Best Steam Deck skins in 2023

Having the best Steam Deck skin keeps your handheld gaming PC safe, secure and comfortable. Here are the top skins for Steam Deck to buy right now.

The best Steam deck skins - three skins for Steam Deck on a pink background

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 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. 

We’ve tried and tested the best skins for Steam Deck out there. Here, you’ll find the top designs, prices, features, and materials to help you narrow down the skin that’s perfect for your needs.

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These are the best Steam Deck skins today:

  1. Dbrand Classic Steam Deck skin – best overall
  2. JSAUX Skin stickers set – best protection
  3. Dbrand real leather skin – best premium skin
  4. POP SKIN Gundam Edition – best-themed skin
  5. PlayVital Full Set protective skin – best budget skin

One of the best Dbrand Steam Deck Skins on a white background

1. Dbrand Classic Steam Deck skin

The best Steam Deck skin for most.

Pros: 

  • Great designs
  • Dbrand quality fit and finish

Cons:

  • More designs for the same price elsewhere

Dbrand’s tireless efforts to create the most coveted and sought-after wraps and skins have paid off. It earns our top spot for our best overall Steam Deck skin, for the quality, number of design options, 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 players, there are cheaper options still below. Dbrand is based in Canada, but if you’re in the UK shipping is free on most orders over $30.

 

One of the best Steam Deck Skins on a white background

2. JSAUX Skin Stickers Set

Best Steam Deck skin for protection.

Pros: 

  • Great value with extra accessories
  • Loads of designs

Cons:

  • Not as worth it if you don’t want thumbstick caps.

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.

Three leather Dbrand skins, some of the best Steam Deck Skins, on a white background

3. Dbrand Real Leather Skin

Best premium Steam Deck skin.

Pros:

  • Extremely pleasant feel in the hands
  • Will look better with age

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Thick edges of leather catch hands
  • Not for vegans

If you want the absolutely 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.

It goes without saying that 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.

 

One of the best Steam Deck Skins on a white background

4. POP SKIN Gundam Edition Steam Deck skin

The best themed Steam Deck skin. Expect to pay $30.

Pros:

  • Great nostalgic design
  • High-quality fit and finish

Cons:

  • Glossy finish not for everyone

We might be living in the future but where are the mecha? While we wait to battle it out in gigantic bipedal tanks, POP SKIN has suitably striking skin that is very reminiscent of fan-favorite RX-78-2 from the Gundam series. The precision of the cuts and resolution of the image is really impressive in person, it may even be a skin to surpass Metal Gear depending on your flavor of a mechanized fighting machine.

You might not be too keen on the glossy finish though. While it looks great on the coffee table, it can be a little slippy in the hand, especially on warmer days.

One of the best Steam Deck Skins on a white background

5. PlayVital Full Set Protective Skin

The best cheap Steam Deck skin.

Pros:

  • Cheap
  • Lots of designs

Cons:

  • No neutral designs at this price

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 we choose the best Steam Deck skins
This list was put together by drawing on decades worth of gaming experience, and our experiences of using the Valve handheld since its initial release. We’ve made sure to consider the strengths and weaknesses of every skin, comparing them against the needs, and aesthetic preferences, of every type of Steam Deck user. Some key considerations include:

  • Pricing: We want to include an option to suit every budget
  • Design: The Steam Deck looks cool in its own right, but we’ve made sure to find skins that you can apply to show off your love of your favorite retro consoles or anime series’
  • Touch: A Steam Deck skin should feel as good as it looks, especially if you’re planning on playing it for hours on end

How to choose the best Steam Deck skin
Firstly, decide how much you want to spend on a Steam Deck skin, then choose your favorite design – simple! 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.