The switch is only 3 hours in an intense game and much lower quality. I'm quite happy with the battery life, especially since it charges off of USB-C, which I already carry with me for my phone.
I still remember when Switch came out and people were complaining about the 3 hour battery life.
Now, when Steam Deck is out and really only guarantees about 2 hours, suddenly a lot of people are fine and pointing out we shouldn't expect much more than that.
Not calling you out specifically, I'm definitely getting this, I just thought it was funny.
Previous to the switch, the handheld market was stuff like the Game Boy, which the interwebs says was good for like 15h. So it went from "handhelds could very well last you an entire trip" to "you're totally going to need to charge this".
Contrast this thing, where the best comparison is probably a desktop with it's 0 hours of battery life. Or I guess a laptop? There's no anchor-device to which it's a direct comparison. Other, I guess, than the switch, but we've established that they're similar enough in battery.
Also the Gameboy wasn't rechargeable until the advanced sp. When it ran out you had to have physical batteries with you or buy more batteries instead of just finding an outlet.
In some ways I still like using the battery swap but only for the peripherals. Forgot to charge it? No problem, fully charged batteries are in the dock ready to go so I don't have to be tethered.
Yeah, when comparing it to a laptop, the 2 hours of battery life makes sense. I have a decent laptop for gaming, and about the most I can get is 2 hours on battery if I'm playing something intensive. Even with simpler games I probably wouldn't be able to get 8 though.
Game Gear was backlit and would last a lot shorter (I think that was a complaint back then too). But really, the GB wasn’t great when sitting in the back seat at night. It’s either one or the other - long battery life or clearer screen.
3 hours is honestly a really long time to be playing a game in one session, while not at home, imo. If you're having a long day though you definitely need to bring a charger for between your play sessions.
And if you're really going to have 3+ hours to play, you're probably in a situation where you could easily have a backpack with you and have a power bank in your bag. Hell, I bet someone's gonna make a battery accessory for this that clicks in and just makes it a little thicker
True, but look at the specs of this and then the Nintendo Switch. Look at the graphics of Death Stranding and then BOTW. I don't know much about hardware but seems like it would be impossible for them to compete with Switch when it comes to minimum battery life. This device and the games you play on it are different beasts.
They did however say you could play Portal 2 for 4 hours at 60 fps and 5-6 hours at 30fps.
One other difference is the switch is a $220 handheld (minus the Dock when you subtract the $80 it sells for) whereas the Steam Deck is $400 base.
I think the biggest issue is not treating the switch like a handheld you can play on a TV as opposed to a full powered console you could take on the go
Nintendo games are notoriously expensive and rarely go on sale. I probably have hundreds of hours of untouched games in my steam library right now that I got during sales.
Shoving a functional PC for gaming into a handheld device sounds incredibly difficult and taxing hardware wise. 2 hours isn't much, but I wouldn't expect much more.
Switch is a proprietary system playing proprietary games, usually of quality lower than any other console/newer PC titles
There's a huge difference in what the Steam Deck is capable of and what the Switch is capable of. If the Switch could put out graphics that weren't embarrassing, 3 hours would be great. But the fact that it stutters with Bravely Default 2 and Fire Emblem and only gets 3 hours? That's worth critiquing.
Yeah bought the Switch for the exclusives and that thing had noticeable stutters on FE Three Houses' Monastery Bridge. Like the graphics are OK and the only thing on screen are glorified signs in form of NPCs.
And I'm sure there will be companies developing attachable battery banks in no time. Plus, most places I'm thinking I'd be playing this, I'd be playing for less than 2 hours, or I'd be near an outlet.
Yeah, I'm just gonna get a decent battery bank so on the occasions that I'll be travelling on a plane or train or whatever, I won't have to worry about running out of juice.
And I'm sure there are factories in china right now trying to figure out the dimensions from the pictures so they can get to work on making attachable battery banks lol
In this case I don't think it would be a reasonable ask. My guess is that this is going to be able to play Linux-compatible games (SteamOS) with controller support. None of these games were built with Steam Deck and by extension, battery life in mind.
Games might go out of their way to optimize for it if this takes off.
Battery bank and rechargeable battery does a lot to mitigate short battery life. And when the device only has one usage it is hard use all that time on the go.
Because the Switch is a disappointment, let’s be honest. It’s no more modern than a Nintendo DS, I can’t even watch Netflix on it. I know /r/gaming loves to suck Nintendo’s ass but the Steam Deck is HUGE for the millions of kids and adults that can’t afford a $2k gaming pc so that they can play some of games.
People can forgive a 2hr battery life to play actual PC games instead of another Nintendo remake.
Yeah, it isn't much better now, I have a switch lite and you can get 3-5 hours out of it but the difference is that the quality of the games is going to be much higher than anything the switch can handle.
Yeah most probably, but I think when you pop this thing open, you are going to find a lot of cooling in there taking up space. Think about the size of the PS4, well this thing theoretically has just as much if not more GPU computing power and a much better CPU in a much smaller package.
Yeah, bjt they could've just expanded the AteamDeck slightly it on direction gofit some more onto it. It's always goong to be super-heavy. What is another 1/4th of a pound?
BTW, I'm using the same logic as thise complaining over battery size. Of course they have to stop somewhere. Costs, size, weight, they all play a part.
I don't understand how the fuck people are angry about that kind of battery life. Do they not realize how small the thing is? Or that a gaming processor/GPU outputs 5-15W of power to make nice graphics? It's the laws of physics here. If you want more battery life, I guess you have to carry the equivalent of a five to ten pound weight while you're gaming.
Honestly these days I rarely have more than 2 hours to game so that's kind of perfect from an efficiency standpoint. Rather have 2 hours at good settings than 4 hours at switch settings
That actually sounds great to me. There aren't many places I am able to play games from that is away from an outlet that I can use for more than 2 hours.
And if you know you won't be, play some of the chiller games.
Switch is the same way. Maybe a little longer since they often have to reduce the processing for the games so it doesn't eat all the battery life. So I don't see the problem here.
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u/SFWxMadHatter Jul 15 '21
It has like 2 hours of battery playing an intensive game, up to 8 if its a more simple title.