The Steam Deck OLED has joined Valve’s Certified Refurbished programme, offering a much cheaper way of getting your hands on the best handheld PC around. Provided you don’t mind it being in someone else’s first, anyway. As with official refurbs of the original Steam Deck, “certified” Steam Deck OLEDs are formerly-broken models that have been returned to Valve, fixed up and tested in-house, then put back on the market at steep discounts. You’re looking at £389/$439 for the 512GB spec and £459/$519 for 1TB, down from £479/$549 and £569/$649 respectively.
I’ve not used one of these freshened-up Decks myself, but I have had broadly good experiences with professionally refurbished tech – a gamepad here, a monitor there – so I’ve nothing against the concept. Especially when it makes the already-worthwhile Steam Deck OLED even more attainable, next to increasingly pricey rivals like the Zotac Zone and Asus ROG Ally X. There are, however, a couple of catches. One, this doesn’t include either of the limited edition OLED models Valve have released, including that eye-catching white version. And two, stock availability is going to be unreliable. Both 512GB and 1TB variants are currently out of stock in the UK, though the US seems to have some still going.
The problem is that supply is wholly reliant on Steam Deck OLED owners returning their on-the-fritz handhelds under RMA. The more that selfishly continue to work normally, the fewer opportunities there’ll be to pick up a certified refurb at a bargain price.
As such, if this deal does interest you, it may need to be… provoked. Here are some ideas on how you can get the process moving along:
- Befriend a Steam Deck owner, then Sellotape over the rear air vents when they aren’t looking
- Start an Angus Steakhouse-style psyop campaign wherein you convince Steam Deck OLED users that it will run faster if fully submerged in a vat of ghee
- Walk up to people in the street, slap their Stream Deck OLED out of their hands, then run off laughing
You’re welcome.