Our Verdict
A sturdy, great looking stand that almost matches Valve's proposed spec for the official Steam Deck dock, but skimps on ethernet speeds and omits DisplayPort connections.
For
- Attractive colour and refined look
- Premium aluminium alloy frame
- Silicon stops the Deck sliding
- Affordable
Against
- Only two USB 2.0 Type-A
- No DisplayPort 1.4
- Upgraded version has better connectivity for just $10 more
PC Gamer's got your back
I've always had a soft spot for Jsaux. Its tough, braided USB cables have seen me right for years, and now the company has deigned to bring us an alternative to the official Steam Deck dock, while Valve is out twiddling its thumbs.
There are two versions of the Jsaux Steam Deck Dock: the standard HB0602, and the upgraded HB0603 which primarily improves on the USB port specs. Both are limited when it comes to ethernet speeds, but we'll get to that in a moment.
For the most part, the Jsaux dock is a sturdy, good-looking piece of kit. I love the gunmetal grey, and it does a great job of presenting the Steam Deck in style. Nested in its little silicon-lined nook, the Deck doesn't slide about if you're moving it from one surface to another, and the cable is just the right length so it reaches the Deck's charge port, with enough slack to take the Deck out while keeping it plugged in.
It's clear Jsaux has put durability as a top priority with its Premium Aluminium Alloy frame, though there is a bit of a hollowness to the body. My main concern here are the metal corners, while mostly rounded, are frighteningly close to my Steam Deck's screen. Maybe I'm just a worrier.
At least I know when I get a puppy it'll have a tough time chewing through this dock.
As for connectivity, while the official Steam Deck dock will offer HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4, Jsaux has opted to supply up to 4K resolutions at 60Hz through a single HDMI 2.0 output. The majority of use cases won't warrant 4K as the Steam Deck is likely to struggle at those resolutions.
Of course you can always play at a lower resolution and use AMD's Fidelity FX Super Resolution tech to upscale, if you're using the Jsaux dock with one of the best 4K gaming monitors. Sadly, though, you won't be able get full use of the Steam Deck as a portable 8K+ movie player with this dock. If you're just looking to use it as a portable workstation, though, the Jsaux dock has you covered, though an extra USB port or two might have been nice.
There is a USB Type-C available which charges up to 100W (the Deck only needs 45W) so there's some leeway for charging peripherals. Though, again, another port would have been a great addition so you could charge and have something else plugged in there. To free one of these ports up, you might consider connecting the dock to a monitor with a USB Type-C downstream (for charging and image output), but it's important to note that the DisplayLink chipset in a lot of monitors isn't supported on Linux as of yet.
For some strange reason, Jsaux has sent me the cheaper $40 (£35) version of the dock with its dual USB 2.0 ports, as opposed to the $50 version with three USB 3.0 Type-A ports. My main question is this: why would I bother skimping for such a downgrade? As our Dave says, "There's no place for USB 2.0 on any new PC dock in 2022," which is exactly why Valve delayed the official Dock to upgrade to USB 3.1.
What we do know is the Jsaux dock is limited to 1Gbps ethernet, and while that's not terrible, it's still a limitation if you're paying for more than that. Just something to keep in mind.
Setting the ethernet and USB limitations aside, there's still a lot to be said about a company that released a sturdy, stylish Steam Deck dock, before Valve managed to bring us an official one.
But, it's definitely worth spending that extra $10 on the HB0603 instead, especially as there's a bit of noticeable input latency when using those USB 2.0 ports to play games. While we're betting on the official dock being around $50 or less, we've still no idea how much it'll cost.
The $50 HB0603 with its USB 3.0 ports is certainly better value, but if the official Dock is anywhere near that price on launch, and can boast better ethernet speeds, that's certainly where I'll be spending my money.
A sturdy, great looking stand that almost matches Valve's proposed spec for the official Steam Deck dock, but skimps on ethernet speeds and omits DisplayPort connections.
Screw sports, Katie would rather watch Intel, AMD and Nvidia go at it. Having been obsessed with computers and graphics for three long decades, she took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni, and has been rambling about games, tech and science—rather sarcastically—for four years since. She can be found admiring technological advancements, scrambling for scintillating Raspberry Pi projects, preaching cybersecurity awareness, sighing over semiconductors, and gawping at the latest GPU upgrades. Right now she's waiting patiently for her chance to upload her consciousness into the cloud.
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