Welcome back to my desk. Today we're going to be taking apart the brand new
Steam- Deck - the mobile gaming system. If you remember from my durability test video I am giving
one of these away. Sold out everywhere, the one we are giving away is brand new, pristine....although
if you'd like me to rough it up a bit before I send it over, I'm sure we can arrange something.
And like always, after picking the winner of the giveaway I will be buying the shipping
with Stamps.com. Huge thanks to Stamps.com for sponsoring this video. I've been using Stamps.com
for the last few years to ship everything, whether it's my JerryRigEverything Knives, t-shirts,
or stuff for the winners of giveaways, Stamps.com makes it quick and easy. But most importantly,
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send it. If you want to keep money in your pocket, just head to Stamps.com/JerryRig
to get a free trial, free postage, and a free 5 pound digital scale. And like always, no long term
commitments or contracts, just how we like it. Stamps.com/JerryRig. And of course I'll get right
back to shipping my knives and stuff as soon as we finish with this teardown. Let's get started.
[Intro]
The Steam Deck is a hand held portable device that lets you carry around your computer games in one
convenient location. It's like a slightly nerdier version of the Nintendo Switch.
No detachable controllers though, it's all one solid unit. I'll leave the gaming and software
analysis to other reviewers though. Today we're going to take it apart and see how it's all
put together. It's actually surprisingly easy, with just 8 screws around the back.
Four large black Phillips head screws around the edges, and four smaller screws in the center.
The screws are self tapping and screwed into plastic.
Steam has said that once it's open it'll never quite be the same again since the screws will
rethread themselves as it's assembled. Not too big of a deal, just something to keep in mind.
After the screws are gone I can take my plastic pry tool and pop the clasps around the edges,
and the whole thing is open. Not too shabby.
There's a lot to take in back here but the first thing we can look at is the metal grill
that's attached to the rear panel for the fan intake. It's kind of plastic riveted in place.
And surprisingly it's made from little hexagons, just like my JerryRig Razor Knife, link in the
description. Back here, as well, we have the 4 programmable buttons attached inside the grips.
These are just little flippy boys that flex inward ever so slightly when pressed,
then come in contact with the button that's attached to the motherboard. Interesting that
the two visible circuit boards have a large R and L on them to help keep things organized.
I'm a fan of that. There's so much going on in here. Just like the Nintendo Switch we do have
a large fan inside. And just like the Nintendo Switch we also have a large battery inside.
Although instead of the 4,000 milliamp hours, this Steam Deck has 5,000. But more on that later.
Let's check out the cooling system. The black sticker on the bottom is purely aesthetic. It's
what you see underneath the fan intake grill. It runs from that intake along the top of the metal
plate, into the fan, and then gets shot out the top of the device. The metal plate is probably
here so that metal dust doesn't accumulate on top of the motherboard circuits. But how does
that airflow aid in the cooling? Removing three more black Phillips head screws we can see that
there are some rather juicy looking thermal foam pads resting on top of the components that need
focused cooling. Kind of like thermal paste on a processor, except for different. The smooshy
bits might look like angel food cake, but I can assure you they do not taste like angel food cake.
The fan isn't necessarily drawing air in through any specific channel or conduit, like we saw on
the Legion Dual 2, may it rest in peace. Instead this Steam Deck just kind of pulls air in from all
over the deck and shoots it out the top...like a PC case with a single large fan in the back.
With the battery unplugged we can take out another screw over the internal SSD.
It's super easy to remove, just like we would see inside of a laptop,
except for that this time it's wearing a fancy little silver dress. Styling for
sure. Apparently the dress is to help keep the drive isolated from the rest of the circuits so
that it doesn't receive or create any electronic interference. Not sure if these are swappable yet,
but with iFixit being responsible for all the Steam Deck replacement parts,
due later this summer, we should find out more about compatibility soon enough. Fun fact:
as I'm uploading this video, it looks like iFixit has uploaded some parts on their websites.
Replacement screens are around $60, rear plastic housings are $25, fans $25, and the thumbstick
is $20. There are no motherboards or SSDs yet, but it would be cool at some point if you could
build your own Steam Deck right from iFixit's website. As soon as they become available I might
just try it. Super cool of Valve to preemptively allow repairs though. Thumbs up for that.
Speaking of thumbs, the next out are the dual thumbsticks on either side of the deck.
If the Nintendo Switch taught us anything it's that the joysticks are probably going
to be the first component that bites the dust. My own Switch ended up drifting on
both joycons after just a few years. So it's nice that these can be replaced within minutes.
The red wire running through the top is for the capacitive plate on the upper side of the thumb
stick. The left joystick is a mirrored image of the right joystick and have their corresponding
R's and L's on the board to keep them organized. Next up, we have more of the cooling system,
a large copper heatpipe that rests on the main processor, and takes advantage of all
that airflow leaving the Steam Deck next to the fan. There's a bunch of thin slivers of copper
that act as a radiator that help keep the vapor in that chamber cool, and the main processor at
a reasonable temperature. I guess this is where the Deck lets off its steam. Buh-dum-ching.
The next thing I want to take a look at is the large square touchpad
which should be hiding somewhere underneath this daughterboard. We can undo a few more
screws and unclip the right trigger, which has yet another screw hiding underneath. The spring
is the part that keeps the trigger springy. With the trigger gone we can start unlatching ribbons.
Ribbons are what join all the different boards together. There are no Lego-style connectors.
Remember there is also no IP rating or water protection on this thing,
so keeping it away from water is very important. The daughterboard is rather uneventful, but what
lies beneath is rather extraordinary. The trackpad is resting on its own string suspension system.
The springs keep the gold portion of the track pad positioned just above the board of the track pad.
And the serpent of wires on the board help relay where your finger is positioned as it's scrolling.
You can see how it flexes when I'm pushing up against it from the outside.
I do, however, want to go deeper. So I'll unscrew the springy bits which allows us to
pull the track pad out completely, away from the Steam Deck body. Pretty slick little component.
You'll notice that there is a red and black wire leaving from the trackpad, and that's because
there's something special inside. I thought the entrance might be under the gold portion,
but it's definitely not. Fingers crossed that this still works when I put it back together.
The entrance is actually located on the top portion of the track pad, which can unsnap
and separate, revealing that the red and black wires lead to another circuit board that's inside,
running an internal vibrator for the instant haptic feedback. Each of the track pads has its
own motor. And once again, cute little R inside in case you sneeze and all your parts get mixed up
while you're working on it. Speaking of which, I'll get this trackpad put back in place before
I forget how it's all situated. Up in the top corner we have our visually awkward looking
but cosmetically comfortable action buttons. This side is the XYAB buttons and they work by having a
conductive surface on the board that activates when a portion of a conductive piece of rubber
comes in contact with it. Very similar to the Nintendo Switch and handheld controllers since the
dawn of time, including the old school Nintendo controllers that did this as well. The exterior
plastic button sits on the rubber and when pressed, the contact pad on the bottom touches
the board allowing you to vanquish all your enemies, or plant trees in farmville. I don't know
what games bring you joy. It's nice that rubber basically has infinite flex and probably won't
ever wear out within the lifespan of the Deck. Each of the plastic buttons also only goes in
one position, so it's impossible to mix up their locations, or for the letters to be upside down.
Valve is doing us a favor by allowing repairs and also minimizing the ways it can be assembled
incorrectly. Very much appreciated. And we haven't even gotten to the motherboard yet. It's got a few
screws of its own, some signal wires, and for some complicated reason, two more ribbon cables plugged
into the backside. On a device that's easy to take apart, this is a strange move. But there you have
it. The mainboard in all its chippy glory. There is a black protective plastic layer on the back.
That's probably because underneath the motherboard is a metal subframe,
which probably also held with the structural portion of the bend test. We can see the ribbon
from the screen popping up behind the board. We also have an inside look at the headphone
jack and buttons for the volume adjustments. They have their own board as well. Finally, the massive
battery. About 1,000 milliamps larger than the Nintendo Switch, it's a pretty big boy. The only
downside is that just like the Nintendo Switch, there is a ton of glue holding it in place. I
could probably use a bunch of heat or drip some isopropyl alcohol behind to dissolve the adhesive,
but I don't feel like exploding today. And I also want this thing to keep working when it's put back
together. Aggressively handled and bent batteries don't end up lasting for very long afterwards.
So we'll just politely ask Valve for some magic pull tabs on the Steam Deck too.
And of course, we have the centrally positioned fan.
Overall I'm pretty impressed. While my personal gaming skills probably peaked with Pokemon Blue
on the GameBoy Color, I can appreciate the epic leap this Steam Deck makes with mobile gaming.
Rumor has it that Age of Empires might also be playable on the Deck.
Let me know what your favorite game is and maybe I'll give it a shot.
With all the self tapping screws back in place on the back panel,
I can plug it in and it looks like we might just be successful. Quite honestly though,
if you want to save yourself the hassle of taking apart your own Steam Deck,
but still want to see all the epicness inside, my Teardown Skin for this console is probably
one of the coolest ones we've ever made. With the vibrators visible underneath the touchpads,
and the fan, battery, and all boards laid out with their L's and R's, no Steam Deck would be complete
without it in my opinion. I'll leave my dbrand link down in the video description so you can
grab one for yourself. And as far as functionality goes, it looks like everything is still working.
Joysticks, action buttons, and even both trackpads. Not too shabby.
Let me know what your current favorite game is down in the comments.
Since this works I'll be looking for some new ones. Come hang out with me
on Instagram and Twitter. And thanks a ton for watching. I'll see you around.