The back cover on my L5 is still in pristine condition, but I can imagine it getting scratched and scuffed with time. I could even see the tabs that hold the cover in place break off.
So I was wondering whether Purism will start selling replacement back covers somewhere in the future.
If so, any chance they will come in different colors?
Purism does sell replacement parts - this has been established some time ago. The parts are not listed in the shop. I did not happen to ask about colors, but I doubt that. Contact support when you need them.
As I said, it’s no urgent matter. No need for direct support. I was just wondering what Purism’s plans are.
And I would really, really like the option to add some color to the L5 
Mine has some chunks missing (since luckily when it drops it often falls on the back - good design!!) I would buy! $$
My Windows Phone(s) came with optional replacement back covers (not too expensive). For my last phone I had two black ones, an orange one, and a white one. They were easy to switch, and they protected the phone pretty well, without adding bulk.
For the phone before that, I even had a rubberized back cover: felt nice, protected the phone well.
I wouldn’t mind having a rubberized back cover for my L5. Or for that matter a transparant one - befitting the L5’s principles.
Nice! Now bring on the color versions and the transparant ones 
That could potentially be arranged by the Purism community:
IMO: There are specialty spray paints for plastics that you can buy in stores catering to modeling planes, cars etcetera. Harder to find but there are also peel-&-stick sheets of various colours, and images.
My idea would be one of those sheets that has a 3D image of Saturday Night Special (.38) pointing out. It won’t be long before we can have a video run on the back screen - like big semi’s have ads on the back of their rigs.
Duopolies will be first to put their own ads on the back and offer the same phone without the ads called the Pro version for $#00.00.
Just thinking again - sorry 
~s
I think there were color options when they 3D printed the back of mine. I chose generic gray, though.
Honestly when I tried to switch back to an official Purism backplate from the 3D printed one I could hardly stand it. The 3D printed one is loose so swapping the battery every day instead of charging is low effort. Popping off an official back is more involved and requires a lot of force.
Flip side of that though is that the tabs rubbed off on the 3D printed one so I added material by layering tape onto them to get back to where it was tight enough to hold on.
I wonder if it’d be feasible to 3D print a back cover that also functions as a “case” which helps to mitigate heat. Or… would it be possible to create an entirely new enclosure shell and just move the parts into that?
It seems like my main complaint is always going to be heat generated when using the phone. I’m just hyper sensitive to it I guess. In particular the heat on the sides of the phone. On the back I don’t really notice it. A case or an alternate enclosure which adds a heat sink in the back and maybe adds some insulation or thickened bezels on the sides would be a huge help.
It might have to be a little asymmetric (thinner at the top where the buttons are, thicker at the bottom where it’s held) but I think that would be fine, it’d just look like a fancy “case”.
There’s something inconsistent about this for me. Sometimes it’s putting out a lot more heat than other times. At least in how it feels – I’m not always checking the usage meter (which if I recall raised the heat a lot to run).
Does yours not have the notch?
Mine pops off with just a slight pull.
When I pull on it, the force required to pop off the rest of the back is very high, sometimes higher than the strength of the back.
The 3D printed back has different physics and doesn’t have this issue.
(Edit: Of course, it may be that the 3D printed back is a combination of good and bad. It seems more flexible, which means it doesnt crack from repeatedly bending it by pulling on the tab you indicated. But on the flip side, it was not printed with a super fine tolerance and so after the first day the tabs rubbed off and it would fall straight off the device. Hence the notch mentioned earlier.
So it has some pros and cons, but I think I like it.
Edit 2: Also, sometimes I wonder, can the 3D printed back cause cancer or something? I have no idea.)
I never use the notch for that reason so instead I pop it off from the top and it comes off very easily
I didn’t even know about that corner and just tear it off randomly, never had a problem. lol
Maybe I should be a little more careful…
I also avoid letting my hand apply any pressure on the backplate as I’m lifting.
Insert a plectrum at the indentation/notch and then slide it along the gap between the back and the phone. Works like a charm, and less risk of things breaking.
