5V charging too slow

[DefaultSkin]

Non PD USB chargers are available in cars, trains and even airplanes. They support up to 2 amps with is around 10W.

At the moment steam deck only charges at 0.5 amp on a non PD chargers.

Can this be improved?
It would cut to one quarter the needed time to charge the deck.

[Taktloss]

These are mainly for low power devices so no this cant really be improved. There is a reason the Deck comes with a 45W Power Supply.

[DefaultSkin]

But is it a hardware limitation? I don't think so...

And Steam deck is a low power device.
Gaming on it consumes from 10 to 25 W, with the standard 2 amp charger it would last a lot longer...

[Nathan]

As far as I am aware the slow charge is intentional to prolong the battery's lifespan.

[Taktloss]

Originally posted by Nathan:

As far as I am aware the slow charge is intentional to prolong the battery's lifespan.

I belive this only kicks in when the battery is like 80% btw. almost full.

Originally posted by Fric:

But is it a hardware limitation? I don't think so...

And Steam deck is a low power device.
Gaming on it consumes from 10 to 25 W, with the standard 2 amp charger it would last a lot longer...

Its in the USB Specification that standard USB/USB 2.0 connections are only allowed to output a certain amount of Power but it changed with USB-C outputs.
These outlets in cars and so on follow these specifications so at the end it depends on the outlet.
So you still can try to charge it while playing but it will drain the battery faster just faster.
Leave it Idle or shut it off and it will very very slowly charge.

A good power bank would be a better option :)

[notboxbot]

A power source connected by USB-C may indicate (to the powered device) that it can deliver more than 500mA by connecting pull-up resistors to two pins (CC1/CC2) of the connector (indicating 1.5A or 3.0A); if you're connecting a USB-A charger via an adapter cable, this won't work since USB-A doesn't have these pins.

There might be adapter cables that basically "lie" by adding these resistors themselves - which might be risky if the charger doesn't really support the advertised amperage....

[Prezidentas]

Current USB Power Delivery standard only allows charger communication via the Configuration Channel (CC) pin. Since such pin doesn't exist on USB-A, USB-A to USB-C cables use a resistor on the CC pin to limit the current to 500mA USB standard. Even with a cheater cable the maximum power you can get is 5V 3A, which is still lower than maximum Deck power consumption...
Perhaps there are adapters or cables with circuitry that would convert the old "resistor on the data line" or proprietary standards like Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 into USB-C compliant stuff?

[DooMMasteR]

Originally posted by notboxbot:

A power source connected by USB-C may indicate (to the powered device) that it can deliver more than 500mA by connecting pull-up resistors to two pins (CC1/CC2) of the connector (indicating 1.5A or 3.0A); if you're connecting a USB-A charger via an adapter cable, this won't work since USB-A doesn't have these pins.

That is not the only way though, USB PD 1.0 existed too and techniques like QC and such also are in line.
Generally USB-A ports can signal they allow 1500 mA by putting a 200 Ohm resistor on D+ and D-, 7.5W are a lot more than 2.5W.
It would be great if Valve could detect and implement at least USB-BC, or even QuickCharge.
The SteamDeck has a MAX77958 which supports BC1.2 Legacy/Proprietary charger detection, so 1.5 A at 5V should be a no-brainer.
Hell the MAX also has all boxes checked to allow QuickCharge 1-4+, and detect Apple chargers.