How to extend the Steam Deck’s battery life

In the spring of 2019, Valve’s new Steam Deck controller was released. The device is a unique hand-held game system that can be charged with any phone charger and connect to your TV for use as both a controller and an “all in one” gaming machine. However, many users have been experiencing unreliable battery life over time due to its lithium ion button cell batteries which require frequent charging from their wall chargers or USB ports.

The “what is steam gaming” is a question that gets asked often. The answer to the question, is that Steam is an online platform for games where users can purchase and play video games.

Many gamers are finding the Steam Deck to be a new favorite, since it provides a surprisingly feasible choice for PC gaming on the road. However, in order to get the most out of Valve’s portable console, you’ll want to optimize its battery life. Here’s how to do it.

Select your games carefully.

On a single charge, the Steam Deck is said to last anywhere from two to eight hours. Some of this is down to the game you’re playing; a lo-fi indie game like Celeste, for example, will be less demanding on the console than, say, Elden Ring. So, if you’ve got a lengthy trip ahead of you, try exploring the large library of smaller films available. Of course, if you’re just going to play for a few of hours, opt for one of the major names like God of War.

Alter your visual choices.

@Dolphin Emu provided this image.

The Steam Deck performs well for such a small package, but there are a few areas where it tries to go above and beyond. The high-definition 1200×800 display is fantastic, and it can run games at a smooth 60 frames per second, although chugging along at that speed may be a little draining on the battery. Thankfully, the console’s operating system has a built-in framerate limitation in its settings menu, which allows you to select a system-wide framerate of 30 frames per second. That’s more than enough for the Deck’s modest but effective display, and many more visually demanding games will only be able to attain 30 frames per second anyhow.

In a similar spirit, tinkering with the visual choices for whichever game you’re playing is frequently worthwhile. The Steam Deck’s display, as great as it is, is still significantly smaller than the normal gaming monitor, thus any visual flaws will be less obvious when playing. The longer the battery lasts, the more of those settings you can turn down a few notches. If everything else fails, even something as basic as decreasing the screen’s brightness may make a big difference.

Experiment with more sophisticated options.

If you’re willing to delve behind the hood, you can get even more battery life out of the Steam Deck. It should be emphasized, though, that tinkering with some of the more complex options might have negative consequences if you don’t know what you’re doing, so proceed with caution.

You can discover some additional items to fiddle with in the Steam Deck’s settings that will help the console use less power. Setting the GPU’s clock speed to a constant amount, for example, will keep it operating at a consistent level regardless of the game or other factors. This will frequently conserve battery life at the expense of visual quality in more demanding games, but it may have the reverse impact in lighter games, so be careful.

A option to restrict the system’s TDP, or Thermal Design Power, is also available. Because this is effectively a gauge of how much power the CPU consumes, it’s a terrific method to reclaim some additional battery life. If you set it too low, though, your performance will suffer significantly, so strike a balance.

According to YouTuber The Phawx, AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution may improve both performance and battery life, in some cases improving battery life by over an hour.