Players report that Valve’s most expensive Steam deck is prone to cracks

The nearly $700 limited edition Steam Deck OLED was released in November 2023 and featured all the improvements of the normal OLED deck, but also featured a translucent plastic shell. But this more expensive, limited edition variant appears to be cracking due to over-tight screws and possible problems with the special plastic used to make the transparent case.

Since its initial release in 2022, Valve’s portable PC the Steam Deckwas a huge success for the company and helped usher in a new era of portable, Switch-like PC devices. To stay ahead and beat new competition, Valve released the Steam Deck OLED in late 2023, an updated version of the device with a slicker screen, more storage and a better battery. Besides, Valve has released an updated limited edition version of the OLED deck, which cost $680 more than other versions and featured additional decorative details such as colored vents and a transparent cover. However, this most expensive version of the device appears to be prone to cracking, according to many on Reddit.

Over on the Steam Deck subreddit, You can find many different Owners share photos And Stories about discovering tiny cracks in the Back of her fairly new one Limited Edition OLED Steam Decks. The cracks are usually located near screws on the back of the device.

“I woke up this morning to an unfortunate surprise” a user posted on April 1st. “The plastic tray next to the vent cracked and now the area near the SD card slot is wobbly. I have never dropped my deck and always store it in the provided case when not in use. I hope it’s not a quality issue with the clear shell material, so I’m posting this in case other people with LE experience the same thing.”

Others responded to the replies saying that they had also found similar cracks in their limited edition decks.

“Wow. Turns out I have these cracks too. That’s pretty stupid,” one user replied.

“I checked mine and it happened to me too. Oh no,” someone else posted.

When I looked around the subreddit, I found tons of them Posts and comments where people claim to have reviewed their LE OLED Steam Decks and discovered tiny cracks on the back.

While some owners have reported Valve wasn’t ready To Replace devices or Offer free corrections, others claim to have had greater success After sharing the numerous posts, images, and threads regarding the cracks with the company, it appears that this is a widespread problem including the plastic and it’s not just about someone dropping their Steam deck. At the moment it seems to be a bit hit and miss. My city has contacted Valve for more information.

What to do to prevent this is the most popular solution Loosen the screws Press lightly on the back of the Steam Deck to avoid putting undue stress on the plastic. Some people have claimed that the screws on the back of the Steam Deck OLED are sometimes too tight, causing cracks.

Luckily the cracks are small and appear to be cosmetic only. I haven’t seen any evidence that these cracks cause serious damage or make the device unplayable or anything like that. However, I can understand that after spending almost $700 on a new device, it can be very frustrating to see tiny cracks forming on the back of the device.

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