Third party docks
Third party docks
Hey all. I was looking for a dock online and noticed a decent amount of third party ones on ebay and Amazon. Anyone tried any, or know a good brand?
I don't see myself playing on my TV much, just when I have friends over, so I can't justify the cost of the name brand.
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8Have a look for USB-C docks that don’t specifically mention “for the steam deck”. They’re all functionally the same but I found a steam deck owner tax when they reference Steam decks in product titles. For example, I picked up a Sabrent dock where reviews mentioned steam deck.
6Most of the docks work perfectly well with the Steam Deck. However, there is one technical detail I would like to recommend people look into: DisplayPort and DisplayLink.
There are two methods to drive the display outputs (VGA, HDMI, or DisplayPort) for most docks: DisplayPort alt mode and DisplayLink. DisplayPort alt mode is what you want, and it'll work flawlessly. It's the go-to standard for display output over USB-C, Thunderbolt, or USB 4 in general.
DisplayLink is some weird technology developed by Synaptics to drive displays over USB 2 and up. It has a Linux driver, but that driver has tons of issues in my experience; it requires loading an external kernel module compiled from the AUR. With DisplayLink, the entire external screen is rendered by software, so this method comes with a huge hit to CPU resources.
Unless you have installed Windows onto your Deck, I would look exclusively for the DisplayPort capable docks.
11Last I looked into them on windows (years ago now) they were very hacky there as well, and of course performed quite poorly. It has a few niche uses allowing you to use more monitors than you could use otherwise, especially on macs where last I checked MST wasn’t implemented but still it’s really a last resort option.
1I don't know if this is related, but none of the third party docks I could find offered full resolution, full refresh rate, multi-monitor output, as the official dock can offer.
Every dock I looked at with a decent number of reviews either had 1 star reviews mentioning monitor connection problems and/or docks dying shortly after purchase, too, but it's hard to know if that's relevant or just the baseline noise of electronics failure rates/user error.
I just ended up eating the cost (and long shipping times) to get the official one.
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One thing to keep in mind is that the Steam Deck will negotiate a maximum of 45 watts of power from the wall. Docks/hubs with PD passthrough (which most are) will NOT negotiate power themselves (as they'd need to provide their own internal power supply for the Deck then) and simply reserve/use a portion of that power budget for themselves. Some docks use so much power for themselves that the Deck can actually discharge under heavy load. I've experienced this with some Anker hubs for example.
Note that it doesn't matter if you have a higher wattage USB-C power supply. The Steam Deck will always negotiate 45 watts (15V@3A) at most.
5Thank you! I'm not very tech savvy so this is the kind of stuff I need to know.
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I've been using the JSAUX dock since the end of 2022 and have had no issues. Lots of ports which is nice. I recommend it
5Agreed. I have 2 of these (but I have the HB0603 version), and the experience has been flawless so far. Make sure you get a power brick that delivers 45W+, or you risk losing video under heavy load. Happened to me using the Steam Deck's original charger while playing Horizon: Zero Dawn.
2Reminder that while JSAUX makes good accessories, it's recommended to buy their products from Amazon or another store, and not actually use their web site.
Email addresses and possible other information used on the JSAUX website were sold to advertisers and other companies. It's not clear if JSAUX is selling the info, if they had a data breach, or something else because JSAUX refused to explain. They make enough good and unique Deck accessories that I won't discourage people from buying their products, but it's best to avoid their website even if they have a good sale going on.
2Oh interesting, thanks for adding the info. I bought it from Amazon myself but when linking to products and stuff I always use the website as it's the official source of information and people can then navigate to their preferred retailer of choice to buy it
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I had one of these and everything worked well at first. I then upgraded my deck to a 2TB SSD but the new deck image from Steam seems to have made the USB ports no longer support my external controllers. My work laptop comes with a G5 unit and that works fine with them so I've not investigated the JSAUX issue yet.
2Seconding this one after a friend recommended it to me. I have two and they are nice and portable. They even work as a standalone adapter for USB devices without the need to power
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I got this Ivoler dock and have been really happy with it. I paired it with a 65w Chromebook charger to cover the deck's 45w max draw and anything else I plug in.
It works well, is cheap, and it has a slightly wider base so you can use a protective case on your deck and it will still fit in the dock.
Only downside is this specific one doesn't have an Ethernet port, but they have a nicer version that does.
2I’ve been using an onn brand puck that was cheap as dirt and been working for hdmi to my tv. Honestly if there’s a Walmart nearby I’d recommend going that route if cheap and occasional usage is the goal.
1I bought the steamdock from Skull & Co. This dock works fine, however it does have very few connectors (USB-A, HDMI, USB-C).
1Oh nice, I have the Switch one, it works wonder.
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When I got my Steam Deck the official dock did not exist yet, so I went for a relatively cheap USB hub with power delivery and display port alt mode. I ended up buying this one, and haven't regretted it since: https://www.dlink.com/de/de/products/dub-m420-4-in-1-usb-c-hub-with-hdmi-and-power-delivery
1I picked up the ivoler one a year or so ago, seems pretty decent
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