If you had asked me a month ago if there had been much innovation in the way of capture cards or charging bricks, I probably would’ve scoffed and said, “No… did I miss a tech announcement?”
Elgato and AVerMedia capture cards have undergone little if any changes with recent iterations, short of attempting to push the boundary to better 4K capture resolutions. They don’t really need to. With most streaming platforms still limited to 1080p output, at best, putting much more effort into capturing higher resolution is likely a waste of resources. Additional innovation with a capture card just seemed kind of unnecessary. Or, that’s what I thought, until I was introduced to the AVerMedia Elite Go charger with capture capabilities.
This little charging brick has succeeded at changing the way I think about gaming and game capture on-the-go, and it is a must-have for fans of handheld consoles and mobile gaming.
AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 PRO: Price and Availability
The AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 Pro Charging Capture is available now for a MSRP of $130 at Amazon. At first glance, the high price tag can seem like a lot to choke down for a charging brick, but the price is in line—if not a little cheaper—than many comparable capture card and HDMI pass-through docks currently on the market. Many of these similar devices are also lacking in comparable charging capabilities, and are typically a bit larger than the GC313 Pro.
While you are unlikely to find the GC313 Pro in brick-and-mortar stores at launch, you can pick up your own from Amazon or AVerMedia’s website. There are two colorways available at launch: a simple black with glossy detailing or a sleek, modern white with the same detail pattern in a shimmery metallic.
The Elite Go GC313 Pro offers a nice unboxing experience if you’re into that sort of thing. An outer sleeve with details about the charging capture brick is on the outside and can be slid off the interior box to reveal the brick itself. Under the inside flap, you’ll find a diagram of the ports on the charging brick and the devices they can be used to charge. These include laptops, peripherals like wireless keyboards and mice, gaming handhelds like the Nintendo Switch or ROG Ally, smartphones, and tablets. An HDMI Out port can also be connected to a monitor or television for video output.
Under the inlay that holds the charging brick is another compartment that contains a USB-C cable and two additional outlet adapters for international travel. Pretty nifty. A quick start guide and an invitation to the AVerMedia Member Club can also be found inside.
A review unit of the AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 Pro charging capture was sent to us for the purpose of this review. AVerMedia has not seen the contents of this review prior to publishing.
AVerMedia GC313 Pro: What I like
At first glance, there doesn’t really seem to be much to make this charging brick stand out from the competition. It’s small and unassuming, but it is surprisingly heavy in the hand for what it is. Still, at just under 9 ounces and less than 3 inches in height and width, this little capture card x charging brick crossover event is nothing short of impressive.
The top of the brick features the four ports, with the two USB-C ports clearly labeled so you know which one is ideal for your video source (be it your Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, or other handheld device) and which one is for your PC. Both the USB-C1 and C2 ports are suitable for up to 100W of fast charging in addition to the video capture capabilities.
I have to admit, when it comes to handheld devices, I’m not the most reliable at remembering to charge them. If you’re anything like me, and you frequently forget (or flat out don’t bother) to charge your devices until you actually need them, you’ll find this little brick’s charging capabilities to be a lifesaver.
Mother Nature recently decided to take her ire out on my region, and in doing so she also took our power grid out of commission. It would be me to sit here the night before a major winter storm with laptops, cell phones, and Nintendo Switches that were all at 15% charge or less. I was grateful that this charging brick offered fast charging across a multitude of devices. With the ability to charge up to 3 devices from the Elite Go GC313 Pro simultaneously, I somehow managed to get all of our electronics at 100% before the icy grip of death took our electricity for nearly a week.
Using the Elite Go GC313 Pro as a video capture or pass-through device is a breeze, and it offers a lot more functionality than other capture cards in this price range typically provide. Rather than being expressly limited to HDMI input, the GC313 Pro can accept USB-C video input from phones, tablets, and handheld gaming consoles. Video pass-through quality hits an impressive 4K resolution at 60fps as long as the video source device can output that level of quality.
It is important to note that a Nintendo Switch Lite is not designed to support USB-C video output, and so even with this capture card it is still not able to support output to a gaming monitor or television. However, handhelds like the ROG Ally and Steam Deck should all be fine. The compact brick nature of this particular capture device means it’s not limited to port placement or size restrictions the way other video capture docks for handheld consoles like the AVerMedia X’TRA Go GC515 are.
AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 Pro: What I don’t like
To be honest, I’m hard-pressed to find much I don’t like about the AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 Pro. This little brick really does almost all, and if I were to really be frustrated by anything, it would be the absence of an option for HDMI input. I suspect this would’ve required the device as a whole to be a little chunkier and less aesthetic without that nice little square shape to it, and that is likely what led to the choice to cut HDMI input support. Still, the inability to use this as an all-in-one stream device for all your consoles, including Xbox and PlayStation 5, is a bummer.
Similarly, while the GC313 Pro does support 4K60 video pass through, the capture capability itself is still limited to 1080p. That’s full HD, and so this isn’t really something to ding the device over, especially considering most livestream platforms like YouTube and Twitch still limit content to a 1080p resolution. It’s also unlikely that any device you’re going to plug into this little guy is capable of outputting such a high resolution, anyway. So at the very least, this feels more like a nitpick that we haven’t reached the 4K standard yet than an actual critique of the Elite Go GC313 Pro. I’m not exactly knocking off points here, because it’s just the limitation of the technology as a whole.
AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 Pro: Competition
If you go to Amazon and type in “Charging brick with capture card,” you’re going to get a lot of options, and pretty much none of them resemble the AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 Pro. This little capture card and charging brick combo is in a class by itself. If you were to consider similar capture cards, they lack the charging capability, but if you consider similar charging bricks, they lack video capture and pass through.
AVerMedia’s closest competitor, Elgato, does offer a 1080p capture card option for $140 on Amazon. Unlike the GC313 Pro, though, this capture card doesn’t feature 100W GaN charging nor is it quite as easy to throw in your pocket for on-the-go game streaming.
AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 Pro: Should you buy it?
I realize that I’m typing this with this little charging brick sitting in front of me at the moment, and I can acknowledge that the price for this tiny little box is pretty high. That said, for streamers or gamers who frequently play with a handheld device or travel often, the AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 Pro is an absolute must-have. This thing features all the bells and whistles of a powerful game console dock AND a capture card, tucked up neatly into a tiny little square that fits neatly in your pocket or backpack.
The AVerMedia Elite Go GC313 Pro innovates on both charging bricks and capture cards to create something lightweight, hyper-portable, and uniquely functional on top of being good-looking. Is it an investment? Absolutely, but it will certainly pay off if you game or stream from handheld or mobile devices.
