Are you experiencing short battery life on your Steam Deck?
If so, you’re not alone as many users have reported that their device’s battery drains quickly while playing Elden Ring and even when performing relatively simple tasks.
In this article, we will explore some of the possible reasons why your Steam Deck may have poor battery life and provide 6 workable tips for improving it.
Method 1: Reduce Steam Deck Screen Brightness
The first easy thing you can do to overcome Steam Deck Battery Draining Fast is by lowering your screen brightness as Valve sets the default screen brightness fairly high. With the brightness down, I was able to play God of War for just over an hour longer.
To lower the brightness go to your Steam Deck setting by pressing the menu button and then from the Display you can decrease the brightness to a minimum.
Make sure you don’t use the dynamic brightness option in the settings as it’s too sensitive, and the constant adjustment could actually decrease your battery life.
Also Read: How To Connect AirPods To Your Steam Deck?
Method 2: Select the appropriate Graphics Settings
To ensure that the game does not drain the battery too quickly and to minimize the load on the hardware, it is recommended to adjust the graphics settings appropriately for the specific game being played. Some games may be more demanding on resources, while others are less demanding. To further extend battery life, consider limiting the game’s framerate to 30 frames per second. So, in return, you can get an extra hour of playtime.
All you need to do is on your Steam Deck:
- Press the Overflow Menu on your Steam Deck
- Select Performance > Advanced View.
- And from there you can adjust the Framerate limit.
Also Read: Easy Steps to Connect Steam Deck to a TV
Method 3: Limit the Power on your Steam Deck
To improve battery life without compromising performance, you can try limiting the total power and GPU speed of the Steam Deck using the Quick settings menu. The optimal settings will vary depending on the specific game and desired framerate. Experiment with different values to find the best balance for your needs.
- Press the Overflow Menu on your Steam Deck
- Select Performance > Advanced View
- Enable the Thermal Power Limit option
- And you can also adjust the GPU speed too.
Like in God of War I set it to 5W maintaining a steady 60 fps helped me improve battery life by around an hour and a half.
Also Read: How to Customize Controls on the Steam Deck
Method 4: Turn on Airplane Mode for Singleplayer Games
Enabling Airplane Mode on your Steam Deck will turn off both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which can significantly extend the battery life of your device. This is especially useful if you are not using any Bluetooth external devices like a keyboard or mouse. Keep in mind that this will only be effective for singleplayer games as the device will not be able to connect to the internet or other devices
Method 5: Using FSR on Steam Deck
The Steam Deck has the capability to use AMD’s FidelityFX Super Sampling (FSR) to upscale and improve the resolution of games. This can be an effective way to save battery life as it reduces the workload of the device by running the game at a lower resolution. In addition to extending battery life, using FSR may also reduce fan noise. To use this feature, you will need to enable it in the settings.
Also, you have to sacrifice your game resolution for extended Steam Deck Battery life to 960 x 600 and if you want more battery life then take it to 640 x 400
Method 6: Enable Half-Rate Shading
Valve has implemented half-rate shading on the Steam Deck, which is a technique that can significantly extend battery life. Half-rate shading reduces the workload by only shading half of the pixels on the screen and using the colors of nearby pixels to fill in the missing information. This can reduce the demand for the device’s resources and extend battery life.
As some of the Steam Deck games don’t allow you to adjust resolution so enabling half-rate shading is the go-to spot.
To enable this:
- Press the three dots button on the Steam Deck
- Go to the battery icon
- Select advanced settings > turn on half-rate shading
By implementing the above methods we hope that you should e able to improve your Steam Deck battery life. It may take some trial and error to find the best combination of settings and techniques that work for you. However, with a little effort, you can extend the battery life of your Steam Deck and enjoy longer gaming sessions without worrying about running out of power.