After a long time of users asking, Valve has actually added an official Battery Charge Limit setting in the latest Steam Deck Beta update so you no longer need to use third-party tools.
  • noride@lemm.ee
    65·
    11 months ago

    This has been possible via the BIOS for a while now, but it’s long overdue at the OS level. I love that Value keeps adding little QoL improvements to the steam deck, it’s turned out to be one of the best pieces of tech I’ve ever bought.

    • shiroininja@lemmy.world
      10·
      11 months ago

      It’s so weird that it doesn’t have it because both my kubuntu and endeavorOS installs have it by default. Like that’s a basic feature

        • morbidcactus@lemmy.ca
          5·
          11 months ago

          Decky has a Powertools plugin, what I’ve been doing, can set per game profiles and restrict charge rates as well with that.

    • Midnitte@beehaw.orgEnglish
      4·
      11 months ago

      I do hope they focus a bit on the UI going forward - we’ve noticed a lot of silly little bugs while either using the Steam Deck controls or a controller.

      A little hard to close a window without focus when using a controller…

      • Sylvartas@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        2·
        11 months ago

        Also I literally can’t get it to use a plugged controller when docked. Sure, it will charge it and I can pair it with Bluetooth and it works, but it’s a little silly that I can’t just use it as “pure” USB controller (even though it works flawlessly in that way on multiple PCs, including a Linux desktop, and through weird peripherals like my monitor’s USB hub).

        Streaming games on the home wifi is also basically non-functional in the OS, even though it works pretty damn well when I do it through Moonlight. I’m assuming the steam version doesn’t do enough compression (and yes I have tried tweaking the settings)

      • phobiac@lemmy.world
        15·
        11 months ago

        The logic isn’t flawed, your priors are. You’re assuming that people are constantly on a cycle of charging their battery to the limit, running it down low, and then charging it again. If you mostly play docked or with a charger plugged in then capping the battery at around 80% prolongs the battery runtime for when you do turn the limit off and want to use the full battery.

        If you mostly play fully charged and stationary, then lowering the charge limit means you have more future opportunities to experience the fully battery runtime when you disable the setting.

      • excral@feddit.org
        13·
        11 months ago

        No, I’m not suffering the consequences I’m fearing now. Having 80% capacity is enough to last me through the day, what I’m fearing is when the capacity drops below 60%, 50% or even less which I can greatly delay by only charging to 80%.

        Additionally, I’m not forever stuck at 80%. If I know I will need more capacity, I can always disable the restriction for the next charge.

      • Grandwolf319@sh.itjust.works
        3·
        11 months ago

        I mean, I was just gonna unplug it at 80 and plug it back it at 40.

        Beforehand I couldn’t just leave it cause it would go to 100%.

        If your referring to always keeping it plugged in, can’t I cap it at 60% then?

      • vxx@lemmy.world
        3·
        11 months ago

        That’s less of an issue with devices you use in battery mode all day, but the Deck sits on the docking Station most of the time and constantly getting held at 100%

  • Jarix@lemmy.world
    15·
    11 months ago

    …i just assumed they knew how to keep the battery safe already… My deck has stayed plugged in and docked since i got my projector to use with it…fuuuuuck

    • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      24·
      11 months ago

      There’s a big difference between “safe” and “ideal”

      All lithium ion batteries degrade quicker at 100% vs 80 or even 60%. But it’s not going to explode and kill you.

      • Jarix@lemmy.world
        5·
        11 months ago

        Actually thanks, now trust you mention it i should not have used safe. I was not meaning danger, just that i might have damaged the battery life or at least put it at risk at the least. Just assumed that it came optimised to be as ideal as valve usually goes a bit overboard on their hardware from what i remember reading

    • jokro@feddit.org
      6·
      11 months ago

      I think since the beginning if plugged in for some time it decharges to 95% so you are probably fine. You can check the battery health in desktop mode.

    • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzOPMEnglish
      6·
      11 months ago

      Default limit when toggled on is 80%, which generally seems like a good middle ground between usability and battery life. You can also raise the limit higher if you want more battery, or lower if you want to preserve the battery life better.

      • sparky1337@ttrpg.network
        4·
        11 months ago

        I thought the steam deck already had this. Admittedly, I’ve only had mine for about a month, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it charge to 100%. I think 95% was the highest I’ve seen. It seemed like it had something similar to smart charge like Windows has.

        • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzOPMEnglish
          8·
          11 months ago

          When it charges up all the way, it stops charging and just does passthrough power instead. You can then see the battery % slowly drop over time, which is probably why you were seeing stuff like 95%

          • nous@programming.devEnglish
            2·
            11 months ago

            You shouldn’t see the battery drop if it is not using the battery, which is what pass through would suggest.

            • Splendid4117@piefed.socialEnglish
              7·
              11 months ago

              Not quite - batteries have something called self-discharge, which happens faster at higher temps. If you’re actively using the deck, it can get warm which speeds up this process. It’s not fast, but it’s absolutely possible to see depending on how long you leave the deck docked

              • nous@programming.devEnglish
                1·
                11 months ago

                Battery self discharge is measured in days at worst, more typically weeks or months. It should not be dropping 5% over the course of an hour or so even if the device is a bit warm. Plus having it plugged in should start charging again once the battery starts dropping too low.

                • Fubarberry@sopuli.xyzOPMEnglish
                  3·
                  11 months ago

                  Sparky1337 hasn’t said anything about how long it had been plugged in before he saw it at 95%, so I was kinda assuming he was leaving it plugged in overnight, or leaving it docked for long amounts of time.