ANYOYO USB-C Video Capture Card & USB Hub

Hardware Type: Dock

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Review:

(Note: This product was received at no cost for review via the Amazon Vine program.)

(Note: This product and the Acasis Capture Card & Docking Station 2-in-1 have many things in common, so I’m copying these reviews and changing them where appropriate.)

When the Nintendo Switch first launched and players were met with the whopping price of $80 to get an extra dock from Nintendo, many quickly looked for alternatives, only to find that third party docks often “bricked” their Nintendo Switch, breaking their even more-expensive hybrid console. As time passed, third-party device-makers got better at ensuring these docks wouldn’t damage the hybrid console, and at that point the question of which one to get became one of price and feature set.

Some devices, like the Genki Covert Dock, its successor the Genki Covert Dock Mini, and the Gmeaou Switch Dock seek to reduce the size of the dock as much as possible, to deliver the ultimate on-the-go solution. Others, like the Mobapad A1 Switch Dock and the Fenolical Switch Charger Dock offer built-in charging for your controllers, both adding functionality and potentially decluttering your countertop. Then there’s the ANYOYO USB-C Video Capture Card & USB Hub, released in 2024, and in addition to allowing your Nintendo Switch or Nintendo Switch OLED model to connect with your TV, it also acts as a video capture card to connect to a PC or Mac to record and stream video and audio from your Nintendo Switch.

Before getting into that, let’s talk about what this device offers simply as a dock. While a small size isn’t this device’s main purpose, it should be mentioned that it is fairly small – the main device is about the size of a small candy bar. It doesn’t come with a Nintendo Switch charger or any cables apart from a built-in USB-C cable to attach to your Nintendo Switch, so you’ll need to get an extra charger and USB cables, or perhaps use a Nintendo Switch charger you already have. If you want to use this to do video capture or stream using a computer, you’ll also need to get an extra USB 3.0 cable for that. And regardless, this doesn’t come with an HDMI cable, so you’ll have to provide your own.

Not shown in the above photo is one additional standard-size USB 3.0 port on the device that could be used to connect a USB ethernet adaptor, a controller, or any other Nintendo Switch USB device. With only one such port, the ANYOYO USB-C Video Capture Card & USB Hub hardly seems to qualify as a “USB Hub”, and doesn’t compare to the Acasis Capture Card & Docking Station 2-in-1’s numerous ports, but it should nevertheless get the job done.

Once hooked up, this device works just fine as a dock and charger for the Nintendo Switch. I should note that, as with many modern third-party Nintendo Switch docks, this device doesn’t just work with Nintendo Switch, but also with any USB-C devices with video output function, such as many modern Android and Apple phones, the Steam Deck, and some computers, laptops, and tablets. With this device’s capture card capabilities, this adds even more functionality for these devices.

As for the ANYOYO USB-C Video Capture Card & USB Hub’s use as a capture card, it works, albeit with a big caveat. You want to be sure that you’re connecting it to a USB 3.0 port using a USB 3.0 cable or you’ll run into trouble. You’ll also need to download free capture/streaming software online, as this device doesn’t come with any. There are instructions here for use with Potplayer on PC, and for OBS software on Mac, though I suspect you could probably make other software work with this device if you know what you’re doing.

To be clear, by “instructions”, I mean a lengthy list of settings changes you’ll need to make to the software to get things setup, and the included instructions doesn’t give any guidance on how to use any of this software itself once you have set things up. Unless you are an old pro at setting up and using device capture software, you’re probably in for a lot of trial and error and a lot of Googling to look for answers as you try to get this thing to work the way you want it.

Personally, after a lot of trial and error, I was able to get this device to work for recording and streaming, but oddly enough not for sound, and I’m not sure if it was something I was doing wrong or the device. Definitely don’t expect this device’s instructions to hold your hand in any of this – it doesn’t even tell you where to go to download the software you need.

In the end, I think ANYOYO USB-C Video Capture Card & USB Hub is a great dock, and it has potential as a capture card as well, but it definitely could be improved with more user-friendly instructions, and if they’re not going to use proprietary software they could at least point to a good startup guide for the software they do use, or write their own. And unfortunately, while this has all of the same flaws as the Acasis Capture Card & Docking Station 2-in-1, it’s missing some of that device’s features – you have to get a lot of the cables yourself, and it doesn’t have nearly as many USB ports. As such, if you’re looking for a device like this, I think you’re better off with Acasis’ device.

tl;dr – The ANYOYO USB-C Video Capture Card & USB Hub combines a solid portable Nintendo Switch dock with the capability to use this as a video capture card as well when you also connect it to a PC or Mac. While this seems like it should work fine, it’s confusing to set up, and this device lacks a lot of features of the similar Acasis Capture Card & Docking Station 2-in-1. If you want this sort of device, Acasis’ dock is the better way to go.

Grade: B-

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