Whereas the Steam Deck, Valve’s souped-up mini PC, presents a wealth of gaming experiences in a transportable format, the shortage of a kickstand has been a sore spot. Enter the Deckmate: A easy, plastic bracket that allows 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 help has helped them develop what was as soon as a enjoyable private mission into a totally featured product. To make certain, the group’s love for small maker-style tasks is obvious simply from scrolling by r/SteamDeck. The Deckmate advanced from a sequence of prototypes and early 3D-printed components to a professional-feeling remaining product. Now having used it for a couple of weeks, it appears 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 intrude with the system’s inventory protecting case. The grip may also 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 appears like one thing I solely need to do a handful of instances at most.
The clips are seen on the highest and backside of the gadget when it from the entrance, however the colour and texture of the plastic blends in properly with the Deck. I hardly discover it anymore, and don’t really feel it with my palms when taking part in.
The grip bracket itself doesn’t do a lot. As an alternative, it permits for quite a lot of “mounts” to fit into the again of the gadget. 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 screens.
Whereas I used considered one of my pucks for a useful USB-C hub that allowed me to plug in quite a lot of USB units together with an ethernet cable to hurry up downloads, the kickstand felt most important to me.
You won’t assume a lot of a kickstand; it’s a really primary gadget and idea. However given the scale and weight of the Steam Deck, with the ability to connect one to the again has been form of like rising a 3rd arm, particularly when taking part in on a sofa or mattress.
This dawned on me once I determined to fireside up Spider-Man: Remastered one evening. Laying in mattress, with the kickstand in place, I might simply relaxation the gadget in entrance of me to observe the opening cutscene, then decide it up once I was prepared to start out swinging round Manhattan island. That will not appear so revelatory in case 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 seems. It’s an enormous gadget! And taking part in for prolonged intervals of time, no less than for me, kinda makes my palms get prickly after which, numb. With the ability to set it down with the display screen nonetheless going through me and provides my palms 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 appears like that notoriously flimsy piece of junk hooked up to the Nintendo Swap, which all the time appeared to threaten to snap proper off. The Deckmate kickstand can also be best 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 includes the Deck’s excessive warmth output. With the ability to prop it up with the exhaust fan pointing in a extra vertical route appears like a greater approach to set the gadget down whereas it’s downloading one thing or taking part in a graphically intensive cutscene. If Reddit’s to be believed, there can 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 might form of use it like a monopole, letting it help extra of the load of the gadget. In consequence, my palms weren’t doing the work of each taking part in the gadget and holding it. General, 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 additional equipment onto the adhesive pucks. Because the Deckmate’s web site warns, the adhesive used on these pucks is nearly everlasting. So if you wish to adhere an enormous battery pack or USB hub or no matter, bear in mind that you simply’re creating a reasonably everlasting bond between the puck attachment and the accent. They’re going to be pals for all times.
Just a few different caveats exist. If in case you have some type of smartphone-style case wrapped round your Deck, thereby growing its thickness, the bottom grip bracket in all probability received’t match round it. Luckily, 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 might be not possible 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 may also solely use one mount at a time, so if you wish to each use the kickstand and cost the gadget with an exterior battery, you’ll have to decide on which is getting hooked up to the gadget. Granted, in case you’re utilizing the kickstand, you in all probability have a flat floor to relaxation that battery down anyway.
Critically, in case you’re utilizing a USB-C hub, you need to pay cautious consideration to cable size, particularly when making the ultimate resolution to stick a puck to the hub. In my case, I believe I adhered the puck a bit of too low on my hub, and consequently, the USB-C cable has a bit an excessive amount of pressure when reaching all the best way as much as my Deck’s single USB-C port. I’m seemingly going to attempt to reposition this, however on condition that the adhesive is a one-time use factor, I’m in all probability going to must get inventive. 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 may simply tuck it into that compartment on the underside that many a Steam Deck person has discovered inventive 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 instances you need to journey gentle, you’ll be able to simply detach the Deckmate mounts and go away the barely noticeable “grip” bracket.
When 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 may also decide to purchase the “Complete System,” which incorporates the grip, two pucks, the VESA mount, a wall mount, and the case-agnostic adapter for $49. When you can actually 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 about proper). Its measurement and construct high quality really feel like a very good match for the Deck itself.
You may also 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 must be, underneath a Artistic Commons license.
General, 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, seems good, and meshes properly with the DIY spirit of the gadget. Hopefully we’ll see extra distinctive, high quality tasks of this type because the Deck settles into the broader panorama of gaming {hardware}.
