'Checkmate, Lawyers' - dbrand Returns with Newly Designed PS5 Faceplates

Even if I wanted new faceplates (which I don’t) I really wouldn’t buy off these guys. They come across as complete douchebags.

It actually improves the look of the original design too. They’ve played Sony here and made them look a little foolish in the process.

Personally not a fan of the design of the 2.0 plates. Looks kinda weird and that I've gotten used to the official design of the PS5. But more power to you if you do like them.

The ego/bravado with this company! Jeez! Sue them again Sony with a bunch of other companies hand in hand.

Man the PS5 slim looks great

I don’t like that at all. Cheapens the look massively.

Never bought anything unofficial when it comes to gaming peripherals or otherwise. I like the way the PS5 looks as it is and my Switch Oled looks great on the shelf underneath.

These guys just seem like they are looking for a fight IMO.

Am I the only one who found this whole thing hilarious? A company is a company, not a friend or family and therefore I have no brand loyalty so it's quite the spectacle for me, no matter who is flinging the poop. The fact they've added air flow makes it quite interesting, though, could be worth getting these when I finally get a ps5.

Pretty sure adding fan vents like this on the both sides will just make majority of air to go from right to left. The peace of Sony's air chamber and its purpose will be broken for once and for all. Not a huge fan of the design, needless to say. Tho, props to the team on the dark end for a nice try.

@BoldAndBrash How? They used Sony’s C&D to kick up a stink online. Name dropped Squid Game (the biggest show in the world right now) to maximise coverage. Then delivered a surprise-reveal of a new product. It’s genius marketing whether you approve of the Dbrands strategy or not. They’ve turned this around on Sony’s lawyers and made them look ridiculous.

The new plates improve the look of the original design - the black plates with blue light strips looks awesome. This is what Sony should have done from the beginning if they had a clue.

@Jayofmaya Exactly. I love PlayStation but that doesn’t mean I have to worship at the altar of Sony because they make a product I like. I know my own mind enough to criticise them when they do something worthy of criticism.

These guys are massive douchebags and i wouldn't give them a penny, but have to admire their persistence. I'd give them more credit but they just come across as petulant.

On Sony i am surprised they havent gone down this route yet (selling alternative faceplates). I've seen suggestions online that this may be so in the future they can sell 'LE' PS5's where the only difference is a cheaply manufactured shell - but meaning collectors need to buy a whole new system, rather than just being able to pick up the faceplates for £20-30. It will be interesting to see the direction they take here.

Agree with everyone that these guys just seem like annoying douchebags - but sometimes douchebaggery sells, I mean look at BrewDog ("good beer didn't exist before we did" - Brewdog, paraphrased)

Those new vents will wreck the airflow of the console and probably cause overheating, buy at your own risk.

Lots of people calling the company douchebags etc. I for one think their marketing angle is quite genius (and hilarious). Pretty impressed with how quick they bounced back with a new design.

@thefourfoldroot

I completely agree. They could this without the “checkmate, lawyers” angle.

This attitude, whether serious or in jest (or a bit of both) would absolutely put me off purchasing from this company.

It’s a piece of plastic, it’s not revolutionary.

1.0 is the way to go if you like to buy them...
these one´s are complete nonsense. When you have assembled an additional NVME SSD into your beloved PS5 say goodbye to it with these new plates. No airflow at all...

@danlk1ng

Brewdog don’t seem to be actively targeting any other brands though, unless I’ve missed some advertising campaigns?

dbrand seem to be instigating a mini-war with Sony over what appears to be copyright infringement.

I like the more rounded design on the top of the plates but I think the opening for the vents are pretty ugly in this new design.

@danlk1ng How is it any different to Sony’s (hilarious btw) ‘Official PlayStation used game sharing instructional video’ for the PS4? That could be considered douchebag behaviour to some.

You could argue they were doing it ‘For the Players’ but mostly I think they were doing it to kick the competition whilst they were down (and they were at the time) and to make more money 🤷

That’s not to say MS are completely ‘innocent’ themselves but that’s the point - all companies do it. Dbrand just don’t sugarcoat anything and some find that a hard pill to swallow.

I wonder what the D in D Brand stands for.. I think I can guess.. Well done guys you copied someone else's design and changed it a bit.

As a company they don’t seem trustworthy at all, and I’d be worried about them cutting corners in checking how those new vents would affect airflow and the risk of overheating, as now the air would be coming in from the top sides instead of brought in through the front of the console. Sony designed it like that for a reason after all, even if it’s not to everyone’s tastes.

Ugly as all sin !!!

Bizarre marketing; I’m not typically a fan of (bu-dum-tshhh!) such smart-alecky, brassy and attention-seeking behavior, but I guess the free market has spoken and I can’t deny that all this has been free advertisement for them.

I do wonder if the vents will counteract the airflow purposing of the original design. Won’t that be something if people who buy this start having PS5 failures due to overheating. 😆

Man these guys have done sony over lol

These new designs are way better and make the ps5 look more sleek, and I can't believe the current ps5 plates are blocking the fan 😑

I do find it odd that Sony have seemingly put a lot more effort in patenting its faceplates then actually offering any to its customers.

Whatever you think of dbrand I've got to say well played

I'm fine with the official white ones but I applaud the marketing here. Somebody there is quite business savvy and I applaud that! But yeah I'm still not interested.

Dbrand is not the only company doing this though (they sound like a real bunch of w*nkers imho)
You can go to Amazon or Etsy or Ebay, search for PS5 faceplates and there you go!

Hmm... Improved cooling? Reminds me of people drilling holes into their PS3s,calling it cooling mod and making things worse. If I am not mistaken, the fan is supposed to suck air over the additional ssd slot. With this "improved cooling" you are then effectively bypassing the SSD slot cooling

Correct me if I am wrong. I don't get physics at all. However aren't the Sony plates designed to push the air in a certain why, so there much be a good reason the fan is "blocked"?

I'm just a tiny bit disappointed they've not squared it off so it doesn't need a stand to lay horizontal. I guess that'll be the major innovation for version 3.0?

well done here. Site looks great. I love the presentation of it.
The plates look like a cool improvement. I have yet to see any reports of Lawyers at the bottom of the lake I live by as they claim lol, but we'll see.

would I ever waste a dime on this... hell no. This is not for me. I'd rather buy a game, play it and sell it than buy this, but hey all the power to ya.. there's a ton of suckers out there with money to burn apparently.

@AndyKazama I am assuming the same. Rewatching the official PS5 teardown video made me think of the additional SSD and it's cooling

Douchebrand really likes the attention don’t it.

@AndyKazama I could see this being a potential issue with the external SSD added but other than that the cooling performance should be better, because that's the trade-off - more air directly to the hottest components, vs a bit less airflow that's more evenly spread across the system.

Yeah, they seem to appear as some douchebags with that cocky attitude. Even if they have some good designs and I wanted a new faceplate, I'd rather get one from other 3rd party vendors that sells them quietly

Haha go Dbrand. Yes their PR is different and some people don’t like it, I personally find it refreshing and fun. I have their original dark plates and they’re a great company to deal with, they’ve been going for years. I like these new plates too, think the design is nice.

Well played Dbrand. Well played.

@thefourfoldroot I think looking like douchebags is their "brand". Understandably it might scratch some people the wrong way, but it is all an act/persona they want to project.
On topic, I love PS5 default design since day one (which is not as often, most people grew on it over time) so I won't be modifying it in near future.

Dbrand is a trolling company, of course they're gonna pull a move like this. To people who know Dbrand it's amazing or hilarious. To people who don't it's awful. I don't like the design but it's a funny way to make fun of the lawyers.

Also you've gotta admit, this product description is hilarious.

If Sony didn’t make such an ugly console in the first place than we wouldn’t feel the need for this product would we. Sony can only blame themselves for this. Ps5 has been out for ages and still only available in white? I’m sure it wouldn’t be difficult to use a different coloured plastic in the same mould. Give consumers what they want Sony, or someone else will

It sounds like a 8 year old online crazy like fanboy that runs Dbrand sometimes!?!? 'Sue me!!!' 'They are TERRORISTS!!!' etc etc??? WTF???

Reminds me of Wendys on Twitter, only that that one is actually funny and comes up with hilarious responses. This truly sounds like an 8-year old fanboy, as @Carl-G said. But hey, plenty of a******les online, so maybe it's a clever way to get noticed?

While I support Sony on the first 'infringement' if there is indeed a filed or pending patent I believe this time they wouldn't have grounds to sue, the design is an entirely different shape.

I don't mind the look but feel it will have problems. From an air flow perspective the 'collars' of the original are designed in a way to move heat further from the system. When the heat/air hits the collar the curve of the shell will push the heat away, this design will not do that.

Furthermore, with the exhaust position, this would likely be a problem for people who place their console horizontal. The gap that the stand creates wouldn't be sufficient enough to dissipate all of the heat which would cause a build up and possible overheating.

Personally I'm keeping mine original and will trade it in for a slim when they eventually come.

For those who called Sony out for their threat, have you considered that the reason is due to the possibility that they intend to eventually release their own and don't want a third party to eat at their profits? Perfectly reasonable. And the 'car' comments make no sense. General car parts are not patented.

These guys are just incredibly lame. I don’t support Sony over blindly suing third-party plates but then these idiots have an ‘edgy’ campaign that involves insinuating people who have white plates are racist. Genuinely. Actual morons.

@theheadofabroom I hear the sabrent heatskin resolves that and works inline with the PS5s natural airflow.

Source: some reviews I read

@fR_eeBritney when did I say Sony weren't also guilty from time to time? All I really said was "douchebaggery sells" and gave another example. Sony seems to be pretty good at selling things, so I wouldn't be surprised if there douchebaggery involved at some point

@Vacuumator I'm not talking about a specific ad campaign nor am I saying they target a particular brand, but if you've ever read the blurb on the back of one of their cans/bottles or visited the "about us" section of their website (admittedly, I've done neither for a good 5 years or so so it's possible they've "gone corporate" in the meantime and cleaned up their PR - not that they weren't "corporate" 5 years ago but they were certainly making a big effort to appear not to be) you'll get the impression that "Big Beer" flooded the market with nothing but likenesses of weak urine, and then one day Brewdog saved the day! Hooray for Brewdog!

And I'd be the first to admit that most mass-selling beer is exactly as they've described it, but there were also plenty of decent beers around before the craft beer crowd decided to add more hops and boil them to the point that the resulting concoction could be painted on children's fingernails to stop them biting them . Admittedly underneath all the BS they do work with other brewers, but the image they tend to put out there (or at least used to) is that they're the sole saviour of the beer industry from the threat of mediocre beer

Not sure it's worth "sticking it to Sony" to make your official PS5 look like a Chinese knock-off, but don't let me stop your stupid purchasing decisions.

@danlk1ng Oh I know, I’m not singling you out specifically, just pointing out the hypocrisy of people who say they won’t buy from a company like Dbrand because of their ‘douchebag’ marketing ...whilst typing on phones that were likely made using involuntary or child labour. ‘Unknowingly’ of course. But they do say ignorance is bliss 🤷

I like the new design, vent holes and all, and black over white all day, but nobody mentioned they were SEVENTY DOLLARS!!

It's just 2 pieces of plastic, right, or am I missing something?

I've been hammering Nintendo for its $60-$90 Switch dock for four years, at least that has a few USB ports in it and a spring. Does dBrand send new screws or are you supposed to use the ones you have?

Can someone who knows manufacturing guess a cost breakdown on these? I know Apple is charging $19 for a cloth but that's Apple, and still only $19. $70 for plastic is kinda cray-cray.

Edit - looks like plates can be had for only $60, middle piece is $10, my mistake.

https://dbrand.com/shop/special-edition/ps5

Typical trying to manipulate the mob to their advantage. Cynical but it works for some.

Excellent FREE publicity! Well played by dbrand, I think.

Of course, if Sony got their finger out of there holes for once and sold some official faceplates to allow customers to switch out the faceplates to something more tasteful/garish then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

The website seems to imply better airflow, I'm curious about whether or not it's a better functional design for plates, as that would be the only reason I'd buy a set.

I'd guess 1-2 degrees C drop at most. I'm sure 1000 videos will pop up on the tubes about it, or not.

Keep it, iooks naff

@RavenWolfe81 well Sony will be suing them for making “false” claims now

@Jayofmaya The website is HILARIOUS.

They look pretty nice and getting more ventilation for the fan is nice, provided you keep the vents clean.

That blog page is funny 😂 love it.

The 2.0 looks nice also. Love the vents, and that they have dust covers.

But again, there are like 20 different listings on Amazon for them of all colors. Not sure why Sony is targeting them

Haha, judging by the incredibly salty comments on here, it looks like they hit a nerve.

I probably wouldn't buy any (it's effectively tacking on $70 or so to an already really expensive console, so I'd rather just wait for Sony to lower the price and release something that's not an eyesore at some point), but I do hope they end up being successful in their venture. I actually think the gray one looks nice.

@rjejr

Yeah $70 is crazy.

Mine was $25 with free Prime Shipping. I had some Amazon points so ended up like $9 after Tax. They have no vents, but now I do not need to keep it hidden behind the TV 🤣😜

I debated even paying that because it is 2 months of PC GamePass. But was afraid it was getting to much dust or extra heat from the TV back there.

right to repair, if anyone is against this then good for you, it's just an additional or replacement component 🙄

Novel as these are you can kiss my @$$ charging 70 bucks U.S for these.

Wow, those guys nailed it for me! The design is a lot better then the stupid ‘router’ look…. And about their attitude….It is pretty ignorant of Sony to think that nobody would make a black or different version of the ‘detachable’ faceplates! I like the attitude of DBrand!

It looks horrible.

I keep my PS5 hidden in the Comms cupboard I find it so ugly, so these would come in handy if I ever wanted to move it back into the room. But even though these will make it a little smaller its still for to big for my tastes. Still a major improvement

Makes the PS5 look like it’s balding. The open vents could lead more dust build up and also flying insects could easily get in there and ruin your PS5. OG darkplates we’re better.

@Agramonte So I did some further investigating after reading your reply - thanks - and it looks like the plates an be had for only $69, not $70, and it's an extra $10 for the middle piece.

Still seems like a lot for plastic (should make you feel better though 😉) but $60 is less than $70 anyway. Going to go back and edit my post. And maybe spend some more time looking for a PS5. 😝

https://dbrand.com/shop/special-edition/ps5

Guess dbrand wasn't too confident about winning if Sony sued, after all.

I like the design of these. Makes the console look neater to my eyes…

Might make a purchase when I finally get a ps5…

I hope there's a thin micro-filter black cloth inside that fan opening. Otherwise, you're blowing dust, lint, or pet hair directly into your system...

Some of the responses I've read to this are hilarious. People saying how great it is that the little guys have pulled one over on the big bad Sony, and how evil Sony is. And then they say they'll be buying this for the PS5 they've just spent £500 on, thereby giving Sony money anyway.

@thefourfoldroot I'm sure they're not bothered by your refusal to do business with them lmao

Not a fan of the look but the functionality is way better than what Sony created. Those intake vents will definitely improve cooling performance.

The dude-bro-ishness is just pathetic really

I love all the people "offended" at this. Sony is just a business, this company is another business trying to attract attention. And given the coverage they're getting for a simple product as face plates, they are being quite successful at this. I actually like the design much better. Much more subdued than the default PS5 design.

I prefer my PS5 with his collar popped.

These guys come off as D-bags but smart marketing play.
I'd rather just 3D print my own if I needed an aftermarket one.

@B_Lindz Jane Fonda style 😁

"The difference this time is that we’ve created an original design for which they have no basis to allege infringement,"
And with that they have admitted the copied Sony's IP and Sony had a basis for complaint. D'oh.

No thanks, I'm not into the look and I've no idea what that'll do to the PS5's cooling.

Saying that, get your act together, Sony! Either bring out official plates or licence others to make them.

@gomersoul
Out for ages? 😂 Really?
Let Sony first make sure that there is enough ps5 for everyone. And only then did you talk about colors. Leave the white one for those who use a console to play games on.

I don't understand why they keep acting like jerks; it makes me not want to support them.

Are they doing this for attention? Is it a sad attempt to get Sony to hire them? This doesn't feel like a company that wants to sell their product.

None of this explains the attitude. They act like some of the trolls or the children you find in comments - there just to piss people off.

@claytortot213 The future will tell. I'm guessing Sony has been tinkering with the current design for a number of years. And that there is a reason why the official plates look like this. But anyway it's wait and see. Perhaps the design of dbrand is phenomenal.

great news. as much as i like the playstation brand, sony can shove it on this one. also, many people have confirmed that these plates will do wonders for the potential heating issues and improve air flow.

@TommyNL Go watch Gamers Nexus on YouTube. They discuss and show evidence of the poor air intake design.

@AndyKazama I'd be interested in those sources of you're able to shake them out of your browser history?

I only have one question:

If these guys can turn around and have a new design ready in (checks notes)... two days, why can't a multibillion dollar company release some black faceplates after 10 months on the market?

These are pieces of plastic that cost probably in the range of a couple bucks to make.

Just remove plates,apply spraypaint/decals.🤲

I've just Nintendo labode mine with cardboard...looks 👍

@MightyDemon82 that's advertising now, same as anything else these days, scummy tactics/click bait just for likes

Soooooo….wouldn’t that just suck the dust and other things off your stand if you had the PS5 horizontal? Yeah I’m good….and the attitude kinda just sucks.

@UnlimitedSevens agreed. i think it has to do with sony not wanting to confuse the imagery from a marketing perspective. we alrready got official confirmation (vaguely) that sony will release coloured faceplates in the future. i expect them to make an announcement next year. unti then, there are non official options available and they seem to be serving their purpose rather well. missed opportunity for sony to make money? absolutely... as i don't think all faceplate owners will double dip.

@rjejr Its still crazy to ask for $60. They could stamp these out in China by the thousands for maybe .25 cents per side.

@PinkiePieAddict read @Sladey69 's post. That's all there is to it.

@theheadofabroom nw. this is the most indepth review I could find

https://nascompares.com/2021/09/24/the-sabrent-ps5-heatsink-hardware-review-how-cool-is-that/

@AndyKazama Gamers Nexus tested the PS5 with no side panels and found it ran cooler, so in effect all they are doing is blocking their own fan

All of this was probably faked, very clearly it's been working amazing for them

@GADG3Tx87 the "collars don't do any such thing, the PS5 exhausts from the back of the console and intakes at the top where these are. There will be no disadvantage laying this horizontally with dbrands on vs Sony's as the air is still leaving at the back. These will improve the cooling overall as Sony's own just restrict air going into the fan

@Mintie yeah because allowing air into fans wrecks their ability to cool 😂😂😂

@fR_eeBritney They sound like dicks so i really dont care if its branding. Well atleast their new design is a ugly as ####.

I love that Sony is free to license their design? I would love to see them put in a air intake with their own design. Would love to see them defend a air intake as something that has never been done.

Also $70 that makes Sony look cheap if these guys would have talked like normal people and maybe ask for a license to make plates. I dont think MS lets you make plates without some license agreement. Why would a company be goodwilled with such asses.

@AndyKazama That looks like a nice piece of kit! All the tests were run with the side panels on though, and he makes a point about the vents being placed specifically to draw air over the slot at the front. My worry is that this means the d-brand panels, with its vents shortcutting the airflow path, might not result in as good results. What this means in the real world remains to be seen.

I'd love to see Gamers Nexus review the Sabrent heatsink with and without side panels (given that it's their comment which has everyone considering the side panels harmful) so we have some actual data. Until we get games which stream data from the SSD constantly as part of foveated rendering, we shan't know what the real world implications are, and until then, I'd doubt there are any. Current SSD usage is light enough that you could probably get away without anything, but I'll be making do with what's onboard until I see some real world results.

I'm supposing all the arguments this company made about "right to repair" and Squid Game were made in bad faith, since they just turned around and released panels that address all of Sony's complaints directly and to the letter. They didn't even buy into their own BS at the end of the day.

Why huff and puff and play tough? It was, as they say, "for the clicks".

They are douches, yes. But smart douches. Take the L and make it look like a win, spin up some controversy with naughty words and empty challenges for the 15 to 22 year old demographic... they are like the North Korea of marketing, sable rattling for cheap, unearned publicity. So profound. So "refreshing".

Well played. Now shut up and sell some skins for electronics other people created.

Buying needless plastic crap that we don't need like this is part of how we got the world in the state it is.

dbrand sounds like the kind of people that would not care about the impact of what they selling is having on the environment.

@JohnKarnes I hadn't actually done the math since it seemed so crazy expensive but let's say $1.00 to make the pair, 8c to ship from China to the US, maybe 4c for packaging. So I'll round it up to $2/pr. Some overhead for bills, the designer and the boss. $10.

Considering the average on Amazon is about $30 w/ a high of $50 I'd say their $60 or $70 does seem a bit much, but I suppose they all decided if people are willing to spend $500 on a console then plastic side replacements are worth 10% of that. 🤷‍♂️ I'd rather buy a game. 😂
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ps5+plates&crid=1X1ZY5BDUKXJF&sprefix=PS5+pl%2Caps%2C205&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_6

@Flaming_Kaiser huh? I don’t know why some people are getting so worked up about it tbh. Sony have a team of highly paid lawyers to argue their case, there really isn’t any need for a bunch of random people on the internet to do it for free 🤣

@InvaderJim Yes... It took over 2 million years of human prehistory and history for the world's population to reach 1 billion and only 200 years more to grow to 7 billion (thanks Wikipedia 👍😁) ...but a couple hundred thousand (???) plastic faceplates for the PS5 is the problem 🤪🤣

@fR_eeBritney all contribute to more plastic waste, and ignorant thought like that which has lead the ocean getting to the point where it will soon contain more plastic than fish soon.

Do you work for dbrand since you seem to be on personal crusade to defend them.

Yeah, carving a bulls eye on the side of the console... best design ever, Bub!
Lemme get my dart gun!

@fR_eeBritney I have the same thing with people acting like their cause is rightious. Just a bunch of annoying idiots and i dont care if its their trademark. The same thing with a dude on YouTube who got mad because his rips of Family guy on YouTube where demonetized. #### off please not everything is good because you are a small company of dicks.

@rjejr There was a time I spent excess money to mod my PC so I sort of get it. Maybe I would buy a custom art cover like the next God of War for $30 or maybe not. The thing is just to change the color heck NO. Software is a better place to put the $60.

@JohnKarnes "change the color"

Only b/c you said that does it truly sink in that all of these people bought a white PS5 for $400/$500 and are now paying an extra $50-$70 just to make it black. Like you said, at least get a cool GoW or Spiderman sticker for that. Or some glowing neon. Switch docks have some cool glowy face plates that I kinda like but I could never bring myself to spend the money on them, who's looking at the dock? Well maybe the people spending $350 on a Switch OLED realizing you can't see the screen when it's docked. 😂 Ok that's a joke, but you just know 1 person will. 😎

It looks good.

All this cause Sony decided to make a shocking black/white contrast. Many problems would have been avoided if they made it all black from the off-set.

@Futureshark
Yeah Ali express junk all the way . I'll stick to the official white!!