YouTuber Builds A Mini Steam Machine Powered By The RedMagic 11S Pro

Valve's Steam Machine, despite its high price and average specs, inspired PC builders and gaming enthusiasts to create their own custom setups. One recent addition to this trend is a compact version powered by the RedMagic 11S Pro smartphone. In a video, YouTuber ETA Prime walks viewers through the process of assembling the mini Steam Machine, as well as its performance capabilities.

The RedMagic 11S Pro is highlighted for its gaming-focused Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor and 16GB of RAM. To manage heat, the device utilizes an active cooling fan and a fluorinated liquid loop. A custom 3D-printed case, in the shape of a rectangular cuboid, houses the smartphone along with a USB hub and a thermoelectric cooler.

Unfortunately, the 3D print for the rear fan mount was unsuccessful. External monitors are used for the display, while the open-source app DroidDeck runs the Steam Linux client's Big Picture interface directly on Android devices. This software leverages translation layers for direct game execution rather than streaming. Although the mini Steam Machine doesn't match the performance of the original Steam Deck on most titles, the YouTube creator claims it performs comparably to the Steam Deck for certain games.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Injustice 2 were tested, with the latter achieving a smooth 60fps at 720p resolution. Cyberpunk 2077 managed 30fps on low settings. Despite its successes, the setup faces some issues, including compatibility problems, thermal throttling, and possible cooling inefficiencies due to the case design. While not ideal for everyone, ETA Prime's experimental build demonstrates the potential of Android devices as gaming platforms.