The 90s were the glory days for transparent plastic electronics, with Nintendo leading the charge for kids, Apple offering see-through PCs, and Handspring letting adults get in on the fun with some Palm Pilots. You can already replace the housing of your Switch or Steam Deck with something that looks like it came straight out of the Clinton administration, but a new option is available for those who prefer the Asus ROG Ally. And naturally, it comes with light-up LEDs.
The add-on comes courtesy of JSAUX, which already sells a wide variety of accessory gadgets for the Steam Deck. The $40 RGB Transparent Back Plate includes a few extra LED lights and six interchangeable stickers that’ll put some extra pop in your back panel. Oddly these include the PlayStation control cluster and the NASA logo, for some reason. The lighting comes with its own 170mAh battery, discrete from the rather beefy power supply of the Ally itself.
You’ll need to charge it up separately, and it can only run for about three hours. JSAUX also doesn’t recommend that you try and install this thing if you’re a tech repair novice — you’ll need to add a bit of tape to the light sensor to keep the excess light from triggering it, for example.
As The Verge notes, the supplier is also selling some other Ally-specific geegaws, including a protective case with a rear kickstand (not compatible with the transparent rear plate), a docking station, a screen protector, and grippy silicone add-on -pads. I’m partial to the stylish sling bag, since both the ROG Ally and the Steam Deck aren’t quite pocketable and often need a charger and headphones for ideal portable gaming. The RGB Transparent Back Plate and other Asus-specific add-ons should ship sometime in November.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer
Michael is a former graphic designer who's been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.