I love clear plastic electronics — I used to mountain dew green xbox (opens in new tab)iMac G3 (opens in new tab)and of course the coolest Game Boy N64 (opens in new tab) colorway. High-tech design these days centers on rectangles of glass and metal, so it’s up to his DIY yeoman to keep the Y2K dream alive.
Enter peripheral manufacturer JSAUX and their custom kits Translucent Steam Deck Backplate (opens in new tab)The kit includes the shell itself, extra screws, various back paddle button options (the buttons on the stock backplate are melted), a screwdriver and a pry tool (highly appreciated, but better bring your own!). recommended) is included. Opiumthese cute little finger guards are for when you’re decked open and dealing with precious interiors that unfortunately resemble condoms.
The JSAUX website has helpful installation guides, and Deck’s inherent modularity and serviceability make this more viable for first-timers than modding other console cases. Translucent joycon, only connection issues with buttons. The kit sells for $30 on his JSAUX website, which is a significant advantage compared to iFixIt’s $25 stock backplate replacement.
The installation process takes about 16 Phillips screws: 8 to attach the rear paddle buttons to the new shell and 8 to screw that shell into the body of the deck. I still rate this as a fairly beginner-friendly project, but there were two manufacturing issues that cost me money.
The plate comes with 3 configurations for the deck’s rear paddle buttons. My biggest challenge in the assembly process was when the stock R5 back button I received got stuck and was permanently pushed down — this The Barge (opens in new tab) and some Redditors. In the meantime, I couldn’t get to work on custom configurations — I swapped them out when I noticed problems with the R5, and tried the old college, but the raised paddle felt awkward in the hand .
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I wish I could explain exactly how I was able to get the R5 to work properly.After shotgunning various solutions, tightening and loosening the screws on the back, and chipping off part of the post near where the screws were installed, as outlined in this Reddit comment from a user: I found that it works perfectly motown _mph (opens in new tab), is little more than a moaning, unelegant caveman problem-solving challenge. Long story short, exact compatibility between buttons and shells is tricky, but if you’re using sticky buttons, you might be able to brute force your own solution.
Another issue I had was pointed out by Verge and some early adopters. Reddit: The heatsink integrated into the JSAUX backplate does not fully mate with the inside of the deck, leaving a slight gap in the case near the power button. Overtightening the top left rear screw will eliminate the gap entirely, but there’s a fine line between impeding movement of the right bumper and being too loose leaving an uncomfortable gap between the front and back shells. I had to find a nice balance. Rather than having a metal heat spreader that is too thick, I think it has a slight bend that causes this problem.
It sounds like a lot of negatives, but I’m still in love with the finished product. I’d love to see more precise engineering of that heat spreader in future iterations of the backplate, but the case’s I don’t think the paper-thin gap at the top is overly obnoxious. Even after long Elden Ring play sessions, it felt comfortable to the touch, even though it was much warmer than the stock shell. As for cooling benefits, I don’t know. As an anecdote, my deck was staying a few degrees cooler during long Elden Ring sessions, and the Verge runs the deck’s fans at a lower RPM to keep the same temperature in difficult conditions. I noticed that.
But its thermal performance has always been a secondary concern for me: I wanted a retro translucent Steam deck, and by god I got it. JSAUX announced that it will introduce New colors for this spring (opens in new tab) Similarly, the Atomic Purple and Mountain Dew Green backplates dropped in April, and the Frosty Gray version is now company website (opens in new tab).
