The best Steam Deck skins let you customize your handheld gaming machine and keep it safe from scuffs and scratches. Skins can often improve how the Steam Deck feels in the hand, too, as they add texture.
Unlike the best Steam Deck cases, a skin fits snugly around your handheld gaming PC to offer protection and extra grip. There are endless Steam Deck accessories on the market, but we think that the best skins for Steam Deck are an affordable addition worth having.
Here, you’ll find the top designs, prices, features, and materials to help you narrow down the Steam Deck skin that’s perfect for your needs.
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Dbrand Classic Skin
Best Steam Deck skin for most
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| Material | 3M vinyl |
- Excellent quality
- Lightweight layer
- Difficult to apply
Dbrand’s tireless efforts to create the most coveted and sought-after wraps and skins have paid off. The Dbrand Steam Deck Classic Skin design earns our top spot for quality, number of colors, and value.
It’s easy to customize your Dbrand skin package. You can choose from the Essential Kit ($24.95) which includes a front skin, two trackpad skins, and a microfiber cloth, or the Deluxe Kit ($39.95) which includes everything in the Essential Kit plus a back skin and top strip skin to cover the edges of your Steam Deck.
Dbrand has nailed the price-to-performance ratio here, and it has great customer relations if there’s any issue when your skin arrives for that added peace of mind. While we think Dbrand skins are the best for most, there are cheaper options below. Dbrand is based in Canada, but if you’re in the UK shipping is free on most orders over $30.
JSAUX Skin Stickers
Best Steam Deck skin for protection
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| Material | Polyvinyl Chloride |
- Great value with extra accessories
- Loads of designs
- Complaints of cutout being misaligned
Anyone who has spent more than five seconds researching Steam Deck accessories will no doubt be familiar with JSAUX. They make it all from Steam Deck cases to docks and skins and what they have on offer here is a very compelling package.
Compared to other vendors, JSAUX is very generous with what they offer. Not only are you getting a skin, but you’re also getting protective stickers for the touchpads, options, rear buttons, rubberized side grips, and thumbstick caps which go a long way in keeping your Deck safe. The thumbstick caps will remove the inductive functionality of the joysticks, however, so if you’re a fan of gyro-controls then maybe leave these in the box.
Dbrand Leather Skin
Best premium Steam Deck skin
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| Material | Leather |
- Extremely pleasant feel
- Not for vegans
- Will look better with age
- Thick edges catch hands
- Not for vegans
If you want the most refined and distinguished Deck then you really couldn’t go wrong with one of Dbrand’s real leather Stem Deck Skins. As with other leather goods, the Dband skin will age like a fine wine and with care will look better as time goes on. It’s available in three different finishes – black, brown, and tan – so you’re sure to find a look that speaks to you.
This is quite an expensive option so you’ll want to be extra careful when applying it. Also, because of the thickness of the leather, it can catch your hands when you pick up the Deck. This lessens over time as the edges get compressed down, but it will always be more prominent than a traditional vinyl skin.
PlayVital Skin Decal
Best budget Steam Deck skin
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| Material | Vinyl |
- Huge range of designs
- Very affordable
- No neutral designs at lowest price
- Fiddly to install
You might hesitate to drop money on what is essentially a barrier for your Steam Deck that may end up needing to be replaced down the line. This is where PlayVital’s great budget options come into play. At this price you might be surprised to see the huge collection of designs there are to choose from.
There are however only busy motifs on offer here, which is a shame given how wallet-friendly the prices are. If you were looking for something a little more lowkey then we’d suggest then we’d recommend a plain Steam Skin from Dbrand.
How to choose the best Steam Deck skins
Our list of Steam Deck skins was put together by drawing on our experiences of using Valve’s handheld since its initial release. Firstly, decide how much you want to spend on a Steam Deck skin, then choose your favorite design – simple!
Steam Deck skins start from around $15/£15, and for that low cost, you’ll get a very basic option. The Steam Deck looks cool in its own right, but you’ll want a skin that shows off your personality.
A Steam Deck skin should feel as good as it looks, especially if you’re planning on playing it for hours on end. Paying more generally gets you more complex designs and premium materials such as silicone or even leather.
JSAUX is a brand already well known for making the best Steam Deck docks, but it also makes great value skins with added trackpads and thumbstick covers. For the most premium Steam Deck skin you can buy, consider Dbrand’s leather skins. Dbrand also has a more affordable classic lineup with plenty of high-quality designs.
To get more from your Valve handheld, pick up the best microSD card for Steam Deck and check out the best Steam Deck games.