Holy moly! Valve just hiked the Steam Deck OLED price by almost 50% but I have two fan-favorite handhelds that are still cheap and you should get instead

Date:
Thu, 28 May 2026 19:00:00 +0000

Description:
Due to rising memory and storage costs the Steam Deck now costs over 40% more.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Valve just announced a Steam Deck price hike It'll go up by over 40% in the US, and over 30% elsewhere No hardware changes are coming with the price increase Price hikes, even for older gadgets, are standard practice in 2026. None, though, warrants as loud
a WTF as Valve saying its Steam Deck OLEDs are going to cost close to 50%
more in some regions, with smaller but still major price hikes landing elsewhere.

Per a blog post announcement where Valve revealed the handhelds are back in stock, it also dropped the pricing bomb. The $549 / 479 / AU$899 512GB model will now set you back $789 / 649 / AU$1,199 representing a $240 / 170 / AU$300 increase or a 43% increase in the US (and closer to 35% in the UK and Australia). Meanwhile, the 1TB OLED Steam Deck will cost $949 / 779 / AU$1,429. Thats a $300 / 210 / AU$380 increase on its former cost of $649 / 569 / AU$1,049 representing a 46% price hike in the US and 36% elsewhere. Latest Videos From You may like You should probably buy that handheld gaming device you've been eyeing, now The Asus ROG Xbox Ally falls to a record-low price, but is it worth picking up while the Steam Deck suffers stock shortages? Lenovo Legion Go 2's price hike is even more absurd than expected

Notably, these price hikes dont come with any hardware upgrades. Instead, Valve explains theyve been introduced to "reflect the current state of component costs and other global logistical challenges across the industry as a whole. The component prices specifically blamed are rising memory and storage costs. A warning of more to come? (Image credit: Microsoft / Asus) If youre after a handheld run, dont walk, to grab one before further price hikes arrive.

This Valve announcement follows similarly catastrophic hikes from Lenovo back in April . We saw the Lenovo Legion Go 2 Ryzen Z2 Extreme 2TB jump up over $1,000 to $2,849.99 (from $1,479.99). Meanwhile, the 1TB model rose $650 to $1,999.99. The less high-end AMD Ryzen Z2 16GB RAM model also saw a hike to $1,499.99 up from $1,099.99.

Outside of Australia, where the PC handheld rose in price in February , the Asus Rog Xbox Ally X has so far dodged serious hikes, though that will probably change soon. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
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Ive been loving this Asus x Xbox PC handheld, and I predominantly use it for Steam games. I have it set up so that Steams Big Picture mode boots up as
soon as my handheld switches on to better mimic the simplicity of the Steam Deck, and Ive found the console comfortable to play for as long as the
battery can last which is a decent number of hours even for chunkier AAA titles.

So far in 2026, its been where Ive enjoyed Resident Evil 9 , Slay The Spire
II , Zero Parades for Dead Spies , and 007: First Light among plenty of others, and while the meatier games dont run as beautifully as they do on my static gaming rig, they still look solid and play very well especially after a few visual settings tweaks. Today's best Asus ROG Xbox Ally X deals 849
View 849.99 View 929 View Show more We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices An alternative approaches? (Image credit: Nintendo) Alternatively, you could nab a different kind of handheld: the Nintendo
Switch 2. What to read next Handheld gaming PCs were reawakening, but the AI boom is undoing it all Asus just revealed ROG gaming laptop price hikes and they're painful The Lenovo Legion Go S drops to its lowest-ever price, offering another option to anyone sick of Steam Deck stock issues

Its not a PC gaming machine and lacks the incredible breadth of the Steam catalog, but it does have three key advantages over PC handhelds.

First, you get access to Nintendo exclusives like the Super Mario , Legend of Zelda , and Pokmon series. Yes, console exclusivity is frustrating, but it does give Nintendo an edge for fans of its franchises.

Secondly, and more importantly, Ive found the Switch 2 is perfect for co-op. The Joy-Con pair you get with every console can be used together for single player, or as individual controllers for many couch co-op adventures, whether its a competitive brawl in Smash Ultimate , racing through Mario Kart: World
, or teaming up in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. You can play co-op games on PC handhelds, but both players will need a console, making it a much pricier endeavor.

Thirdly, crucially, the Switch 2 costs a lot less but still packs a punch. It comes in at $449.99 / 395.99 / AU$699.95 and has yet to incur a price hike. That said, one is coming in a few months.

We know this because Nintendo itself has warned that the console will go up
by $50 in the US on September 1, 2026. A UK and Australian price increase is yet to be formally confirmed by Nintendo, though it is likely its cost will increase there too.

So you have a little longer to decide on a Nintendo console, but when it
comes to the PC handheld market, Id act sooner rather than later if youre desperate to nab one or risk some serious disappointment when, not if,
prices get hiked for the few remaining machines yet to see one. Today's best Nintendo Switch 2 deals 385 View 395.99 View 499.99 409.99 View Show more We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Follow
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