Jsaux Steam Deck Dock Review
I’ve always had a soft spot for Jsaux.Its tough braided USB cable has been right in my opinion for years now, and now the company has deigned to give us an alternative to the official Steam deck (opens in new tab) Dock, and Valve is fiddling with its thumb.
Jsaux Steam Deck Dock comes in two versions: Standard HB0602 (opens in new tab)and upgraded HB0603 (opens in new tab) This mainly improves the USB port specification. Sadly, both are limited when it comes to ethernet speeds, but we’ll get to that later.
For the most part, the Jsaux base is a sturdy, aesthetically pleasing kit. I love gunmetal grey, it showcases the style of the steam deck nicely. Nested in its little silicon-lined corners, the Deck doesn’t slip if you move it from one surface to another, and the cable is just the right length so it reaches the Deck’s charging port with enough slack to Withstands decorating while keeping it plugged in.
It’s clear that Jsaux has made durability a top priority for its premium aluminum frame, albeit with a somewhat hollow body. My main concern is the metal corners, although mostly round, are very close to my Steam Deck screen. Maybe I’m just a worry.
At least I know when I get a puppy it’s going to have a hard time chewing this dock.
Jsaux Steam Deck Dock Specifications
As for connectivity, the official Steam Deck dock will offer HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4, Jsaux chooses to deliver 4K resolution up to 60Hz via a single HDMI 2.0 output. Most use cases don’t support 4K, as Steam decks can struggle with those resolutions.
Of course, you can always play at a lower resolution and use AMD’s Fidelity FX Super Resolution (opens in new tab) If you use the Jsaux dock with one of the best 4K gaming monitors, you can upgrade the technology (opens in new tab). But unfortunately, you won’t be able to take full advantage of the Steam Deck as a portable 8K+ movie player with this dock. However, if you just want to use it as a portable workstation, then the Jsaux docking station will meet your needs, although an extra USB port or two might be better.
There’s a USB Type-C available that charges up to 100W (the Deck only needs 45W), so there’s some leeway to charge peripherals.Again though, another port would be a nice addition so you can charge and Something else is plugged in there. To free up one of the ports, you might consider connecting the dock to a monitor with USB Type-C downstream (for charging and image output), but it’s important to note that DisplayLink chipsets in many monitors are not supported So far on Linux.
For some odd reason, Jsaux sent me a cheaper $40 (£35) version of the dock with dual USB 2.0 ports instead of the $50 version with three USB 3.0 Type-A ports. My main question is: why should I be stingy with a downgrade like this?As our Dave said, “There is no place for USB 2.0 for any new PC docking station in 2022”, which is exactly why Valve is delaying the official docking station upgrade to USB 3.1 (opens in new tab).
All we know is that the Jsaux dock is limited to 100Mbps Ethernet.For reference, it takes about 5 minutes to download a 1080p movie at these speeds, so you can imagine how long it might take to download the full size of some games today (opens in new tab). For some users, this limit will not require an ethernet cable to be plugged in; your Wi-Fi may even be faster if you pay more than 100Mbps.
Ethernet and USB limitations aside, there’s a lot to be said about a company that released a solid, sleek Steam Deck dock before Valve managed to bring us an official release.
However, it’s definitely worth the extra $10 HB0603 (opens in new tab) Instead, there is some noticeable input lag, especially when gaming using these USB 2.0 ports. While we’re betting the official dock will cost around $50 or less, we still don’t know how much it’ll cost. The $50 HB0603 with a USB 3.0 port is probably better value for money, but if the official Dock comes close to that price at launch and can have better ethernet speeds, that’s definitely where I’d spend my money.