This Deluxe Steam Deck Kickstand Makes A Big Distinction

Whereas the Steam Deck, Valve’s souped-up mini PC, presents a wealth of gaming experiences in a transportable format, the dearth of a kickstand has been a sore spot. Enter the Deckmate: A easy, plastic bracket that permits you to connect not only a very useful kickstand, but additionally a number of different specialised mounting options to the again of the Deck.

The Deckmate is the brainchild of product design engineer Siri Ramos. Ramos has described how the Steam Deck group’s enthusiasm and assist has helped them develop what was as soon as a enjoyable private challenge into a totally featured product. To make sure, the group’s love for small maker-style tasks is clear simply from scrolling by way of r/SteamDeck. The Deckmate advanced from a collection of prototypes and early 3D-printed elements to a professional-feeling last product. Now having used it for a couple of weeks, it seems like a really pure extension of my Deck, one with a couple of surprises of its personal.

On the heart of the Deckmate “system,” because the creator calls it, is the “grip,” a easy plastic claw that, properly, grips the again of the mini-PC like a headcrab on a poor zombie. And like that headcrab, it is a fairly seamless attachment, one which doesn’t intervene with the system’s inventory protecting case. The grip can even maintain two spare SD playing cards, and like a headcrab, is prone to need to keep the place you place it. I’ve transferred it to a different Steam Deck simply as soon as, and bending the plastic again to get it off seems like one thing I solely need to do a handful of occasions at most.

The clips are seen on the highest and backside of the system when taking a look at it from the entrance, however the shade and texture of the plastic blends in properly with the Deck. I hardly discover it anymore, and don’t really feel it with my arms when enjoying.

The grip bracket itself doesn’t do a lot. As an alternative, it permits for a wide range of “mounts” to fit into the again of the system. These lock into place with a pair of springs. Accessible mounts embody that remarkably useful kickstand, “pucks” with adhesives to lock a battery or USB-C hub, wall mounts, and even a 75mm VESA mount such as you see on the backs of PC displays.

Whereas I used certainly one of my pucks for a useful USB-C hub that allowed me to plug in a wide range of USB units together with an ethernet cable to hurry up downloads, the kickstand felt most important to me.

You may not suppose a lot of a kickstand; it’s a really primary system and idea. However given the scale and weight of the Steam Deck, having the ability to connect one to the again has been form of like rising a 3rd arm, particularly when enjoying on a sofa or mattress.

This dawned on me once I determined to fireplace up Spider-Man: Remastered one night time. Laying in mattress, with the kickstand in place, I may simply relaxation the system in entrance of me to look at the opening cutscene, then choose it up once I was prepared to start out swinging round Manhattan island. That will not appear so revelatory when you haven’t put in too many hours on a Deck, so let me give some context.

The Steam Deck is about as heavy because it appears to be like. It’s a giant system! And enjoying for prolonged durations of time, at the very least for me, kinda makes my arms get prickly after which, numb. Having the ability to set it down with the display nonetheless going through me and provides my arms a break throughout non-interactive cutscenes has allowed me to spend extra time gaming. The kickstand additionally has a pleasant quantity of adjustment. It could actually transfer a full 120 levels, and it by no means seems like that notoriously flimsy piece of junk connected to the Nintendo Swap, which at all times appeared to threaten to snap proper off. The Deckmate kickstand can be supreme for setting the unit down on a desk and connecting a keyboard.

Learn Extra: Sure, You Can Use The Steam Deck As A Pc (Right here’s How)

One sudden profit entails the Deck’s excessive warmth output. Having the ability to prop it up with the exhaust fan pointing in a extra vertical path seems like a greater solution to set the system down whereas it’s downloading one thing or enjoying a graphically intensive cutscene. If Reddit’s to be believed, there might also be aromatherapeutic advantages to get pleasure from.

One other shocking use of the kickstand was that, whereas laying in mattress or on a sofa, I may form of use it like a monopole, letting it assist extra of the load of the system. Because of this, my arms weren’t doing the work of each enjoying the system and holding it. Total, the Deckmate with the kickstand accent has simply made the Deck a extra cozy machine for me.

Although I discovered the kickstand to be the star of the present, others may discover extra utility in mounting further equipment onto the adhesive pucks. Because the Deckmate’s web site warns, the adhesive used on these pucks is just about everlasting. So if you wish to adhere a giant battery pack or USB hub or no matter, bear in mind that you simply’re creating a fairly everlasting bond between the puck attachment and the accent. They’re going to be mates for all times.

A number of different caveats exist. When you have some sort of smartphone-style case wrapped round your Deck, thereby rising its thickness, the bottom grip bracket most likely received’t match round it. Happily, a Deckmate adapter that sports activities the identical 3M adhesive because the pucks presents an alternate means by which to lock the grip to the again of a third-party case. It could be unattainable to resolve conflicts with sure docks, although. Whereas the Deckmate’s FAQ appears very optimistic about it becoming into one thing like a JSAUX dock, I discovered the grip bracket was only a bit too massive and made it unstable when sitting in my dock.

You can even solely use one mount at a time, so if you wish to each use the kickstand and cost the system with an exterior battery, you’ll have to decide on which is getting connected to the system. Granted, when you’re utilizing the kickstand, you most likely have a flat floor to relaxation that battery down anyway.

Critically, when you’re utilizing a USB-C hub, it is best to pay cautious consideration to cable size, particularly when making the ultimate choice to stick a puck to the hub. In my case, I believe I adhered the puck somewhat too low on my hub, and in consequence, the USB-C cable has a bit an excessive amount of rigidity when reaching all the best way as much as my Deck’s single USB-C port. I’m probably going to try to reposition this, however on condition that the adhesive is a one-time use factor, I’m most likely going to should get artistic. Ethical of the story: Measure your cable lengths and make use of right-angle adapters the place it is smart.

As soon as indifferent, the kickstand and any puck-equipped units will simply match within the storage case the Deck comes with. You’ll be able to simply tuck it into that compartment on the underside that many a Steam Deck consumer has discovered artistic makes use of for. That mentioned, in case your accent wants prolong to a gamepad, keyboard, and but different different peripherals, you’ll want a bigger bag. For these occasions you need to journey gentle, you may simply detach the Deckmate mounts and go away the barely noticeable “grip” bracket.

Should you simply need to get the kickstand, you’ll want the grip bracket, which runs for $20, after which the kickstand mount itself for an additional $15. Particular person pucks are $7 every. You can even choose to purchase the “Whole System,” which incorporates the grip, two pucks, the VESA mount, a wall mount, and the case-agnostic adapter for $49. When you can definitely discover cheaper kickstand choices on Amazon and elsewhere, the Deckmate system feels sturdy and dependable. Sitting the Deck down with the Deckmate kickstand, it by no means feels prefer it’s going to topple over (so long as the angle is ready proper). Its dimension and construct high quality really feel like match for the Deck itself.

You can even go the DIY route by downloading the Deckmate’s digital recordsdata and print them your self. I think about it is going to take some trial and error, however the recordsdata are free and distributed, as all issues ought to be, underneath a Artistic Commons license.

Total, the Deckmate, significantly with its kickstand, is a superb Steam Deck accent that expands the place (and the way) I can play video games on it. It’s prime quality, appears to be like good, and meshes properly with the DIY spirit of the system. Hopefully we’ll see extra distinctive, high quality tasks of this kind because the Deck settles into the broader panorama of gaming {hardware}.