This study focused on the experimental evaluation of the seismic performance of steel knee braced frames with metallic energy dissipation devices. The device was fabricated from a steel plate with a number of slit cuts and two lateral stiffened steel plates welded to the two sides of the plate. A series of cyclic loading tests were conducted on the devices and the steel knee braced frames. It was found from the tests that the stiffness, the strength and the energy dissipation capacity of the framed structures were significantly enhanced when the devices were adopted. It was also observed from the experiments that the energy dissipation was achieved through the flexural yielding of the slit plates and the stiffened plates. Comparisons of the test results indicated that the slenderness of the slit plate was the major parameter in affecting the load-carrying capacity of the device. Finally, expression for the strength estimation of the devices and the framed structures was proposed for design references.