Of all the handhelds on the market right now, the Steam Deck is the one I’ve pledged my allegiance to, and I test various Steam Deck accessories for Windows Central and my own personal use. Once you’ve actually shelled out cash for a Steam Deck, the last thing you want to be thinking about is spending more on accessories that aren’t going to add much to the experience. Alone it’s a fantastic device, but there are some items that I use day in day out that I can’t imagine not having alongside my Steam Deck. These items range from the essential to the ‘nice to have’, but you may get an idea for something that will add value you your gaming time. If you want to know what’s actually worth investing some money into, read on.Â
A Steam Deck case
The first thing you’re going to want to get, and what I’d class as an essential accessory, is a decent Steam Deck case. Now my Steam Deck actually came with an included case, but I hated it. I hated it so much that I didn’t use it and even opted to wrap my Steam Deck in a tea towel much to my friend Jez Corden‘s horror. The reason? The official Steam Deck case is huge, it’s so bulky it takes up too much space in my bag when I’m travelling. It looks small in photos, but it’s not, it’s a beast. I need something a lot more slimline but with the hard casing to protect the joysticks.
You’ll be glad to know my case of choice isn’t expensive, it’s around $20-$23 depending on the fluctuating Amazon pricing. It’s a slim design, with a soft interior and even has an embossed Steam Deck on the front. I love it so much I actually use it and my official case is now being used as a cable storage box. Sorry Valve.Â
A power bank to keep you in the game.
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Once the initial excitement of actually owning a Steam Deck wore off, I soon realised after a few Diablo 4 sessions that the battery life left a lot to be desired. When at home I tend to play attached to mains, but this isn’t always convenient especially with kids running around who are like magnets to trailing wires. I soon realised I needed a battery pack, not just for travelling but even sitting on my own couch it would make playing the Steam Deck a lot easier. I’ve used a bunch of different power banks, each with their own particular pros and cons, in fact I’ve summarized all the best Steam Deck power banks you can get. My personal favorite though, is the Baseus Blade 2. It’s not as hefty as other power banks, and when I do need to take my Steam Deck on public transport it slides into the pocket of my backpack with barely any added weight. You don’t have to spend $70 on a power bank, there are cheaper available, but this is my favorite and one I always come back to for it’s ease of transport. Â
Docks are handy, but don’t buy the official Valve one
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It may seem odd that I’ve got the official Steam Deck dock pictured here, but I’m telling you not to bother buying it. Docks are great for plugging in extra devices, using external monitors and even just having somewhere to display your Steam Deck while it charges, but there are a lot of docks that meet that need for much cheaper than the official Valve dock which is $79.
I’m fortunate enough to have got my dock second hand, but after trying friends JSAUX docks and seeing thread after thread on Reddit of issues reported with the official dock, it’s clear the basic JSAUX dock is the better purchase. They are virtually identical in shape and the only significant difference is that the Valve version has DisplayPort, but personally I don’t think that’s worth paying the extra for.
Many fellow Steam Deck owners have reported problems with the official dock being temperamental when using with an external monitor, and most solutions to this are “buy the JSAUX one” It’s only $29.99, and as we said in our review, why pay more?
A wireless keyboard
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I know what you’re thinking, this keyboard looks a bit bonkers, and you’d be right. The Lofree Dot foundation is certainly catered to a niche market. Don’t be fooled by it’s quirky aesthetics though, under the hood it has 1,000Hz support and hot swappable switches. The Steam Deck is of a course a whole PC and can be used as such, and even if you’re not going to use it outside gaming mode, you may often find you need to tinker with settings such as installing Proton or getting Xbox Cloud Gaming installed. Anything like that is much easier with an actual keyboard and mouse and will save you a lot of frustration.
The Lofree Dot Foundation is probably a little extravagant for what I use it for, but Lofree make some solid and reliable keyboards, including the less unusual looking Lofree Flow which we reviewed. I’ve used plenty of cheaper wireless keyboards but none of which have actually been enjoyable to use and type on, the Lofree Dot Foundation is a bit different from the norm and is my official designated Steam Deck keyboard. You can check out our best keyboards to find something that suits you.
A wireless mouse for navigating desktop mode
My chosen mouse is a little less extravagant than my keyboard. The haptic pads on the Steam Deck are great, but again when you actually want to go into anything in Desktop mode you’ll find it a lot easier with an actual mouse. The Logitech MX Master 2S is so good, most of the Windows Central staff have one. You may prefer an actual gaming mouse for your Steam Deck if you plan to game with mouse and keyboard, but being as I predominately use a controller. this mouse is just fine for me to use when I’m trying to tap around in Desktop. Â
What I love most about this mouse is it’s easy to switch between 3 presets, so I have a setting for my laptop and for my Steam Deck. Ergonomically its one of the most comfortable mice you can get, and it works on just about any surface you put it on. It’s not the newest model in the MX Master range, but that means you can often get it a lot cheaper, and right now I don’t see any reason to upgrade. This mouse is perfect.Â
Wire(less) for sound
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I reviewed the Prism Vega T2 wireless buds last year and previous to doing so, thought ‘gaming’ earbuds were a gimmick. You can of course use any earbuds with your Steam Deck, but the real beauty of these is the USB-C receiver that comes in the case. That means no faffing around with Bluetooth, just plug in and you have sound, and you’re not bothering anyone else with the sound of your game. This appeals to me more than the so-called ‘gaming sound’ but of course, they sound pretty great too with EQ you can control from a smartphone app.
The receiver also allows for passthrough charging, so if you do decide to forgo the Bluetooth, you can still charge the Steam Deck while using these. They aren’t as expensive as other more well known brand buds, when I reviewed I compared to the Razer Hammerhead which are double the price, and the Asus ROG Cetra True. The Prism Vega T1 came out on top for value as they are often for sale at around $60, and I’ve used mine to death on my Steam Deck, smartphone and laptop.Â
A controller, if you want to use in docked mode
The Steam Deck can be quite heavy, well at least the LCD model I have is. Fine for short gaming sessions but over longer periods it’s nice to switch up to a controller and sit it in it’s dock. Or do what this Redditor did and create an ingenious setup using a controller and X-Real glasses.
Any controller will do, and really you can’t go wrong with an Xbox controller. If you don’t already have one, or five, lying around the house, there are a bunch of colors on sale right now at Best Buy, including the latest Special Edition Dream Vapor which is what I’m currently using. The Dream Vapor, and also the Storm Vapor has rubberized grips on the rear giving you more control and making it incredibly comfortable to use. If you prefer a slightly smaller controller, I can also recommend the GameSir T4 Cyclone Pro which I reviewed last year, it’s cheaper than the Xbox controller, has the Xbox layout but also has the benefit of hall-effect sticks.Â
Do all Steam Deck accessories work with Steam Deck LCD and Steam Deck OLED?
Luckily, we have both the Steam Deck LCD and the Steam Deck OLED in the household, so I can confirm that all the accessories mentioned here today work with both units. The only thing I would point out is when looking at cases to check it fits your model, as my Steam Deck case mentioned above will fit both, but a case made for OLED may not fit an LCD model as the OLED is slightly slimmer in build.
If you’re looking specifically at an advertised Steam Deck accessory, always check the listing to confirm it is compatible with both models.
