Steam Deck owner shows off ingenious charging trick

The Steam Deck’s type-C port can make the handheld awkward to charge in its official case, but one Deck owner has an inventive but simple solution, turning the handheld 180 degrees.

Charging a big beast of a handheld like the Steam Deck isn’t a daunting task – however, it can be a little awkward. Unlike handhelds like the Nintendo Switch, the Steam Deck’s charging port is on the top of the device, rather than the bottom. This can be a problem if you want to protect your expensive portable handheld and charge it simultaneously.

The protective hard case, bundled with the console by Valve, only allows your Steam Deck to sit in one exact position. This aligns with the molded outline of the device’s shape inside the case. While it protects the handheld from wear and tear, the charging port points toward the middle of the case, meaning you can’t charge the console while it’s closed.

One Steam Deck owner thought around this quirk and shared their discoveries online. In a post to r/Steam Deck, Reddit user f**k—spez posted a video revealing their ingenious way to get around the awkward layout of both the official Steam Deck case and the handheld’s charging port.

Instead of placing the Steam Deck in the case as Valve intended, the Reddit user flipped the handheld “180° to plug the USB cable safely.” With the charging port now facing the opposite side, they could place the charger through the zipped edge, and charge the Steam Deck while it’s still safely within the case.

Though it may seem obvious, this neat trick means your Steam Deck can be safe from harm’s way and charged at the same time. The only caveat is that it can put the Steam Deck’s sticks at risk of damage, as they aren’t intended to be placed in the case that way. We recommend not zipping up the case all the way when trying out this trick for yourself.