Do Steam Deck Owners Want the OLED Upgrade? - Survey Results/Analysis

With the announcement of the Steam Deck OLED, we finally have the upgrade that I have been hoping for this whole time. I love the OLED screen, so getting a new updated refresh that specifically has this is extremely exciting for me. While I can say it will be a guaranteed purchase on my end, there have been a decent amount of people who have mentioned wanting to stick to their LCD version and don't feel any need to upgrade.

Seeing this, I created a small survey to gauge interest in the Steam Deck OLED and see if those who already own a Deck feel compelled to upgrade. While I wasn't surprised by some of the data, there were a couple of aspects that did shock me and it was interesting to see nonetheless. And, with over 3,000 responses, we got a decent sample to go off of!

I also want to give a quick thank you to Cryobyte33, Deck Wizard, Fan the Deck, GamingOnLinux, and Hi-Tech-Lo-Life for helping spread the survey around their communities. They are all awesome creators/outlets and I can't recommend checking them out enough. And thank you to everyone who responded, we appreciate it immensely!

Steam Deck OLED Survey Results

Now, let's get to the results. The purpose behind the survey was to gauge interest in current Steam Deck owners to see if they feel compelled to upgrade to the new device. With 3,449 responses, the feeling was quite split. Of the respondees, 87.2% said they already owned a Steam Deck, while 12.8% said they didn't. Of these, 51.3% said they plan to purchase a Steam Deck OLED and 48.7% said they wouldn't. When I first posted the survey, it was pretty evenly split with more saying they wouldn't purchase one, so the minor difference is interesting.

Of the 1,770 who said they would be getting a Steam Deck OLED, 349 of them didn't have a Steam Deck already, while 1,422 already have the LCD version. Of the 1,678 who said they won't be purchasing an OLED version, 93 of them don't own either, while 1,585 already own the LCD version.

What makes this a bit intriguing is that of those who already own a Deck, the slim majority aren't considering upgrading, but almost 50% of respondants who already own a Steam Deck plan to upgrade, despite the lack of any discounts or trade-in programs. I also asked what respondants will do with the old Deck if they upgrade, and most mentioned they would either sell it or give it to a family member or significant other. It was also mentioned that they may just keep it docked 24/7 and use it like a normal PC or game console.

As for why some would upgrade, the consensus seems to be on the screen and increased battery life being the driving factors, and for those who are skipping it, they either found the upgrade not big enough, too costly, or not available in their country. For those skipping, most will be waiting for the next generation Steam Deck.

On X (formerly Twitter), I posted a poll asking if anyone who is skipping the OLED would consider it if Valve had a trade-in or buy-back program. Of the 3,802 votes at the time of writing this, the majority overwhelmingly said yes.

With most being open to this idea, there were some comments that mentioned that most companies don't offer these kinds of incentives. This is true, and it got me thinking why it's being brought up often with this device. While Nintendo, Sony, and Xbox don't directly offer trade-ins, I realized that the stores we buy them from do. GameStop is a big one that will generally offer these programs and give you money towards the new console or mid-generation refresh. With the Steam Deck being primarily available online, this isn't an option.

On top of that, the original Steam Deck started shipping less than 2 years ago and this new model has some pretty hefty upgrades to it. The handheld PC market has regularly brought out new updated models on a faster turnaround, but the market is still new for the general consumer. And with a lot of people viewing this closer to a console, I can see why the demand for some program like this is louder here.

Overall, I am intrigued by the responses we got and fascinated that so many current owners are willing to shell out another $500-$600 for a new model so quickly. The upgrades are fantastic, with a bigger battery, significantly better screen, better Wi-Fi chip, smaller APU (6nm), and so much more. I am looking forward to getting my hands on one myself and can't wait for the release in 2 days!

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