I understand the desire to iterate and improve, but let’s face reality. Tech’s aesthetic design peaked in his 90s. Visionary designers around the world haven’t truly improved the look of colored clear plastic. Being able to see the tech underneath looks a lot cooler than decals and colorways that haven’t been invented yet. Gameboy, Digimon, iMac, or more recently he just needs to see a Dbrand disassembled skin. (opens in new tab) to see what I mean.
Thankfully, I’m not the only one who thinks so, as Jsaux has released a series of clear backplates for your beloved Steam decks. (opens in new tab)Only the brown variant is currently in stock, but blue, green, purple, red and crystal clear options are on the way. Colors look especially good and feel nostalgic. The purple reminds me of a friend of mine had her N64 controller which was a transparent atomic purple.
Apart from the neat see-through look, these backplates also offer some extra levels of customization as an added bonus. Can be arranged in height configurations. Jsaux also boasts that these back plates come with extra thermal grease and an aluminum sheet to help spread the heat. Our goal here is to literally make Steam decks cooler in every way possible.
This kit also includes everything you need to replace the backplate yourself. This includes screws, various rear buttons, and even antistatic gloves. Considering it’s just a backplate replacement, it’s not the most difficult DIY job and doesn’t require any extra tools, but you’ll need to be very careful anyway. Not bad for a $30 total kit.
That said, it’s well worth doing some research before you start and making sure you’re comfortable with this type of work. It may not be worth your time.
I searched online for someone with experience using Jsaux’s plates and found this great installation video. YouTube of Taki Udon (opens in new tab)You can check out the entire process it takes to replace those backplates and see how those buttons work.
I can’t blame you if you don’t want to open up your expensive little portable PC.Instead, you can always make it look like a Nintendo Switch (opens in new tab)Or check out the best Steam Deck accessories (opens in new tab) Instead of opening that case, you can get Steam Deck 2 (opens in new tab) come out.
