Teardown: Does the Steam Controller Have Any Heat?

Console gaming is one of the hardest markets to penetrate. But every few years a new player steps on the stage and tries to take on the three giants that are Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Some have better results than others ... (Ouya anyone)?

The latest to step onto the gaming hardware stage is software giant Valve, known for a number of huge gaming series like Half-Life, Team Fortress, and Portal. The company's Steam Machine is a sort of hybrid between a game console and a gaming PC, boasting a Linux-based OS.

Of course you can't have a console without a controller and while the Steam Machine's controller isn't anything radical from an aesthetic standpoint, it does have a feature console gamers have been clamoring for –- it's fully customizable.

Valve has been known for its modular hardware design in the past so the crew at iFixit just had to get their hands on a Steam controller to see if it lives up to its reputation. Let's see what this controllers got!

Click the image below to start the teardown.

We open the valve and the specs come pouring out:
– High-definition haptic feedback
– Dual trackpads
– USB 2.0 via Micro-USB port
– 6-axis combination gyroscope-accelerometer sensor
– Dual-stage digital triggers with 10° of travel, magnetic flux sensor, and tactile switch
– Up to 80 hours of gameplay from a pair of removable AA batteries
– 5 meters of wireless communication range

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