I have seen a lot of people argue you must use a 45W output power bank, probably because it’s the charger output Valve recommends for continuous play.
I have yet to pass 30W during play (admittedly I play with 100℅ brightness, not 120%). It will charge at a miserably slow rate, but if I start a session at full battery, I also end the session with a full battery.
If you own a 30W power bank already, it is not some strict requirement to upgrade it for the frame, just make sure to use the right output port.
The discussions around the Steam Frame’s battery/charging have really highlighted how little people know about power delivery, even in tech enthusiast spaces.
Like, of course you don’t need 45W. The Frame draws 27W at its peak. However 45W is capable of charging it even as you play, which may or may not be important to you.
Saw some guy on YouTube claim the Frame draws 90W too based on it draining the battery in an hour, so it was obviously DOA because no battery bank could keep up and you’d never get good playtimes. Been a while since I’ve encountered someone so confident and yet so wrong over basic technical details.
21Wh battery, around one hour lifetime. Yes, it must obviously have a 90W draw!!
Good to have a number on the max draw. Honestly, assuming a slight loss at the buck converter I think at peak consumption a 30W charger might actually struggle. It will be a close call at any rate, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you went down to 99℅ after using it for a while. The horror!