**Gaming with the Steam Deck: A Hands-on Review**

The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming console that has been making waves in the gaming community, and I had the opportunity to put it through its paces. In this review, I'll take you through my experience with the device, including its performance, features, and accessories.

**Performance and Resolution**

One of the first things I noticed about the Steam Deck was how well it handled demanding games. I set up my deck to play at 720p, but I wanted to see if it could handle higher resolutions. Personally, I set it up for 30 with it, which is still a great resolution considering the power limitations of the device. However, I noticed dips under 40, so I adjusted my settings accordingly. With this setup, we're at 720p and if I wanted to up the resolution on this game, I really couldn't go much higher than this because we're limited by the power of the Steam Deck API.

However, there are older games that the Steam Deck can run at 4K resolutions, such as Left 4 Dead or Half-Life 2. I quickly switched over to Left 4 Dead 2 and checked out the settings. We're at a true 4K resolution on medium settings, and this game does run smoothly over 80 FPS at 4K on the Steam Deck. The game also allows us to lock into 60 FPS with high settings, making for a really good experience.

**Desktop Mode**

One of the main things I would use this dock for is desktop mode. With the larger monitor set up as my primary display, we're at 4K 60 Hz. Web browsing and other tasks work out nicely here, and even 4K video playback is really nice on the Steam Deck.

For a quick test, I found a 4K 60Hz video on YouTube and played it back while in desktop mode. The device played back the video without any issues, including at 60 Hz. This shows that the Steam Deck can handle demanding tasks without any hiccups.

**Speed Test**

Another feature I wanted to check out was the speed test. I connected my internet via Ethernet on the dock and compared it to built-in Wi-Fi on the Steam Deck. The results were impressive, with the dock offering faster speeds even though we're using Ethernet over USB Type C.

Over Wi-Fi, the device had performance figures of 450 Mbps down and 392 Mbps up. In contrast, when connected via Ethernet, the results jumped to 895 Mbps down and 787 Mbps up. This shows that the dock offers significantly faster speeds than built-in Wi-Fi on the Steam Deck.

**USB Accessories**

I also wanted to test out the non-powered USB hard drive feature of the dock. I plugged in a non-powered USB hard drive and powered it up, and was pleased to see that it provided enough power for the hard drive without killing my other USB ports.

Finally, I tested the device's emulation capabilities by running games on Dolphin Emulator. I was able to run games like Soul Calibur 2 at 1440p, which is a significant improvement over 720p. This shows that the Steam Deck can handle demanding tasks and provide smooth gameplay with high resolutions.

**Conclusion**

Overall, my experience with the Steam Deck was very positive. The device performed well, even with demanding games, and its features such as desktop mode and fast speeds make it an attractive option for gamers. While there are some limitations to consider, I think this would be a great choice for those who need something now or can't wait for Valve's official release of their own dock.

If you're interested in learning more about the Steam Deck or purchasing one yourself, I've included links to all the resources mentioned in this review. Thanks for watching!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey what's going on everybody it's eta prime back here again today we're going to be taking a look at some brand new third-party steam deck accessories from a company called jsox or jsox i'm not exactly sure how to pronounce it but if you're a regular viewer of the channel you know i've taken a look at a few different cases we've taken a look at a third party dock for the steam deck but with that dock we were lacking ethernet and a few other little things that i just didn't like it was constructed of plastic and this is actually the dock that i wanted to pick up but it was gonna take about three weeks to get here and the accessories are finally here so we've got their new screen protectors their six in one hdmi dock for the steam deck and their kickstand case now when it comes to screen protectors i usually don't do videos on these i find the cheapest one on amazon and so far for my steam deck and my wife's steam deck i've purchased two different sets of screen protectors just to see which one would go on better and with both of those i really didn't have any issues but with these we do get two screen protectors and a jig which is something that comes in really handy when putting a screen protector on now with a lot of phone screen protectors that i pick up on amazon it usually comes with a jig like this but this is the first time i've seen it for the steam deck and this is going to make it super easy to get your screen protectors on without any issues it also comes with all of the little accessories you usually get with these screen protector kits we get the alcohol wipes to clean the screen off get a nice little clean rag to get everything off of it and uh with the jig it basically just snaps right onto the front lines up perfectly give it another wipe down and with that jig this is just going to allow you to put that screen protector on perfectly the first time so you don't have to worry about it and this was super easy to do like i mentioned i picked up a couple different screen protectors for the steam deck but none of them were this easy so i just kind of put it right on there we've got the little spudger and of course the jig isn't totally necessary but it does make it super easy next on the list this was actually something i was super excited about i've taken a look at a few different cases be it a silicone case or hard cases for the steam deck but they just released their new kickstand case does come with some instructions uh we really won't need these this basically just snaps right onto the steam deck we've got a clear backing here so we can actually see the rear of the unit all of the holes are cut out perfectly we've got ventilation around back and it's basically a hard case i mean there is definitely a little bit of give to it so it will slide on the steam deck but around back we've got that kickstand and this is something i love to see in these handhelds because sometimes i just want to set it down on the desk maybe watch a video on it or play with a different controller and putting this thing on is super simple it's soft enough that i'm not worried about it scratching up the steam deck itself kind of snaps right on here not bad at all i mean and now we've got some protection for the steam deck plus round back we've got that kickstand where the palms are it does have a little bit of a grippier surface than the steam deck itself so it will make it a little easier to hold on to for long periods of time doesn't add much weight at all and yeah it looks like everything is perfectly cut out for the steam deck and yeah as you can see up top here everything's nice and snug there's no gaps in the side or anything like that and on some of the other cases that i've taken a look at there was a little gap here by the palm rest this fits in here really nicely and on the top where the screen is no gap at all overall really nice looking case adds a little extra grip not much more weight we've got that kickstand we can actually see the back of the unit so if you did want to use a skin you could still see that coloring coming through with this hard case on it kickstand works great and since we've got rubber on the bottom of the steam deck and the bottom of the kickstand you can kind of adjust this to different angles if you want to there's not really any clicky adjustment to it but you could set it up at different angles if you needed to but yeah really liking this one this is probably the one that i'll be keeping on my steam deck it will provide some protection in case you drop it and these are readily available on their website and amazon so i'll leave some links in the description in case you're interested in this case but the final thing we're going to be taking a look at and testing out in this video is their six in one dock and this is the thing i was most excited about of course valve does have their dock on the way we don't know exactly when it's going to be released you know hopefully in the next few months we'll be able to get the official steam deck dock but right now we do have options so this will support up to 100 watt pd charging but as we know the steam deck only supports 45 but i mean that's totally fine we can get full 45 watt charging to the steam deck through this and the original dock i took a look at was made of plastic this is constructed of aluminum now the sides are plastic over here and the ethernet side which is gigabit and around back we've got three full-size usb 3.0 ports full-size hdmi which will support 4k 60 out power in and we also have our usb type-c to the steam deck right here not a bad looking little dock but we definitely need to test it out all right so yeah i'm definitely going to be testing ethernet out in this video but basically what i've got here is ethernet we're going to go in the side here full size hdmi and i'm connected to a 4k display and power in i'm just using the steam dex power supply so i only get 45 watts but that's the max that the steam deck will charge had got the steam deck up and running all i need to do is plug in that single usb type-c cable and i'm already getting a signal over here on the monitor there we have it all right so i've got an xbox controller connected to the steam deck over bluetooth we've got a 4k 60hz display here and uh yeah i mean it just kind of scaled right up looks pretty good here from the main menu but you got to keep in mind you know going to a 4k display isn't gonna allow you to play every single game at a 4k resolution we're still limited by the power of the steam deck but with the latest updates to the steam deck we can go over here and swap out the default resolution so with spider-man remastered i'm just going to go to 1280 by 720 because now we're on a 16 by 9 display as opposed to the 16x10 display on the steam deck which was 1280x800 so just go ahead and jump right into a little bit of gameplay and yeah i mean playing these games on a big screen does work out pretty well i've actually just locked this at 30. i find that playing spider-man remastered at 30 is kind of the way to go i know a lot of people want to get this up to 40. but personally set up that way i still noticed dips under 40 so i just went straight to 30 with it so we're at 720p and if i wanted to up the resolution on this uh at least this game i really couldn't go much higher than this because we're limited by the power of the steam dex apu but there are older games that the steam deck can run at 4k stuff like left 4 dead or half-life 2. i just moved over to left 4 dead 2 real quick and uh we'll go into the settings i'll show you what i got here we're at a true 4k resolution medium settings and this game does run over 80 fps at 4k on the steam deck like this you can actually go to high settings lock into 60 4k and have a really good time with it and of course i understand that this is an older game i mean it's definitely a really old game but playing this at 4k on a handheld is actually really impressive so gaming with this dock is totally possible on the steam deck but one of the main things i would use this dock for is desktop mode so i've got the larger monitor here set up as my primary display we're at 4k 60 hertz and you know web browsing and everything like that at 4k does work out doesn't take much to do this but uh even 4k video playback is really nice on the steam deck so we'll go ahead and find a 4k 60 video on youtube real quick and here's a 4k 60 lg demo on youtube we're at a true 4k resolution and the way i've got the desktop set up right now i don't have any scaling going but yeah it does play back 4k video really well even at 60 hertz here the next thing i wanted to do is just run a quick speed test you know ethernet on the dock versus built-in wi-fi remember on the steam deck we've only got wi-fi five i really wish they would have added wi-fi six to this unit but i think the dock will offer much faster speeds even though we're using ethernet over usb type c here's the results over wi-fi it's definitely not a slouch and these are real world performance figures we're not doing any theoretical test on how fast this internet could really be this is my network and what i can get out of the steam deck 450 megabits down 392 up and on ethernet using the dock we're now at 895 down and 787 up again over wi-fi it's no slouch i mean you can still get what you need done but we are getting much faster speeds on a wired connection using this dock and the last couple things i wanted to show off here was a non-powered usb hard drive running on the dock so this is providing enough power for the hard drive itself and it's not killing my other usb ports like on some other adapters that i've used in the past for android phones and other devices and the last thing here i wanted to show off was higher resolution emulation so with psp dreamcast gamecube and even wii we can go up to 1080 and 1440 with some of the easier to run stuff we can go up to 4k but with a lot of the dolphin stuff that i've tested 1440p is totally possible here's soul calibur 2 vulcan back in 1440p and it's running absolutely amazingly so yeah i mean going from 720 to 1080 does make a big difference but you know 1440 to 4k at least in my opinion in my experience i don't notice a huge jump in fidelity but playing these games at 1080 and 1440 does make a big difference overall everything that we tested here worked out great for the steam deck now i know when it comes to these screen protectors just like me i won't mind buying an off-brand from amazon and just putting it on myself but when it comes to the case i really do like it because we got that kickstand on the back and this is definitely the best dock that i've tested so far for the steam dag there are others on the market or you can just go ahead and wait it out until valve officially releases their own but if you can't wait and you need something now i think this would be a great choice we've got three usb 3.0 ports full size hdmi which does 4k 60 out and true gigabit ethernet on this unit but that's going to wrap it up for this one if you're interested in any of the stuff you saw i'll leave links in the description and like always thanks for watching\n"