The Steam Deck, upon its release, redefined the handheld PC gaming market. Although many such handhelds were there before Valve entered the market, they were all either too expensive or lacked good support. And then, in February 2022, Valve debuted the Steam Deck, once again changing the video gaming world with its product. What makes the Deck so successful is Valve’s active support for the handheld, coupled with the great pricing. What the Deck lacks in performance, it more than makes up for with its software support, pricing, and customizability. Moreover, Valve has just released the mid-gen refresh of the Deck, and the long-awaited SteamOS is finally here. Included in this new OS update is the VRR feature, which many players have been asking about how to enable.
VRR, or Variable Refresh Rate, is a feature that allows the display to change its refresh rate continuously and without any kind of input from the user. It does a lot to eliminate or at least reduce lag, frame tearing, and such. All in all, it makes gameplay much more fluid and detailed. And the Steam Deck just got this great feature. So, without further ado, head over to the next section to find out how to enable it on the Steam Deck.
Steam Deck VRR: How to enable it
Before going further, it’s important to note that VRR isn’t supported for the Steam Deck’s main screen. The system only supports VRR output for external displays. So, in order to play a game with VRR enabled, what you need to do is connect your Steam Deck to an external display that supports VRR and HDR (preferably) via the compatible USB-C adapter. After that, just open the slide menu and toggle on the Enable VRR option. If you also want HDR, then toggle on the Enable HDR option located below.
Update SteamOS to 3.5
If you don’t know how to update your SteamOS to version 3.5, then follow the instructions below carefully.
- First, ensure that the Deck is connected to the internet.
- Now press the Steam button on your Deck and select Settings from the options presented.
- Next, click on System > Check for Updates. Next to the Software Updates option, you will see an Apply button. Click on that.
- Wait for the Deck to download the update and restart.
- Now enjoy SteamOS 3.5.5 on your Deck.
Besides VRR, there are a lot of great features that have arrived with this new OS update. If you want, you can read the entire patch notes here. With all these new and improved features, your gameplay experience with the deck will be much better than before.
So, that’s how you enable VRR on the Steam Deck. Additionally, if you want to know about Lethal Company and its compatibility with the Deck, check out this guide. And for more such content, keep following DigiStatement. Also read: Steam Deck update error after factory reset: How to fix it?
