Valve just let me turn my Android handheld into an unofficial Steam Deck

Android apps like Winlator, GameHub, and GameNative have been revelations in recent years. These apps all allow you to play PC games locally on your Android device, with GameHub and GameNative even supporting your Steam library.

However, Valve delivered a major surprise earlier this month when it released an official Steam client for Arm-based versions of Linux. This client joins the Windows x86, MacOS, and Linux x86 versions. That’s great news because you can install Arm-based Linux distributions like Rocknix on some Android handhelds. So does that mean I can effectively turn my Android handheld into a Steam Deck? Here’s how I fared.

Why is Steam on Linux Arm a big deal?

This new version of Steam serves as more evidence that Valve is slowly bringing all the pieces together for PC games on truly mobile hardware. Valve is undertaking this work as the company’s Steam Frame headset uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset derived from smartphones. The company wants its Linux-based SteamOS platform to run directly on this device. So it’s clear that the newly released Steam client for Linux Arm is the latest piece of the puzzle.

Another recent puzzle piece is the release of the Proton 11 beta earlier this month. Proton is Valve’s open-source compatibility tool for running Windows games on Linux, and it’s the backbone of the Steam Deck and Steam OS at large. It’s also a key tool in the GameHub and GameNative Android apps. Proton 11 now supports Arm devices by incorporating the latest Fex release (2604). Fex, which is supported by Valve, translates x86 CPU instructions into Arm64 Linux instructions.

So we have a Linux Arm version of Steam as well as the Proton 11 release with Arm support. It’s time to install Linux on my AYN Odin 2 Portal and see if Steam and Steam games run well here.

How to install Linux and Steam on an Android handheld

Some Android handhelds indeed allow you to install Arm flavors of Linux. Rocknix is probably the most popular Linux distribution in this regard, and installing it isn’t an insurmountable challenge. Best of all, you can install it on your handheld’s microSD card, so you aren’t putting your Android installation at risk.

The microSD card installation instructions below apply to users with Windows computers. These steps aren’t too advanced, but I’d still warn you to turn back now if you don’t feel comfortable tinkering with your device. It’s also worth noting that some steps might vary depending on your handheld. Once again, I’m using an AYN Odin 2 Portal.

1. Download and install the latest version of the Rocknix Image Burner tool from the project’s GitHub page.
2. Launch the Rocknix Image Burner, then choose your handheld manufacturer and device model, along with your preferred Rocknix branch (stable or nightly). Some handhelds only have nightly branches, so switch to the nightly option if your device manufacturer and model aren’t listed.
3. Choose your microSD card in the Select Target Drive field. This process will wipe your memory card altogether and install Rocknix on it.
4. Click Write Image to Drive. The tool will then download the relevant OS version and write it to your microSD card, turning it into a bootable memory card.

Now that you’ve got your bootable microSD card with Rocknix, it’s time to configure your Android handheld. This might be a little bit different on your device.

1. Insert the microSD card into your handheld, open your pre-installed Files app, and look for a folder named rocknix_abl.
2. From here, copy this folder into the root of your device storage (i.e., don’t add it to a specific folder, like Downloads or Movies)
3. Visit settings > execute script as root (this path might vary on your handheld) and run the script titled backup_abl.sh, then run the script titled flash_abl.sh. Both scripts are located in the rocknix_abl folder you just copied to your device storage.

Up next, you’ll need to change the boot order of your Android handheld. When your handheld starts up, it typically looks at the internal storage for an operating system. But we’re going to tell it to look at the microSD card instead. Here’s how we’ll do that.

1. Restart your handheld, and then immediately hold down the volume-down button for several seconds to enter the fastboot menu. Alternatively, you can turn off your handheld, then turn it on by holding the power and volume-down buttons to enter this menu.
2. Your touchscreen won’t work in this menu, so you’ll need to use the volume keys to navigate and the power button to confirm.
3. From here, navigate to Switch boot mode and then switch the boot mode from Android to Linux.
4. Choose Start, and that’s it. Your handheld will now always boot into Linux.
5. Want to switch back to Android? Enter the fastboot menu via the aforementioned methods, then switch the boot mode from Linux to Android.

How well does Steam run on an Android handheld?

Now that these lengthy steps are out of the way, you’ll be greeted by Rocknix. The Linux distribution runs the EmulationStation front-end, giving you a simple and intuitive interface for your handheld. In saying so, you’ll want to learn some shortcuts to navigate apps that don’t support the gamepad (e.g., L1 + start + select to close apps).

You also need to manually enable Wi-Fi so you can, you know, download stuff. Simply hit the start button, tap the network settings menu, and then configure your Wi-Fi connection. Now we’re in business.

Rocknix indeed has a handy start Steam (arm64) button in the Tools menu. Tap it, and the Arm Linux version of Steam will be downloaded to your device. You can follow along with the text strings.

Once Steam is downloaded and launched, you’ll be greeted with the customized Big Picture mode that will be extremely familiar to Steam Deck owners. It’s honestly the closest I’ve felt to having SteamOS on an Android handheld. Even the home and power menus are basically identical to those of a Steam Deck.

It doesn’t take long to see that Steam on an Android handheld via Rocknix understandably isn’t as polished as the Steam Deck experience. For one, it takes almost two minutes to launch the client, while some games also take a long time to start. I’m guessing this is due to the fact that we’re running the entire OS and app off of a microSD card. Another Rocknix limitation is that it doesn’t have a proper sleep mode on some devices (e.g., Snapdragon 8 Gen 2). There is a fake suspend feature, with a configurable countdown until the device switches off. This is a neat workaround, but it tops out at 30 minutes. Plus, pressing the power button while in Steam seems to make the app freeze more often than not.

Still, this is a native version of Steam running on an Android handheld. How cool is that? Furthermore, the actual Steam app experience is pretty great aside from the aforementioned issues. Browsing through Steam is a brisk experience, while the major menus and features are present and accounted for. This includes the download manager, the store itself, your wishlist, the friends/chat menu, and the battery icon. It really feels like I’m using a smaller, lightweight Steam Deck at the best of times.

I also can’t be mad at some of the Rocknix limitations, either. It’s a small, community-driven project after all. If anything, I’m impressed that this project exists in the first place and supports so many Android handhelds. My hat goes off to the team behind this effort.

What about the games?

I tried some lightweight Steam games at first, and there’s encouraging news here. Titles like New Star GP, Guns, Gore, and Cannoli 2, Geometry Wars 3, My Friend Pedro, and UFO 50 all ran very smoothly. You might need to tweak minor settings, like the display resolution, but I was generally happy with most of these games. I was also pleased to see that titles like Tetris Effect Connected and Prodeus were very playable, although I noticed some minor judder here and there. Stepping up a notch, Earth Defense Force 4.1 generally ran at a fluid pace, despite the abundance of on-screen enemies. It’s also worth noting that the fan does start to kick in with some of these slightly more advanced games. It’s not screaming by any means, but it’s noticeable nonetheless.

Unfortunately, Portal, Saints Row 2, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Sleeping Dogs, and Just Cause 2 didn’t work at all. These titles usually displayed a blank screen or merely crashed seconds after launching. I also tried switching to the Proton 11 beta for these games, which includes Arm64 support. But this didn’t seem to make a difference. That’s a shame if you’re hoping to play more demanding action/adventure titles.

I tested some of these same games on GameNative. I should point out that Proton 11 isn’t available in the app at the time of writing, leaving us with older versions of the compatibility layer. Geometry Wars 3, Guns, Gore, and Cannoli 2, Prodeus, and Tetris Effect all ran smoothly. In fact, I was very pleased with the performance in these games. Meanwhile, Earth Defense Force 4.1 would’ve been very playable without the constant flickering and bouts of slowdown.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t actually get in-game with Skyrim, Just Cause 2, Sleeping Dogs, or Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I didn’t do much tinkering in GameNative outside of switching Proton versions, as the app offers known configurations for many games. So it’s entirely possible that these titles will work with a few adjustments.

Is it worth installing Steam on an Android handheld?

There doesn’t seem to be a big difference between Steam on Linux and an Android app like GameNative in terms of compatibility. I also didn’t get the impression that there was a significant performance delta between the two platforms, but this is only based on my limited experience. However, I do appreciate that GameNative gives you easier access to various settings, allowing me to quickly swap out drivers, switch between graphical wrappers, and tweak the translation tools. By contrast, the Steam client doesn’t place these options within easy reach, if they do at all.

It’s also worth reiterating that Android is simply a far more polished platform than Rocknix right now. Again, the latter is a small community project that isn’t backed by dozens of corporations, and I find it a miracle that it exists at all. But Android niceties like sleep functionality and a variety of accessible performance/battery settings all do make for a more enjoyable experience.

In saying so, running an official version of Steam on an Android handheld still feels like magic in some ways. The optimized UI and integrated store access are all very nice to have. The cloud saves also just work here, which isn’t always the case for PC gaming apps on Android. But are these Steam-related features worth the effort compared to just running Winlator, GameHub, or GameNative? Probably not for most gamers. But I imagine that the experience will only get better for Steam on Linux.