The Steam Deck experience from two years ago is very different from the Steam Deck experience in late 2023. IMO, I think IGN kind of got it right giving the launch Steam Deck a 7. Over the last two years of updates, the experience is considerably better now; hence the 9 for the OLED Deck.
To be fair, Mercedes is hardly the cornerstone of reliability. But yeah, I’d say you’re right on the money.