Steam Deck mod removes the screen and controls for a different portable experience

The Nintendo Switch kicked off a handheld gaming renaissance that didn’t immediately catch on in the PC market, aside from a few lesser-known brands like GPD and AYANEO. It wasn’t until Valve, the creator of the biggest PC game distribution platform, launched the Steam Deck that it picked up, well, steam among other PC manufacturers like Lenovo and ASUS. Now we have almost a dozen products in this niche category, but the Steam Deck remains a popular choice.

Almost like the Switch itself, the Steam Deck hasn’t changed its design or most of its specs since it launched in 2022, only coming out with an OLED model a year later. There are definitely smaller and more portable designs now available, but it isn’t exactly a behemoth compared to some that now have 8-inch or even 11-inch screens. Apparently, it was still too big for someone’s backpack, leading to this rather curious mod that guts the Steam Deck of the things that make it special, effectively turning it into a portable gaming mini PC.

Designer: crastinator-pro

The appeal of handheld gaming PCs like the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck is that they are pretty much all-in-one computers that you can take with you anywhere and play on the go. You don’t need to attach a monitor or peripherals to use them, making them easier to carry, at least in theory. Compared to the Switch, however, the Steam Deck and other handheld PCs are pretty big and thick, not gigantic but bulky enough to be inconvenient to some people.

The Steam Brick is a DIY solution that cuts the Steam Deck down to a brick, almost literally. It basically removes the screen and the controllers, cuts the metal frame down to size, and crams all the core components, including the battery, back into a 3D-printed enclosure. It still runs, of course, but now it’s just a box that’s like a mini PC with a built-in battery.

What’s the point, you might ask? It’s for easier portability, to the point that you can simply throw the Steam Brick into a backpack and not worry about scratching the screen or damaging joysticks and buttons. You’ll need a screen and a controller to actually use the computer, of course, but AR glasses like Xreal are quite accessible these days. You can argue that these peripherals actually add even more to what you need to bring and remove the ability to just quickly play a game any time, but the designer said that he almost always uses the glasses with the original Steam Deck anyway.

Unlike other Steam Deck mods, this particular project is even more difficult, even for seasoned modders and makers. The one advantage is that the Steam Deck actually has an official repair guide from Valve and iFixit, making it slightly easier to know your way around the internals. Given how some AR glasses need a portable device to connect to, the Steam Brick could actually be the blueprint for a portable AR PC as well.

The post Steam Deck mod removes the screen and controls for a different portable experience first appeared on Yanko Design.