000. Yes, you can grab the white version of the latter for under $500, but honestly? It feels like that portable borrows too much from the 2023 Asus original to feel fresh.
