Suddenly I’m very interested. I know you can install HoloISO or whatever distro you want but some first party support for drivers is gonna be awesome.
Lenovo’s handheld was probably the one that was most appealing versus the Steamdeck - Similar control scheme, good specs, but included detachable controllers which is one thing I wish the deck had after coming from the Switch. It makes coop/party games easier, and there’s more maintainability when you don’t have to gut the internals for a single joystick.
PC makers like Lenovo, Asus, and MSI have all opted for Windows-based handhelds so far, but as consumer patience with Windows on tiny screens wears thin and Microsoft’s progress in improving the experience is slow, it seems like OEMs are looking for a better alternative.
Microsoft hasn’t make any progress on improving the experience because the Windows UI is simply not suitable for non-mouse environment, and you are not allowed to sell a Windows device that doesn’t provide the Windows OOB experience.
Linux is the only sane choice with restrictions like that.
They have in fact gone backwards. Using windows 10 on my work surface in tablet mode is much preferred to the windows 11 BS involved in my ROG Ally X or the Lenovo Legion Go (which I’m gifting to my sister for Christmas). The Legion Go has a better screen but it’s still not great because windows 11 really isn’t made for tablets and they have regressed on tablet support despite selling a whole line of them.
Windows 8 on a tablet was better
It’s not even like Linux is that much better in terms of UI/UX but being able to control the user experience with fine grain controls the way it’s done on SteamOS/other distros is a massive advantage. All other Windows handhelds are stuck with some poor imitation of a gamepad-compatible shell.
I use gnome for my desktop experience and only when using the terminal or web browser do I have to use a keyboard and mouse. It’s not Android levels of perfect for touch screens, but it’s miles ahead of windows 11.
They’re not trying to iterate improvements, I would put money on them presenting an overhauled dedicated gamepad interface in the next 18 months. That’s still glacial speed, but that’s what happens when you’re a nearly 50 year old company of that size.
Yessssss
Why do none of these have trackpads? Also I really don’t understand why staggered joysticks are the standard.
SteamOS is definitely a step in the right direction, but the layout still looks not quite as good as the steam deck.
staggered joysticks
I find them more comfortable. The left joystick is the primary for movement, and the primary interface should be on top because that’s how thumbs work. The right needs to jump from the joystick to the buttons, so having the buttons be to the top and right makes sense (again, where thumbs go).
I have a PS4 controller for my PC because it supports Bluetooth and works OOTB with Linux, but I honestly prefer my old XBox controller. I’m probably going to get a PS5 controller, not because it’s more ergonomic (it’s not), but because it has gyro aiming. Playstation controllers aren’t uncomfortable, they’re just not as comfortable as offset joysticks.
Also I really don’t understand why staggered joysticks are the standard.
In case you were actually curious, here is the reverse timeline:
- Staggered joysticks are the standard because Microsoft Xinput is the standard.
- Xinput is the standard because for about a decade, it was the one controller interface that actually worked without issue for a lot of people.
- Microsoft controllers worked for a lot of people on PC because Microsoft controlled the most popular console and the most popular OS. Sony and Nintendo had no interest in supporting their controllers for PC.
- Microsoft maintained a similar controller layout to their original Xbox console.
- The original Xbox controller was designed before the advent of popular dual-stick games (the first of which was the original Halo). At the time, the right control stick was seen as a secondary control for the camera in third person platformers (see also the c-stick on the Gamecube).
- The original Xbox controller design was cribbed from the Dreamcast, which was to-date the nicest and most ergonomic controller. The Xbox design added the second control stick below the buttons.
Also of note:
- The only other dual-stick design at the time was that of the Playstation, on which both control sticks were secondary, an afterthought not even present on the original PS1 controller. Making the left control stick “primary” was progress.
- Nintendo briefly ended up in the same boat as Sony, when they added secondary control sticks to the original SNES design to create the Wii Classic Controller.
- The only controller that tried to make both control sticks primary was the Nintendo Wii U, which unfortunately failed for unrelated reasons. I had one, and the symmetry was glorious, for those few brief years.
- Nintendo relented and went with the staggered design for the release of the Nintendo Switch, on which the asymmetry was necessary in order for both joycons to also be able to function as separate controllers.
Why do none of these have trackpads?
Maybe they’re trying to aim for the crowd for whom the Deck is too expensive, and shaving off some of the hardware helps?
I mean, it does sound like a significant drawback, but if you gotta get the cost down, I suppose that’s one thing to look at.
Valve can sell devices at a loss and make it up in game sales. None of the current handheld makers have been able to compete on price as a result. I don’t expect that to change any time soon.
I wouldn’t think so. They already sell the legion go at a loss and rumors of a legion go lite (which is what this device looks like) price it at around the same price as a steam deck.
I’ve never once used the trackpad outside of desktop mode and even then it had limited use cases. What do other people use them for?
I used them to dismiss the EA middleware bullshit, and Cities Skyline.
You can map a ton of inputs to them or use them for mouse control or more precise stick/dpad control, for a couple examples. I would never buy another handheld without them.
They’re essential for Factorio, the factory must grow!
As an alternative to thumbsticks for shooters and such. My understanding is when you get used to them they’re great for that. I was never able to get used to them on the OG steam controller.
I wonder how they are gonna do this, I’m hoping steamOS doesn’t end up like Android where there are a million skins and updates take forever. I know Linux s Is universally compatible with most x86 hardware so in theory it should plug in play as long as they use an amd gpu.
A big problem with Android is ARM vendors don’t upstream anything in so you need to run very specific kernel and bootloaders just to boot the OS. SteamOS on x86 won’t have that problem, regardless of who makes the end device.
That’s a valid concern, hopefully Lenovo is smart enough to not insert themselves in the software pipeline between Valve and their customers.
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Stop, it’s too real
The way it works with handhelds right now (Bazzite instead of vanilla steam OS), there’s certain things that have to be enabled to get the hardware side of things working (all the buttons and inputs etc), but it’s still really easy to both update and to use and I haven’t had any problems with the ROG Ally X or the Lenovo Legion Go running Bazzite. I dual boot windows (and have group policy edited pretty much all of Microsoft’s BS tracking and AI to banish it to that shadow realm) for windows only games that I couldn’t get to run reliably in proton, but I’m really happy with it and I’d imagine steam OS coming to such handhelds officially would benefit users rather than being a detriment as far as ease of use goes.
