Steam Deck's new low-powered mode saves battery while downloading games

Valve has released a quality-of-life update for its Steam Deck handheld PC hybrid that allows users to download games without severely impacting battery.

Steam Deck's new low-powered mode saves battery while downloading games
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Senior Gaming Editor
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TL;DR: Valve's new Steam Deck update introduces a low-power display-off mode that completes downloads while conserving battery life, especially benefiting OLED models. This feature, currently in Beta, allows users to download content with the screen off, enhancing efficiency and extending handheld gaming sessions.

Little over three years on the market, Valve is releasing a major new update that will benefit all Steam Deck owners.

Steam Deck's new low-powered mode saves battery while downloading games 137
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The fine-tuned balance between battery life and performance is the struggle of gaming handhelds everywhere. Efficiency is incredibly important any handheld PC, and typically, gamers always want to preserve battery life whenever possible, eliminating wasteful usage. That's the thinking behind the Steam Deck's new update, which adds a low-powered mode that turns the screen off while downloading content--particularly useful for OLED models with brighter and more power-hungry screens.

"Today we are adding a new feature to Steam Deck, enabling it to complete all active downloads in a new display-off low-power mode, before going to sleep," Valve wrote in the announcement.

The display will turn off when the Steam Deck is put in this mode, but the handheld system will still be running in the background.

Valve continues, explaining that the feature is currently being tested in the Beta and Preview channels for the Steam Deck:

"Display-off downloads are accessible in two ways. While Steam Deck is downloading content, pressing the power button now brings up a new dialog, asking whether you'd like to continue downloading with the screen off.

"Select Continue, and Steam Deck will go into the new low-power download mode. In addition, Steam Deck will automatically go into this mode after an idle timeout.

"While in this mode, if you press a button or move Steam Deck, a new status screen will be shown with download progress (see above). From here you can fully wake Steam Deck or let it continue downloading with the screen off.

"When this feature is active on battery power, Steam Deck will automatically go to full sleep mode if the battery level falls below 20%."