GuliKit reveal an upgraded anti-drift thumbstick module for Steam Deck

I may get them after reviews comes out on it.

I have deck but I don't want to apply mods by myself. I hope deck 2 will have the options to be bought with those and other extras like oled full hd displays and so on

I hardly use the joysticks on my Steam Deck. I find the touchpads to be superior input devices.

Are the Steam Deck's original thumbsticks an issue? Personally I have no reason to change them, but I might just be lucky...

Quoting: MohandevirAre the Steam Deck's original thumbsticks an issue? Personally I have no reason to change them, but I might just be lucky...

Pretty much all traditional joysticks will eventually drift, the design of these is supposed to last far longer and potentially never see drifting issues.

One of the issues with their current offering is that the output saturate at 70% of the stick travel range. I suspect this is a design issue as most of the people have seen this issue. Very few people claims their module works as normal, which I have some doubt that they might not measure that properly. To test that, go to Settings -> Controller, There is "Test Device Inputs". Click [Begin Test]. Move the joy stick to upper-left corner until x-y values are roughly equal, if the values are above 32000 that means it saturates around 70% (cos(45) = sin(45) = 0.707). In practice I have not notice significant differences, it could be because the games I played do not call for precise control. Others' experience may vary.

Quoting: Liam DawePretty much all traditional joysticks will eventually drift, the design of these is supposed to last far longer and potentially never see drifting issues.

I assume it's safe to say that the Steam Deck's sticks are at least better than, say, the absolutely notorious ones used in the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Cons, though?

I don't have a Deck yet, and if they are like that, it would be a big dealbreaker for me - I got sick of repairing those things and that contributed to my move over to 100% Linux-gaming.

Quoting: Pengling

Quoting: Liam DawePretty much all traditional joysticks will eventually drift, the design of these is supposed to last far longer and potentially never see drifting issues.

I assume it's safe to say that the Steam Deck's sticks are at least better than, say, the absolutely notorious ones used in the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Cons, though?

I don't have a Deck yet, and if they are like that, it would be a big dealbreaker for me - I got sick of repairing those things and that contributed to my move over to 100% Linux-gaming.

The steamdeck come with a case, and a good one (Compared to the switch first party case I have that doesn't protect the joystick that much), so it should be a bit better as it won't get abused during travel.

But I still might upgrade to those, as I like those kind of joystick better compared to the old one, feeling wise (At least when comparing with the 8bitdo ultimate)

Quoting: Pengling

Quoting: Liam DawePretty much all traditional joysticks will eventually drift, the design of these is supposed to last far longer and potentially never see drifting issues.

I assume it's safe to say that the Steam Deck's sticks are at least better than, say, the absolutely notorious ones used in the Nintendo Switch's Joy-Cons, though?

I don't have a Deck yet, and if they are like that, it would be a big dealbreaker for me - I got sick of repairing those things and that contributed to my move over to 100% Linux-gaming.

There Is Absolutely ZERO Reason To Mod The OEMs Steam Deck Joysticks, They Work Just Fine As Is, This Is Just In Case You Receive A Defective Unit After Your Warranty, But Even Still, You Can Pay The Valve Fee And RMA It, They Do The Work For U, I've Heard Complaints From These 3rd Party Modules Being Installed, One Complaint Is They Couldn't Calibrate Properly And They Had All Sorts Of Motion Issues In-Game Afterwards, Bc The OEM Joysticks Calibrate Differently For Games Than The 3rd Party Ones, If U Buy One Brand New, The Steam Deck That Is.. In My Opinion, Leave Em As Is.

I Own The 512gb Since Launch, And My Joysticks Still Run Beautifully, I Also Own The Switch, Original Version, Had To RMA Store Bought And OEM Joy-Cons, Plenty, But Never Ever Issues Like This With The OEM Steam Deck Joysticks. And Even If U Didn't Like The Way The OEMs Feel Grip Wise, Just Buy The Joystick Covers For Em, Heck, Even The Switch Joy-Con Thumbstick Covers Work For The Steam Deck OEMs As Well, So If U Have Em Lying Around, Put Em On Ur Steam Deck OEM Thumbsticks.

The Only Complaint From Me Owning The 512gb, Is Its Still Literally Not Enough HDD Space, It Should Have Had The Standard 1TB SSD Drive Rather 512GB, But You'll Need To Invest Into The MicroSD 1TBs To Expand Its Usage, Without Consistent Uninstallions. And Also, You'll Become Addicted To Steam Sales And Fanatical Sales.😂


Last edited by RealChris on 9 June 2023 at 10:47 am UTC

Quoting: RealChrisThere Is Absolutely ZERO Reason To Mod The OEMs Steam Deck Joysticks, They Work Just Fine As Is, This Is Just In Case You Receive A Defective Unit After Your Warranty

I stopped reading here due to all that capitalization.

I haven't got problems with the sticks either, but then, joystick feel like something gone for good in the early Nineties to me. ;)


Last edited by Eike on 9 June 2023 at 10:57 am UTC

Quoting: Eike

Quoting: RealChrisThere Is Absolutely ZERO Reason To Mod The OEMs Steam Deck Joysticks, They Work Just Fine As Is, This Is Just In Case You Receive A Defective Unit After Your Warranty

I stopped reading here due to all that capitalization.

I haven't got problems with the sticks either, but then, joystick feel like something gone for good in the early Nineties to me. ;)

That's what I was asking: Is there a glaring issue with the OEM sticks that I'm not aware off, like the Nintendo Switch? Personally, I'm not going to mess with my Steam Deck, if it's not broken. I would like a 1tb nvme upgrade and I'm hesitant for the same reason.

That's one thing I would like to see in a Steam Deck2: an easy way to swap the storage, without taking it apart.

Quoting: Mohandevir

Quoting: Eike

Quoting: RealChrisThere Is Absolutely ZERO Reason To Mod The OEMs Steam Deck Joysticks, They Work Just Fine As Is, This Is Just In Case You Receive A Defective Unit After Your Warranty

I stopped reading here due to all that capitalization.

I haven't got problems with the sticks either, but then, joystick feel like something gone for good in the early Nineties to me. ;)

That's what I was asking: Is there a glaring issue with the OEM sticks that I'm not aware off, like the Nintendo Switch? Personally, I'm not going to mess with my Steam Deck, if it's not broken. I would like a 1tb nvme upgrade and I'm hesitant for the same reason.

That's one thing I would like to see in a Steam Deck2: an easy way to swap the storage, without taking it apart.

Never change a running system...

I wonder if they fixed the hilariously bad outer deadzones that were present on the first gen... I installed the old rev and they do in fact have tighter inner deadzones but they have *very poor* outer dead zones. Anything over ~50% input in any direction results in a 100% input signal being sent. Buyer beware on these.

Quoting: MohandevirIs there a glaring issue with the OEM sticks that I'm not aware off, like the Nintendo Switch?

I haven't experienced anything bad and I haven't seen huge amounts of complaints either. The main thing is that some vocal people seem to be so afraid of the original joysticks breaking that they replace them with hall effect ones as soon as they get the SD.

Quoting: MohandevirAre the Steam Deck's original thumbsticks an issue? Personally I have no reason to change them, but I might just be lucky...

I don't think so, but mine developed some mechanical slop and by this a bit of drift in one of the sticks.
Still well within the factory deadzones (which I greatly reduced) and they work fine, but it feels off around the centre position and when clicking.

The reason for this damage seems to be that I occasionally carry my Deck in a somewhat heavy backpack, the included case offers less protection that you might expect as it flexes easily around the sticks.

So I'd be looking at possibly replacing the modules over that down the line, the rest of my Deck being pristine, aside from some wear on the trackpads and triggers and some mild scratches around the charge port and on the back.
But as the potmeters are not the problem, might as well get originals, I can transplant the pots of the old sticks later for another repair too.

Quoting: Coldfire0200One of the issues with their current offering is that the output saturate at 70% of the stick travel range. I suspect this is a design issue as most of the people have seen this issue. Very few people claims their module works as normal, which I have some doubt that they might not measure that properly. To test that, go to Settings -> Controller, There is "Test Device Inputs". Click [Begin Test]. Move the joy stick to upper-left corner until x-y values are roughly equal, if the values are above 32000 that means it saturates around 70% (cos(45) = sin(45) = 0.707). In practice I have not notice significant differences, it could be because the games I played do not call for precise control. Others' experience may vary.

I don't follow your reasoning. The max/min value is +/- 32,767, it would be odd for the output to be so close to the max/min at 45 degrees. In any case, on my Steam Deck when either joystick is at a 45 degree angle, the values equalise at around +/- 26,000.