Steam Deck VS Gaming Laptop: Which Should You Buy?

If you are considering between a mobile handheld gaming pc like a Steam Deck or Lenovo Legion GO or just buying a gaming laptop, then this video will help you go through all the decisions you need to make before purchasing either one to find out which is the best budget gaming option for you.

⭐Follow Me!⭐

⭐My Favorite Steam Deck Accessories:⭐

SSD:

SD card:

Flash drive

Docks

Bags

Case -

Headphones

Mouse/Keyboard

Battery bank

Charger

Controllers

Portable monitor

Misc

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This video may contain affiliate links that add no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support!

Chapters
0:00 Introduction
1:39 Laptop Overview
4:56 Steam Deck Overview
5:38 Portability
6:26 Productivity
7:32 Input/Output
8:37 Battery Life
9:41 Upgrades
10:59 Compatibility
13:19 Convenience
14:34 Performance
17:21 The Winner is...
18:17 Ask Yourself This
19:07 My Personal Recommendation

This video was sponsored by MINT MOBILE meaning there was an exchange of money for a video featuring their service - but like all of my videos, this NEVER means a dishonest review. Every sponsor of the channel must agree to provide me 100% full creative control and to give my honest opinion about any product or service - if it sucks, I tell my audience it sucks, whether the company pays or not. MINT MOBILE, the sponsor of this video, agreed to those terms before any deals were made. Thank you to MINT MOBILE for allowing creators like me to speak our mind in this medium.

#steamdeck #steamdeckaccessories #modding

[zipsnap]

I went with Steam Deck because the wide availability and ease of having replacement batteries in the long run removed all my worries. (I haven't done thorough research but from what I've seen, non standardized batteries for laptops are difficult to replace)

Also as a mechanical keyboard hobbyist, it did benefit me of not having redundantly two keyboards in use (the laptop keyboard and the mechanical keyboard) for a cleaner setup

[signe_stilett]

So, I used to have a non-gaming laptop. A big factor for me was weight, as I used to commute rather far for university. It served me well and was handier than a gaming laptops are, and I coped alright with limited performance... But I wanted an upgrade.

Cue the Steam Deck. Much better battery life, better performance even when docked, and half the weight. For what I wanted it, Steam deck was perfect choice. I feel that this review lacks low load, long-endurance comparison between these devices, as that is very much a factor for many of us. I deal with ~4h power outages, and my old laptop wouldn't last half an hour even in indie games on battery alone, and 2h watching videos/reading. With deck, I can game through whole outage, and even have extra charge should it last longer than planned.

Another thing to consider is if you use a PC as well, how does your mobile computer complement it. There's hardly a reason to use laptop at home if you have a stronger PC, there is not much extra comfort to be gained. But with Deck, you can make the case for lazing in bed, which just isn't that good with laptops.

[fairphoneuser]

Well, it's a different use case. You won't play on the go with your gaming laptop.

[petep]

I have both, a steam deck and a gaming laptop. And as a busy parent, I use a steam deck in 99.9% of cases.

[rsiv]

Good comparison, and I’m really impressed with the laptop for that price. If cost isn’t a factor (which I get goes against the whole point of this video), it’s ideal to have both. I tried going deck only for a while (it was my entry point to pc gaming), but then I got a gaming laptop, and I’m finding they complement each other really well.

[michaelioannou]

I bought the steam deck OLED and completely replaced my PC. I have the dock next to the PC monitor, plugged the keyboard and mouse on the port and (since I'm not a tech wiz) it does everything I used to do on my PC and sometimes even better, considering the fact that turning on is significantly faster than my PC.

That being said, I really like the power that this budget laptop has and I'm considering checking it up for a spare "PC" at my workplace.

Thank you for the detailed video

[NemusDark]

As much as I love handhelds, I have to take the Gaming laptop, it offers so much value.

[fightnight]

People pay up to $650 for a Steam Deck so you should compare it at that price point as well. A $650 laptop can be your main PC as well and it plays games better than the SD

[harveybrooks]

I went from gaming desktop and gaming laptops to steam deck and only use it now for gaming. Steam deck is worth the price it is at and worth for the portability.

[artemmovsisyan]

In Eastern Europe and Western Asia, where I'm currently writing from(armenia), laptops with a 3050 graphics card start at a price of $750. while the Steam Deck still costs +-$400.

[faqihaldiannoor]

Not gonna lie the laptop actually sounds pretty good (unfortunately can't find any like that in Indonesia), if I can buy it I might choose that over steamdeck, but since I already have pretty decent laptop (i3 7th gen with MX130) so I choose steamdeck instead.
So far I don't really feel any regret buying steamdeck over gaming laptop or PC, so far game that I play run pretty well on steamOS even game like genshin. For valorant I just use dual boot and yes I upgrade the SSD to 1tb.
I even use steamdeck for my school stuff sometimes since I already have type C hub and a monitor, the desktop mode from steam deck is pretty good for me, it took me a while to get used to Linux enviorment, like using Libreoffice or Googledoc as alternative. It run software like android studio pretty good and I can do some of my assigment with it pretty well which actually still doable in my laptop but insteamdeck it run a little bit better and emulator run more smoothly.

[CarelessKingdom]

The Steam Deck, while never has it been necessarily the ultimate gaming value, offers a unique proposition. Even before its release, one could frequently stumble upon deals under $500 featuring the equivalent of the current Nvidia 4050 and that year's I5, providing a better value in terms of performance. However, the true allure of the Steam Deck lies in its portability and the cool factor associated with handheld gaming. 🌻

[ZXGAMER]

Steam deck you can hook up keyboard and mouse and external monitor and play brand new games on steam deck without worrying about if your pc can run it...also the steam deck is mobile can use traveling or in hotel just hook up controller way u go

[simonstead]

Anyone else focused on the cow or just me? 🐄

[ArtemisKitty]

As someone who has always been a big buyer of both ROG/XPS laptops, I've always also searched for the perfect balance of portability and power. This went in for decades.

The SteamDeck changed my gaming entirely. I did not expect it. I so often just pick it up instead of bothering with a laptop or desktop now...

Unless it's an FPS where I really want kb/m, the deck just does it better. More conveniently.

Definitely a different machine though, and better at some games, worse at others vs an equally priced or powered laptop, just based on the game type.

[PokiThaDoki]

only problem with the gaming laptop, is that god dam weight

[franciscoaviles]

Hey! Great video, and I don't mean to be this guy, but for the CyberPunk section of your video you didn't have "FSR on" on the DECK itself. You can squeeze more performance on the deck if you go to your settings in the game>change to windowed mode>select a screen size smaller then 720p. That will enable your FSR on the deck. With a small tweek like that I'm able to play Aliens Fireteam Elite at 50-60fps when originally I was only getting 30-40 FPS. Hope it helps and I hope to see more videos from ya!

[onionike]

I haven't heard gateway for like 20 years 😮

[maeepicreal]

for kiddys first gaming laptop or just a budget beast i respect that this thing has not bad specifications

[gusonian]

My dad used to work at Gateway! Nice to see them up and running