The Steam Deck 2 doesn't need to happen because Valve will win either way (though I hope it does)
Valve is thinking of the Big Picture (literally).
I think Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais explained their plans for a Steam Deck 2 pretty well in this interview (starting at 8:36).
Paraphrasing: They are happy to work with other companies, but the people at Valve also have their own ideas and goals for hardware. And they want to be able to set the bar for these ideas themselves. That‘s why they‘re working on a Steam Deck 2.
And when you look at how well that setting the bar worked with the Deck, I‘m really glad that they want to follow up on that.
I own a GPD Win 2, a handheld PC from a few years before the Deck was a thing. That device couldn‘t be charged while using it, it had its speakers wired the wrong way, it constantly overheated and was a pain to use because of that. Ever since the Deck came out, the whole handheld PC market, including GPD, improved their device quality by a country mile.
And that‘s one of the best things about the Deck, in my opinion, and will hopefully also be one of the best things about the Deck 2.
Why do we even need a 2? The first one is still very capable
We definitely don't need a 2 yet, but once the hardware for the current LCD/OLED models becomes obsolete or close to it, I would love a 2.
Performance is a bit laggy. I’d love a faster deck. I personally won’t buy an OLED as it’s not enough for me to upgrade
I don't need a Deck 2. What I need is a Deck Pocket. Gimme a similar form factor to a GBA or DS, with the ability to run all my favorite 2D indie games.
Retro Game Corps video My Favorite Handhelds of 2024 will give you an overview of what kinds of handhelds are availible. Altough the ones in the formfactor you want probably don't have very good compatibility with newer indie PC games.
Winlator is an option to get some PC games to run on android handhelds but it requirers some tinkering. I should add that I am not speaking from experience, I have only watched a few videos.
I already have a Miyoo Mini Plus, and I've put far more time into it than I ever did with my Deck. But it doesn't run my Steam library, I'm looking for something with SteamOS.
The Steam Controller has its defenders, but it went from launch to discontinued with no successor in just four years, which isn't a great sign of success.
No, that was due to a patent lawsuit over the rear buttons, as I understand it.
I would have figured it would have died because of the design.
Nah, a revision would be nice, and rumor has it we'll get just that, but that controller kicks ass.
Make the 2 VR compatible.
The deckard isn't a deck 2 but will most likely be able to do more then what the deck can.