The PlayStation 5 is an impressive game system that’s aided by powerful processors and solid-state drive storage (which you can augment with your own SSD). Still, its design is polarizing. The PS5’s a tall, awkwardly curved system with a glossy black middle mismatched with matte white side panels that feature sharp top corners that look like a popped shirt collar. There’s no way to make it any less tall and hard to place in your home entertainment system, but Dbrand offers a system for shaving down those harsh corners and swapping the black-and-white look for something more pleasing to the eye. Darkplates 2.0 are replacement panels for the PS5 that you can combine with vinyl skins to turn the console all-black, all-white, or even classic PlayStation gray. The Darkplates retail for $69.95, but adding the skins bumps up the price to $100.80. That’s a bit expensive, but still worthwhile if you want to improve the aesthetics of your $400 to $500 (assuming you didn’t pay reseller prices) console.
Darkplates won’t be the only name for swapping your PS5’s colors, though. Sony just announced that first-party alternate side panels in black, cyan, pink, purple, and red will be available early next year. These panels appear to be physically identical to the stock panels, so Darkplates still has an edge if you want to shave down that pointy, popped collar.
Choose Your Parts
Darkplates 2.0 come in two parts, with additional options. The Darkplates themselves are the aforementioned pair of plastic shells that replace the PlayStation 5’s side panels, and are available in matte black, gray, and white for the console’s disc and digital-only versions. It’s a color collection without many colors. Dbrand has been manufacturing Darkplates in waves of limited availability, and the company might simply not have the bandwidth to produce a full rainbow.
The panels are as sturdy and well-manufactured as the original PS5 side panels. They’re mostly the same design as the PS5’s default panels, but the top corners are rounded to better contour with the console’s body. They also lack the PS5’s sharp, right-angle corners. Round ventilation grilles are built into the Darkplates, with simple filters that can be removed and cleaned. They should improve the PS5’s ventilation in theory, but we haven’t experienced any thermal issues with the system to begin with.
You can also add a middle skin for $19.95, and left and right lightstrips for $6.95 each. They’re vinyl skins that you apply to the PS5’s middle section or the light bars on the system’s front, top edges. The middle skin is available in black, gray, white, black-and-white camouflage, and a matte-and-glossy black pattern. The lightstrips come in eight different colors, plus a matte black strip that simply blocks out the system’s lights. The skins are sold separately from the Darkplates, so you can just tweak the lightstrips or make the center of the PS5 white to match the default sides.
Dbrand sent us matte black and classic gray Darkplates 2.0, along with a matte black middle skin and blue lightstrips.
Easy Installation
Installing the Darkplates 2.0 is easy, thanks to the foam sheets included in the clever pop-up box that serves as the ideal PS5 work mats. Clear a flat space to work, lay down one of the foam sheets, and place your PS5 on it (after properly turning the system off and unplugging it first, of course).
Removing the installed side panels feels slightly awkward, but is easy once you figure out the right hand positioning and amount of pressure to use (and, if you’ve already added an SSD to your PS5, you’re probably already familiar with the process). With the console lying flat and facing sideways, brace the system’s thinner, curved edge (the top, if the PS5 was standing). Pull firmly on the right-angle corner of the panel, closest to the ports on the back. Push the panel steadily toward your bracing arm until it pops free. Don’t try to force the panel upward; you only need to lift it slightly, then push it sideways to remove it. Repeat the process on both sides.
With the panels off, align the appropriate Darkplate panel to the side of the system facing up, until it aligns with the holes on the console and settles loosely. Brace the PS5’s base, and firmly push the panel’s opposite edge toward it until it clicks into place. Then flip the system over and do it again with the other plate. If you’re just swapping out the sides of the PS5, you’re done!
The middle skin and lightstrips are even easier to install, but you need to be slow and careful. The middle skin comes in two pieces, a long strip for the front and top of the PS5 and a short strip for the base. For the front strip, align the holes for the power and eject buttons with the buttons on the PS5, then gradually press the rest of the skin into place over the front. Do the same thing for the short strip across the base, aligning the holes in the skin with the console’s serial number and ventilation grilles.
The lightstrip skins are similarly simple and require just as much precision. With the PS5’s side panels still off, apply the black end of one skin to the end of the upward-facing side’s lightstrip (the narrow, translucent bar that runs over the top and front of the PS5), making sure the curve (with the protective paper still on) aligns with the system’s curve. Keeping the strip flush against the PS5, slowly apply it along the lightstrip while gradually removing the protective paper as you go.
The vinyl skins are nicely thick, and among the easiest skins I’ve ever applied to a device. The thickness meant I didn’t see any air bubbles appear as I rolled the skins onto my PS5, and the adhesive is firm enough to be secure when pressed down while still offering enough give to let me adjust the placement along one curve to prevent a fold.
Installing the Darkplates 2.0 and all skins took me maybe 15 minutes, including going back and forth to check Dbrand’s instruction video.
A Considerable Visual Improvement
Once everything’s installed, the Darkplates-equipped PS5 looks fantastic. It takes on a matte black appearance that’s much more flattering than the original glossy black and matte white, and the lightstrips glow a pleasant deep blue when the system’s powered on. Of course, while the color scheme is better in my eyes and the rounded top corners are an improvement, the new side panels don’t actually change the general shape of the awkwardly tall, curved system.
Dbrand’s Darkplates 2.0 are a well-made, easy-to-install system for changing your PS5’s look. If you’ve already sunk enough money to get the system, spending another $70 to $100 to customize it is a bit pricey, but reasonable. The console might still be weirdly tall and hard to place, but at least it’ll better fit your tastes and decor.
