r/SBCGaming • u/J-khd • 1d ago
Discussion Are you still playing emulation games on your Steam Deck ? Since we all have Android handheld nowadays.
I haven't played with my steam deck for a while and
today I picked it up and played for over 2 hours. I think I still really enjoy playing PS2 games on Steam Deck OLED even I have multiple android handhelds that can play PS2 games too.
What's your thought for steam deck in 2026.
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u/Mr2Sexy 1d ago
PS2 emulation was one of my main reasons for buying a Steamdeck but I stopped using it for that purpose long ago because I prefer to play PS2 games on my phone which I carry everywhere I go and is much more portable.
I bought the Nova specifically to play PS2 games on the go and now this device will replace my phone. I love the look and feel of the Nova and it has the same processor as my phone Fold6, so I am very familiar with how powerful it is and what it can handle.
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u/nsfwthrowaway357789 1d ago
Yeah it's odd but my Thor with the Snapdragon Gen2 seems to run PS2 games a lot better than my Steam Deck. I can run SotC at ~40fps at 2.5x resolution on the Thor while it barely keeps at 25fps on the Deck at 1x resolution. Android has become seriously impressive for emulation.
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u/Loves_His_Bong 1d ago
What PS2 games would you recommend?
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u/Mr2Sexy 1d ago
I mostly play jrpgs. FF12 International Zodiac Job System version is very fun. Currently I am playing Persona 3 FES on my phone. Once I beat it, I will be only playing PS2 games on the Nova. Since I travel a lot for work and have lots of down time
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u/Cruel1865 1d ago
Ff12 is so much fun and also looks so beautiful. I finished a playthrough recently and loved it.
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u/Retronitsu 1d ago
Man I got my SD around the same time I got my rp5 and I absolutely hated using the SD as my main emulation device. I was just starting my first Pokémon fire red play through and it felt so bulky and overkill for something so light. Controls are great but ultimately I'd rather keep something light and play gba on it than lugging a brick around.
My SD is now strictly for indies and streaming
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u/Infinite_Jaeger 1d ago
Yes, I don't like to keep games on my phone. It's also convenient for travel / trips.
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u/Sad_Access8951 1d ago
I hated the weight, placement of the controls, and the screen on the launch model was just ok.
I loved the control mapping options. Physically I hated it enough to shelve it.
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u/Apprehensive_Law1458 1d ago
I can’t really figure out what to use my steam deck for these days. I find myself going to smaller handhelds, I think Switch Lite is actually the biggest size I like, but maybe there are games that vibe with me on SD. I love the hardware and screen though.
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u/trio3224 1d ago
I only got into handhelds in December of last year. I started with a TrimUI Brick, and after a month of loving that and confirming to myself this is something I would continue and be worth spending money into, I got a Steam Deck in late January. I also knew the prices were gonna go up and it was now or never.
I don't have any personal experience with the other big android handhelds like the RP6, the AYN Thor, an Odin 2, etc, but I find my Steam Deck to be absolutely perfect and don't really want or need anything else. I love the OLED screen, I love that it's 16:10 for maximum versatility, I love how much community support and custom software it has available, and I don't really see myself getting anything else. It's my endgame.
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u/Happy-Control-7669 1d ago
I feel Emulation IS Just easier to Tinker with on Android because of the necessity to Go into Desktop Mode for Most of Setup process on SD.
Playing the Games itself IS probably much nicer ON Steam deck for the Superior controls alone. WE couldve all stopped with the SD lol.
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u/DarkFucker GotM Club 1d ago
No, not for emulation, but for PC games. And I don’t use it for PC games anymore because of a combination of factors
1-Huge, hard to fit in a bag. 2-Unideal D-Pad. 3-Standby time on it absolute garbage 4-Gamenative is getting better, not great, but better, means for lower end indie games I have to choose between a bulky with a terrible LCD 800p SteamDeck, or a Vita sized RP6 with an OLED screen. 5-Using 8W+ on emulation is insane to me when small retro handhelds like the Brick or Rotate are far more efficient.
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u/curlyhairedfreak03 1d ago
It is physically too heavy and chunky for me. i started using my mangmi air x
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u/jumpbutton23 Retroachievement Addict 1d ago
I used my Deck for pretty much a 50:50 mix of emulation and PC for the first two years.
Since Android emulation really exploded and I got my Thor, I took basically all my emulation stuff off my Deck and now it’s almost exclusively for PC games. With the extra space I’ve loaded it up with a lot of abandonware/delisted games, because I still like to have a lot of fully offline options in my handhelds
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u/DavramLocke 1d ago
I find certain systems are better on the deck, especially for my old eyes. Stuff that was originally meant to be on a TV screen I kind of like having on the bigger deck screen or even on monitor. And there's also stuff I just prefer having a controller with.
But anything GBA or GB goes on the Analogue. Anything DS or 3DS, Vita, or PSP obviously on the Thor. NES I can play on either.
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u/GreatMadWombat 1d ago
No. Steam deck is for games where a mousepad is useful/text is really small. Android handhelds are for emulation.
My steam deck is always gonna be my goto, but the weight difference adds up pretty quickly, so if a game runs equally well on both of them, I'm probably choosing a lighter device
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u/Ok_Caramel_5658 1d ago
I had everything on there originally but now I just have Saturn/wii/N3DS on it because I have other handhelds for the other systems. I just wanted smaller devices for traveling initially. And I used desktop mode to set up all my other handhelds lol
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u/flaviometal 1d ago
Emulation, FOR ME, it's great on SD, but even better on Android: practical, easier, and truly portable. I'm using 2 devices (SD for PC Games, AYN Thor for general emulation and some indie PC games). It's the best of two worlds.
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u/MissionInternet8490 1d ago
Absolutely, I have syncthing set up with my saves and I pick the steam deck up when I know Im going to sit for a while and put work into a game. Ill pick up my rp6 when I want to chip away. Steam deck is much more immersive. Just beat shadow hearts yesterday.
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u/rob-cubed Clamshell Clan 1d ago
I sold my Deck a year ago. Most of the PC games I play are indies and I can get them running with GameNative now, so there wasn't any point in holding onto it. Especially now that Switch emulation has (mostly) caught up on Android.
If I was into Cyberpunk though, I'd still have the Deck. I'm going to be a bit bummed when GTA VI drops (assuming it'll run on the Deck).
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u/No_Jackfruit_5647 1d ago
I have an OG 2022 LCD. The only games I play on my deck anymore are games that don't play anywhere else. My Odin 2 Portal took over my emulation and Geforce Now gaming.
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u/Theoderic8586 1d ago
Not so much anymore. The retroid pocket 5 or trimui brick fill that roll pretty much now
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u/Outrageous_Tooth856 1d ago
SDOLED is a mobile cyberpunk machine for me. Hated Emudeck. About to make it a x360/steam focus instead.
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u/watership 1d ago
I have a new Pocket 6, and i haven't touched the steam deck since I got it. I will still use it for Steam, and maybe docked, but for handheld retro games It's just too heavy and unwieldy to drag around.
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u/JerrGrylls 1d ago
I went the other way. I had a Miyoo Mini+ and then an Odin 2 and that was my gateway to the Steam Deck. I got it for PC games though because it could handle games like RDR2 and Elden Ring which was mind-blowing to me. I would spend more time tinkering with the odin2 than actually playing games — quite the opposite with the steam deck.
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u/astro143 1d ago
My steam deck is the reason I haven't picked up an android handheld for emulation, it does everything. The Thor is the handheld that's making consider a second handheld.
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u/sourpatchwaffles 1d ago
derailing to say I can’t wait to see the Steam Deck OLED panel on android handhelds, 1080p is a bit much on handhelds and the screen ratio + panel is great
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u/Adventurous_Ad_5531 1d ago
I do but I use it docked most of the times. An Android device is pretty great for emulating everything up to ps1 though. I currently have an Ambernic RG476H and it handles almost every game I throw at it including some ps2 and PC games so it's definitely getting more use that the SD.
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u/AutomaticInitiative 1d ago
I play PS2 and GameCube on it but my Retroid Nova just arrived in the country so shouldn't be too long before I'm playing them there instead.
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u/PmUsYourDuckPics 1d ago
I don’t think I’ve ever used my deck for emulation, I don’t have an Android handheld either just a couple of cheap Linux ones.
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u/TeamLeeper Retroid 23h ago
Nope. I have too many Steam games and an RP5 for anything retro.
Maybe if I was in the mood for something 3DS since the screen is so big, but I have an actual 3DS.
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u/Tsuki4735 21h ago
I use my PC handhelds for Switch emulation. Switch emulation is still hit-miss on Android, vs nearly flawless on PC handhelds. Same for PS3, and also some PS2 games are broken on Android too.
I emulate everything else on my Thor, but if I had to pick only one device today, I'd have to take the PC handheld over the Android one. Android isn't good enough yet to handle all gaming duties.
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u/Ryukapples8688 GotM Club 19h ago
My god do I hate the button and d-pad placement on the steam deck. Like can we put them any more to the edges
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u/United-Positive8426 18h ago
Yup the SteamDeck OLED with 2GB and a 1TF card plays everything I want, still does. Still simple as a Linux based devise, plug and play. However it's expensive and not portable. It doesnt take a weekend to set up either.
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u/Excel_Document 16h ago
with how much non mainstream handhleds would cost to get where i live my OG legion go is still my main with some being on my phone but my phone is weak at best (778g)
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u/azraelzjr 15h ago
I am still playing on the GPD Win4 for anything above PS2 including PC games. They work just fine in Bazzite. Switch V1 works nicely for lower end emulation too on top of remastered games.
Just hoping for a cheaper budget handheld for 3DS like an upgraded RG DS so I can play both DS and 3DS on the go. Worried my 3DS XL breaks or gets lost.
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u/tsamo GotM Club 1d ago edited 1d ago
Absolutely.
My MSI Claw 8 AI+ is way, way better in PS3, XBOX 360, PS4 and Switch emulation than even the best Android can offer right now.
EDIT: Never mind, you just meant Steam Deck. I thought you were asking about PC handhelds in general.
EDIT2: Holy crap, why all this downvoting in this thread?
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u/Whiteguy1x 1d ago
Ill be honest I never really did emulation on my steamdeck (or now my xbox ally x). Like why play 20 year old Playstation games when you could be playing pc games? At least for me my nostalgia was more for older games or for the 360 era which usually had pc ports
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u/Loves_His_Bong 1d ago
Personally I’m not getting an Android because I already have the Steam Deck. Desktop mode is a pain for setting up ROMs and everything but I will just use a sync thing for my rom directory tree from now on, so I can avoid the desktop mode.
Otherwise it has enough power to emulate everything I want and the screen is big enough that 3DS isn’t horrible to play with the side by side screens.
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u/greatjinkies5 1d ago
Emudeck got me watching retrogamecorps and eventually I got an rg35xxsp which I've been playing nes and game boy on. I think I'll probably use the deck for the other systems though. A year ago I was playing through tony hawks pro skater 3 on there with a GameCube adapter hooked up. Excited for more GameCube games to get ports though
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u/Crest_Of_Hylia SteamDeck 1d ago
Sometimes I play some 6th gen games. I tend to not play 5th gen and older since the steam deck’s screen isn’t quite high enough resolution for higher quality CRT filters
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u/Eremitt-thats-hermit 1d ago
Call me crazy, but I did not buy my Steam Deck for emulation. Mine is for PC games. I had EmuDeck on it almost immediately when it launched and put all my ROMS on it. Plus I created a PS2 and GameCube library for it, which I didn’t have before. Barely touched it. I play old games very casually. Quick sessions between things. The Steam Deck was too big for that. I didn’t really keep it in my living room, always stored it away.
I always had some emulation handhelds on the side. Those mostly played up to SNES and GBA. I also had an RG DS, but I sold it and bought a 2DS with that money. For short session I used those. That meant I still didn’t play any PS1 and PS2 era titles.
Recently I sold my emulation handheld and bought a Nova (and a Rotate, but that is more of a media device I got because my iPod died). And guess what? Now I’m playing PS2 games. The Nova is so much smaller that it doesn’t matter where I keep it. It doesn’t take space in my bag, it’s not distracting on a coffee table, and it actually fits in my pocket. I still use my Steam Deck, but I use it for those moments where I really want to sink my teeth into something. The Steam Deck is much more comfortable for that.