It’s clearly time: all the news about the transparent tech renaissance

Would you agree technology peaked in the days of candy-colored gadgets in see-through hues like “Atomic Purple” and “Bondi Blue”? If so, Dbrand would greatly enjoy weaponizing your nostalgia against your bank account.

Today, it’s introduced the $100 Retro Darkplates for your PS5, which give your Sony console a similar effect to the transparent N64s that Nintendo released at the turn of the millennium.

“My favorite new Steam Deck mod is this $30 see-through heatsink backplate,” I wrote in January. “Wake me up when someone makes a transparent front shell,” some readers told me.

Well, your nap is nearly over: Jsaux just confirmed to Overkill.wtf that a transparent front shell is on the way, providing the image you see atop this story (which we’re using with Overkill’s blessing). And ExtremeRate tweeted this earlier today:

I can’t stop looking at these earbuds. You might’ve already seen leaks about the new Beats Studio Buds Plus, available beginning today for $169.99, but there’s something even more attention-grabbing about their translucent design in person. Maybe it’s because I came of age in the late ’90s, when these semiopaque finishes were a common sight on gamepads, household phones, and other gizmos. (I’m looking at you, iMac G3.) There’s certainly a nostalgia factor. But Beats also really nailed the execution with these. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself closely poring over all the small inner details now visible: the orange ring around the USB-C port; the way that light reflects off metal surfaces inside the case as you rotate it in your hands; and yes, the plainly visible battery just underneath the “b” logo. 

At their core, the Studio Buds Plus are an upgraded refresh of earbuds that originally debuted in 2021. Though I praised their comfort, I was underwhelmed by the rest of what the Studio Buds had to offer. Now, Beats is trying to address those weak points with this “Plus” model: the sound has been refined, there’s more powerful active noise cancellation, and the transparency mode sounds more natural. Battery life has also been stretched out further. 

If you’re hunting for a graduation gift that’s both playful and practical, Case-Mate’s Fuel USB-C Charger is a good option. The portable charger delivers 30 watts of power so your giftee can quickly power up their smartphone, tablet, or even Nintendo Switch. It does that while looking good to boot, boasting a unique translucent body reminiscent of old iMacs available in a variety of fun colors. Best of all, starting at just $15.40 ($14.59 off) in lime green at Amazon, it’s affordable, so you can buy Mom one, too, for Mother’s Day — or just for yourself. We won’t judge!

If you were thinking about buying Google’s latest Pixel 7 only because the Pixel 7 Pro costs $300 more, you might want to think again. Right now, they’re a lot closer in price, meaning you can buy an unlocked Google Pixel 7 Pro for $699.99 ($200 off) — which is the best price we’ve seen on the excellent Android phone so far this year. The discount applies to the model with 128GB of storage in black from Amazon.

Well, there's not much left for Apple-owned Beats to "announce" after this. On Tuesday evening, Amazon prematurely published a retail listing for the rumored Beats Studio Buds Plus. The page contains every last detail about the buds: among other upgrades, they have more powerful active noise cancellation than the original Studio Buds, better air venting, and an improved transparency mode.

The Studio Buds Plus will sell for $169.95 when they're released on May 18th, according to Amazon. That's a $20 upcharge compared to the standard Studio Buds released in 2021. The buds and case share a very similar design to the original pair. That'll be a good thing for many; I didn't love their sound quality or find the ANC particularly effective, but the Studio Buds were at least extremely comfortable.

Framework CEO Nirav Patel, leader of the first company to fulfill the promise of a truly modular laptop, doesn’t just want you to buy new parts for his computers. He’d like you to keep using the old ones, too.

For example: this spring, you’ll be able to turn your old Framework mainboard into a desktop PC with this tiny $39 case.

What a difference two years makes. 

Back in 2021, Nothing, the consumer tech startup led by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, had only publicly existed for a few short months before launching the Ear 1 true wireless earbuds. They were feature rich for their $99 price point but, at launch, suffered from plenty of bugs and so-so noise-canceling performance.

As cool as the Steam Deck looks with RGB lighting, you might not want to attempt to mod your device just yet. One Reddit user who tried the mod found that while adding the RGB LEDs doesn’t draw a significant amount of power from the battery, it can cause pretty big issues with the Steam Deck’s motherboard.

The “RGBDeck” mod started making the rounds on Reddit earlier this month, with u/WUBBSY documenting the process of affixing a small microcontroller and LED strips to the device. They topped it off with a transparent backing from JSAUX, allowing the lights to shine through the case while the Steam Deck’s switched on. The end result gives the Steam Deck a nice pop of color (in a very gamer PC kind of way).

Silly me.

I thought I was buying JSAUX’s transparent backplate for the Steam Deck for the bragging rights. Transparent gadgets are fun! But you know what’s cooler than seeing inside your Steam Deck? Having a Deck that runs cooler, too.

There’s something wrong with the seemingly hundreds of laptops that have been birthed so far during CES 2023: almost none of them are translucent. Using a see-through design is proven [no citations found] to make more people want to buy a product because, for one, it looks cool, and two, the company must be pretty confident in its engineering handiwork to want to show it off like that.

The thing is, if a company uses translucent plastic on your gadget, it’s got to go for it 100 percent or go home. And that’s where MSI goes wrong.

JSAUX might sound like just another alphabet soup electronics brand, but it’s quickly developed a reputation as the foremost accessory vendor for the Steam Deck — and today, it’s announced what (I’m fairly sure!) is the very first transparent shell for the system.

And you know how we love our transparent gadgets here at The Verge.