Arturia has been on a bit of a roll over these last few years. The company has always made top notch MIDI controllers and soft synths. But in 2020 it announced the KeyStep Pro and PolyBrute — delivering the MIDI controller than many had been clamoring for and an analog polysynth that hasbowledpeopleover. (Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to get my hands on one.) Then in 2021 it gave the MicroFreak and Pigments, two hugefree updates, upgraded its FX Collection with seven new plugins, and launched the SQ80 V virtual synth, which I fell instantly in love with. Now the company is launching Efx Fragments, a granular processor that that brings an experimental edge to its current effects lineup.
Granular is pretty trendy right now, check out the Microcosm and Lemondrop for instance. But, it's also can be difficult to tame. Arturia has been putting a lot of effort into making its software more user friendly, though, and that's clearly on display with Fragments. Simply put, it might be the most immediate and musical granular processor I've ever used and gives the Microcosm a run for its money as a cheat code to creating beautiful ambient music. But, it is capable of much more than just epic drones.
The core of Efx Fragments is a granular engine with three distinctly different modes and a 16 second buffer. Depending on which mode you select, the way it chops up and plays back incoming audio varies. There's "classic mode" which is pretty much what everyone thinks of when they hear the phrase "granular synthesis". It's versatile and unique and very unapologetically digital. Texture mode softens the harsh edges a bit and leans into granular's more ethereal side. While Rhythmic mode goes in the opposite direction, strengthening the stuttering and glitchy side.
That's not to say you can't make drones in Rhythmic mode, or create driving rhythms in Texture mode, you'll just have to work a little harder at it.
In addition to the core granular processing, there's two effects slots for adding filtering, reverb, delay and other tone shapers; a bit crushing section with five different modes; a powerful panner and spatializer; two assignable macros; three function generators for modulation; and a modulation sequencer. Not to mention all the various tools available for manipulating the grains directly, like size, shape and pitch.
Arturai
If that sounds like an overwhelming array of options don't worry, there's a handy tutorial that helps you get familiar with the interface. And the UI is impressively clean and intuitively laid out. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Fragments to someone that was new to granular effects. Two things help keep it approachable (beyond the excellent tutorial). For one, the more intimidating controls are stashed away in the advanced tab as is the case with many Arturia products. And, two, the 60 presets are excellent.
The presets cover everything from subtle background pads, to chaotic jitters, to dense other-worldly drones, and rhythmically complex pitch-shifted delays. There would be absolutely nothing wrong with simply sticking to the presets here. But they're also useful as a jumping off point if you're still getting familiar with the world of granular processing (or if you're like me and just lazy).
One super fun trick is to use Fragments as a time stretching effect. When paired with the bit crusher it can make melodies feel like they're being run through digital molasses or drums sound like they're coming from another dimension.
My only complaint interface-wise, is that all of the modulation options are hidden in the advanced tab. But at least there are randomization controls around each virtual knob that allows you to create some movement. So, while it's easy to get beautiful results with the aid of the presets, to do even moderate sound design you'll have to venture into the advanced tab. But you really should venture into the advanced tab. If for no other reason than to see the super fun visualizer that brings me back to the days of Windows 3.1.
Honestly though, the controls in the advanced mode aren't terribly hard to wrap your head around. You can basically draw whatever shape you want in the function generators then click assign and hover over the parameter you want to control until you see blue numbers pop up next to it. Then just click and drag up or down to set the modulation depth. This is basically how all of Arturia's instruments work. It's simple and effective way to make deep sound design tools feel more approachable.
One other thing to know, is that granular processing can be pretty resource intensive. I encountered stuttering and artifacts with the density turned up high even under ideal circumstances: a simple audio loop and no other plugins running in Ableton Live 11, with no other programs running on my 2019 MacBook Pro with a 2.8GHz i7 and 16GB RAM. So, be prepared to freeze or resample anything you're running through Fragments.
Efx Fragments is available now at an introductory price of $99, though if you already own other Arturia products there's probably a steep discount waiting for you. You can also get it bundled for free with FX Collection 2 which is currently on sale for $299, which isn't a bad deal at all.
Microsoft has revealed a solid list of titles that are coming to Game Pass this month. Starting today, you’ll be able to play Microsoft Flight Simulator on Xbox One, phones, tablets and web browsers via the cloud (fittingly enough). It was already on Xbox Games Pass and PC Game Pass, but now it’s available on the service formerly known as xCloud, more folks might be tempted to try the game. Game Pass Ultimate subscribers who normally play on PC might be swayed if they don’t have a rig that can get the most out ofFlight Simulator.
Also hitting Game Pass today on console, PC and cloud is Far: Changing Tides, in which you’ll explore a flooded, post-apocalyptic landscape and search for a new home. On March 3rd, Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII comes to Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass.
March 10th is shaping up to be a busy day for Game Pass. Subscribers will be able to play Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy via console, PC and the cloud at no extra cost. Square Enix Montreal offered a different spin on the quintet of superheroes than the Marvel movies. It dropped them into a surprisingly enjoyable adventure that bursts at the seams with jokes.
The other additions to Game Pass next Friday are Kentucky Route Zero, the Xbox One version of Lawn Mowing Simulator and a new brawler-RPG hybrid called Young Souls. Meanwhile, a few games will be leaving the lineup on March 15th: Nier: Automata, Phogs!, Torchlight III and The Surge 2.
Microsoft also noted the Xbox app for PC has been updated with a few features it started testing a few months ago. Players can now choose which folder they want to install games to, while they'll have the ability to mod more games.
To say the pandemic threw off my exercise routine would be an understatement. I was a gym regular who thrived on treadmills and weight machines, and I suddenly had to improvise with pushups and runs. I struggled to maintain a routine, and for a while gave up entirely. How was I going to stay fit at a time when merely ordering dumbbells was a challenge? Late last year, though, I resolved to get back into shape and bought a $599 Echelon Connect Sport exercise bike to use in tandem with an $80-per-year Apple Fitness+ membership. I haven’t regretted it.
The math behind my decision was simple: I wanted a quality bike that wouldn’t tie me to one service or empty my bank account in record fashion. That quickly ruled out Peloton, whose Bike ($1,495 as I write this) and full subscription ($39 per month) were overkill for someone who mainly wanted to shake off some cobwebs. The Connect Sport was appealing precisely because it didn’t chain me to anything; I could put my phone on the built-in stand and use a lower-priced service like Fitness+ to guide my workouts. I was poised to save hundreds of dollars per year, even if I had to buy the virtually mandatory Apple Watch. (I already own a Series 5.) An iPhone is also required, of course.
Yes, the Connect Sport amounts to a Peloton Bike doppelgänger without the screen, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Echelon’s machine feels solidly built, and it’s stable even in the midst of an intense workout. The flywheel-based mechanism is also remarkably quiet. Apart from a clacking sound that disappeared after the first three weeks, the loudest noise I’ve heard was my own breathing. The handlebars and seating are highly adjustable, and the pedals use cages to keep your feet in place (thus letting you use ordinary shoes) instead of clips. This is a bike that’s easy to live with, letting me concentrate on the task at hand rather than my equipment.
Jon Fingas/Engadget
The quirks mostly stem from the inherent nature of full-size spin bikes like this. The Connect Sport isn’t as compact as some alternatives, particularly folding models like Echelon’s own Flex Ultra. At 92 pounds, it’s also too heavy to casually move between rooms. And while you don’t need electricity unless you intend to use the built-in Bluetooth telemetry, the included power cord isn’t lengthy. I wouldn’t choose this bike if I was a space-conscious apartment dweller.
I’m happy with its Apple Fitness+ performance, though. To start a cycling workout, I just need to put my iPhone on the stand, launch the Fitness app and go. The exercise data I care about (heart rate, calories burned, duration) comes from the Apple Watch, so I don’t even need the Connect Sport’s Bluetooth functionality. I would only want to plug the bike into power if I craved the Echelon Fit app’s cadence and resistance info, which aren’t necessary with Apple’s service. Just be prepared to buy a tablet if you plan to use Echelon’s app (in its open-ended “free ride” mode) and Fitness+ at the same time, as you can’t juggle both on one screen.
Fitness+ works about as well as it did when Engadget tried it on launch, but that’s plenty for someone getting back into shape on the Connect Sport. Apple’s cycling coaches are friendly, helpful and accommodate a wide range of ability levels. Instead of demanding precise cadence and resistance ranges like you might see with some services, they frequently ask you to match a song’s beat or tweak the resistance to feel enough leg strain. That may be too fuzzy if you’re eager for consistent numbers, but for me it’s perfect: I’m measuring progress in terms of how well I can sustain an all-out push, not how closely I mimic someone else’s settings. The bike’s resistance knob is easy to adjust, so it’s trivial to ramp up the difficulty if a ride is too much of a cakewalk.
Jon Fingas/Engadget
I’ve found Apple’s cycling workouts challenging enough as someone relatively new to spin bikes while still well-acquainted with structured exercise. For one, there’s a healthy variety of classes now that Fitness+ has been available for over a year. Many of them rely on a familiar hill climb metaphor that alternates between intense pushes and easy recoveries, but I’ve sometimes encountered welcome twists, like rides that get progressively harder without significant breaks. While these classes likely wouldn’t push a pro athlete or dedicated amateur to their limits, they’ve gracefully scaled with me as my abilities improved.
More importantly, the sessions are engaging. I find myself picking workouts based on well-chosen music with some surprisingly deep cuts. Ever rally to nostalgia-inducing late ‘90s dance tracks, or a coach’s favorite heavy metal band? I have. And while the inspirational talk is borderline cliché, the personalities often shine through and help me look forward to classes from my favorite instructors. I just wish there were more episodes suiting my exact music tastes. It’s no fun to “settle” for a rock workout when I really hoped for dance, no matter how thrash-worthy that rock might be.
Jon Fingas/Engadget
As a result, the combination of a Connect Sport with Fitness+ works very well for me. Exercise is a pleasure I look forward to, and I’ve seen tangible improvements to my leg power and even my posture. I wouldn’t recommend the pairing to everyone, though. As you might have guessed, Fitness+ is a no-go if you’re either an Android user or seriously considering a switch. You’re thoroughly locked into Apple’s ecosystem if you sign up between the iPhone, Apple Watch and subscription. I would also pass if I were a pro or serious amateur racer — you just won’t get the detailed stats needed for targeted improvements. Spring for a dedicated sports watch and a more demanding membership instead.
If you do live in Apple’s universe and aren’t competing for glory, though, this duo is easy to recommend. It’s an affordable, effective way to cram some cycling into a packed schedule. Moreover, Echelon’s bring-your-own-device strategy offers a convenient escape hatch if you ever want to ditch a service without replacing your bike or rigging an ad hoc solution. For me, the results speak for themselves: I’m in the best shape I’ve been for two years, and I can’t ask for much better than that.
If there’s one thing that really defined that murky period just after the turn of the millennium, it was the Razor Scooter craze. A thin-and-light scooter with impractically-small wheels, these vehicles were the ride of choice for tweens all over the US, at least before they got their own cars. Now, however, Razor is hoping to juice the nostalgia gland of all those kids by electrifying its original thin-and-light kick scooter. The Razor Icon is a scaled-up version of its original Model A, remade in the form of an e-scooter with the original-ish styling and detail.
The Icon is packing a 36V lithium-ion battery connected to a 350-watt motor that the company promises has a range of 18 miles, and a top speed of 18 miles per hour. Crafted with “aircraft grade aluminum” it’s designed to evoke those memories of kicking around your neighborhood or mall back when life was sweet. You’ll also find a LED headlamp and brake light to ensure you’re safe tootling around on those 8.5-inch airless tires.
Of course, this isn’t actually Razor’s first (second, or third) e-scooter, and it has a fairly beefy business offering a number of models. Earlier this year, it announced a partnership with Jeep to craft the RX200, an “off-road” scooter with a slow top speed but inflated tires and a 40-minute battery life. The models that Razor currently sell, however, do lack that certain stark something compared to its original, foot-powered design. It’s perhaps this issue more than the rest that the Icon is designed to address (although the E-Prime, I’ll admit, does come close).
Given that this is a nice piece of nostalgia it’s no surprise that the Razor Icon is being launched at Toy Fair today. And, naturally, it’s decided to take pre-orders for this thing via Kickstarter (Kickstarter! Another thing we can get nostalgic about) with early birds able to pick up a model for $549, while latecomers who spent their mornings pretending that listening to Warning was a good idea will have to spend $599.
Toyota has reportedly halted vehicle production at all its plants in Japan following a cyberattack against a major supplier, Nikkei has reported. "Due to a system failure at a domestic supplier (Kojima Industries Corporation), we have decided to suspend the operation of 28 lines at 14 plants in Japan on Tuesday, March 1st," Toyota wrote on its global website.
Kojima supplies both exterior and interior parts, including components used in its air-conditioning system and steering wheel. The parts weren't affected but Kojima was reportedly unable to communicate with Toyota or monitor production. The issue affected Toyota's "just in time" manufacturing system that requires parts be delivered just before they're installed so they don't have to be stocked.
Toyota didn't mention a cyberattack on its website, but Kojima confirmed the issue. "It is true that we have been hit by some kind of cyberattack. We are still confirming the damage and we are hurrying to respond, with the top priority of resuming Toyota's production system as soon as possible," a Kojima official told Nikkei.
Two other Toyota partners were reportedly hit, including truck manufacturer Hino Motors and Daihatsu Motor. The origins of the cyberattack, type of malware and other details have not been revealed. Toyota didn't say when it expects to restart the manufacturing lines, but the Japanese government is reportedly involved in the investigation.
While the Samsung T7 SSD has been on sale for a week or two, the T7 Touch portable drive has now joined it in being discounted. The palm-sized SSD in 1TB is down to $140, or 26 percent off its normal price. Only the black model is this low — if you really want the silver version, it'll cost you an extra $20 — but now's a good time to grab an extra drive and save $50 at the same time.
Storage gadgets can get expensive, especially when you want a 1TB or more of digital space, so we always recommend waiting for a sale like this one before buying. Samsung's T7 series has become one of our favorites in the portable SSD space for their pocket-friendly yet durable designs, fast performance and extra features like Dynamic Thermal Guard, AES 256-bit encryption and optional password protection. On top of all that, the Touch model has a built-in fingerprint reader for an extra layer of security.
The T7 Touch comes with both a USB-C to C and a USB-C to A cable, so you can use it with nearly any device you have — smartphone, tablet, laptop, some game consoles and more. If you have a tighter budget, you can still grab the 1TB Samsung T7 — which is identical to the Touch model, with the exception of the fingerprint reader — for $110, which is 35 percent off and the best price we've seen. And if you're looking for an internal SSD that will work with the PS5 you just got your hands on, Samsung's 980 Pro in 2TB is down to an all-time low of $280 right now, too.
Follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for the latest tech deals and buying advice.
Facebook has pulled a network of fake accounts attempting to spread Russian disinformation in Ukraine. The company said it had removed about 40 accounts, pages and groups from Facebook and Instagram that were detected over the last 48 hours.
Meanwhile, Russia has been restricting Twitter access for its citizens since early Saturday morning. According to internet monitor NetBlocks, there was a nearly complete blackout of the platform across all major domestic telecom providers. On Friday, the country’s telecom regulator, Roskomnadzor, began partially restricting access to Facebook after the social network refused to stop fact checking and labeling content from Russia’s state-owned news organizations.
Valve's first portable isn’t a mobile device to take on your everyday commute. It's more like a Steam Controller and a Steam Machine in one hefty package, and it isn’t all that comfortable to play for hours on end. But while it's hard for Senior Editor Jessica Conditt to recommend the Steam Deck as an introduction to PC gaming, it's a great second device for the millions of existing Steam users around the world, one that opens up new places to play around the house.
The Pokémon Company just surprised most of us. It revealed Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, two new Pokémon games, are set to launch sometime in late 2022. Building on the recently released Pokémon Legends: Arceus, developer Game Freak said the games would offer an "open-world adventure" for players to discover. Perhaps it’ll strike a balance between the newest Pokémon game and the mainline series.
A lot of us are obsessed with e-ink devices. The latest addition is a substantially sized e-ink tablet from Huawei. The MatePad Paper has a 10.3-inch grayscale screen with an anti-glare, reflective display to aid low-light use. The Paper can reproduce 256 shades of greyscale to display text and images — and even video. Not only does it have surprisingly tiny bezels, with an 86.3% screen-to-body ratio, but it’s also is compatible with Huawei’s M-Pencil, its second-generation stylus.
But getting the screen to work is staggeringly difficult.
TCL seems to love showing off its prototypes, and it’s doing the same for MWC 2022. Alongside an array of new phones and tablets, the company just debuted a concept device tentatively called the Ultra Flex — a phone with a 360-degree rotating hinge and a flexible display that bends with it. This thing can fold in on itself as well as outwards. However, it’s a little… no, very, delicate.
A lot of Engadget readers – and to be honest, Engadget editors – are obsessed with e-ink devices. Whether they’re productivity workhorses or digital canvases, the tech has slowly continued to inch beyond the one-handed e-readers of the last decade.
The latest addition is a substantially-sized e-ink tablet from Huawei. The MatePad Paper has a 10.3-inch grayscale screen with an anti-glare, reflective display to aid low-light use. The Paper can reproduce 256 shades of greyscale to display text and images – and even video — although I'm not sure why you'd want B&W video.
You probably already noticed it’s got surprisingly small bezels for an e-ink device. Huawei says it’s honed the tablet down to an 86.3 percent screen-to-body ratio, with a book spine-inspired design ensuring there's something for you to hold. All that e-paper, coupled with the size of the thing, sets it apart from pretty much every other e-ink device we’ve seen so far. (The Kindle DX was a long time ago.)
Alongside 32 levels of backlighting, the device is also compatible with Huawei’s M Pencil, which usually launches alongside its more typical tablets. This means you can scribble, annotate and edit your documents and books, which is a very useful tool when it comes to e-ink devices. Notably, Huawei has been able to refine the sensitivity of the textured screen to 26ms. It might not be quite as super smooth as an S22 Ultra – or even Huawei’s other tablets, but it's notable on a matte e-ink surface. Is this the perfect digital note-taking device?
Continuing Huawei’s push to connect all of its devices as seamlessly as possible, you can connect the MatePad Paper to the company’s laptops, PCs, tablets and phones. Huawei says the tablet will appear like a USB drive, and you can drag and drop your notes and annotated PDFs across to your laptop. This is possible thanks to the company's propriety operating system, HarmonyOS.
Huawei product announcements come with the usual proviso, however. The hardware is exciting – and tempting for anyone who works with lots of books, documents and digital paperwork — but you’ll be constrained by HarmonyOS.
The company says it's still growing out the ecosystem, but the onus remains on app creators and companies as to whether they’ll offer support. For example, There are a few ways I could check out my Kindle books on the MatePad Paper – maybe I could use the web-based reader? – but it won’t be as seamless as Amazon hardware. Then again, the MatePad Paper is also capable of more than a simple Kindle.
Huawei didn’t announce the availability and pricing of the MatePad Paper ahead of its MWC presentation. We’ll update this report when we hear more.
Catch up on all of the news from MWC 2022 right here!
The Steam Deck will start shipping in the next few days and while there's no real shortage of games to play on it, Valve is adding another one to the mix. The company that created the portable gaming system has created a Portal spinoff called Aperture Desk Job.
In the free playable short, you'll take on the role of a product inspector at Aperture, the corporation at the center of the Half-Life and Portal games. Valve says "Desk Job walks you through the handheld’s controls and features, while not being nearly as boring as that sounds." It seems to be a demo for the Steam Deck's capabilities, similar to how Astro's Playroom shows off the PS5 DualSense controller.
If you haven't been able to secure a Steam Deck just yet, you'll still be able to play Aperture Desk Job on PC. However, it's a controller-only game, so don't expect to play it with a keyboard and mouse.
A lot of people are going to compare the Steam Deck to the Switch, and that’s totally fair, but after spending more than a week with Valve’s portable PC, I think there’s a better analogy at hand: The Steam Deck is what happens when the Vita and the Wii U get drunk on Linux and make a big baby together.
The Steam Deck combines Valve’s familiar PC storefront with some of the best ideas from these iconic, discontinued consoles, and packs all of it into a beefy bit of hardware. Just like Sony and Nintendo did all those years before, with the Steam Deck Valve is silently asking, does anyone need this?
The short answer is, no. But you’re still gonna want one.
When I unboxed the Steam Deck and got a good look at Valve’s handheld PC for the very first time, I laughed. I couldn’t help it, but this thing is seriously so large it’s funny. The Steam Deck is 11.7 inches long, 4.6 inches tall and 1.9 inches thick, and it weighs 1.5 pounds. For comparison, the Switch Lite and Vita each weigh about half a pound, while the Wii U gamepad weighs just over 1 pound.
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The Steam Deck’s heft affects how I interact with every game in my Steam library. I find myself holding the system low in my lap, often propping it up on my thighs and craning my neck down in order to play. After about an hour in this position, the muscles along the back of my head start to ache, and I’ve been calling this phenomenon Steam Deck neck. It’s easily remedied with some stretching and repositioning, but the Steam Deck always ends up back on my lap and the cycle of discomfort continues.
And then there’s the sheer size of the thing. Anyone with smaller-than-average hands, here’s where you need to listen up.
The Steam Deck is a full-size controller with a 7-inch LCD touchscreen in the middle; it has big, rounded grips, haptic trackpads on either side of the screen, and analog sticks and face buttons above those. Two bumpers line the top, with two triggers and four clickers on the back. At more than 4.5 inches tall, I’m unable to rest the Steam Deck on my palms while also reaching the top buttons with my thumbs, and even using the analog sticks is difficult in this position. I have to support the controller by clutching the grips about an inch above the bottom, straining my pinky fingers and encroaching on the back buttons in a way that renders them useless. It truly feels like my hands are too small for the Steam Deck.
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Each game uses a unique input method, and some titles cause more aching in my palms than others. Swapping rapidly among the right analog stick and face buttons, as in action games or shooters, tends to speed up my discomfort. But trackpad- and touchscreen-heavy games like Inscryption and World of Horror allow me to move my hands down or even just place the Steam Deck on a table, where I can tap away with my tiny fingers.
At the risk of narrowing my audience even more, I’d like to note that full-set manicures present a specific problem with the Steam Deck: The options tab is the perfect thumb-nail distance from the X button, and I’ve accidentally pressed it a handful of times while slaying demons in Devil May Cry 5. To all six of you who care, you’re welcome.
The ergonomics of the Steam Deck will vary with each user, and people with larger hands than mine will likely have a less crampy time. But I bet their palms will still get sweaty.
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The Steam Deck runs hot, but it’s never scalding to the touch — instead, it feels like all that heat is dispersed throughout the device, including in the controller grips. After about 30 minutes of playing any game, my palms get warm enough to start sweating, in a way that’s never happened with a DualSense or Xbox controller. The first time this happened, I blamed it on the pile of blankets I was buried under, but sweaty palm syndrome is a consistent occurrence with the Steam Deck. Additionally, the system fan regularly blows hot air from the top of the machine and this makes a noticeable amount of noise, though it’s nothing extreme. Noisewise, you’ll be fine pulling this baby out on public transportation. Sizewise, that’s your call.
Because of the sweaty palms, finger cramps and Steam Deck Neck, my play sessions max out at two hours. This isn’t terrible in terms of actual playtime, and it means I’ve never run into a battery issue with the Steam Deck. Valve says the system will get two to eight hours of life on a single charge, depending on what games you’re playing and their settings. This aligns with my experience — Devil May Cry 5 definitely sucks more juice out of the battery than World of Horror, as does playing above 30 fps and 50 percent brightness. To that end, there's an option to lock games at 30 fps and it's possible to adjust screen brightness at any time.
This review is based on the mid-tier Steam Deck with 256GB of NVMe SSD storage, priced at $530. There’s also a 512GB model with a high-speed SSD and anti-glare etched glass that costs $650, and a 64GB version that’s just $400. Aside from offering a dismal amount of storage space, the 64GB model uses much slower eMMC storage, and I haven’t seen what that looks like in person.
All versions of the Steam Deck have the same AMD APU, which shares a lot of DNA with the chips inside the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, along with 16GB of fast RAM, a 40Whr battery and a 7-inch 800p 60Hz display. SteamOS runs the whole damn thing and it takes up 30GB on my mid-tier model, leaving it with 227GB free — so keep that calculation in mind, too. There is a high-speed microSD slot so players can expand their libraries and even play games directly off a card, but internal storage is definitely faster than this method.
Now, the games. The Steam Deck is technically a handheld PC, which means it can theoretically support every game in Valve’s library, though this isn’t the case out of the box. Some Steam titles are officially optimized for the system, while some are not supported at all, and others are functioning on pure hope. There are four optimization levels — Verified, Playable, Unsupported and Untested — and so far, roughly 10 percent of my library falls in the Verified category. Valve rolled out a website where players can see how their games will fare on the Steam Deck, and across the board, the bulk of these titles are falling under the Untested category.
There is a workaround here, if you're willing to put in the effort. The Steam Deck runs on a Linux-based operating system because that's very much Valve's thing, and this is the culprit behind the device's compatibility issues. While some games run natively, the majority utilize Valve's Proton compatibility layer to run Windows games. Proton has improved significantly over the years, but there are still a lot of issues, especially with online games that have aggressive anti-cheat solutions. If there's a specific game you're curious about, there are sites that collate user reports like ProtonDB which should give you an idea of how well something will run.
However, the Steam Deck is an open platform, and it's possible to install Windows on the system and boot up Steam from there, with all the compatibility of a standard PC. This isn't what the device was built to do, presenting a handful of UX concerns out of the gate, and more importantly, it's not how the majority of owners are going to use the Steam Deck. For most players, it'll be all about compatibility labels.
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I haven’t had a game-breaking issue with any Verified game on Steam Deck, and at worst, I’ve had to spend a few seconds adjusting framerate and brightness settings. In my experience, games labeled Playable generally perform well, though they often require a second glance at the control layout. Playing Inscryption, I was stuck on a scene for a few minutes before realizing I simply had to pull up the on-screen keyboard, which is accessible in the Quick Settings overlay at any time. A prompt appears before installing Playable games outlining their known issues on Steam Deck, like small font or mouse-and-keyboard icons, and it’s easy to make a decision about installing from there.
When it comes to Untested games, you’re on your own. This is the Steam Deck’s wild west, and I’ve seen it all from titles in this category: Artful Escape won’t even load past the developer logo; BPM plays fine but it’s visually blown out; Kentucky Route Zero runs beautifully.
Figuring out how to unbreak a partially supported title on Steam Deck is a game in itself. My advice: If there’s a title you desperately want to play without interruption or frustration, then don’t play it on Steam Deck unless it’s Verified. You’ll likely just be annoyed and disappointed and probably a little sad.
This also might happen when trying to pair Bluetooth devices with the Steam Deck. This process has been hit-and-miss for me — my Xbox controllers refuse to connect to the Steam Deck (no, they weren’t paired with another device at the time) and my Samsung Galaxy Buds don’t even show up as available. However, my new Marshall Bluetooth speaker connects to the Steam Deck without fuss.
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The device's USB-C port makes it possible to hook up a hub and connect a mouse, keyboard, display and ethernet cable, though I didn't try this out. The official Dock, which is designed just for this use case, won't come out until late spring and I'll give it a whirl then.
I tested a handful of familiar games on Steam Deck, including Hades, Celeste, Devil May Cry 5, Inscryption, Cuphead and World of Horror, and I wouldn’t say that it felt better to play any title on the handheld, rather than PC. However, the Steam Deck delivers something worthwhile: flexibility.
The Steam Deck allows me to step away from my desktop, where I spend all day working, and play my games somewhere I can fully relax. Sure, this is already possible through Steam Link, but the Steam Deck makes the process more luxurious. I’ve loved having one in the house, and truly, it couldn’t have come at a better time. I just moved and I don’t have a TV yet, so I haven’t been able to escape to my living room after work as usual. The Steam Deck has filled the void left vacant by my PS5 and Xbox Series S, allowing me to play on the couch at the end of the day — at least until my neck gets sore.
Engadget
The Steam Deck’s battery life is less of an issue than I thought it would be, largely because the way I use the machine is different than I first imagined. Initially, I figured the Steam Deck would be more like a Switch Lite, something to throw in my bag and take out into the world, a truly mobile version of my Steam library. But in practice, I use the Steam Deck more like a Wii U — it stays at home and I play it on the couch after work or in bed at night, never far from its charger or a sensible tabletop to rest it on.
The Steam Deck is a Frankenstein synthesis of a Wii U and a Vita, but with Valve’s DNA coursing through its cables. It’s a Steam Controller and a Steam Machine in one hefty package, and I’ve come to appreciate it for what it does best. The Steam Deck isn’t a mobile device to take on your everyday commute; it’s a Steam library extender, opening up new places to play around the house. I wouldn’t recommend the Steam Deck as an introduction to PC gaming, but for millions of existing Steam users, it’s worth the price of entry, even if you just play a few times a month, two hours at a time.
