Even if you're not getting a Steam Deck OLED, the new SteamOS update will make your display just a little bit prettier

Doom Eternal with ray tracing on Steam Deck
(Image credit: Future)

I'm gonna be sticking with my original run Steam Deck for a good while yet, but that doesn't mean I and my fellow LCD dead-enders are getting completely left out of the Steam Deck OLED party: SteamOS' 3.5.5 update, available now, introduces the OLED model's software tweaks and changes for owners of the original handheld.

First up are the Deck's new display options, which we previously covered when they were made available on the preview branch of SteamOS back in September while the OLED Deck was still under wraps. 

The Deck now defaults to the sRGB (warmer and more vibrant) color range for its display, with menu options for the previous "Native" setting, as well as a "Boosted" mode that increases color vibrancy even further, but can cause some gradient clipping. Also introduced from that September preview are HDR and VRR settings for external monitors.

SteamOS 3.5.5 further fixes standing glitches with a number of games, most notably Amnesia: The Bunker and Starfield. The biggest change aside from the sRGB is the revamped FPS/screen refresh rate slider, which combines the previously separate settings into a unified tool for picking an arbitrary frame rate between 30 and 60 fps⁠, a real boon with the Deck's limited battery life⁠—I'm almost always on that 40 fps train.

All in all, it's a nice little consolation prize for the yeoman first-gen Deck owner. I installed the update last night, and noticed the sRGB upgrade before even looking at the patch notes⁠—Deus Ex: Mankind Divided looked just that little bit nicer. You can check out the full SteamOS 3.5.5 patch notes here.

TOPICS
Associate Editor

Ted has been thinking about PC games and bothering anyone who would listen with his thoughts on them ever since he booted up his sister's copy of Neverwinter Nights on the family computer. He is obsessed with all things CRPG and CRPG-adjacent, but has also covered esports, modding, and rare game collecting. When he's not playing or writing about games, you can find Ted lifting weights on his back porch.

Read more
A Steam Deck with SteamOS running in desktop mode.
A new and improved desktop experience just landed on Steam Deck and SteamOS is readying 'support for non-Steam Deck handhelds'
Steam Deck's loading throbber
SteamOS beta could be available to download to your handheld gaming PC of choice as soon as April
The Steam Deck playing Cyberpunk 2077, outside in a much-too-small back garden
The latest Steam Deck beta update can improve battery life with the frame limiter active by *checks notes* a whole six percent
Valve Steam Deck OLED handheld PC
'The future of hardware at Valve is bright': Valve celebrates the success of Steam Deck and Steam OS
Valve Steam Deck with GeForce Now app overlaid on screen.
Nvidia announces dedicated GeForce Now app for Steam Decks and more, streamlining cloud gaming for mixed-reality headset wearers too
Lenovo Legion Go S in someone's hands with an apartment behind it
The first non-Steam Deck SteamOS handheld is now available for preorder, and Lenovo may be aiming for the ROG Ally X's throne
Latest in Handheld Gaming PCs
Lenovo Legion Go S in someone's hands with an apartment behind it
The first non-Steam Deck SteamOS handheld is now available for preorder, and Lenovo may be aiming for the ROG Ally X's throne
Holding an Xbox controller in front of a keyboard
Microsoft is finally rolling out its controller-friendly virtual keyboard for a better Windows handheld gaming PC experience
A Steam Deck with SteamOS running in desktop mode.
A new and improved desktop experience just landed on Steam Deck and SteamOS is readying 'support for non-Steam Deck handhelds'
Lenovo Legion Go S playing Path of Exile 2
Lenovo Legion Go S (Windows) review
Valve Steam Deck OLED handheld PC
'The future of hardware at Valve is bright': Valve celebrates the success of Steam Deck and Steam OS
Still from a CNET video highlighting the Samsung concept device from MWC 2025
Samsung's handheld prototype delivers folding phone screens to Switch-like gaming hardware, and I am absolutely here for it
Latest in News
Image of illuminated manuscript-style drawings from the game Pentiment.
Random characters kept swearing in Obsidian's font-obsessed murder-mystery when its procedural error system ran amok: 'Naughtiness abounded'
minecraft diamond level sword
Minecraft's never going free-to-play because as it stands it's 'the best deal in the world'
A Lagiacrus render from Monster Hunter Generations, photoshopped over a screenshot of Wilds' Scarlet Forest region.
Oh my God, it's happening: Monster Hunter Wilds is finally bringing a fan-favorite sea snake home from the war
A convoy of strange beings proceed across a desert in Caves of Qud key art.
After 17 years, devs of the only roguelike where players ask 'the best way to get the most limbs' can't believe its success: 'More people have bought Caves of Qud than are in this stadium, how do you reckon with that?'
AMD Strix Point APU chip, held in a hand, with the reflected light showing the various processing blocks in the chip die
AMD's next-gen 'Gorgon Point' APU outted and seemingly sticks with RDNA 3.5 graphics which is disappointing for handheld gaming PCs if accurate
A hunter digs in to some delicious dumplings in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds' first title update is overflowing with new stuff: A long-awaited Grand Hub, Arch-tempered Monsters, Arena Quests, and most importantly, fashion