Best Steam Deck Accessories in 2023

Valve’s Steam Deck basically provides you gaming PC in the palm of your hand, but it surely’s not with out its flaws. Out of the field, the Steam Deck is an attention-grabbing however restricted handheld gaming platform. To make the most of its generally hidden options, from a extremely purposeful Linux desktop mode to help for a lot of non-Steam gaming platforms, including some equipment helps. 

I’ve positively spent a superb quantity of my time up to now with the Steam Deck utilizing the machine on a stand, with a wi-fi keyboard and mouse. I’ve spent much less time related to an exterior show, however I’ve additionally already ditched my first 256GB microSD card for a bigger 512GB model. 

Learn extra: Steam Deck Assessment: This Handheld Gaming PC Shocked Me, in Methods Each Good and Unhealthy 

These are a few of my present options for the very best Steam Deck equipment — when you’re into 3D printing, you should definitely scroll to the tip. 

Valve

The Steam Deck itself has just one USB-C port for each energy and video output. This small docking station provides each HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, plus three USB-A ports and an Ethernet jack. Sure, it could technically output to your TV at 4K/60Hz, however the Steam Deck GPU is not actually constructed for high-res gaming. The very best factor in regards to the official Valve dock is that it is small and full of ports. The draw back is that at $89, it is fairly costly for a easy dock. 

Learn extra about how Steam Deck docks examine. 

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This dock is greater, heavier and dearer than the official Valve one, but it surely provides a helpful further characteristic — an M.2 drive slot inside. The benefit of getting further storage is that it provides you a spot to dump and retailer giant video games to make extra room on the Steam Deck itself, quite than continually redownloading large recreation recordsdata.

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With an influence provide, dock and perhaps some cables, a beneficiant carry case for the Steam Deck is a must have. I discover the default case from Valve too small (and at the least in my case, the zipper snagged straight away), so after making an attempt just a few different fashions, I settled on this soft-sided Tomtoc carry bag. 

It is cumbersome, however has a separate space for equipment, a pocket for microSD playing cards and the principle part has further padding for the display screen and padded V-shaped wings that comply with the form of the Steam Deck’s grips.

You are receiving worth alerts for tomtoc Carrying Case for Steam Deck Console & Accessories, Protecting Shoulder Bag Pouch with Pockets Match Console, Unique AC Charger Adapter, Unique Dock, Light-weight On a regular basis Carry Bag for Journey

SanDisk

Shopping for the base-model 64GB Steam Deck is like shopping for the smallest-capacity iPhone. You realize you are going to run out of area — and rapidly. In contrast to an iPhone, nonetheless, it is simple so as to add a microSD card to the Steam Deck to make use of as secondary storage. The Steam Deck helps UHS-I (ultra-high pace) playing cards of the SD, SDXC and SDHC varieties, and including one is similar to doing the identical on a Nintendo Swap. My recommendation is to go for capability and worth. The 512GB card above hit that candy spot for me, however preserve a watch out for gross sales on different fashions. 

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Doing quite a lot of digging round in the desktop mode of the Steam Deck, I knew straight away I might want a keyboard. I went with this very compact gaming keyboard that felt like a wonderful match for the Steam Deck’s measurement. It connects through Bluetooth and prices through USB-C; simply bear in mind that it lacks a quantity pad, and a number of the structure is a little bit scrunched as a result of it is so small. Learn our hands-on with the Razer BlackWidow Mini Hyperspeed.

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Acer

You possibly can output the video sign from the Steam Deck through the system’s USB-C port (which can also be its energy port, so preserve that in thoughts). I connected a 27-inch 4K Acer Predator X27 show, which regarded nice, however notice that you do not really want the 4K decision or G-Sync, so a cheaper show would work, too. With the system’s comparatively weak graphics optimized for 1,280×800-pixel decision, blowing issues as much as 4K and 27 inches is simply going to spotlight these limitations. However it additionally makes working in the desktop mode a lot simpler. 

This actual mannequin is out of manufacturing now, so I am linking to the latest comparable mannequin beneath. Subsequent I plan on making an attempt the Steam Deck on the brand new Alienware 34-inch OLED show we have simply reviewed. 

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The unofficial ClassyBuzz DIY Steam Deck stand

Best low-cost stand

Sure, Valve is making its personal stand for the Steam Deck that may even act as a docking station. However the date, worth and even actual particulars on which might be all TBD. Not wanting to attend, I tweaked some pill stand designs and created each 3D printed and lasercut Steam Deck stands, completely sized to the machine. You possibly can download the designs here, and this listing of the very best 3D printers ought to get you began making one in all them. 

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3D-printed Steam Deck clip-on stand

Best moveable kickstand

I like the DIY 3D-printed kickstand. In contrast to the lasercut stand I made earlier than, this design, which I discovered on the Printables.com 3D mannequin repository, stays clipped on to the Steam Deck and pops open as wanted. It is a three-part design, with a clip-on base, the kickstand and a hinge. The three components took about 4 hours to print on a 3D printer, and two 6mm M3 screws are required, which I used to be capable of decide up at my native ironmongery shop. 

I appreciated this a lot, I wrote a whole article about it: The Steam Deck Actually Wants a Kickstand, So I Made One.

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