I’ve been contemplating whether to use the Battery Charge Limit feature on my Steam Deck. Right now, I have it set so that it doesn’t charge over 80% since I mainly use it while docked to the Official SD Dock. However, when I’m diving into more demanding games, I really miss that extra 20% charge, which could give me around 30-35 more minutes of playtime, depending on the game and settings. I’ve also heard that the Steam Deck has pass-through charging, meaning it stops charging the battery when it’s full, but I’m still unsure. What are your thoughts on using this feature? I’m leaning towards changing it to 95% because I’m curious about how necessary it really is.
7 Answers
I find that sometimes it fails and charges beyond the limit. Kind of frustrating!
I wouldn’t mind it if the battery lasted longer, but it’s kind of limited. The charge limits have been wonky lately, I’ve had my deck shut off at 79% even with the limit set.
I haven’t updated yet, but keeping a charge limit seems like more hassle than it’s worth. Modern lithium batteries have controllers to manage charging, so it’s not that big a deal to let them charge up.
If you’re often using your Deck on battery, I’d say skip the limit option. You might actually be harming your experience for very little gain. If you’re mostly docked, then the setting can help prolong battery life for when you want to go portable. But honestly, if you’re missing that 20% charge, just turn it off! Your battery’s meant to be used, as long as you don’t keep it maxed out all the time, it should be fine.
Thanks for this! I’ll turn it off – appreciate the tips.
Not to mention that replacing the battery isn’t that hard these days. There’s plenty of info and parts out there!
Nope! I’m just enjoying life with my battery fully charged and ready to go!
Yeah, I’ve used it on my phone and I think it’s useful. Just gotta watch how much you actually need it.
I think it causes issues sometimes, like the charging indicator not showing up until you reboot the dock. It happened to me a couple times.
They fixed that bug in the latest beta build, so you should be good!
Yeah, some devices do that to recalibrate the battery. I guess it’s the same on the Deck.