SteamOS 3.5 Rolls Out In Preview On The Steam Deck With Many New Features

In time for the weekend gamers, SteamOS 3.5 has just rolled out into Valve's preview channel for the Steam Deck. Those switching over to the "Preview" mode from the System Update Channel setting can begin to enjoy this huge feature update for the Arch Linux based SteamOS.

The SteamOS 3.5 release is bringing new color management / HDR functionality, various performance fixes and optimizations, the ability to under-volt the Steam Deck's AMD APU with the newest device firmware, KDE Plasma 5.27 is now offered for the desktop mode on the Steam Deck. and many other changes as well as fixes.

SteamOS 3.5 for its default color rendering on the Steam Deck now emulates the sRGB color gamut for warmer and more vibrant colors. HDR can also now be enabled for supported external displays and Variable Rate Refresh (VRR) can also be enabled for supported USB-C display adapters. Meanwhile among the performance work in SteamOS 3.5 is the never-ending work on enhancing the graphics driver performance as well as fixing an issue around SMT in its default enabled state on the Steam Deck. Suspend/resume speed should also be slightly faster. The Arch Linux base of SteamOS has also been updated as part of this SteamOS upgrade.

More details on this big SteamOS 3.5 Preview release via SteamPowered.com.

Also out today is a new Steam client beta where for Steam Remote Play is improved colors when streaming HDR games, improved colors for HDR screenshots, and adding support for the low-latency networking option on the Steam Link.