Phoronix article: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Steam-Machines-Frame-2026
Also listed here: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/hardware
Valve has already sent support for the new Steam Controller upstream: https://www.phoronix.com/news/New-Steam-Controller-SDL
What do you use the Trackpads for? I never felt the need so far and always wondered why they are there in the first place.
Not who you asked, but I use them for PC games that were built for keyboard and mouse. The track pads on the steamdeck are excellent for emulating a mouse. Baldur's Gate 2, Dungeon Siege, Neverwinter Nights, Morrowind, Age of Empires, etc.
Newer games were built with controllers in mind, so the joysticks probably feel better in those cases.
They were passable at best. Finicky and imprecise more often than not.
Yup. You've made it clear you hate them.
Mouse control that is more precise than a joystick.
IDK what the fuck the left one is really for tho; a stick or even buttons would be just fine for movement. I am of the camp that thinks they're uncomfortable and work less reliably than a joystick. Even a laptop trackpad is used with an index finger not normally a thumb and I never could get used to it. I hate my Steam controller and regret buying it.
It can be one button, or it can be 16 buttons or a radial menu or an axis or… I think it’s great especially for older PC games that weren’t designed with gamepads in mind.
I use laptop trackpads with my thumb all the time
They work really well in third-person games for camera control. I beat Elden Ring on a Steam controller; you have a lot more speed and precision than with a stick.