The SteamOS ecosystem continues to expand its reach beyond the Steam Deck, solidifying its position in the portable PC handheld market. SteamOS 3.8.6, titled “Second Clutch,” is the latest update bringing significant controller support and various performance improvements.
Valve has released the beta for SteamOS 3.8.6. The primary highlight of this update is the addition of controller support for several well-known handheld brands. Specifically, SteamOS 3.8.6 adds support for the MSI Claw devices, including models A1M, 7 AI+ A2VM, 8 AI+ A2VM, and A8 BZ2EM. Controller support has also been added for OneXPlayer, covering the APEX and X1 series.
Furthermore, the update enhances compatibility and stability across other models. SteamOS should now work better with AccelGyro3D devices, such as the Legion Go 1 or the Claw A1M. Additionally, international Asus ROG Xbox Ally models will experience fewer crashes when running SteamOS.
Beyond hardware compatibility, the 3.8.6 patch brings several key quality-of-life and performance fixes. Reported fixes include resolving a case where WiFi performance could degrade until the device was manually reconnected or put to sleep. There is also a fix for excessive trackpad sensitivity found on certain early Steam Deck LCD models.
Performance enhancements include substantially improved speed for future OS updates when utilizing high-speed connections. Support for screencasts in Game Mode, such as those used by OBS or Discord, has been improved. Additionally, the Steam Deck controller firmware updates now display the progress on the splash screen, and the ability to use Bluetooth Wake for Steam Deck LCD has been re-enabled.
The update is expected to arrive on the release branch soon, but users can currently check out the beta version by navigating to Settings > System > System Update Channel on SteamOS.