Steam Link Review - A surprisingly interesting device?
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2016-05-06
·
1,768 words · ~8 min read
0:00
So, my Steam Link originally shipped to me about 4 months ago. I didn't open it
0:05
because I already have a gaming capable media center PC, which can run Steam in
0:08
home streaming in big picture mode without any help from standalone hardware. And frankly, I just haven't
0:13
had much time to play games lately anyway. But better late than never,
0:17
right?
0:26
The Fenix Oour is a full-size, minimalistically designed keyboard
0:31
complete with gold-plated Cherry MX brown switches. Check it out at the link
0:34
in the video description to learn more. So, in terms of IO, the Steam Link is
0:39
equipped with three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI
0:43
1.4 for video out, 100 megabit per
0:46
second Ethernet, and a connection for the 5V 2 and 1/2 amp power port. That's
0:50
only 12 1/2 watts, by the way. And it's otherwise completely devoid of
0:55
adornments, save for the Steam logo on
0:58
the top cover. But come on, who's interested in the top cover when we can
1:02
get under the hood? And uh okay, well, we should have known that based on the
1:06
2005 class, with the exception of HDMI connectivity, that we weren't going to
1:11
find much in here. The details are actually fairly sparse online with Valve
1:16
not even bothering to put actual hardware under the hardware
1:20
specifications on the product page. But with a little more digging, we found a
1:24
Reddit post and the Steam Link SDK post on GitHub that shed a little more light
1:29
on the situation. The Steam Link features a single core ARMV7 processor
1:34
running at about 1 ghahz. So, similar to the Raspberry Pi 2 model B with a
1:39
dedicated hardware H.264 264 decoder, 256 megs of RAM, and 500 megs of flash
1:46
storage. Though, it should be noted that is not for user storage or games or
1:49
anything. It is intended to be used for the custom Linux- based operating system
1:53
that it runs and presumably any applicable Steam Link app releases that
1:59
are developed thanks to the availability of the aforementioned SDK. Now, as yet,
2:04
I can't find any information other than the original Valve announcement on
2:08
ongoing Steam Link app projects, but let
2:12
me know in the comments if you've heard something that I haven't. While this
2:16
hardware isn't anywhere near capable of chilling and watching Netflix, as the
2:22
kids say, in Ultra HD, 1080, Twitch,
2:25
Netflix, or YouTube should be possible, if not the greatest experiences. And
2:30
surely there could be other interesting uses for it. But enough speculation.
2:34
What does the Steam Link do today? Well, as Valve helpfully points out in their
2:39
short and very adorable animated promotional video, it takes the power of
2:43
your gaming PC, uses that to render
2:46
games, encode the frames as a video stream, and transmit them over your home
2:50
network. By the way, do yourself a favor and use the wired connection. I know
2:54
it's only 100 megabit, but trust me, inh home streaming does not use more than 50
2:57
to 60 megabit per second and better latency and reliability is worth
3:00
it to the Steam Link. So, all the Steam
3:04
Link does is take inputs from the user via USB from the couch and transmit
3:09
those back to the PC somewhere else in the house to control the game. And
3:13
controller flexibility is a very strong point. Your options include mouse,
3:18
keyboard, uh gamepad, or multiples of
3:21
those using a USB hub, or even thanks to ongoing hard work from developers, more
3:27
exotic stuff like racing wheels, thanks to a third party tool called Virtual
3:31
Here allows Windows, Mac, and Linux users to share peripherals over the
3:36
network. Sounds a lot like NVIDIA's Gamestream, doesn't it? Well, yeah,
3:41
actually. But unlike game stream devices
3:44
like NVIDIA's Shield lineup, it does not
3:47
work with GeForce. Now, you can check out my full review of NVIDIA's on demand
3:51
internet game streaming service here. And there are no handheld gaming devices
3:55
that run Steam yet, but it is much
3:59
cheaper than a Shield console and it works with both NVIDIA and AMD graphics
4:04
cards in the source gaming rig. But
4:07
then, how well does it work? Pretty darn well. Well, I mean, setup was a breeze
4:12
mostly, assuming that the Steam Link and
4:15
your PC are on the same subnet. You basically power on your computer and
4:19
make sure it's running Steam, select the stream PC in the list of connections,
4:24
note down that four-digit PIN, and enter it on the streaming PC. Boom, you're
4:29
done. Although, there are some tips that I have to make your life as simple as
4:32
ours was. Number one, use a wire. Number
4:36
two, if you must use wireless, use 5
4:39
gigahertz to avoid common 2.4 GHz interferes like microwaves and baby
4:44
monitors. Your router should have an option to create separate SSIDs for the
4:50
different bands. Just note though that your 5 GHz range is likely inferior to
4:56
your 2.4 GHz range. So, make sure that you're close enough to consistently get
5:01
your full bandwidth in spite of the usual network
5:06
congestion. So, while the Steam Link wasn't perfect at release, that's one of
5:11
the nice things about reviewing a product months down the line. It tells
5:15
you if the manufacturer really cares or
5:18
if they've given up support to start working on the next thing. And I really
5:22
have to hand it to Valve here. Each change log seems to be a direct response
5:27
to the issues and requests that are brought up in the community forums,
5:31
bringing since release considerable improvements to stream reliability,
5:36
enabling seemingly essential features like being able to forget a wireless
5:39
network and putting your Xbox controller to sleep when powering down the link.
5:43
And thanks to another recent update, 32-bit CRC checking to detect and take
5:48
action to correct corrupt network packets for a more pain-free, reliable
5:53
experience. I mean, honestly, as far as I can tell, the majority of the negative
5:58
comments surrounding the Steam Link these days are due to issues that are
6:02
100% preventable, which is pretty cool. So, what about that lag then? Gaming
6:08
over the network. Ah, it sounds great,
6:11
but is it actually usable? Well, yeah.
6:16
After a couple of matchmaker games in Rocket League and blitzing through the
6:19
first couple levels in Metro Last Light, our new writer, did I mention that this
6:23
video is the very first work of a new team member? You can let him know in the
6:27
comments if you hated it, was thoroughly impressed by the lack of any noticeable
6:32
input lag. However, upon switching to
6:35
CS:GO, it did become apparent that there was some amount of lag. So, it was time
6:40
then to break out the Makey Makey and the 240fps iPhone camera to uncover the
6:46
extent of it. Not actually bad, but it
6:49
ties in pretty well to the conclusion that most of you were probably expecting
6:53
here. It's perfectly fine for single player and casual multiplayer games.
6:58
However, I couldn't recommend it for anyone wanting to play competitively in
7:02
games like CS:GO, Street Fighter, or the like. That is to say, unless you're
7:06
playing against your little cousin who's in town for a visit. Which leaves us
7:10
only some closing thoughts. Game support
7:13
used to be a major issue with Steam and home streaming where you'd frequently
7:18
have to run upstairs, click a stupid pop-up box, run downstairs, see if it's
7:22
working, rinse and repeat until tired. But thanks to the Steam Link's ability
7:27
to tab out and use your Steam Link keyboard and mouse as though you are
7:32
sitting in front of that computer, it is no longer an issue. And this also
7:37
addresses really most of the need for apps like Netflix since you can also use
7:41
it for that. Pretty cool. The Steam Link does not replace a console or a
7:46
dedicated gaming PC connected to the TV. Remember that the remote computer cannot
7:51
be used for little Sally's book report while you defeat dragons downstairs. But
7:56
as it stands, the Steam Link is inexpensive enough and once configured,
8:00
easy enough to use that in a house with multiple screens and at least one
8:04
serious gamer, I can't think of a good reason not to pick one up. Crunchyroll
8:10
is the site created by anime fans for anime fans. They offer the most current
8:15
episodes of new shows, plus a large collection of the most popular anime
8:20
series. In their spring lineup, they've got Ace Attorney, Twin Star Exorcists,
8:25
and Rezero: Startling Life in Another World. And coming in summer 2016,
8:30
Berserk is coming to Crunchyroll. And all the content on the site is
8:35
professionally subtitled. Just head over to
8:38
crunchyroll.com/lininus which is linked in the video description and you can
8:41
sign up for a 30-day free trial. None of
8:45
this 10day free trial or 15-day free
8:48
trial. No, no, 30-day free trial of Crunchyroll Premium, which gives you a
8:53
whole month of free anime completely without ads. And if you enjoy the many
8:57
benefits of premium, like 1080p streaming, getting new episodes of shows
9:02
straight from Japan within an hour of their premiere, and being able to stream
9:06
anywhere, anytime from a variety of devices like your phone, tablet, or game
9:09
console, you can continue your premium membership to Crunchyroll for only $6.95
9:13
a month. So, head to crunchyroll.com/Linus and check it out.
9:18
Thanks for watching, guys. If this video sucked, you know what to do. But if it
9:21
was awesome, get subscribed, hit the like button, or even consider supporting us directly by using our affiliate code
9:25
to shop at Amazon, by buying a cool shirt like this one, or with a direct
9:29
monthly contribution through our community forum, which is linked in the video description. Now that you're done
9:33
doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering, hm, gee, what should I watch next? And that's a great question, too.
9:38
Click that little button in the top right corner to check out our latest channel, Super Fun video, where we all
9:42
had lots of fun and we filmed it and we made a video and we put it on a channel.
9:46
The channel's called Channel Super Fun. That's where the name came from, cuz it's fun. Super fun even.