The Steam Deck OLED is a marvel of a PC gaming handheld that manages to improve on the base model. However, recent reports from handheld owners have been coming in, stating that the transparent casing has been cracking.
While the special transparent 1TB OLED models haven’t been the only models cracking, they seem to be the ones cracking the most. According to r/SteamDeck and reported on by PCGamesN, the LCD Steam Deck models tend to crack near the vents at the top, while the OLED models tend to crack on the bottom vents. For the latter, these particular vulnerabilities are at the bottom of the console, where the screws are located just below the intake vents.
We reached out to Valve for comment and will update this article once we receive an official statement.
Valve needs to take the initiative on this issue
It’s a shame that this issue is cropping up with the Steam Deck OLED, as it’s otherwise a great and well-balanced PC gaming handheld. Hopefully, Valve will get this issue taken care of before it becomes even more widespread, mainly by setting up a service that repairs any affected handhelds for free.
Considering Valve’s customer service track record, this shouldn’t be an issue. There have been cases of the company supporting customers even with expired warranties. But Valve also needs to release an official statement soon in order to regain the trust of those affected, as well as owners in general who are worried about their system.
Another point to consider is why these cracks are appearing in the first place, and why there’s such a consistent pattern of where the crack will appear depending on the model. Discovering the reason for this would do wonders in preventing future models from suffering from this reported defect.
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