When engineering samples, like consoles or popular accessories, hit the market, they can command quite a hefty price tag. Recently, a prototype of the Steam Deck popped up on eBay, catching the attention of an eagle-eyed Reddit user in the community over at r/SteamDeck.
This particular Steam Deck prototype, which reminisces about the images Valve has shared in the past, features an AMD APU with 2019’s Picasso silicon. Initially listed for $3,000, the device eventually sold for $2,000.
Named “Engineering Sample 34,” this prototype stands out from the typical Steam Deck. It brags unique blue accents, a more curved layout, circular trackpads, and what seems to be a sensor on the right joystick.
Stamped with a blatantly clear “Not for resale” sticker on its back cover, the warning still didn’t stop the seller from parting ways with it.
Valve, during its design phase, created a variety of engineering samples for their internal testing process. This makes it hard to determine the exact age, but the older APU suggests it was likely designed to test out mechanical aspects before finalizing the specs, pointing to a design era in 2019 or 2020.
According to the seller, the prototype doesn’t have its operating system, SteamOS, installed. Some revealing images of the BIOS, snapped by Notebookcheck from the listing, highlight its specs. It shows Valve tested their older prototypes with an unnamed AMD Picasso chip—part of the Ryzen 3000 mobile series— featuring up to four Zen+ cores and a GCN 5.0 (Vega 3/8/11) GPU. These architectural differences contribute to a significant performance gap between this prototype and the Steam Decks consumers can buy today.
Additionally, this prototype with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD feels a bit undersized next to today’s options: 16GB with a 512GB SSD, unless you opt for the 64GB eMMC version. Comparatively, AMD’s more recent Aerith and Sephiroth APUs offer quite the performance leap.
We’re left wondering who snagged this intriguing piece of hardware. If it ended up in the hands of a tech reviewer or hardware analyst, we might see a deep dive into this unique Picasso chip setup and how the Steam Deck evolved into its current form. On the flip side, a collector might choose to keep their acquisition on the down-low.
Valve, for those eagerly awaiting a Steam Deck successor, has hinted that it may be quite some time before anything new drops, as the company is holding out for more advanced processors on the horizon.
