ive fucked up both my shoulders at work and holding anything longer than half an hour gets painful. the deck is the best device ive found in that regard. i love my deck. i 100% say get one, well as long as its officially sold there or if you can get a good portion of the cost back by selling it.

Something that can help is a nursing pillow. it wraps around your front and acts as an arm rest.

I never really notice it but I usually play it while I’m lying down and using my legs or belly to prop it up. I also have a blanket for support too!

It is a bit heavy, if you’re holding it up the whole time. I usually use it resting on something (like my lap) if I’m playing for an extended period. It does get a bit hot, too, but not too hot. How hot it would get at your location is hard to say without knowing what the temperatures are like, but it’s hotter than a typical handheld.

As to whether it’s worth it… this is just my personal opinion, but I think it’s the best hand-held gaming device on the market by a huge margin. It’s pricey, but you really get what you pay for; it’s an enthusiast device, for sure, but the build quality feels great, it’s modifiable, both hardware and software, and it runs games fantastically. Strongly recommend.

Well, most things probably get heavy if you’re holding them for many hours. It all depends on your posture and seating arrangement. Can you lean on a table or desk? Playing on transit? Are you sitting on the couch? Standing somewhere? If you can find ways to lean your arms and hands on something, it can help a lot.

There are also lots of cases and stands that can prop up the Steam Deck so you can play with a controller, which is a bit lighter. You have lots of options.

I don’t find it too heavy nor that it puts any strain on my wrists, if you’re playing for extended periods it’s more comfortable to rest it on your lap like others have said anyway.

As a counterpoint I love the ergonomics of the Deck. My fingers are quite long and with the Switch I always ended up getting the pins and needles in my pinky and ring fingers, that and pain in my palms where the console would sit, all thanks to the Switch’s flat design with straight edges (even though they’re slightly rounded).
With the Deck I haven’t had that sort of issues at all, not even during longer sessions. It’s so well designed in that aspect.

I sometimes get pain in the palm of my hand. That only happens if I play long enough to plug the steamdeck in one sitting.

The only time I find it kind of cumbersome is when I’m trying to kind of lounge or slouch out on the couch and I’m propping my elbows up against something. That’s because the propping combined with the muscles in my arms gripping the thing is causing poor circulation.

Simple fix, don’t do that.

Otherwise the biggest issue is posture. Hunching over a screen for prolonged periods is gonna be bad no matter how light the thing is.

To put it another way, I have a gaming pc and I haven’t used it to game since I got my steam deck a couple months ago.

It’s actually more comfortable to hold than a Switch, in my opinion, and I wouldn’t say it’s too heavy, but I suppose that could depend on how your sitting/laying to play it? As far as the temp/heat goes, some games warm it up more than others, but even when it’s really getting pushed I’ve never been uncomfortable with the heat of the device. As others have mentioned, it’s honestly a fantastic handheld. ALL of my time has been dominated by Tears of the Kingdom lately, but I’m looking forward to getting back to the Deck soon(lol, it probably won’t be that soon, TotK is a massive game)

Yes, it’s heavy. If you rest your elbows on a flat surface holding it, you will get numb over time.

If you stop doing that and pay attention to how you’re holding it, it’s significantly less fatiguing than the switch is out of the box.

It’s comfortable to hold, I have the kill switch on mine with the kickstand, I usually use a pillow or a table as a support with the kickstand up. It’s still not as heavy as it looks, very comfortable in the hands.

As for heat, it gets pretty hot, but not scolding hot. It’s designed to last years

I don’t personally find it all that heavy, honestly. I’ve been able to use it for a few hours on end, namely when I first got it, and I can’t say I had any arm or hand fatigue.

I will touch on heat here. The heat the device produces stays entirely on the main slab, and you can’t feel it where you hold the device. It will throttle pretty hard if it gets too hot. Undervolting can help with this.

It’s definitely heavier than say, a Nintendo Switch. But I got used to it quickly… and don’t have issues holding it. When playing in bed, it typically rests on my chest anyways.

As for heat, I find the fan noise (for demanding games) is more annoying than any heat being generated. And for non-AAA games, you can limit the power to keep it from running loud/warm.

Depends on your hands I would argue.
Yes, it is a big brick, that may be unwieldy for some. If you have a chance, try to test play it somewhere from a friend or anything.
Battery life also could be better, depending on the load of your game it may only hold 2~3 hours.
Heat is another factor, it can get kinda warm (&loud) during busy games.

I personally love my steamdeck and it has currently completely replaced PCGaming for me. Especially with it being also an amazing Emulation Machine.
Howevever, I do understand why some people don’t like the feel of it. To me and my big hands, it feels comfortable and nice to use, but some people may have problems.