Just in time for the wintery months ahead, Valve has announced Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White. As its name suggests, this is the same handheld gamers have come to love underneath but sporting a fresh snowy paint job. Better still, it’s available to purchase around the world unlike the previous limited edition model.
It’s been almost a year since Steam Deck OLED hit the scene on November 16, 2023. Valve hasn’t highlighted this new launch on November 18, 2024, as being in celebration of its one year anniversary but the timing is hard to ignore. This will be the second limited edition model of the handheld, with the transparent version debuting last year exclusively in North America.
As you can guess, this one has a white frame, with grey buttons and joysticks, delivering a nice contrast without being aggressive to the eye. Moreover, this limited edition comes with an assortment of white accessories, including a protective case and micro-fibre cloth. Nice attention to detail.
As a limited edition model, expect stock to disappear fast across all regions. Valve has also indicated that it has no plans to make a second run of this model, so, if you like it, grab one while you can. While I’m not a fan of the FOMO these editions generate, I understand that manufacturing costs naturally have their part to play. Nonetheless, the success of this edition will inform Valve’s decisions with the handheld moving forward and, likely, its successor.
The white and grey accents don’t speak to me, personally, and I’d still opt for the black version if only to better hide the device’s display bezels. That said, had Valve gone the extra mile and made said bezels white then it’d be all the more tempting. My preferences aside, I commend the company’s generally perfect execution of the concept, particularly with how well they’ve matched colours across materials.
As a reminder, there are no specs differences under the hood. Same APU, same storage, same everything. Valve will only offer Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White with 1TB of storage out the gate. You can, of course, boost this with a microSD card or pop open the handheld and install your own, larger NVMe drive.
Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition White will launch November 18, 2024 at 3PM PST for $679. This makes it slightly more expensive than the $649 base model, but this is often par for the course with variants like this. You’ll be able to buy one in all regions that Valve currently sells Steam Deck, including the United Kingdom, and more recent additions like Australia. Finally, each Steam account can only order one unit, and you’ll need to have made it before November 2024.
Check out the official community post on Steam to learn more.