Nintendo Switch 2 vs Steam Deck OLED battery test — there’s a clear winner, and it's not the gaming handheld I expected

Last month, I took both the Nintendo Switch 2 and the Steam Deck OLED on a trip for science to determine which was the best gaming handheld for travel. I was fairly pleased with the resulting conclusion, but not everybody was so impressed with my testing methodology.

The online ire came in how I tested battery life between the two devices. One reader called it “incredibly flawed and, frankly, embarrassing.” Them’s fighting words! While some tech writers’ first instinct might be to dismiss such strongly-worded feedback. I actually reflected on my methods and came to the same conclusion: the way I had tested battery life was flawed.

See, the fundamental, and I’ll admit, careless mistake I had made when testing the battery life on Switch 2 and Steam Deck OLED was that I had played different software on each. On Switch 2, I played Star Wars Outlaws, and on Steam Deck OLED, I played Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. Different games have different hardware demands, adding too many variables.

I thank multiple readers for pointing out this inconsistency in my approach. I determined my only solution was to conduct a new test, and this time, attempt to be as accurate as possible. And the results? Well, they certainly weren’t what I expected after my first (flawed) test.

Here’s how I (re)tested battery life on Switch 2 and Steam Deck OLED

My goal in this second battery test was to reduce as many variables as possible. That meant putting each console into the same state. Both had Wi-Fi switched on, no audio devices connected, and I ensured that neither was downloading additional software or updates in the background.

I also put both consoles at maximum brightness. The Steam Deck OLED does offer higher brightness compared to Switch 2 (1,000 nits w/ HDR vs 450 nits), but my testing was always to find the best gaming handheld for most people. The average owner will opt to use the built-in slider to determine the brightness levels, so I feel this discrepancy is acceptable.

The crucial component was running the same software on each handheld in this test. I opted for the excellent Hitman: World of Assassination, one of only two games I own on both systems. However, I still had concerns about the accuracy of my results. What if, for example, I played a more demanding level on Switch 2 compared to on the Steam Deck OLED?

The solution? Don’t play the game at all. In the hopes of obtaining the most iron-clad results possible, I instead booted up the game on both consoles, selected the Paris-set first level, and then left my Agent 47 avatar to stand completely still, not moving a single muscle. This would ensure, at least as much as possible, that neither console was given an advantage.

With my testing method solidified — and in my opinion, greatly improved — I started the timer and kept an eagle eye on my Switch 2 and Steam Deck OLED waiting to see which one would blink first…

Nintendo Switch 2 vs Steam Deck battery test — the results

The above results were definitely not what I expected. During my initial testing, the Nintendo Switch 2 warned that its battery was running low after 90 minutes, but this time, it took more than two hours before that same message appeared.

More impressively, when the hybrid console hit 1% battery remaining, it managed to squeeze out an extra 10 minutes before the screen went dark and Agent 47’s (very much unsuccessful) mission was drawn to a close.

Meanwhile, the Steam Deck OLED performed significantly worse. In my first test, I got almost three hours of play in Lara Croft’s excellent 2013 adventure, but this time, the Deck was running on near empty before I’d even reached two. I was also shocked to see just how quickly the final few percent drained away. It went from 5% to flat within just four minutes.

My next step may be a third test (best out of 3?), this time actually playing the same game rather than leaving the game state idle, to see which comes out the ultimate winner. But for now, I’m pretty pleased with these results.

Of course, one test doesn't definitively prove a winner, but considering I’ve been bashing the Switch 2’s battery life since its launch (it was a major criticism in my largely highly complimentary review), maybe I was too hard on Nintendo’s current flagship console.

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