5 Steam Deck Accessories You Can Get For Less Than $50

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The Steam Deck is great but not perfect. You can improve the Steam Deck if you have the right accessories, such as a case, headphones, and extra storage. What makes them even better is that you don't have to break the bank to get them. You can find plenty of great options for your Steam Deck for under $50. Some accessories may be obvious, like a USB-C dock or a power bank to extend your Steam Deck's battery, but there are others you may not have thought about.

While the Steam Deck OLED has one feature that the Nintendo Switch 2 can't match, it's lacking in the official accessory department. Aside from the Steam Deck Docking Station and included carry bag, Valve doesn't make official accessories for its console like Nintendo does. You won't find a Valve-made sling bag for your Steam Deck or a pair of wireless earbuds with its branding. That has left a hole in the market, and there are tons of brands trying to cash in. Below is a list of our favorite Steam Deck accessories for under $50. 

If you quickly had to describe the Steam Deck, you might say it's a large, well-made, handheld console. And the large part is more true than you may realize. It's a hefty console made for those with larger hands, but can it withstand a drop? Maybe, but at a starting price of $399 for the base model and $549 for the Steam Deck OLED, you probably don't want to risk it. If you travel with the Steam Deck often, or if you want to ensure it can withstand some abuse, you need to get a case for your handheld. 

The Jsaux Mod Case is well within most budgets at $30 for the basic set. The protective case has a metal kickstand and a detachable silicone strip for holding on to a power bank. It also comes with a hard front cover meant to protect the screen, which is perfect when quickly tossing the Steam Deck in your bag. 

The Skull & Co. GripCase SD is a minimal protective case for the Steam Deck, which is worth checking out if you prefer something less bulky. This protective case doesn't come with a front cover or a separate kick stand, but it can stand on its own due to the flat profile of the grips. The case has a textured grip design for better handling, and it's made from a soft material that makes it easy to install or remove.

In-ear monitors (IEMs) are nothing like the tinny-sounding Apple EarPods you may be used to. While pricier IEMs offer better sound performance, IEMs in general provide higher passive noise isolation, which is great for mixing and editing audio. When it comes to gaming, IEMs can come in handy by providing a more immersive experience. 

The Kbear KS2 IEM is budget-friendly, giving you high-quality audio for $25. Despite being made from a lightweight, translucent material, these IEMs offer excellent passive noise cancellation. You can play in the living room or on the plane and tune out everything but the game's audio. The bass is a standout feature, which is perfect for shooters or other games with dynamic audio. One Amazon reviewer praised their "good clarity," finding them perfect for watching TV shows on a noisy airplane and listening to music on a tram. The braided cord has an ear-shaped curve that tucks neatly behind your ears, ensuring they don't fall out as you move around. If you need a microphone, you can get the model with a built-in mic, which costs $27. 

The Moondrop CHU II is another pair of budget-friendly IEMs that cost $23. These IEMs are highly rated by the audiophile community due to their performance. If you're looking for another pair of IEMs with high detail and punchy bass, these are it. 

Even with a 1TB Steam Deck, you'll eventually run out of storage, especially if you use the Heroic Games Launcher to play non-Steam games. You can delete older games or ones you barely play, or you can use a microSD card as another option. With 2TB microSD cards available, you can significantly increase your storage capacity. The tradeoff is performance, with the slower speed of microSD cards causing sluggish downloads and load times. Aside from opening the Steam Deck and upgrading the internal NVMe SSD inside, which requires some technical know-how, there is another option to get fast, high-capacity storage. 

Sharge's Disk is a $40 M.2 NVMe SSD enclosure, which is a fancy way of saying it's a case for a storage device. Keep in mind that you will need a 2230 NVMe SSD to use this enclosure, which is sold separately and costs about $80 to $100 for a 1TB drive. The disk has a USB-C port that you can connect directly to the Steam Deck to take advantage of 10Gbps transfer speeds. You won't have to worry about waiting for the game to load or slow downloads. It's hard to believe, but this tiny enclosure has a cooling fan that ensures the drive doesn't overheat. When you're not using it, you can slip on the protective case and clip it to your carrying case. 

Do you need a skin for your Steam Deck? Probably not, but with the limited edition white version of the console no longer available, only one color option for the Steam Deck remains, and you might want to differentiate your handheld from other people's. There are plenty of cheaply made vinyl skins, but you would be hard-pressed to find a better skin than the ones sold by dbrand.

These dbrand vinyl skins come in dozens of different color patterns. The glow-in-the-dark Glow Circuit skin, which costs $36, is a popular option, but there are plenty more to choose from. You can also create a custom skin if you want your Steam Deck to stand apart. Installing a vinyl skin like the ones from dbrand requires a heat gun or hair dryer to make it adhere properly, which is a hassle but worth it. A dbrand skin will fit your Steam Deck like a glove. The skin is also scratch-resistant, with a textured feel that ensures the console doesn't slip from your hands. 

Every Steam Deck model comes with a carrying case. The 1TB OLED Steam Deck comes with an upgraded carrying case that has a removable liner. The included hard cases are great, but they lack space for anything besides the Steam Deck console. When traveling, a carry case with extra space for peripherals and accessories is a good idea. 

The $45 tomtoc Carrying Case for Steam Deck is a stylish piece of kit that can hold your handheld gaming console and accessories. The carrying case has a removable W-shaped liner that creates space around the joysticks to avoid damaging them in transit. In addition to storing the Steam Deck or another handheld console, the carrying case can hold a controller, charger, battery bank, and other accessories. You can even carry it as a sling bag if traveling light, or you can stuff it into a larger luggage to keep all your electronics in one place. 

The Jsaux Sling Bag is another carrying case made for the Steam Deck, and it costs $40. This bag is roomier, with two separate storage compartments and several pouches within. The bag's exterior has a hard shell, ideal for protecting against impacts, and it's also waterproof. While the techwear aesthetics may not be for everyone, the bag has a striking appearance that stands out. 

As tech experts and Steam Deck owners, we have a rigorous selection process. To build this list of top products under $50, we combined our hands-on testing with deep research into brand reputation and user reviews. This ensures every recommendation is a product we either personally use or would confidently buy ourselves.