If you want to get more out of your new handheld PC, the BenQ beCreatus GR10 Gaming Docking Station is just that little bit faster than the competition.
You’ve got a gaming handheld at the tail end of the year, but what next? After downloading a back catalogue of shame and picking up all the festive free games, there’s a sea of accessories to navigate. Uninspired options suggesting suspect protection and extra ports are all over the internet, but the BenQ GR10 docking station offers up something different. Dropping on desks and offering big screen gaming for the likes of the ROG Ally, MSI Claw, and Steam Deck, this docking station mixes a well-known brand with performance that’s a cut above the competition.
Out The Box
Gamespace is no stranger to PC gaming and scaling up a compact powerhouse into fully fledged budget gaming rigs, and it a docking station is pivotal. While the likes of JSAUX offer up capable accommodation for your new handheld PC, the BenQ beCreatus GR10 packs in extra frames, more Mbps, and higher than the RGB enthusiast competition. Available now, the GR10 looks impressive straight out of the box.
Specification
Dimension (mm) – 130 x 55 x 25.5 (mm)
Weight – 187g
Slot width (mm) – 21.5mm
Power Delivery – Up to 100W
Connectivity
USB4 Type-C cable (40Gbps) x 1
HDMI 2.1 (4K 120Hz/8K 60Hz) / 4K 60Hz on Mac
2.5 Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 x 1
USB-A Connector (10 Gbps,4.5W) x 2
USB-C Connector (10 Gbps,7.5W) x 1
Fit and Feel
The BenQ GR10 comes in an appropriately slim packet. The tiny desktop peripheral only measures around 13 cm long. Barely bigger than a chunky chocolate bar, it doesn’t ask much of our desk. The outer shell ditches gamer focused lighting effects and edgy lines for a professional aesthetic. A silver and black color combination should allow this docking station to sit nicely alongside a traditional Steam Deck or even the latest MacBook without looking out of place.
The plastic front flips out to reveal a rubberized canal that has ample room for the likes of the Steam Deck and ROG Ally. At a push, it will even host phones and tablets. You’ll find these lie back at a much less useable angle, however. Three silicon pads provide plenty of grip for devices, and a sizeable base pad means the whole unit isn’t going anywhere. I do have a few misgivings about the very plastic hinge, but any damage to this means you’ve likely got bigger issues to worry about.
Moving back from the flip down front, the rest of the GR10 is wrapped in a cool brushed metal and backed by a matt back panel. An integrated USB-C cable protrudes from the side and slots into the base for storage, while the back is littered with connectivity. The only outlier is a single USB-C port on the side of this box. Overall, it’s a pleasing piece with a well constructed chassis. It’s especially appealing for gamers who need to head to the office but want the option of flipping open and plugging in for a round or two of Marvel Rivals, or the next Overwatch successor.
Performance
Plug in and go fast should really be the only definition of success for this desktop companion. Flipping down and plugging in, the GR10 hooks up to handheld systems easily thanks to the detachable 90-degree USB connector and provides a stable platform for other add ons. The two USB A ports provide connectivity for a keyboard and mouse, although it means that you’ll need to bring a Bluetooth compatible headset or a USB-C Wi-Fi adaptor is you don’t want to share sound with the rest of the room. With my Audeze Maxwell hooked up to the side mounted USB I headed straight for the first of three tests. The general design provides clear and easy access to most handheld vents, holding true for the Steam Deck and my Asus ROG Ally. Stress tests in 3D mark proved this to be the case, with no negative impact on the temperature or frame rates when docked.
timespay stress test without dock
Looking Good
Big screen gaming is all about looking good and going fast. The GR10 supports an exceptional 4K @ 120Hz, so I hooked up my own Philips 4K gaming display, the 32 inch variant of the Philips Momentum 279M1RV, and got connected. We managed to get thing running at 2K 120Hz and even managed more than Microsoft Excel at these speeds. Our little handheld took full power delivery, clocked up into Turbo Mode and spun up some tests. While running Telltale’s back catalog is silky smooth at this frame rate, things get a bit more exciting when spinning up the audacious Olli Olli World or the blistering racetracks of the Forza Series. Not traditionally seen as an eSport, Olli Olli World has always been a go to for testing speed. With requirements for low latency and high frame rates, a miniscule tear or stutter can leave you skidding off track. Similarly, Forza requires similarly good responses with even more demanding graphics. Although graphics are all down to the ROG Ally, I found little in the way of induced latency, tearing, or artifacts. As long as you’ve got an HDMI 2.1 compatible handheld will let you play without delay.
Networking
While plenty of the performance pipes through the GR10 relies on the high speed USB and HDMI integrations, BenQ have gone even further and added a little extra for online gaming. The wildly overpowered 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet transfer rate of the LAN connection, means that anybody spamming heals won’t find any down time while the boss wipes or you try to find the target. It won’t make your Internet go any faster or your aim any better, but the GR10 is going to make sure that it doesn’t delay your victory.
When hooked up to a local server through a 2.5Gbps port, iPerf measured the overall throughput and we averaged a bandwidth at around 2.42 Gbits / sec over a series of 10 tests. Even using a more modest 1 Gigabit connection, this maxed out at an average of 949 Mbits/sec. In short, this dock isn’t slow.
This is fairly high level, but the intent here is to establish that the GR10 is wildly overengineered for most handheld gaming rigs. There’s no account for variable input devices or different screens, and I’m satisfied that the BenQ GR10 is a step above much of the competition Heck, it’ll even pull a solid day in the office with a workstation before folding up in a bag and coming home to support a gaming stream.
Overall impressions.
The Ben1 GR10 docking station has been humbly sitting at the side of my desk over the holidays and it hasn’t needed to throw RGB to impress. Instead, it’s just simply works. The GR10 is an outstanding piece of kit with some thoughtful design choices. I do wish it managed an extra USB A port and didn’t quite come in at around £99. If you want to buy quality and buy once, then the understated design and unequivocable performance of the GR10 is worth the cost. Check out more on the BenQ beCreatus GR10 on the official website now.
