Nintendo Switch 2 vs Steam Deck: Find the perfect console today! ⚡🕹️

Nintendo Switch 2 vs. Steam Deck: Who's Dominating the Game? 🎮🔥

Since its launch, June 5, 2025, the Nintendo Switch 2 It became the best-selling hybrid console in Nintendo's history, with more than 3.5 million units dispatched in just four days; it is estimated that June closed with about 5.4 million and plans to reach between 15 and 20 million of units sold by March 2026 🏆📈 .

Although its performance is roughly at the level of a PlayStation 4, the use of DLSS allows demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 either Hogwarts Legacy work without major sacrifices, and even in native 1080p resolution at 60–120 fps in portable mode or 4K when in dock mode with ray-tracing support.

For its part, the Steam Deck OLED, since its release in November 2023, remains a favorite among PC gamers for its incredible 7.4″ OLED display (90 Hz) and its 16 GB of RAM, allowing you greater multitasking freedom and direct access to your Steam library theomenmedia.com. In raw performance, it often outperforms the Switch 2 in games like Cyberpunk 2077, reaching a 24 % more FPS on average, although at the cost of significantly higher consumption and lower autonomy.

So, which one should you choose? In this article, we'll take a closer look at both models: real-world performance, design, battery life, price, and benefits based on your gaming style. 💡🎮

Nintendo Switch 2 vs Steam Deck: CPU and GPU

Both consoles have quite different configurationsThe Nintendo Switch 2 features an 8-core ARM processor and an integrated NVIDIA GPU based on the Ampere architecture, while the Steam Deck opts for an AMD Zen 2 processor with four cores and eight threads, as well as an integrated Radeon RDNA 2 GPU.

Despite these technical differences, the raw power between the two consoles is quite comparable. The Nintendo Switch 2's GPU reaches 1.72 TFLOPS in FP32, while the Steam Deck offers 1.63 TFLOPS in FP32. That difference is minimal, and both use competing architectures at their respective launches (both Ampere and RDNA 2 emerged in 2020).

However, the Ampere architecture features more advanced and powerful ray tracing cores, and its tensor cores allow the Nintendo Switch 2 take advantage of NVIDIA DLSS 4, A rescaling technology far superior to AMD FSR 3, which is what the Steam Deck's GPU supports. This means:

• Both consoles have similar power in FP32.
• Steam Deck has a lower CPU core count, but the same number of threads.
• The Steam Deck's CPU is more powerful in single-threaded tasks.
• The Nintendo Switch 2 GPU excels at ray tracing, supports more advanced technologies, and features optimized, AI-enhanced, hardware-accelerated upscaling.

Who wins?

The winner in this round is Nintendo Switch 2, not because it's much more powerful than the Steam Deck, which it isn't, but because of the significant value that NVIDIA DLSS 4 support brings to games. This technology will make a huge difference, and we can be sure of it. 🚀

Unified memory and storage

The Nintendo Switch 2 includes a total of 12GB of LPDDR5X unified memory. While Nintendo hasn't confirmed its speed, recent leaks indicate it could be around 7,500 MbpsOn the other hand, the Steam Deck has 16 GB of LPDDR5 unified memory, at 5,500 Mbps in its LCD model, and 6,400 Mbps in the OLED version.

Both consoles use memory interchangeably, functioning as RAM and graphics memory, so It is distributed between the CPU and GPU. Having more capacity is a considerable advantage, and bandwidth plays a key role in improving graphics performance by facilitating faster communications.

The Nintendo Switch 2 storage is UFS 3.1, with a capacity of 256 GB and a speed of 2,100 MB/s. In comparison, the base LCD version of the Steam Deck has a 256 GB SSD, which reaches almost 2,400 MB/s, a speed similar to that of the SSD drives in the Xbox Series S and Series X consoles.

Who wins?

In terms of memory Steam Deck takes the lead thanks to its capacity, as it has 4 GB more, although the Nintendo Switch 2 stands out in bandwidth. Both consoles have the same storage capacity, but Valve's drive is slightly faster.

Screen: a double comparison

Steam Deck is available at two versions, so it is necessary to carry out a double comparison to be fair and truly clarify the differences between the two consoles. ⚖️

We'll start with the Nintendo Switch 2, as there's only one model. This console's screen:

• It has a size of 7.9 inches.
• It uses an LCD panel with 1080p resolution.
• It has a refresh rate of 120 Hz.
• Supports VRR and HDR10.

The Steam Deck screen on your original model:

• It has a size of 7 inches.
• It is LCD with 800p resolution.
• Its refresh rate is 60 Hz.
• VRR and HDR are not supported in handheld mode; these functions are limited to dock mode.

The Steam Deck OLED display is noticeably better than the previous one, since:

• Its size is 7.4 inches.
• It uses OLED technology with 800p resolution.
• It offers a refresh rate of 90 Hz.
• It supports HDR, but does not yet have support for VRR in handheld mode.

Who wins?

Nintendo Switch 2 has a significantly larger screen than the Steam Deck. It offers a larger size, better pixel density, a higher refresh rate, and supports both VRR and HDR10.

As for the Steam Deck OLED, Its OLED panel provides superior image quality and color representation to the Nintendo Switch 2's screen, although the latter has a better resolution, refresh rate, and VRR support. In this regard, the competition is much more balanced, and I personally would lean toward the OLED panel. 🌈

Connectivity, battery life, and autonomy: how many hours of play do they offer?

In terms of wireless connectivity, the Steam Deck features Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0The OLED version is more modern, as it offers support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. For its part, Nintendo Switch 2 comes equipped with connectivity Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 5.X.

Regarding the battery, Nintendo Switch 2 has a capacity of 5,220 mAh, which allows it to offer between 2 and 6.5 hours of play. In contrast, the Steam Deck features a 5,313 mAh battery, allowing you to play between 2 and 8 hours. The Steam Deck OLED model, with a 6,470 mAh battery, achieves between 3 and 12 hours of gameplay. 🔋

Unfortunately, the Nintendo Switch 2 has the smallest battery, while the Steam Deck OLED has the largest. While battery size is essential, the ultimate battery life It also depends on the consumption of each component involved in both consoles, which can lead to significant differences.

Who wins?

As for hours of play, the clear winner is Steam Deck OLED, which offers twice the autonomy maximum per charge of its battery compared to Nintendo Switch 2. The base model of Steam Deck also provides more autonomy than Nintendo's new console.

Gaming Performance: A Tie?

Although it is still early to carry out a complete performance comparison between the two consoles, thanks to the version of Cyberpunk 2077 for Nintendo Switch 2, we can make a first approximation on how both models perform.

Cyberpunk 2077 will run on Nintendo Switch 2 with dynamic resolution, ranging from 540p and 1080p. Its graphical quality will be higher than the PS4 version, which was less powerful than the low quality setting on PC, so it may be comparable to the low or medium quality on the PC version.

However, Nintendo's new console **cannot maintain a stable 30 FPS** in this configuration, as confirmed by Digital Foundry.

When compared to the performance that the Steam Deck can achieve in this game, the situation becomes very interesting. Cyberpunk 2077 on this console runs at an average of 40 FPS at 720p resolution, using FSR 2 in balanced mode and medium quality.

This leaves us with a minimum actual resolution slightly lower than those 540p of Nintendo Switch 2, but offers greater fluidity, as well as perhaps higher graphical quality, given that it has not been confirmed that the version for Nintendo's new console actually uses the equivalent of medium quality on PC.

Who wins?

The competition is fairly evenly matched, and this may be the norm for most current-gen games on both consoles. However, DLSS 4 technology could give the Nintendo Switch 2 a considerable advantage, as it provides a better balance between performance and image quality. 🎯

Also, we must not forget that Nintendo Switch 2 is designed with fully customized and optimized developments for its hardware, which could also give it an advantage over the Steam Deck.

Game catalog and price: Nintendo Switch 2 has a problem

Steam Deck has an impressive catalog, surpassing the 18,000 games verified and playable, a number that continues to grow every month. Nintendo Switch 2 probably won't achieve such an extensive catalog, but it will have full collaboration from developers, which means:

• It will feature exclusive third-party games. The first confirmed game is From Software's The Duskbloods.
• You'll receive current-generation games tailored and optimized for your hardware.

This console will also enjoy a very significant advantage, as it will have Nintendo's exclusive franchises, which are highly valued in the world of video games, and will be backward compatible with most Nintendo Switch titles.

The cost of games is a complex issue. Steam Deck has a considerable advantage in this section, since the games are usually quite cheap, and we can also take advantage of Steam offers, where we often find AAA titles between 5 and 20 euros.

In contrast, the Nintendo Switch 2 presents a very different situation. Nintendo has confirmed that games for this console will be able to cost up to 90 euros, depending on the format chosen. In digital format they will be cheaper, but they can still reach up to 80 euros.

If we talk about the prices of both consoles, Steam Deck has the advantage of being more affordable than Nintendo Switch 2, with a cost of 419 euros in its 256 GB version. On the other hand, the Nintendo console will have a price of 469.99 euros, which means it's 50.99 euros more expensive. The Steam Deck OLED in its 512 GB version is priced at 569 euros, almost 100 euros more than Nintendo's handheld. 💰💥

Conclusions: advantages and disadvantages of each console

Nintendo Switch 2

Steam Deck

Steam Deck OLED