By Chris Chang, posted Jun 14, 2011 at 9:59 PM, 8,134 views,

Turn Your iPhone 4 Translucent (with video!)

The idea of turning an iPhone 4 transparent is awesome. But if we tell you that turning your iPhone 4 semi-transparent is waaayyyy more cool, would you be interested in it? Well, we bought a set of translucent front and rear panels in Shenzhen, and it transformed our iPhone 4 into a phenomenal thing. We can’t use words to describe it, but we have pictures and video that make you say ‘Wow’.

Click here for YouTube link.

*Please do not put your iPhone into the fridge, it will not turn into a frosty iPhone.*

Yeah, turning your iPhone 4 frosty means that you can take off the front and back glass panels of your iPhone 4 and replace them with frosty panels. We did it, and the results turned out very unexpected, or we can say, stunning.

When we got the frosty front and rear panels, we were thinking… how do we take off the original panels to put these frosty panels on the iPhone? Well, we did a Google search for “how to disassemble iPhone 4″, then we found a video — iPhone 4 take apart instructions from Global Repair Solutions.

We followed the instructions step-by-step, and then we found out that it is a very quick and easy job to remove the rear panel of the iPhone by unscrewing the two screws at the bottom of the iPhone. And things get super-complicated when we went deeper to replace the front panel (with glass panel/digitizer/retina display/frame/wire mash filter).

Super complicated means that you MUST be a professional on disassembling an iPhone 4 before getting any deeper to replace the front panel. Since we are not experts, we asked a professional to carry out the task. While we stood aside and watched the professional to disassemble the iPhone, we noticed that one must not pry the battery out against the pressure contact. And when removing the front panel, do not insert tools between glass and rubber bezel. After replacing the front panel, it’s time to reassemble and you need to be sure to clean all metal-to-metal contact points with a de-greasing agent like Windex so the oils from your fingers won’t cause wireless interference. So, after 30 minutes of hard work, our iPhone turned into frosty edition!

Our first thoughts? Can’t remember, but we were all cheering, jumping up and down, screaming because this is the first translucent iPhone 4 on Earth. The frosty glass finishing has a very smooth matte hand-feel with anti-scratch treatment. Both front and rear panels are made of glass, and after a month of usage with the frosty panels, we think they are more durable than the original panels.

The rear panel is very sexy. Gazing through the translucent window and we see the big battery, the camera and flash and a sweet warning sticker that reads “Authorized Service Provider Only.” It is not clear to see all the stuff through the translucent window, but we actually like that, since we do not wish our iPhone’s internal organs to be revealed completely under a super clear transparent window. Oh, just like what we said, replacing the rear panel is easy, all you have to do is pop out the screws, slide the old panel out, and slide the new one in.

The lens and flash diffuser are already installed on the panel, and you may be wondering, would the photo quality be affected with this frosty rear panel? Well, we tested it, and here are the results.

Flash Off:

Flash On:

The built-in LED flash:

Photos taken with the frosty rear panel look similar to the original, and we took a deeper look on the lens on the frosty panel, we found out that clear glass is used on the lens cover, and it looks the same as the original iPhone 4 lens cover. For the LED flash, since the rear panel is translucent, only some of the light will pass through the panel. Light will not spread out like the original.

To make everything more perfect, we got a translucent Bumper to match with our frosty iPhone. And boom! It looked more stunning!

Then we put it side-by-side with our old-school translucent gadgets — the Game Boy Pocket and Palm IIIe.

We are wondering why Apple didn’t release a translucent version for their iPhone since tech companies had introduced official translucent version for their gadgets in the past decade.

Wrap-up

We did not make/produce the frosty panels. We bought them from Shenzhen, Huaqiangbei. The panels are not manufactured or purchased from Foxconn. Warranty will be void when you unscrew your iPhone 4. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

We think it is incredible to turn an iPhone 4 frosty, and we would like to share this awesome mod with you guys. The frosty front and rear panels come as a set and it is in stock at M.I.C. store for $79. You can get two sets for $139. Tools which are required to disassemble your iPhone are also included, so you do not need to spend more money on the tools. All kinds of tools are included, such as a SIM Card eject tool, a Phillips-head screwdriver, a 5-point Pentalobe screwdriver, two pry-opening tools, metal tweezers and a vacuum suction cup (you need this for first time disassemble). A translucent Bumper is also included. If you are not a fan of translucent gadgets, we also offer transparent front and rear panels for the same price. Both frosty and transparent panels will only fit with GSM/AT&T iPhones, so if you’re using a Verizon iPhone, sorry.

One more thing. While we were surfing the Internet, we came across a wallpaper, and we think it matches our frosty iPhone perfectly. You can get the wallpaper from here.

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TAGS: Culture:China, iPhone, iPhone 4, photos, translucent, transparent, videos