Did you know that the Steam Deck emits a scent? An intoxicating aroma all its own? Well, it does, although you’ve really gotta shove your nostrils up in its vents to get a good whiff. People have been “huffing Deck” – definitely a real phrase and not something I just came up with – pretty much since the handheld came out in 2022, but this week Valve officially advised against it “for the safety of your health." If I, someone who had not previously inhaled those magnificent fumes, am any indication, this approach backfired.
It should be noted that, according to Valve, ambient intake of Deck fumes is not dangerous. It only becomes a problem, apparently, if you regularly get up in its grill. But I just spent the past hour breathing more Steam Deck fumes than regular air, so what does Valve know? And what do I know, for that matter? Can anyone remind me what my name is.
Anyway, I have in my possession both an original Steam Deck and an OLED Steam Deck. I partook of fumes from both while running two games that really got the fans going, Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur’s Gate 3. My findings:
Deck Classic
Scent profile: Clean, in an artificial way. A sort of midpoint between burning rubber and the interior of a new car.
Notes: This one grew on me. Initially, I didn’t see/smell what the fuss was about. The underlying scent was difficult to detect, to the point that I thought I’d been pranked and was rubbing my nose all over an expensive electronic device for nothing. But after a few especially deep inhales while playing Baldur’s Gate 3, I found myself enjoying it. It’s sort of like a cologne you barely notice that somebody’s wearing. You just know they smell good to you, even if you can’t put your finger on why.
OLED Deck
Scent profile: Distinctly sweet, but not so much that it overwhelms your senses. Imagine standing 40-50 feet away from a Cinnabon. This scent tempts you, asks you to wonder what might happen if you took a little nibble. And I mean, what’s the harm? Nobody’s looking, right?
Notes: General consensus online – read: the Steam Deck subreddit, evidently a den of freaks – is that the OLED is superior to the original Deck except in the quality of its fumes. I disagree! I found my OLED’s scent notably more distinct. The sweetness ensured that I did not, even for a second, wonder if my Deck dealt what I had smelt. Subsequent tests while playing Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 yielded even more pungent versions of the same aroma.
Now, I do have a theory about this: Some Steam Deck users have said their device carried a much stronger scent when it was brand new. I’ve been using my OG Steam Deck regularly since I first received it in 2022. My OLED Deck, meanwhile, is much closer to being fresh out of box; I’ve spent maybe 30 hours in total playing it. So perhaps an unsullied OG Deck continuously poots out an odor that’d knock me flat, send me into revelatory spasms like a cat snarfing up catnip. I’ll never know, and this fact devastates me.
For now, though, the OLED Steam Deck is the winner in my book. I can unreservedly say that you should give yours a sniff at your earliest possible convenience (NOTE: AFTERMATH DOES NOT CONDONE STEAM DECK VENT EXHAUST INHALATION AND CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY BODILY HARM ARISING THEREFROM).
