Reddit: Hidden Steam Deck feature – many users were unaware of this Bluetooth trick

Amid discussions about the current Steam Deck OLED price increases, Reddit also has something to laugh about – and even something to learn. A meme in the Steam Deck subreddit sums up how many gamers use their handheld: the device is tired, the battery is groaning – and yet it is still expected to handle Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at double emulation speed, full brightness and Spotify running in the background.

The joke turned into a discussion about how much people actually demand from the handheld in everyday use – and also brought attention to a hidden feature that some users apparently did not know about. It started with a comment by u/PushDeep9980, who wondered why anyone would run Spotify on the Steam Deck when they could instead stream audio from their smartphone to the handheld via Bluetooth. The Redditor explains it as follows:

"On your phone, you can search for your steam deck as a Bluetooth device. Once it is connected, then all audio from your phone will be routed to your deck. So you can even listen to whatever the f*ck YouTube, Spotify, phone calls."

A smartphone can therefore be used as a Bluetooth audio source for the Steam Deck. The idea is that a simple Bluetooth connection to the phone may be less demanding for the handheld in terms of battery life and performance than running the app directly on the Steam Deck. Whether that is actually true is debatable. Either way, the feature is practical – for incoming calls, for example, or for watching a YouTube video on the side while playing the audio through the same headphones.

Many Steam Deck owners were apparently unaware of the trick. On Reddit, users wrote things like “TIL!” or “Well... I learned something new today. Thank you.” Even the creator of the thread seemingly did not know about it. In the end, the meme thread about the Steam Deck’s digital burnout offered some real added value.