Valve has introduced the Steam Deck OLED to its certified refurbished program. Gamers can now buy the OLED variant refurbished directly from Valve at a heavy discount. The refurbished OLED models are 20% less expensive than their vanilla brand-new counterparts.
The 1TB OLED and 512GB Steam Deck OLED models are available with the refurbished program. The 1TB model is priced at $519, and the 512GB at $439. By comparison, buying the new 1TB version costs $649, and the 512GB version costs $549, representing a $120 discount for the 1TB model and a $110 discount for the 512GB model. Valve's pricing means gamers can get the 1TB OLED model for $30 cheaper than the 512GB OLED model brand new.
The only Steam Deck variant that users can buy new that undercuts the refurbished OLED model pricing is the (technically previous generation) 256GB LCD variant, currently sold for $399. Valve sells certified refurbished versions of its LCD Steam Deck, but all three models—the 64GB, 256GB, and 512GB—are out of stock. The 512GB and 64GB LCD models can no longer be bought new.
It is easy to forget that the Steam Deck OLED version is a much more significant upgrade than the name implies. Beyond the apparent upgrade from an LCD to an OLED display, the display alone has been upgraded to a 90Hz refresh rate and a 7.4-inch form factor with HDR support, 400 nits of brightness, and 1000 nits of peak brightness in HDR mode. The LCD version was a 7-inch model that lacked HDR support and peaked at 60Hz, 400 nits of brightness.
Under the hood, changes were also made; the battery got a noticeable upgrade from a 40Whr unit to a 50Whr unit. Valve claims the 50 Whr unit can power the OLED Deck anywhere between 3 to 12 hours, depending on the game. Valve advertises a 2-8 hour battery life for the LCD version. RAM was upgraded on the OLED from 5500MT/s LPDDR5 to higher clocked 6400 MT/s LPDDR5, and the AMD APU saw a process node shrink from 7nm to 6nm.
Refurbished Steam Deck OLEDs are only available in certain regions, including Canada, the EU, the UK, and the US. Refurbished units come with the same one-year warranty as new units. However, it could be longer, depending on your country of residence.
