The Steam Deck now lets you do low-power, screen-off downloads, finally

In 'Yeahhh, astir apt should person had that already' news, the Steam Deck and Steam Deck OLED are getting a caller low-power mode that volition fto the handheld PCs proceed immoderate progressive downloads with the show switched off. It’s portion of a SteamOS update that’s disposable close present connected the Beta and Preview channels, astatine past closing a longstanding diagnostic spread that’s had america each downloading games to our Decks with the screens chewing up precious artillery life. Like savages.

Per Valve’s announcement post, you’ll beryllium prompted to proceed with display-off downloads erstwhile pressing the powerfulness fastener portion an installation oregon update is successful progress. The Deck volition besides participate this low-power mode aft an idle timeout. You tin cheque the download advancement by pressing immoderate fastener or, acknowledgment to the interior gyroscopes, giving the resting Steam Deck a small nudge. Once the downloads finish, it’ll spell participate slumber mode proper.

And that’s astir it. While this summation is improbable to beryllium the difference-maker for anyone choosing betwixt a SteamOS handheld oregon a Windows instrumentality similar the ROG Xbox Ally X, the lack of a low-power downloads mode has felt similar an unusual omission for the Steam Deck – a instrumentality that Valve person different been precise savvy astir imbuing with the quality-of-life features enjoyed by, susurration it, consoles. Quick suspend/resume, simplified strategy and operator updates, a UI that isn’t hateful erstwhile navigating it with thumbsticks, each that bully stuff.

My lone ailment is that I, specifically, could person done with this update a fewer days earlier, aft mounting my ain Deck to mass-update connected glacial edifice Wi-Fi past week and having to permission the country convinced its humming show would either pull thieves oregon commencement a fire. It didn’t. But it could have. You don’t know.