Oliver Cragg / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Owners of the Limited Edition Steam Deck OLED are reporting cracks in their handheld PCs.
- The cracks appear to be caused by screws that are overly tight.
- The issue may also be linked to the transparent plastic used for the back.
It’s been about five months since Valve launched the Limited Edition Steam Deck OLED. While there were no big issues with the device at the time, it appears owners are now noticing a common problem starting to emerge — cracking.
First spotted by Kotaku, a number of Reddit users have flocked to the website to share stories and images of their gaming system suddenly developing cracks seemingly out of nowhere. According to the reports, all of the cracks are appearing on the back side of the device next to the screws.
The Limited Edition Steam Deck OLED is Valve’s most expensive model at $679 for 1TB. It includes all of the features of a normal OLED Steam Deck, but adds a few flourishes like orange-colored parts and the translucent plastic back. While this translucent plastic back is a nice aesthetic choice, it may be a part of the issue.
The reports claim that the screws on the back are overly tight and are causing too much stress on the material used for the shell. As a result, a widely suggested fix to prevent cracks is to slightly loosen said screws.
Fortunately, it appears the cracks aren’t too severe. The damage is more superficial than anything else. But when you pay nearly $700 for something, this kind of flaw isn’t exactly acceptable.
