Nintendo Switch owners, don't put a skin on your new console
For more than a few years now, a popular way to customize the look of your game console and controllers has been with vinyl skins, or temporary stickers that wrap around the surface of the device, but can be peeled off without damage. Owners of the new Nintendo Switch, however, will want to avoid purchasing these accessories, as the adhesive has been found to damage the outer surface of the console.
Bringing attention to this issue is none other than dbrand, a company that makes skins and covers for game consoles, laptops, and other devices. Revealing their findings in a detailed Reddit post and a series of tweets, dbrand discovered that vinyl skins and wraps damaged the outer coating of both the console and Joy-Con controllers, and even peeled off parts of the Nintendo logo and regulatory warning.
While the skins look nice when applied to the Switch, as in the image above, once they're removed they leave the surface of the console like this:
"We're here to make a public service announcement that under no circumstances should you be buying a vinyl skin/wrap for your Nintendo Switch," dbrand wrote. "Both the Joy-Cons and the console are not compatible with vinyl wraps or any adhesive-backed skin of any kind."
The company said it first noticed the issue on a pre-production console, but after testing the wraps on a several retail units, they found the problem still persists. They added that they are issuing refunds to any customers who pre-ordered one of their Switch skins.