Can phone powerbanks powerful enough to charge a Steam Deck, or at least keep it alive?
Looks like any USB C PowerDelivery (PD) power bank with 45w or more output should be able to charge it even while playing… Anything less than 45w output will charge but lose power if you are actively using it.
I’m going to add that the math about the Deck having a 5200mah battery and thus with (let’s say) a 25000mah powerbank it’s easy to think that 25000/5200 almost 5 charges… that’s wrong. The Deck has 7.7v battery while powerbanks normally are 3.6 so things don’t translate directly.
Fastest way to know? https://www.steamdeck.com/en/tech/ The Deck has a 40Whr battery, a 20000mah powerbank should be around 74Whr and there the math is clear: less than two charges. Usually on the bottom of a powerbank there’s the specs, should have that value too.
Thanks so much for this, it’s what I really wanted to know.
Is the conversion from mAh to Whr something you can explain to a five year old, or should I really just search-engine that conversion if I need to in the future?
Watts are amps * volts, so the conversion depends on the voltage. So for example 20000mAh at 5V is 100Wh.
You shouldn’t have to do any conversion, the whr value is what’s used to allow or not powerbanks on airplanes so that value is either clearly in the specs, or if you already have it, on the bottom :)
most will just slow the rate your deck discharges (if you’re using it), you need a high output charger to actually charge it. Anker makes a few that will, i personally have the 737 and think its worth every single penny with the steam deck.
I can second this. I got mine on sale for $110, but even at full price it is worth it. With 140w of output power, it can even charge my Mac at full speed without issue.
how much extra charge does it give you on the deck?
Just did some testing. While playing a game and pulling 22w, the battery says about 4 hours. While playing a game with a partially depleted battery pulling the full 40w, it says 2hrs.
If you limit the power you will obviously be able to stretch it quite a bit. Overall, quite a bit of extra playtime.
I am using Baseus Adaman Power Bank 65W 20000mAh. Pretty happy with it, even charges my work laptop at good speed.
I bought the INIU 65W 25000mAh powerbank. It’s a bit chunky but absolutely does the job
I can second for INUI, works fantastically. Amazon usually has deals making them pretty cheap!
Steam deck has USB PD. So if your powerbank supports it anything above 40watts will be fine
It depends on a few factors. First, what is the quality of the power bank? If it supports USB-C and has fast charging, it will likely be able to keep up with the Deck’s power draw. However, it also depends on the game you’re playing. Something AAA that drops your battery life to <2 hours may use more power than the bank can provide. That said, as long as you’re taking breaks and putting the system to sleep, the bank should be able to catch up.
The Deck has a 5300mAh capacity. Most high quality power banks are around 10000, so you should be able to double or triple the battery life.
If you have one with USB PD yeah
