I've got an official dock and have generally enjoyed it. I've got an Anker USB hub that works for it but the official hub is really great to just leave plugged in with and the USB slots you may need ready to go whenever you want to play on the TV.
I was a little annoyed to find the official dock won’t fit the Deck if you have even a very thin sleeve or silicone grip on it. Disappointing design, given the price.
I have that one and it kills my tv/soundbar HDMI arc connection. I’ve see other people say the same thing. Switched to a simple USB C hub and it’s works fine.
Dang, I've only ever used it on my office tv, not with a sound bar. I've also used a couple different USB C hubs without issue. Buying accessories for the deck is more akin to PC accessories than console accessories, it's mostly YMMV.
I’ve had a mostly plug-and-play experience with Valve’s official dock. It can be fickle with correctly outputting audio and video, though, depending on the complexity of your setup.
Kinda depends on what you need out of it. Any usbc to charging/hdmi doodad will do it. If just video out and charging are priorities, we love the Genki dock wall warts we have because they are small, good for travel, and work for any other conforming device (ie Switch, computers, etc).
If you need more, like a bunch of usb ports or fast charging, then the official one is… fine? Kinda clunky. I’d just get a decent laptop dock or reasonably priced name brand-ish dongle depending on if you need a lot of IO or portability or whatever.
I have the Genki Mini and Covert mostly for travel and both are great. I have used them at home though and def had a magic feeling moment when I booted up emulated Asura’s Wrath and piped it into my tv w/ an Xbox controller. But I also just use my work laptop dock too. 🤷
We have two JSAUX docks, which are great, but you might also consider the ASUS ROG 65W Charger Dock, which works with the Steam Deck and the Switch (with a firmware update) and is often 50% off at Best Buy. A USB-C hub with HDMI out and USB ports is also a fine, affordable option!
JSAUX Docking Station for Steam Deck/ROG Ally/Legion Go/MSI Claw, 6-in-1 Steam Deck Dock with HDMI 4K@60Hz, Gigabit Ethernet, 3 USB-A 3.0 and 100W Charge, Compatible with Steam Deck OLED-HB0603 https://a.co/d/iVEhmny
I’ve got the official one and it works great. It also gets firmware updates from Valve. Worth knowing you might need an adaptor if you have a case on your Steam Deck though.
I like the one made by Valve and haven't had a reason to buy another. I have a friend who has a 3rd party one for travel and the Valve one for his home tv. The 3rd party one worked well until the dock overheated during a WoW raid he doing on the Steam Deck.
Valve’s is fine but pricey compared to Jsaux options (just pick the one with the port selection you like the most). Jsaux also has one with an M.2 SSD slot, and Razer just launched a new one with RGB (lol) but it’s got a nice tilting stand and works with Switch too.
The two I tried randomly off amazon stopped working within a month. I nearly gave up but saw this one and gambled on nostalgia, it supports both the Deck and also the Switch (you turn it upside down). Works so well I now own two of them.
Same on Amazon docks for me - I tried a JSAUX dock and a UGREEN one and the first didn't work at all with one of our TVs so I returned it, the second stopped working after a few weeks. After that we just got an official one from Steam.
The UGREEN one breaking was infuriating because it seemed like it worked sometimes, we couldn't figure it out for a while but it broke if the little cord to plug into the Deck was at certain angles.
Unfortunately that included the "sitting in the dock" angle.
I’ve been adjusting the resolution manually for each game before launch in the game’s steam settings. Persona 5 wouldn’t go higher than 720p until found that.
I skipped the dock and instead bought a $40 USB-C hub with an HDMI out and it's been perfect. It takes up basically no space when it's not in use, which is important for me because my house is quite small!
Comments
Anker Charging Station for Steam... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CS6BWL4Q?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
JSAUX Docking Station for Steam Deck/ROG Ally/Legion Go/MSI Claw, 6-in-1 Steam Deck Dock with HDMI 4K@60Hz, Gigabit Ethernet, 3 USB-A 3.0 and 100W Charge, Compatible with Steam Deck OLED-HB0603 https://a.co/d/iVEhmny
I didn't really look at others before I bought it, so I haven't much to compare it to.
https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/7/24336841/razer-handheld-dock-chroma-pc-remote-play-price-availability
Most USB C hub with HDMI out will work perfectly tho. Just get something with USB C power in so it can charge & you'll have to byo power brick/cable.
Very slim so it travels well but since it doesn't have a stand you'll need a place to lay the deck down.
https://www.gulikit.com/productinfo/1134332.html
Unfortunately that included the "sitting in the dock" angle.
Official dock's been great tho