Portable Stand provided by JSAUX for review.

Has this happened to you? You are at work and have to sit at a desk all day. You have a long day ahead, but an incredible internet connection. You decide to download some games onto your Steam Deck for your lunch break and when you get home. You take your Deck out and start a download, setting it down on your desk. Now it is lying flat and you realize every time you want to check it, you have to bend your neck over every time you want to check it. What if I told you there was a solution...that could fit right into your pocket?

Introducing the Portable Steam Deck Stand! A foldable square from JSAUX that is meant just to help out in desperate times like these. With this simple design, you can easily take it wherever you need to go, fitting into your pocket, and unfold it to create a small stand for your Deck so it isn't sitting flat on any surface. There are a plethora of reasons to have something like this, even if you just want to see the screen easier when it is sitting on a surface. This can easily be an item worth having, but it isn't without its flaws.

Materials and Design

This portable stand's design looks really nice, it feels futuristic looking and meshes well with the Deck's design, but the material used to make it feel quite flimsy. The plastic that is used on the stand is smooth and, while it feels a bit feeble just from touch, is actually decently sturdy.

It would definitely take a lot of effort and moderate strength to bend or maybe even snap the stand in half. There is silicone rectangles placed on the bottom of the stand, to stop it from moving around, and in the Deck holder. I am happy to say both of these work really well, though it will of course depend on the surface it is placed on.

When folded up, the square becomes around 4.84 x 4.17 x 0.66 inches, which can easily fit into a medium sized pocket. It does rattle around a little bit due to one of the pieces that is folded up being able to move side to side slightly.

The noise is a little on the loud side, but it isn't super jarring and I felt it was easy to handle it. Everything does fold into each other and doesn't come out of their sockets. I tried to fling the folded up stand around to see if the Deck holder would come out, but it would not budge if it was put back in completely. On the inside, there are three ridges for the back of the stand to adjust the angle for different viewing pleasures.

My biggest concern would be ventilation from the back. While the Deck is on the stand, if lined up smack in the middle, two of the six air intake holes in the back are covered by the back. The other four are uncovered and free to accept air, but I would personally prefer to not have any of them covered. If I was using the stand and hooking up a bluetooth controller to play Elden Ring or Days Gone, I would want to make sure my Deck is receiving as much cool air as it can, but using this stand wouldn't allow that. Overall though, this would be my only big concern as the rest of the device feels good and works well.

Features

The stand is...well a stand for the Steam Deck. Once unfolded, you can set it down on any surface, plop the Deck holder tray open, and set your Deck on top of it. You can also use the ridges in the back to adjust the angle of your stand to four different angles: 35, 45, 55, and 60 degrees respectively. When all done, you can easily fold everything back into each other, click it shut, and slide it back into your pocket. It doesn't have many other features, as it is just a stand, but it works well for what it does. The adjustable angles is a nice touch too, you never know what kind of chair you will be in, so it is great to have options.

Practical/Recommended Use

Obviously its primary function is to be used as a stand, but there are certain times I think this would be wonderful to use, while sometimes I would put it away. I would use this whenever you are just downloading or need to use the Deck as a quick desktop computer. It is easy to take out the stand, connect a keyboard and mouse via Bluetooth, and just start working, browsing, or watching. I would also say it works well if playing smaller games or older games like FTL, Dishonored, or even battery build optimized games that keep temps relatively low below 70c. While some surfaces might not be good or keep things from moving, all the ones I could think of and tried kept everything in place and I can't complain.

I would not use this for higher end games and trying to push the limits. You will want to have as much cooling going into your Deck as possible when trying to push games, like Horizon Zero Dawn or Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, to the limit. To play games like this, you will also need an external controller, connected via Bluetooth or using a USB C hub, so that means carrying around another piece of tech. This can be obnoxious to lug around a backpack of gear just to use the stand, but I haven't personally minded. As long as you already own Bluetooth devices like a controller or keyboard and mouse, it really hasn't been a big deal.

I would also like to make special mention that this stand does work well for more than just the Steam Deck. I was able to set my phone on it and watch a movie, put a tablet on there, and most importantly, get my Switch on there to play some Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Granted, my OLED Switch does have a better stand integrated into the back, but the JSAUX one won't move around as much if on a moving surface.

Conclusion

The JSAUX Portable Stand for the Steam Deck is a small, but underrated piece of equipment. It filled in a hole that I honestly didn't think I would want. While it is nice to have a dock, which has ports in it, this little stand is much smaller and simpler. I cannot count how many times I have taken my Deck to work, or to my parents, and just set it down on the surface flat while I bend my neck looking at it downloading. This stand eliminated that and has become my go-to when I am downloading something away from any outlets or another computer. While it does have its flaws, like the plastic material or the lack of some air intake holes, it makes up for it with portability and a lower price point of $16.

Knowing its faults, I would recommend this for people who do take it out and plan to just sit it up while it downloads something or using it like a laptop with no outlets around. It has saved my neck from bending downwards so often to check on download speeds, or finding something to prop the Deck up when I want to look up something on it.

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