A method of controlling laser output in a heat assisted magnetic recording device can be performed by control circuitry in a data storage device. The method includes measuring a temperature, measuring laser output power of a laser, determining a power error by subtracting an optimal laser output power from the measured laser output power and comparing the power error to at least one threshold to determine whether an applied current to the laser needs to be adjusted. The at least one threshold is related to how great the power error can be while maintaining the integrity of data on a recording medium.