Steam Deck has plenty of essential accessory options to choose from at the moment, including powered USB hubs, Bluetooth headphones, and SD cards. But, you might want to consider this one as well. You’ll never get the full potential out of your Steam Deck if you’re not equipped with a decent portable charger alongside.
Using the Steam Deck on the go can zap the power tremendously quickly, so coming ready with an impressive power bank is an absolute must. For instance, when playing most games at 60 FPS, you’re likely looking at four hours of battery life, at most. During our review, we even found games like God of War would tap out in under 2-hours as well. Here are all the absolute best Power Banks to use with your Steam Deck.
Best Steam Deck Portable Chargers in 2022
What to Look For When Buying a Power Bank
When it comes to Power Banks, you typically want to look for a high capacity spec. This figure is always followed mAh (milliamp Hour). Steam Deck has a 5,313mAh battery inside of it, so you’re probably going to want to go for a charger with at least that kind of capacity. This will effectivly double your battery usage with the portable PC. If you decide to go for a higher capacity power bank, even better, but you will typically start to lose some portablity the higher capacity you go.
Most portable chargers in 2022 start off at around 10,000mAh capacity or higher. So, with this kind of capacity, you’re looking at around two extra charges for the Steam Deck. Or, if you go for our top pick, Anker PowerCore Essential 20000 (see here), you’re looking at just under four extra charges.
Once you’ve decided on capacity, the next thing you need to consider is the overall charging speed your new power bank will be able to deliver. Some portable chargers will offer much higher charging capabilities with increased voltages.
Most chargers will use a standard such as Power Delivery to connect with your device and send over the most amount of energy it can. So it’s also a good idea to check what sort of output capabilities the charger has. For example, if you have a 20000mAh battery, but it only supports 5w input or output, the efficiency of the device is going to be quite bad.
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
Author: Robert Anderson. [Source Link (*), IGN All]