Steamdeck is a great handheld mini pc. I bought it a few months ago and did also use it to learn more about Linux.

I've even set up dualboot on my desktop with Linux and am using it primarily now.

For new owners I recommend cryobytes scripts for a bit of performance+

https://github.com/CryoByte33/steam-deck-utilities

Also the whole emulation suite is great.

https://www.emudeck.com/