Steam Deck Update Fixes Annoying Problem

Valve’s latest SteamOS beta update has addressed a major network issue that’s been frustrating Steam Deck OLED users for a long time. Additionally, the latest Steam Deck update delivers a wave of new accessibility features aimed at making the handheld gaming experience more inclusive and customizable.

Since its launch in late 2023, the Steam Deck OLED’s vivid display, improved thermal capabilities, and battery life improvements have impressed adopters – but the handheld hasn’t been without issues. Chief among them was an intermittent Wi-Fi disconnection problem that disrupted multiplayer sessions and downloads for many players. Additionally, while games have gradually improved in accessibility over the years, Steam itself lacked some of the quality-of-life features players now expect from modern hardware platforms.

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Now, Valve seeks to rectify these complaints with the beta rollout of SteamOS 3.7.10, a system update that finally fixes the Steam Deck OLED’s nagging Wi-Fi dropping issue. As per the official patch notes on Steam, the update addresses the Steam Deck OLED’s Wi-Fi regression issue directly, alongside a host of visual and interface bug fixes. Moreover, the SteamOS 3.7.10 beta introduces new accessibility options in Big Picture Mode and SteamOS, which include adjustable UI scaling to make text easier to read, a high-contrast mode to improve on-screen clarity, and a “reduce motion” setting that disables transitions and animations – very useful for players who are sensitive to motion or want a snappier UI.

For Steam Deck users in particular, there’s a new set of color filters including grayscale, invert brightness, and invert colors. SteamOS users will further benefit from a built-in Orca screen reader that reads out selected UI elements, with controls for pitch, speed, and volume. The update also resolves other bugs, such as cursor display errors, broken overlay keybindings, audio glitches (notably in God of War: Ragnarok), and compatibility issues with OBS Studio streaming. For those who want to try the improvements early, the SteamOS 3.7.10 beta is now available in the Steam Deck’s System Update Channel in settings.

Interestingly, non-Valve devices that run SteamOS, like the Lenovo Legion GO S handheld that launched earlier this year, also see some improvements with the SteamOS 3.7.10 beta. Specifically, Valve has added support for sleep mode recovery and power button functionality on the Lenovo Legion GO S, as well as models from AYANEO, GPD, MSI, and others.

Valve Steam Deck SteamOS 3.7.10 Beta Update Patch Notes

General

Fixed a WiFi regression with Steam Deck OLED
Disabled experimental support for Wake-on-Bluetooth for Steam Deck LCD while issues with spurious wake-ups are being investigated
Fixed a bug where visual corruption could occur with Sharp upscaling with HDR/10-bit applications when interacting with the overlay
Fixed an issue where the cursor would not be visible in the bottom-right quadrant of the screen when using the magnifier
Fixed cursor having a line of visual corruption when using Sharp upscaling in certain instances
Fixed certain overlay key bindings involving Shift, the Super key, Right Alt, or Return/Enter not being able to be triggered
Fixed input being passed to applications when overlay key bindings are invoked
Fixed OBS Studio not working with the streaming output provided by gamescope
Fixed an issue where clicking mailto: links sometimes didn’t display the right error

Audio

Fixed an issue where volume keys would sometimes not properly adjust the volume of the 3.5mm audio connector
Fixed a SteamOS 3.6 regression causing audio glitches in God of War: Ragnarok

Accessibility

Added support for optional color filters
Added Orca screen reader and espeak-ng text-to-speech tools
Fixed the magnifier producing the correct scale and offset when Sharp upscaling was used

Non-Deck

Fixed an issue where the Legion Go S with SteamOS could lose trackpad functionality after sleep
Added power button support for some AYANEO, AYN, GPD, MSI, ONEXPLAYER, and OrangePi platforms

Brand: Steam (Valve)
Original Release Date: February 25, 2022
Original MSRP (USD): $399–$649
Operating System: SteamOS 3 (Arch-based)
Processor: Zen 2 4c/8t, 2.4-3.5GHz (up to 448 GFlops FP32)
Resolution: 1200 x 800